Our Mission

Naada Yoga is committed to both supporting and reconnecting to the totality of yoga in all its expressions: yoga as movement, breath and sound; yoga as self-discovery and self-support; yoga as community – and yoga as the awakening and enlivening practice it was always intended to be.

Naada Yoga’s mandate is to be a place of continuing education for the yoga community – and the community at-large – so that we can cultivate the skills that allow us to better care for ourselves, others, and the world around us. This can take various forms, which are not simply limited to yoga asana (study of postures), including community-service, self-study through meditation and breath/sound work, and the cultivation and creation of environments that support awareness, growth and discovery at all levels.

To further support this vision, we have developed a teacher training program  designed to deepen and support your experience and understanding of yoga, both as a teacher and as a practitioner, both in-class and in-community. Our training program is based on a core curriculum of ten courses. Upon completion of all ten courses and fulfillment of the required practicum, students will graduate with a 500 hr accreditation from Naada Yoga Teacher Training, achieving the highest level of accreditation recognized by the Canadian and American yoga alliances.

Course Outline

A practicum component must be completed in order to graduate from this training.  This component includes practice teaching, observing other teachers in training, and working as an assistant to a senior teacher during class. Practicum hours are completed both in studio and at Montreal’s Head and Hands facility, teaching community courses for the Young Parents Program. Practicum hours can be scheduled at anytime after the completion of Assisting 101 and with faculty approval.

Tuition Fees

1 course (audit)  $425

1 course (credit) $500

10 courses (full course) $4500

10 courses (full course) $4000 (Payment before July 1st)

A payment plan is available with registration before July 1st of 8 installments of $500.  First installment is required upon registration.

Tuition Includes:

Unlimited access to all classes and workshops during period of study
NYTT Classroom Instruction (Lecture and Weekend Intensive)
Course Packs
Practical and written exams
20-minute Private Consultation for each Curriculum Core topic

Get Your Fees Back!

Naada Yoga Teacher Training is a fully accredited yoga teacher training school and recognized as an offcial educational institution from Human Resources Development Canada. A certificate is granted upon satisfactory completion of all courses and an official Income Tax Tuition Fee Receipt T2202A, Educational and Textbook Credit is granted upon completion.  You can claim 100% of your fees on your income tax.

Auditing a NYTT Course

Every course in the 500 hr training can be audited for a price of $425.  Tuition for auditing a course includes full access to the intro lecture and weekend intensive only.  Those who audit a course will not receive a course pack, access to studio classes during the duration of study, private consultation, or practical and written exams.  An official Income Tax Tuition Receipt T2202A cannot be issued for an audited course.

How It Works

The Naada Yoga Teacher Training Program is entirely unique. Students may enter their training at any point during the program. To meet the requirements for the 500 hr certification students must complete all 10 courses and fulfill their practicum hours within two years of registering. If a student does not meet this requirement they may be asked to retake a course in any areas of weakness.

Individuals who wish to deepen their knowledge in a specific area but do not aim to complete the full training may take any course in the teacher-training program. A certificate is granted upon the completion of each course as well as 30 CEU (Continuing Education Units) from the Yoga alliance, which may serve to deepen a student’s existing teacher credentials or contribute to the 500 hr certification at a later date.

Upon completion of the entire training program, students will be eligible to register with the Yoga Alliance under the RYT 500 category.

Graduating students are invited to a weekend intensive seminar in the Fall with a focus on Yoga professionalism. Topics covered include foundations of professionalism, business ethics, building a student base, continuing education, and essential tools for marketing.

Curriculum

Anatomy 101

An overview of anatomy from a yoga perspective will examine how muscles, ligaments, tendons, and bones work to support the body in every pose. A cadaver dissection will further deepen our understanding of the harmonious way the body functions anatomically.

Asana 101, 102, 103

101     Standing postures, Forward bends, Vinyasa, Postural Alignment, Shoulder Openers
102     Back Bending, Twists, Long Holds, Supported Inversions, Hip Openers
103     Inversions, Arm balances, Partnering, Focal Points

The basic poses will be explored in-depth, as the basis for moving into deeper poses and experiences of these poses. Principles of alignment, breath, and how the poses support one another and link together within a practice will be discussed. The asanas will be viewed from as many perspectives as possible: anatomical, meditative, breath and deeper self-exploration enabling them to become relevant to each person in their own way.

Assisting 101

Assisting Techniques, Ethics of Teaching and Assisting, Postural and Asana Diagnostics
We will practice teaching each other, assisting in-class, teaching in-community, developing the skills of how to give clear and direct cues, and how to provide safe hands-on adjusting, as well as variations on poses to address individual needs and circumstances.

Meditation 101

Meditation instruction will include seated, walking and dyad explorations to better understand how meditation is a living practice: in-class as we practice or teach, and outside the classroom in our daily lives. We will also examine how yoga poses can help support our meditation and meditation supports our yoga. Various forms and practices will be explored, helping each student find an approach that works best for them.

