Thanks for joining the Yoga Activist/District teacher training!

 *Once you review this email entirely, please email [email protected] to let us know you have done so.*

Pre-Training Homework:

Pre-training assignments are due at least one week before the first Saturday training session.

1. The Yoga District Injury and Modification Guide. Please study this guide at yddc.co/modify, and be prepared to explain how you would modify the asana practice of anyone with any of the conditions described in this guide.
2. The Yoga District Yamas and Niyamas Guide. After reading the guide at yddc.co/ethics, please email Jasmine one way you plan to practice one yama and one niyama during the training.
3. The Meaning of Service Recording. To listen, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9jfME7R1BA. Please email Jasmine one question you have for her that relates to any topics raised in the interview.

4. The Teacher Training Info Page on our site at yddc.co/lead. Please read this whole page so you know what to expect. If you have questions, please text me at 202-285-8754.
5. Articles on DEI & Appropriation: Please read https://www.glamour.com/story/jessamyn-stanley-yoke-excerpt,

https://yogainternational.com/article/view/how-we-can-work-together-to-avoid-cultural-appropriation-in-yoga/, and

https://www.susannabarkataki.com/post/how-to-decolonize-your-yoga-practice. Please email Jasmine at least one takeaway and/or question about these articles that reflect your understanding of the authors’ teachings.

6. Sun Salutation Guide at yddc.co/ss. Please study this so that you are able to lead someone through at least one version of the sun salutations without looking at notes.

7. Power sequence variation at yddc.co/power2. Please lead yourself through this practice in order, holding non-transitional and non-warm up poses for five breaths.  Please include any variations for your conditions or injuries. Please email Jasmine any questions about variations.

8. Best practices article at yddc.co/ys. Please read the entire article and email Jasmine any questions.

Training dates:

Please see the “Dates” section at yddc.co/teach for the start and end dates of your training.

Books:

Please purchase these in advance and have them with you during all training sessions:

• Bhagavad Gita translated by Christopher Isherwood or very similar translation/interpretation.
• Yoga Anatomy by Leslie Kaminoff (3rd edition or later)
• Integrative Yoga Therapy Teachers’ Toolbox (4th edition or later)
• Yoga Adjustments by Mark Stephens
• Yoga Sutras of Patanjali by Alistair Shearer or similar translation/interpretation.
• The Yoga District Teacher Training Manual and Workbook, a series of shared google documents which you can print in their entirety if you wish. We will provide you with a printed version of Part 5 of the manual on the first Saturday of the training.

Communications: 

We will send group emails to the training’s Google Group email list regularly.  If you do not wish to have your email shared with the rest of your teacher training group, please notify us. We recommend that training participants avoid making a whatsapp group or similar group chats with other training participants during the training. This can help create a more present and meditative environment during the training, and it can help encourage communications IRL.  

Schedule:

• Accessing the schedule: The schedule is a shared google sheet containing class Zoom links, materials, homework assignments, etc.
• HW & prep: Please prepare for each session by reviewing assignments and any required materials in advance. Please ensure you do all HW listed at the bottom of each schedule tab.
• Changes: During the course of training, the schedule may change due to the pace of movement through material, instructor availability, or other variables. This means training topics and presenters may change. We appreciate your flexibility and ability to go with the flow.
• Make ups: There also may be some times when your training group will be joined by other training participants who are making up missed classes from past training sessions – please join us in welcoming them.

• Weekday in-person sample schedule:
• 8-8:45am: Meditation and breathing / Lecture activity
• 8:45-9:45am: Posture practice
• 9:45-12pm: Pose break downs with practice teaching
• 12-1pm: Lunch
• 1-4pm: Pose break downs cont’d
• 4-4:45: Break
• 4:45-7pm: Pose breakdowns, elective topic presentation, or practice teaching
• Closing: karma yoga – cleaning and care

• Weekend online sample schedule:
• 6-6:45am: Meditation and breathing
• 6:45-7:45: Lecture / presentation

online session info: 

• When: Online sessions are every weekday, Mondays through Fridays, 6am through 7:45am.
• Lateness: Please join on time to avoid being stuck in the zoom waiting room during group meditation.
• Recordings: Online classes will not be recorded.
• Joining: The link to join will remain the same throughout the training: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/89449833000
• Online etiquette: To comply with non-virtual Yoga Alliance teaching standards and to help us ensure participation/attendance, training participants must keep their cameras on during the entire duration of the online class presentations and remain visibly participating on screen. Please make adjustments to your camera, lighting, and environment as necessary in advance, so that you can be seen visibly participating throughout the online sessions.

in-person session info:

