The Yoga Institute

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The Yoga Institute

Yoga Studies & Teacher Training. Health, Healing and Transformation,
for Everyone

The Yoga Institute specialises in providing 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training, and Yoga Therapy Training (for existing yoga teachers). We also offer retreats and private yoga therapy appointments for everyone, and continuing education courses and mentoring for yoga teachers. To learn more about our Teacher Training programme, please visit the website: https://yogainstitute.com.au/yoga-teacher-training/

To learn more about our yoga therapy training for existing yoga teachers, please visit: https://yogainstitute.com.au/yoga-therapy-training/

To learn more abut our tradition and lineage visit: https://yogainstitute.com.au/krishnamacharya-desikachar-lineage/

12/05/2025

💕☮️✌️

It’s not just how you are on the yoga mat. Yoga is not just something we do, it’s a way of being, it’s who we become 🧡

11/05/2025

Stay tuned for upcoming short specialist courses coming in 2025

Open to everyone! CPD for yoga professionals.

Visit our website to join our Mailing List and/or use our Contact Us page to drop us a line and register your interest in upcoming offerings.

(Some of our short courses are available online too, join us from anywhere!)

www.yogainstitute.com.au

With love,
The Yoga Institute

29/04/2025

Sometimes being human is genuinely difficult.
Many things can affect our state of mind, not just outer circumstances like conflict, noise and loss, but also our own lifestyle, such as sleep, food, breathing patterns, and the way we speak to ourselves.

Plus, past conditioning that we may not even yet be aware of!

If we are not able to manage potential distractions and practice making helpful choices, our mind can be afflicted by restlessness or dullness.

Our thinking processes are an inherent part of being human. Self-mastery is not about resisting or denying that which makes us human. It’s simply learning to work with it.

🕉️ Patanjali described 5 states of mind, broadly:

🔸ksipta (chaotic, the classic monkey mind, dominated by the rajas guna)

🔸mudha (dull, lazy, unmotivated, dominated by the tamas guna)

🔸viksipta (partially focussed and functioning but still prone to distraction)

🔸ekagra (one-pointed, high concentration, ego is losing strength)

🔸niruddha/nirodha (fully-absorbed mind, lucid and mastered, grace)

🤯 Most of the time we’re caught up in our own distorted machinations from vasanas and samskaras (our hidden tendencies), so a lot of our daily lives can be spent fluctuating around the first 3 states of mind.

🧘‍♀️
Yoga’s practices help free us from unconscious conditioning and extend our concentration powers, helping us visit higher states of mind.

We are not attempting to stop thinking. We are simply learning to ride the thoughts that Patanjali describes as ‘helpful’.

We can thereby make more conscious choices that better align with our true nature and with nature.

⚖️ To get our mind into nirrudha/nirodha (calm and clear), will require a balance of abhyasa (effort) and vairagyam (letting go).

If we patiently do the work, we have the opportunity to make our mind sustainably more calm, resilient and focussed, and live increasingly in a more sattvic state, feeling balanced and harmonious 🪷

📝Join our mailing list at www.yogainstitute.com.au

Our popular Yoga Sutras Studies short course will return in 2025! 🧡

21/04/2025

“As you thrive, so shall we” 🌏

World Mother Earth Day 2025 - In awe, wonder, gratitude, and protection.

When we truly accept there is no separation…🌲

💚

“The earth is my home
It is filled with green trees
It has for me hills and plateaus
Streams, rivers, oceans, and seas

The earth nourishes me
Like its son with much care
It has water to quench my thirst
And wind to play with my dark hair

The earth is my mother
It gives unconditional love
It has created clouds and rains
To pour on me blessing from above”

- Anil Kumar Panda

💚

“Mother Earth
From you and to you
All life flows
Nourishing us
With all that you are.
We are all family
We are all children
Of the Great Goddess
Of the Earth Mother
As you thrive,
So shall we”

-Ara

😍If not already part of your regular practice, try taking a moment today to soak in some awe, wonder and gratitude, centred on Mother Earth.

Take a moment to marvel at the geometry in nature’s leaves and petals, the precision of a gossamer spiderweb, the dance of a busy honey bee, birds flying in synchronised formation, the power of a crashing wave, the majesty of a mountain or a tall tree, the beauty of a sunset, the innate intelligence of the changing seasons…. Let your heart fill with awe!

