The heart and soul of the Spanda Vidya method, Magic, Mystery, & Medicine (MMM) is a unique process for creating yoga experiences that make your classes stand out and leave a lasting impression on your students. These are the little things that you can’t quite put your finger on, but you know it when you feel it—the hard to pin down qualities that knock your students’ socks off and keep them coming back for more. This is the opposite of being “gimmicky”, as the MMM strategy is rooted in finding your authenticity and teaching from a deep understanding of traditional yogic principles.

Participants will begin leading classes early in the training and we will cultivate a culture of robust and compassionate feedback to help you see your own genius while also shining a light on your potential blind spots.

The Spanda Vidya method is a breath-centered vinyasa practice that emphasizes the importance of rhythmic flow linked to inhales and exhales. Effective breath cueing is a core tenet that will revolutionize your teaching and leave a lasting impact on your students.

We believe that modern yoga culture is at a crossroads and students are hungry for classes that go beyond mere asana and exercise. Our curriculum includes a tried and true process for intelligent sequencing for vinyasa-based yoga classes that also include time for pranayama, seated meditation, mantra and dharma talks.

Anatomy is one of the most complex aspects of teaching and practicing yoga. Most 200hr yoga teacher trainings only scratch the surface, and even that rudimentary introduction can leave new teachers feeling overwhelmed and underprepared for the realities of working with real students.

Yoga teachers must spend a lifetime gradually building their knowledge of human anatomy in order to best serve their students. Spanda Vidya utilizes Sally’s unique system for teaching anatomy that is accessible (i.e. not scary or boring) and also relevant to real life yoga contexts. We focus on what actually matters to yoga students and skip the tedious and complicated details that you’ll forget anyway.

Spanda Vidya yoga anatomy education will revolutionize the way you understand your students and your capacity to help them find freedom in their bodies.

Teaching alignment in yoga poses is tricky business. How much should we micromanage and how much should we focus on self-organizing and simply doing what feels good in the moment? What is the purpose and value of refining alignment? Which cues are outdated and which stand the test of time? How do we adapt our expectations based on the wide variety of bodies that make up a yoga class?

These questions are complex and nuanced and deserve robust dialogue from diverse perspectives. Spanda Vidya draws on wisdom from Iyengar, Jivamukti and Anusara methods while also acknowledging the limitations of these systems. We believe that yoga pose alignment is a conversation built from curiosity rather than a rigid set of rules.

Ahh, yoga philosophy. . . it’s a daunting topic, isn’t it? And one that many teachers do not feel confident with: how can you teach it if you don’t actually understand it?

Sally is a self professed “yoga nerd” whose passion for all things yoga philosophy helps to make her approach to teaching humorous, fun, and accessible.

In our modern Western context, yoga has become commodified, profit- and image-driven, and asana focused. The effect is that most of our experiences have been severed from the true roots of yoga, which was designed to be a spiritual practice based on a robust philosophical framework with thousands of years of tradition.

Spanda Vidya aims to bring substance and integrity back into the yoga culture, with engaging and lively lessons on classic texts like the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita, the Upanishads, the Ramayana, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and stories from the Puranas.

Yoga Teachers can never get too many opportunities to practice assists in a context where they can learn new things and receive constructive feedback.

Anna will take the lead on this part of the training and share her passion and expertise that comes from many years of being a highly sought after Thai Yoga Massage practitioner as well as a brilliant yoga teacher.

You will walk away more confident in your ability to serve your students through the art of touch, while maintaining the utmost professional integrity.

Get ready to step onto the high dive and take the plunge into what might be the most intimidating but most rewarding aspects of a yoga practice!

We’ll learn Sanskrit pronunciation and mantra together with the aim of blowing your mind and blasting your heart open. . . no exaggeration.

If you’re not already hooked on chanting mantra this part of the training might have the most surprising transformative effect of all for you. Students and teachers who finally unlock yoga chanting often go from being totally resistant to picking their jaws up off the floor like “what just happened?”

It’s an exhilarating but sometimes confusing experience, and Sally & Anna are ready to guide and nurture you through all parts of the adventure. Drop your fear and lean into trust on this one if you’re not already sold.

There’s nothing quite like spending an entire weekend with a group of sincere, committed, motivated yoga lovers. The relationships you build in a YTT are often the best part of the experience, and Spanda Vidya centers the community experience with Friday Night Circles where we will journal, reflect and discuss engaging and provocative self-study questions.

As we get to know you better we will begin to see your unique brand of genius shine through, and we will continuously uplift, encourage and support you as you grow into your newly polished teaching style. You will see yourself more clearly as we reflect back to you just how worthy you are to walk this path of serving the world through teaching yoga.

Sally and Anna understand the ups and downs of working as full-time yoga teachers. From studio politics to interpersonal dramas to poor teacher pay to full-blown yoga scandals, yoga has somehow become the least professional profession out there.

And yet, we carry on, striving to be the change we wish to see in the yoga world. We want to talk about some of the hard truths of working in this business that many people feel shouldn’t be a business at all.

We have been blessed to have learned yoga from a lineage of teachers who shine with integrity, respectability, and profound professional expertise. We believe that yoga teachers deserve to be considered with the highest regard, and in order for that to happen we must begin by treating ourselves as true professionals with high standards for how we move through the world, guided by the ethical principles of yoga.