• Location: The in-person sessions on Saturdays and Sundays 8am-7pm are held at 1910 14th St NW, 2nd Floor. Please arrive 5-15 minutes before the start of the in-person sessions. Please budget extra time to allow for traffic and any parking needs. The nearest metrorail station is U St/Cardoza. Parking is usually limited to two hours in the neighborhood unless you have a zone 2 sticker, but you may be able to obtain a parking pass from the city in advance.
• IMPORTANT Security/Arrival Policy: Please read carefully. For security, we lock the doors at the start of each training day and again at the end of each break. We ask that you arrive during the 15-minute window before training begins each morning to allow time to settle in and avoid being locked out. Once a lesson has started, we ask that participants do not enter mid-lesson. Instead, please plan to rejoin at the next scheduled break. If you arrive on time but find the door locked, feel free to text or call our studio line at 202-265-YOGA or Jasmine at 202-285-8754. Please keep in mind, the training is progressive, and not come-and-go-as-you-please. However, should you need to pause participation for self care or other reasons, we support you–please reach out to Jasmine to communicate and arrange this.
• Dress and cleanliness: Please wear clean clothing that provides good coverage and moves with you. It is also important to maintain a clean body since we are all going to be in close quarters with each other for extended periods. Feel free to bring a change of clothes and avoid heavy fragrances or smells.
• Food and beverages: We normally practice at the start of each training day, so please arrive digested. During breaks, you’re welcome to have vegetarian food and drinks in the space. Please consider eating food that helps you feel light and refreshed, instead of foods and beverages that make you feel excitable, agitated, heavy, sluggish, etc. Meat products are not permitted in the yoga rooms or spaces (this is not to offend anyone, but is related to a traditional yoga practice of saucha and ahimsa). There is no fridge nor microwave on site. We strongly suggest preparing and bringing all food and beverages with you because grocery stores and restaurants in the area may have long lines that cause tardiness and lock outs.
• Trash and recycling: Any trash, compost, or recycling related to your consumption of food or drink must be removed from the site and not left in the studio trash or recycling bins. Otherwise many pests will quickly arrive. So, please take all trash, compost, and recycling you generate home with you. It is also recommended, in relation to the practice of ahimsa, to avoid disposable products in general such as togo utensils, cups and containers.

Safety:

Please rely on the advice of your health care professionals and consult the Yoga District Injury and Modification Guide to help keep your practice safe throughout the training. If you have any questions regarding injuries or conditions, please text Jasmine so you all can discuss them. It is important that you never do anything that hurts, and it is important to not “push through the pain.” We reserve the right to ask any training participant to provide written clearance from their health care provider to verify they are of sufficient physical and emotional health to participate in the training.

Participation:

It’s important to communicate with any presiding presenter and Jasmine about issues that affect your participation in the training. For instance, if you can’t participate in an activity due to beliefs, injuries, conditions, personal choices, trauma recovery, or any other reason, please inform the presenting teacher and also text Jasmine at 202-285-8754. As a trauma-sensitive program, your participation is a choice, and any activities you opt out of can be made up later, but communication with trainers is essential.

Training agreement:

You have all received a teacher training agreement via AdobeSign that includes any payment plan terms. Please double-check that you have read through it. Please note, you will not be able to participate in the training unless you have a signed training agreement on file with us.

Internships and work/study:

If you have a work/study or internship with us, please ensure that the training does not interfere with your maintenance of your volunteer duties. This may require arranging subs/swaps of your volunteer shifts if they conflict with the training session times. To maintain the training discount, interns must remain in good standing with shifts covered both before, during, and after the training.

Absences from training:

Please commit to the entire training as much as possible. Your absence not only makes your training more challenging, but can also affect the motivation of other training participants.

Recording attendance: In Part 1 of the manual, complete the attendance sheet by listing the dates and times you attend, miss, or opt out of lessons or activities. Submit this form with your post-training homework. Be sure to note the exact lessons/activities missed (per the schedule), so you can make up those specific sessions in future trainings.

Catch-up notes & texts: If you miss more than 5 minutes of training, arrange to get detailed notes from a classmate and review the relevant textbook/manual pages to cover the missed content.

Make-ups: After your training ends, you may request to join another Yoga District training to make up missed sessions (trainings run nearly every season). Sessions must be made up within three years of your training’s end date, and only if space is available.  

Tardiness:

There’s no need to contact us about lateness to online sessions – just update the attendance field on the schedule, then follow the procedures for making up absences described above. If you are going to be late to a weekend in-person session, please ensure you arrive during a break when doors are open, and keep in mind that doors lock at the start of training for building security.

Training intention:

This training is designed to be an ashram-style experience. Ashrams are spiritual hermitages, the goal of pilgrimage being anything from tranquility to instruction in some art. Our focus will be the art of yoga, aided by the inclusive studio setting and support of the yoga community. Please let learning be your highest focus and don’t let anything else distract you– including the space, the weather, how you think things should be vs. how things are, insecurities, competitive will, the structure of the training, the nature or your or others’ practices, your diet, others’ diets, etc. If you do not open yourself to the higher purpose of learning, you will only cause suffering for yourself and everyone else. Especially in close quarters, any negativity, complaints, and bad moods can spread faster than a cold. We are relying on all of you to keep your heads high, hearts open, speech kind, and purpose peaceful.

Sleeping:

Sometimes the teachings come to us in the form of sleep. If you fall asleep during online training sessions, we will remove you from the zoom group so that it doesn’t distract other participants and so that you can rest. If you fall asleep during in person sessions, we may need to wake you to avoid distracting other participants and presenters. If you fall asleep for more than five minutes during training, please make up the missed material according to the standard make up procedures described above.

Devices and recording:

Out of respect for the teachings and presenters, we kindly request that cell phones and similar devices not be used during the training presentations, unless they are being used to view the training manual or schedule in a manner that is not distracting to the presenter and other participants. Of course, it is fine to use your device during breaks, but please do not take pictures or recordings for social media in the space. Laptops are permitted for note taking / training purposes but no recording of sessions is permitted.

Post-training homework:

As outlined on our website, participants must complete post-training assignments in order to receive certification once the training is complete. These assignments can be completed by participants up to two years after their last training class. We will discuss these assignments in great detail at the end of training. As a practice, we focus on post-training homework requirements in detail at the end of training so as to not cause distraction earlier in the training. Even if all lectures have been attended and all post-training homework completed, if we find that a training participant is not teaching safely we have the right to ask that additional assignments be completed until we find the trainee is ready for certification.

Thanks so much and we look forward to seeing you soon!