Give thanks for the air in your lungs, the nourishing bounty of food and water nature provides, the feel of grass underfoot, the sound of birdsong, the perfume and colours of flowers, and for the countless times Mother Earth has forgiven her children for misguided actions. She continues to provide for and protect us as best she can. Let your heart fill with gratitude.

🌿
Mother Earth, we are not just grateful to you, we are part of you.

We shall each do what we can, as best we can, to honour that truth, to take only what we need, to feel deep love and thanks for every gift bestowed on us, and to use our hearts, minds and actions to better protect you, in the ways of the peaceful warrior.

🙏🌿🐝🌊☮️❤️

shanti

14/04/2025

Achieving perfect postures is not the goal of yoga.

This statement doesn’t mean the physical practice isn’t important. The physical practice (which can include playing out of our comfort zone) can give us not just wonderful physical benefits, but insights into ourselves, and opportunities to practice more skilful ways of being.

The issue here is if you are overly-focussed on seeing results, particularly attaching to notions of physical ‘progress’.

🔸Wise yogis enjoy a feeling of satisfaction with their integrated yoga practice efforts, without attaching to the notion of a result or an achievement.

Intentions clarify a target for our energies – both on and off the mat – but at the conclusion of practice, results are surrendered to a greater power.

Evaluating our practice only pulls us away from the relaxed mindset that allows us to feel whole and grateful 🙏

We’re all bombarded with images of physical postures masquerading as inspiration. It’s easy to inadvertently perceive postural achievement as the goal of yoga. Take heart and read on….➡️

In that instance, it’s unlikely you’re earnestly practising ahimsa (non-harming) towards yourself (The first Yama in Patanjali’s 8 Limbs of Yoga). Conscious or unconscious thoughts of “I need to do it better”, “I’m not good enough yet” are all ways of telling yourself that you’re not enough right now, just as you are.

🔸Yoga can help us learn to derive self-worth and joy in that which is not transient, things that do not rely on doing or having.

The practice of yoga is like gardening, we remain vigilant to weeds such as attachment to results, that can obstruct the true goals of yoga, like inner peace and unshakeable self-worth… neither of which need the trappings of achievement or validation.

🔸Can you practice giving your beautiful self a rest from the constant evaluation and judgement? Can you practice letting go of a result?

🪷You are already worthy.

Keep tending to the garden of your inner world dear human. The outer world will take care of itself, and your relationships will reflect that. Now that’s a wonderful success!

Be kind to yourselves out there, dear humans. Always with love x 😍

29/03/2025

Let’s now look at Teacher Training in Australia.

🔸200-hour courses: These have been a wonderful entry point for many people to begin to study yoga, but only meet requirements with registration bodies domiciled outside of Australia. Many graduates of short courses seek out extra training and/or mentoring very soon afterwards to build confidence.

🔸350-hour and 500-hour courses: can be harder to find, but their more comprehensive nature means both meet requirements to become a registered teacher with Yoga Australia ().

YOGA FOR HOLISTIC HEALTH: Yoga teachers have a significant responsibility in this rapidly-changing and often stressful world, to act as educator to empower other people in their holistic health and spiritual journey.

But to be an authentic yoga teacher, we first need to meet and confront ourselves. This involves time for knowledge, practice and self-reflection. It’s why as yoga teachers we never stop learning.

THE YOGA INSTITUTE MISSION & COMMUNITY: We offer a 500-hour Teacher Training course because we believe it fills an important need in Australia and feels right for us, and our experience tells us that students step out confident.

However, we recognise the personal nature of selecting an initial training course. For some it’s an affection for a local studio that happens to also offer training. For other people, geographic limitations can mean a short teacher training is the only option for in-person training, and so on.

Learning yoga is a lifelong love. Whether you begin studies with a long course, or seek incremental learning to upgrade prior studies, The Yoga Institute’s intent is to bring together people who simply love yoga, from any tradition or background.

