RUBBER SOUL YOGA
adventure club
500-hour teacher training program
DATES:  September 4 through December 11, 2010.  (15 Saturdays from 8:30 am to 7:00 pm and 14 Tuesdays from 6:00 pm to 11:00 pm)
MISSION:  To develop teachers of yoga... grow... and have fun.
METHOD:  Individual and group instruction in yoga, communication, teaching methodology, philosophy, literature, theater skills, diet & nutrition, health & well-being, activism, and service.  Students will attend classes, teach classes, watch films, maintain records of their disciplines, meditate, perform creative assignments, practice circus skills, engage in activism, and experience life transformation.  
OUTCOME:  By the program's conclusion, the following goals are expected:  a) personal growth and greater abilities in the life adventure, b) wider understanding and abilities with yoga, c) increased teaching abilities (in yoga or other forms), d) greater confidence in the ability to contribute to the life and health of other beings.  Students will be certified at the end of the program as a "Rubber Soul Yoga Teacher."  

THE MANY PATHS... 

CERTIFICATION TRACK:  Those who do all the assignments, pass the exam, and meet the attendance requirement will be certified as a "Rubber Soul Yoga Teacher."  The attendance requirement is that a student may miss a) one saturday and two tuesdays, b) two saturdays and no tuesdays, c) no saturdays and three tuesdays.  Absences beyond this amount for any reason will result in no certification.  The best policy is to only miss in cases of emergency.  Also, a student is allowed three "tardies." (Tardy is defined as any amount of coming late or leaving early, but if one misses more than 50% of the day, that is counted as a miss.)

NON-CERTIFICATION TRACK:  Basically, all the same rules apply, except that you would not need to complete the hours quite as rigorously. This track would be good if you a) want to deepen your practice but b) don't have quite enough time in your life to do all the projects, c) have schedule conflicts that would cause you to miss classes.    

EMERITUS MEMBER TRACK:  Former participants of Adventure Clubs may continue to attend as "Emeritus Members." They may be asked to lead sessions. Otherwise they engage the program much as those on the non-certification track would do. It is necessary that all members (certification, non-certification, and emeritus) set an intention to do as much of the program as possible, given life circumstances.

TIME TABLE:  Training sessions will be Saturday from 8:30 am to 6:45 pm and Tuesday from 5:30 pm to 11:00 pm.  The entire scheduled time is required of all students. Beyond these scheduled sessions, students are required to perform 4 hours of independent assignments per day.

ABSENCES:  Students are expected to attend all sessions. Emergencies, however, do occur. Students on the certification track who miss more than 2 Saturday classes or more than 2 Tuesday classes will be shifted to the non-certification track. Students on the non-certification track or emeritus track may miss more as long as those misses are due to pre-planned life events. Consult Cal if you have concerns about attendance.

 ASSIGNMENTS AND CURRICULUM HOURS:
Classroom Instruction (includes anatomy and teacher practicum)  204
Meditation 16
Daily yoga, evaluation, journal, and charting 188
Activism 13
Reading Assignments 65
Mind-Body Therapy 7
Circus practice 32
TOTAL 525

In-house Instruction: 15 Saturday sessions and 14 Tuesday sessions

Meditation: One 15-minute session, 5 days a week (not including the meditation performed during the weekend sessions).

Daily yoga, evaluation, journal, and charting:  5 public classes or home practice per week, 90 minutes each, plus 30 minutes journal writing, plus 30 minutes writing evaluations and filling out chart

Reading: 2 books per month (about 1 hour per day, or 5 hours per week)

Activism: 1 hour per week (or 4 hours per month), probably as a member of an "activist pod"

 Mind-Body therapy: 7 sessions with Kate Morrissey (about 2 per month)

Circus practice: One 30-minute sessions (or two 15-minute sessions), 5 days a week. The practice culminates with a show on Graduation Day.  You can work on skipping rope, poi, unicycling, juggling, thowing knifes at naked men or women in bikinis who spin on a giant disc... you know... feats of incredible skill... like "yoga."

TRAINING SCHEDULE:

SATURDAY
 TUESDAY
8:30 - 9:45 Literature seminar (chart check) ........................
10:00 - 11:30 Yoga session
12:00 - 12:45 Lunch  
1:00 - 2:00 Theater excercises and circus skills
2:15 - 3:30 Training Session A
3:40 - 4:00 Meditation
4:00 - 5:15 Teacher Practicum

5:30 - 6:45 Training Session B
 5:30 - 8:30 Adventures in yoga poses and beyond
8:00 - 8:45 Dinner
........................... 8:45 - 11:00 Documentary

TRAINING SESSION TOPICS (a general idea):
Yoga Vinyasa
Alignment and dynamics in specific yoga poses
Pranayama
Teaching asana
Human physiology and anatomy
Nutrition
Raw Food
Communication
Theater exercises
Balancing
Activism
Silence
Yamas and Niyamas
 Ethics
The business of yoga

You may wish to view the course schedule for a past Adventure Club of Spring 2010.

