Sri Sri School of Yoga in Nepal: bringing yoga lineage alive

 Suvarna Basnet

Gurudev Sri Sri Ravi Shankar ji, global humanitarian and spiritual leader, founded Sri Sri School of yoga, under the banner of The Art of Living Foundation, with the vision to bring authentic yoga education to the world and the mission to teach yoga in its purity of ancient tradition with the technical skill and pragmatic scientific approach.

Sri Sri School of Yoga is a leading institute where the lineage of yoga comes alive. Through education and training that is a beautiful blend of ancient Vedic tradition, the original roots of yoga and lineage of masters, and modern science-based education, Sri Sri School of Yoga aims to broaden the world’s understanding of yoga.

Integrating all paths of Yoga including Hatha Yoga (effort), Raja Yoga (effortless, royal), Gyana Yoga (Wisdom), Karma Yoga (service & action), Bhakti Yoga (love & devotion) and more, the course takes us beyond the common understanding of Yoga as Asana.

Though the primary elements of Sri Sri Yoga training are asanas (postures), pranayamas (breathing techniques) and meditation, the experience and application of yoga goes beyond the yoga mat.

The School offers various rigorous trainings in these formats: 200 Hours Yoga Teacher Training Program in both online and residential format, 300 Hours Advanced Teacher Training Program, 100 Hours Prenatal Teacher Training Program and 95 Hours Children Teacher Training Program.

The 200 Hours Yoga Teacher Training Programs are conducted in various locations but more often in Art of Living International Center, Bangalore and Art of Living Ashram, Rishikesh. However, these training have taken place all over India and the world, including Nepal.

The Art of Living Nepal has recently organized Sri Sri School of Yoga’s 200 Hours Yoga Teacher Training Program in Nagarkot, Nepal with 45 new Sri Sri Yoga Teachers graduating from it. This is the second of many such programs being organized here in the country.

The graduated teachers also attend upgrade programs and teach diverse courses like Sri Sri Yoga Classes for Beginners, for Healthy Back, for Digestion and Gut Health, for Sleep and De-stress, for Hips, Thighs and Legs, for Face, Desktop and Chair, for Neck and Shoulders, for Core Strength, for Arms Strengthening and Balance, for Weight Management, Fat Burning/ Toning, for Flexibility, for Rejuvenation and Energizing, etc. There are also programs like Corporate Yoga, Therapeutic Yoga for Senior Citizens, Therapeutic Yoga for Blood Sugar Balance, etc.

These specialized programs are being offered for the first time in Nepal and they are starting this month, from 17 of Bhadra in different locations in Kathmandu and also in online format.

The students undergo rigorous teacher training program and are endowed with deep understanding of yoga which allow them to impart and give experience of the various dimensions of yoga to their students in their classes. Gurudev’s simplicity has made the profound knowledge of yoga so easy to comprehend, experience and apply in one’s day to day life.

His approach to yoga combines sadhana (practice), seva (service) and satsang (knowledge/ devotion) which enables individuals to grow and society to flourish in human values. The trainings do not just make Yoga Teachers but also Yogis. There lies the fundamental difference.

(Author Basnet is Senior Faculty/International Yoga Instructor, Art of Living Nepal. She can be contacted: shreshnab@gmail.com Phone: 9869062643)