Come join our community. We stand for unity of traditions and backgrounds, to foster a supportive and loving community where ALL yoga enthusiasts and yoga professionals can learn and thrive together, to honour & benefit from this ancient life system🧡

✏️ Join our mailing list at yoga institute.com.au

29/03/2025

In the world today are generally 3 lengths of Teacher Training courses, 200, 350 and 500 hours. To understand why this variation exists, we need a quick look at recent history.

A SHORT HISTORY LESSON: For most of the 20th century, yoga was far from mainstream.

Then, in the 1970s and 80s as group fitness classes in the US were rapidly becoming an industry, it was noticed that yoga could be practiced in an athletic way. Fitness instructors were whizzed through short trainings to enable them to add asana (yoga poses) to their classes. The full breadth of yoga’s techniques and wisdoms were either unknown or willingly ignored in the rush to capture new profit.

While voices for deeper yoga training quickly emerged, the world moved fast and the popularity of ‘yoga’ as exercise, exploded. Even though short courses later included more than asana, the short course model quickly became the norm in westernised nations eager to cash in on yoga’s burgeoning commodisation, before the question was properly considered.

One of the impacts of this era is that ‘yoga is exercise’ is still deeply engrained in the cultural psyche and today’s yoga teachers have a choice: take the easy path and perpetuate this misconception, or contribute to the re-education of the public of yoga’s full breadth and scope.

YOGA IS NOT REGULATED BY LAW: The yoga industry today exists on a basis of voluntary registration; courses and teachers can choose to adhere to certain quality standards set out by the peak body of each country.

The registration process can offer consumers some comfort of substance behind who calls themselves a yoga teacher or yoga therapist.

In Australia, the peak body for the yoga industry is Yoga Australia (). Other registration bodies exist in other countries, but there is no single global registration body.

REGISTRATION: Our Teacher Training course is registered with Yoga Australia, which means graduates are automatically eligible to apply for Level-1 yoga teacher registration.

…… Now go to Part 2….➡️

28/03/2025

Traditionally, the transmission of yogic learnings was passed down from teacher to student in a one-on-one dynamic. Borne of the notion that no two people are exactly alike, mentoring has always been an essential part of the authentic yoga tradition.

🔸What Exactly Is a Mentor? Today we characterise a mentor as a highly experienced yoga teacher who lives and breathes yoga, and provides a personalised support structure to a formal training program.

🔸How Does Mentoring Work at The Yoga Institute? All our flagship courses include dedicated mentoring sessions. Upon commencement, you will be matched to one of our amazing panel of experienced and caring mentors.

1. Typically an initial session will review or create a home practice tailored for your unique circumstances (mental, emotional, physical, spiritual).

2. Then, throughout the training, the mentor provides:

🪷Supervision & guidance for the study aspects,
🪷 Coaching with the more tactile aspects such as our comprehensive practicum component and supervised teaching element, and,
🪷 Insights & advice on transitioning a more yogic life afterwards, or starting to teach.

The 500-hour Teacher Training course includes 8 mentoring sessions. The 150-hour Heart of Yoga Studies course includes 3 mentoring sessions.

🔸Learning Tailored Just For You! Our much-loved mentoring component means we can help you get the most out of your training experience, no matter if you are new to studying yoga, or are an existing yoga teacher pursuing ongoing learning.

🔸Is mentoring only available with a comprehensive training program? No, mentoring has no time limits! Mentoring is also available as a standalone offering to deepen your connection to the heart of yoga and elevate your teaching.
Director of The Yoga Institute, Dr Michael de Manincor, sought out the venerable TKV Desikachar as a mentor after already having been a practitioner and teacher for several decades. Their mentoring relationship endured for over 15 years until Desikachar’s passing in 2016.
🧡 In short, mentoring is an invaluable experience wherever you are at in your journey! Come chat with us!

21/03/2025

See it, dream it, feel it, do it!

There’s still time to join us this year for our flagship courses:

🔸500-hour Yoga Teacher Training

OR

🔸150-hour Heart of Yoga Studies

But you’ll need to be quick!

When you’ve finished your mindful scrolling, head over to our website to learn more and watch our Course Information Video.

You can enrol online or contact us for a chat, we can’t wait to meet you! 0477 021 219

Fall deeper in love with yoga and with life! 🧡

Love, The Yoga Institute
Sydney, Australia

!