READING LIST: Students are asked to read 2-3 books a month, for a total of 7-9 books over the course of the program. Assignments may accompany the reading. Short in-class writing assignments (quizzes) allow students to demonstrate reading comprehension. The following list is only an example... to give some idea of the scope and type of reading.    

EXAM: The final exam covers a) some sanscrit terms for yoga poses, b) key concepts, c) nutrition, d) anatomy, and e) ideas from the readings. The exam is not intended to be incredibly difficult... more of a learning tool.

FACULTY:  The program will draw from the resources of Rubber Soul teachers, emeritus adventure club members, and other luminaries in the wider world. In the Fall of 2010, Jason Brown from Abyasa Yoga in New York City is scheduled to come for one weekend.
Cal Clements, Ph.D., Program Director:  asana workshop, pranayama, teacher feedback, circus skills, theater exercises, literature and philosophy and film discussion, and other classes

Kate Morrissey, MA, LMSW: teacher feedback, assisting in yoga poses, mind-body therapy, non-violent communication, meditation, and other sessions

Sarah Dunning, Ph.D. (Physics): vegan/vegetarian nutrition

FEES:  Program tuition covers a) the training sessions, b) unlimited classes at Rubber Soul, c) independently-scheduled Mind-Body sessions, and d) lunch on Saturdays and dinner on Tuesdays. It does not include the cost of books. The monthly fee is due on the first Saturday of the month and is halved for December.  Therefore payments are as follows: September 4, October 2, November 6, December 4 (50% of normal amount). Note that if life causes you to drop out of the program early, you won't be charged for future months.
Monthly Fee Schedule Standard If volunteering at Rubber Soul
Certification or Non-Certification Track $180 $133
Emeritus Track $108 $80

REQUIREMENTS FOR ADMISSION:  Students are asked to eat a vegetarian diet, reduce or eliminate drug and alcohol use, be healthy, and have a life intention to help other beings in a reasonably selfless manner. It would be appropriate to have practiced yoga more or less daily for at least a year (or off-and-on over a number of years). Although this is a 500-hour training, it is not necessary to have already completed other teacher training programs at the 200-hour level.

MIN/MAX CLASS SIZE: Adventure Club shall be held with a minimum of 10 students and no more than 16.

OK, I WANT TO DO THIS: Copy the following questions and send them to calclements(at)yahoo(dot)com with the subject line "Application to Yoga Life Adventure School." Please put a good deal of thought into each question and answer in an essay-style.  Admissions are currently open. 
Name:
Today's Date:
Address:
Phone:
Email:
Age:
Do you have any injuries or physical limitations? (If yes, explain.)
Discuss your health:
Discuss your diet, issues with food, and intentions for nutrition and ethics of eating:
How do you feel about holding a vegetarian diet through the course of the training?
 Discuss your relationship to legal or illegal drugs:
Are you smoking? (If yes, explain.)
Are you drinking? (If yes, describe and explain.)
When and how did you come to yoga?
Years of daily yoga practice:
Describe your yoga practice:
Describe your experiences with meditation:
List previous trainings:
Top three influences in yoga (explain):
Top three influences in life (explain):
Describe your relationship to public service and activism:
 List all academic degrees and other certifications:
When you consider enrolling in this program, what difficulties to you envision?
What circus skill will you work on?
 How would you like to teach yoga?

Would you like to do the certification track or the non-certification track?

If an emeritus applicant: Answer the above questions, noting changes since the last Adventure Club. Suggest contributions that you would like to make as a teacher/activist in the upcoming Club.

There is no application fee.

WHY IS THE PROGRAM NOT YOGA ALLIANCE CREDENTIALED?  Yoga is both an art form and a spiritual quest.  It ought not be licensed.  Certainly common sense needs to be employed by both teachers and practitioners of yoga, just as with other unregulated mind-body disciplines such as dance or martial arts. Currently, yoga teachers do not need permission from the state or any other governing body to share their practice with others. Rubber Soul's 500-hour program is a stand-alone training program for the independent yogi.  It may be combined (either before or after) with Yoga Alliance programs or other workshops as part of an ongoing investigation into yoga and life.