Naada 101

Drawing on yoga’s long history of applying sound to reduce stress, maintain health, and invoke awakening students will explore exercises that develop the art of listening and discover how these practices can help to optimize the flow of energy within the body and enhance emotional well-being.  Instruction will include music theory and technique, voice tone development and overtone singing as it relates to the practice and instruction of yoga.

Philosophy 101

Students will look at yoga practices from a philosophical and psychological perspective to understand what constitutes a spiritual path of yoga and the traditional understanding of the complex relationship between mind, body and awakening.

Pranayama 101

Anatomy of Breathing, Philosophy of Breathing, Breathing and Pranayama Techniques. Positioning Techniques
The fundamental principles of pranayama will be explored and practiced, deepening the student’s understanding of how the movement of breath affects both body and mind.

Restorative 101

We will examine the basic principles of a restorative yoga practice and how to use props to support the body in various asanas. This will enable the student to understand how the practice can calm, rebalance, and support the body on several levels: physiologically, systemically, organically and pranically.

Course Schedule

Week 1 Introduction to Core Curriculum Topic (2nd Friday of every month)
An introduction lecture on course subject matter
Course packs are distributed
Reading assignments are administered

Week 2 Weekend Intensive: In-Depth Study & Exploration of Topic (3rd weekend of every month)
Friday 18h00 – 21h00
Saturday 9h00 – 17h00
Sunday 9h00 – 17h00

Week 3 Review and Exam (4th week of each Month)
A 20-minute Private consultation with NYTT teachers is available as part of your training for each Curriculum Core topic.
Take-home test is administered

Teaching Faculty

Michael Stone, M.A. is a yoga teacher and psychotherapist in private practice in Toronto. He is currently involved in research of the integration of Yoga Psychology, Buddhist Thought and Western Medicine. He teaches Yoga Psychology and Philosophy in yoga studios, teacher trainings and academic settings throughout Canada and the United States. Michael also teaches asana, meditation and pranayama in the Krishnamacharya tradition. He is a student at the Barre Center for Buddhist Studies and a long-time student of Richard Freeman. Integrating humour, focus, clinical experience and academic understanding, Michael’s teaching is clear and accessible. Michael is the editor of a forthcoming book of interviews with leading scholars and teachers.

Richard Rosen is the director of Piedmont Yoga Studio (PYS) in Oakland, CA. He began his practice of Hatha Yoga in 1980, and has trained at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. In 1987, along with his good friend Rodney Yee, he opened PYS, where he has taught continuously ever since. On January 3, 2009 he taught his 5,000th public class at PYS, and has taught three 750-hour teacher trainings as well as advanced training and study programs.  Richard is the author of three books: The Yoga of Breath, Yoga for 50+, and Pranayama Beyond the Fundamentals. Shambhala publishers has also just released “The Practice Of Pranayama,” a set of seven CD’s he recorded with over 8 hours of pranayama instruction. Shambhala will also publish his “Original Yoga: Rediscovering Traditional Practices of Hatha Yoga” in 2011.  Richard is a contributing editor for Yoga Journal, and has written feature articles, book reviews, and a variety of columns for the magazine. Since 1990, he has been YJ’s audio/video review columnist;  reviewing over 300 yoga videos to date.   Richard is also on the board of directors of the California Yoga Teachers Association, and in 2008 helped create its grant-making wing, the Yoga Dana Foundation, which supports California yoga teachers working with underserved populations, such as at-risk and incarcerated youth and disabled students.

Sonia Osorio is a certified massage therapist and yoga teacher with a background in natural health care. She has been practicing yoga and somatic approaches to bodywork for 17 years, and supports this with a long-time meditation practice. Sonia has completed advanced teacher-trainings in Ashtanga and Iyengar-based yoga, and has studied with senior teachers in these traditions, including Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Richard Freeman, Hart Lazer and Ramanand Patel. She has also studied mindfulness practices with Zen Buddhist master Thich Naht Hanh, and continues to deepen her meditation studies in Tibetan Buddhism under the guidance of Ken McLeod. For several years, Sonia worked as a writer and editor in medical publishing, and she continues to contribute articles to various health care publications. As part of her on-going exploration of the mind-body relationship, Sonia is currently working on her diploma in homeopathic medicine.

Elizabeth Emberly is the co-founder and director of Montreal’s Naada Yoga.  A certified Ashtanga Yoga Teacher, Elizabeth brings to yoga a deep sense of creative expression.  She has studied extensively with yoga teachers Dharma Mittra, Darby, Allison Ulan and Richard Freeman.  She is a graduate of Concordia University’s Dance and Choreography program and blends together twenty five years of dance and somatics with Yoga.  Her most recent endeavor is Naada Yoga, an original sequence of yoga postures integrating the essential components of breath, sound and movement.