13/03/2025

We invite you to read that again.

First it might make sense on an INTELLECTUAL LEVEL. Then when we use our AWARENESS to see how the concepts outlined in yoga philosophy - such as Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras - show up in our own lives, we feel (and we know) that it’s true on a CELLULAR LEVEL.

Embodied knowledge has begun..... This is how we really learn yoga:

KNOWLEDGE + SELF-AWARE PRACTICE

One can do twenty years or more of practice on the mat, but unless we know how what we are doing is nested in the metaphysics & philosophy of yoga, and unless we are doing it with a non-judgmental curiosity for our own human condition, are we really doing yoga?

🙏🙏🙏🙏
In deep gratitude for the custodians of the wisdom that came before us, such as TKV Desikachar and his father, Sri T. Krishnamacharya, and many, many more. Thank you dear ones for leaving us this wisdom and hope.

In a world that may seem intent on destruction, separation and hateful acts, the words & wisdom of our forebears comes to us with as much relevance and profound sense of grounding and steadiness, as the day they were uttered.

We don’t turn to yoga to ESCAPE a troubled world, we turn to yoga precisely because the world is troubled, to steady ourselves and to help be part of its BALANCE and HEALING. To mitigate the suffering we construct for ourselves and the challenges we encounter in life. Then, how we show up in life radiates out to others.

Yogis don’t bury their heads in the sand, they’re well-informed of the world’s events. That’s precisely why yoga is so important. Aggression & greed can escalate or……

We can contribute to a better, kinder, more peaceful world, with greater respect and sustainable dealings with our life-giving planet 🌏

🕉️ Come learn yoga, take a deep dive what’s under the hood that only formal study can provide. We’d love to be part of the next step in your yoga journey. If you thought yoga was just exercise, you’re in for the most magical, life-changing lightbulb moment! 💡🤗 ❤️

www.yogainstitute.com.au

13/03/2025

We know you don’t come to social media to read! 😂

In fact, maybe you’d like a way to cut through the online reading materials for your research on studying yoga?

You got it! ✅

Whether you’re keen to do a short or long course, we’ve got you covered.

Head on over to our website to find our ✨COURSE INFORMATION VIDEO ✨, enjoy a cuppa and that nice feeling of relief as you say, “Ahhhh, that all makes sense!” Easy-peasy.

WE’RE HERE TO HELP 💪

📞 Call us on 0477 021 219

We would love to chat and we can’t wait to meet you! 🧡

Weekend intake starts April 5th and 6th

🩶 A quarter of a century helping people discover the benefits of yoga, and share yoga with others 🩶

12/03/2025

Need some help with your yoga teacher training research?

Studying yoga can be of benefit to ANYONE! Just as a yoga class can benefit anyone, so too can the formal study of yoga. And short courses may be perfect for that, either a short generalist course, or a short course on a specific area of yoga (such as yoga philosophy or breathwork, for example).

🧘‍♂️But if you’re interested in learning to TEACH yoga, there’s a significant mantle of responsibility to teach others, and it’s worth doing some proper research to help make sure at the end of your training you’ll feel confident to hold space for others’ health and transformation.

During your research, you may well find yourself with some questions! That’s natural, everyone does.

🔸Will some courses limit you to teaching a particular ‘style’?

🔸Why can there be so many differences in course length?

🔸Why consider registration in addition to a certificate?

🔸Why does The Yoga Institute offer a 500-hour course for aspiring yoga teachers?

🔸Why consider investing in a longer course?

Choosing a training course is a combination of your head and heart, considering sound information and making sure you resonate with your lead teacher or school. It’s a very personal choice.

But we know the research phase can be confusing. We’re pleased to be of assistance. 🤗

Perhaps you’ve already done a short teacher training in the past? Every year we help people build on their love of learning about yoga, upgrade their qualifications and gain more confidence 😁

🌿🌿🌿
GOT QUESTIONS? WE CAN HELP! 💪

We’ve been helping people discover the benefits of yoga, and share yoga with others, for a quarter of a century.

🟠 Feel free to give us a call on 0477 021 219 🟠

😘

Address

498 Miller Street Level 1
Sydney, NSW
2062

Website

http://www.yogainstitute.com.au/

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