3- year Teacher Training Program
Registration is now open. Join us 2025!
Ready to be a certified Vijnana yoga teacher?
Join us for an in-depth 3-year 750h Teacher Training Program
Starting in April 2025 in Silves, Portugal.
Format: In-person. Students will attend two intensive 2-week retreats per year (Spring and Autumn), led by senior Vijnana yoga teacher Teresa Caldas.
€1,500 per year
In this program, you will…
deepen your own practice, experience first hand what it means to “practice from inside”
discover the subtle layers of this ancient tradition by practicing patiently the 4 main components of vijnana yoga - meditation, pranayama, asana and study of the scriptures
learn how to transmit this embodied knowledge to a class of students with confidence and joy
integrate the vital principles into your practice and learn to adapt the practice to different levels of practitioners
immerse yourself in the yoga sutras of Patanjali to be able to transmit the knowledge to students
learn when and how to assist, build strong professional and ethical boundaries
dive deep into the study of therapeutic yoga - how to use yoga as medicine for different physical conditions
Who is this for?
anyone with an already established yoga practice who wants to go deeper into their own study of yoga or for the purposes of teaching others
yoga teachers who want to take their teaching skills to a more advanced and holistic level
anyone ready and curious to discover what it means to “practice from inside” - to be breathed and moved by a larger force, instead of forcing one’s way through the postures.
2025 Schedule
Spring Intensive
April 11 - April 26
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Beginning on Friday the 11th at 15.30
Ending on Saturday the 26th at 13.00
Daily Schedule
8.00/10.00 Meditation, Prānayamas
10.30/13.00 Āsana practice
15.30/18.00 Study and Āsana practice
19.30/20.30 Meditation
Two of the afternoons will be free.
Autumn Intensive
October 31 - November 15
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Beginning on Friday the 31th at 15.30
Ending on Saturday the 15th at 13.00
Daily Schedule
8.00/10.00 Meditation, Prānayamas
10.30/13.00 Āsana practice
15.30/18.00 Study and Āsana practice
19.30/20.30 Meditation
Two of the afternoons will be free.
How to apply?
You are welcome to submit your application if:
you have practiced yoga for at least one year
you have attended a workshop or a few lessons with Teresa, or you come on the recommendation of a teacher
During the application process, you will be asked to fill in a registration form and attend an interview with Teresa. Upon registration, a payment of the first year training fee is required (€1500).
Ready to join us?
Ready to join us?
Get in touch with Teresa now. Upon registration, the first year fee of €1500 will be required.
The program in detail
What we teach and pass on is always the fruit of our teachers, the books we read, the information and observations we gather, the wisdom of our friends, and finally, how we absorb this knowledge and use it in our daily yoga practice and our daily life.
Three years is not enough to discover the deep implications, reasons and consequences of yoga. I offer an introduction and hope to develop in the student a solid base and love for yoga that will inspire him/her to continue with study and self-practice.
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The lineage of Vijnana yoga goes back to times when a guru had only a handful of disciples during his whole lifetime. They were selected according to an appropriate background, health and religion and from an early age were taught the art of yoga. One of these gurus was the great master Shri T. Krisnamacharya (1883-1987) who, in the presence of a French doctor voluntarily stopped his heartbeat, proving in this way his full control of all his body functions.
He was the distinguished teacher and guru of Pattabhi Jois (Ashtanga Yoga), of B.K.S. Iyengar (Iyengar Yoga) and T.K.V. Desikachar, his son. In our practice, we go back to his roots, when these three types of yoga were not yet divided.
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According to the great Vedanta philosopher Sankara, Vijnana is a deep understanding or knowing that cannot come about merely through outer knowledge. Even the knowledge expounded by our teachers and the inspiration we receive from spiritual texts is not enough. Vijnana is when inner clarity is revealed through personal experience.
Ramakrishna explains Vijnaa thus: “The awareness and conviction that fire exists in wood is Jñana (knowledge). But to cook rice on that fire, eat the rice and get nourishment from it is Vijnana”.
“Calling our practice Vijnana is but giving recognition to something that has always been there, something that is at the core of our discipline: Practicing, feeling, understanding - from the inside”. ~ Orit Sen-Gupta
Sources:
Vijnana - the act of distinguishing or discerning, understanding, recognizing, intelligence, knowledge, skill, art, science. ~ Monier Wiliams , Sanskrit-English dictionary p.961
“As direct as the physical vision sees and grasps the appearance of objects, so and far more directly does the gnosis (Vijnana) see and grasp the truth of things.” ~ Sri Aurobindo, Syntheses of Yoga, p. 463
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On this path, there are some essential elements that define our practice of Vijnana Yoga:
Meditation
Pranayamas, Kriyas and Vayus
Asana practice and the Vital Principles
The study of texts
“In our Vijnana yoga way of practicing, I am no longer breathing, I am “being breathed” by a larger breath of life. Without boundaries, I am not moving. Rather I am being moved in ways that are incredibly delicious, refreshing, supportive and non-personal.”
Teresa Caldas
Passing the knowledge
The Three Year Vijnana YogaTeacher Training Course includes a total of 750 hours.
Even though in yoga we cannot speak about objectives, there are several basic steps in the process of learning that must be taken. These do not follow a chronological order but should develop simultaneously.
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Meditation has been a recognized yoga method for the last 5000 years. The practice of meditation has a broad range of effects, spiritual or psycho-physiological, from attaining a higher state of consciousness, creativity and awareness of the self, to simply reaching a quiet and relaxed mind and body.
We can observe that the mind is always busy with the future or with the past. In meditation we can slow down the speed of thought and observe the silence of the present.
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By the practice of Pranayama (breath control) we carry the body beyond the mechanical level.
Kriyas (cleansing) - uddiyana bandha, agni sara, and nauli - are yoga practices to cleanse and strengthen.
Bandhas and vayus enhance the pranayama and the awareness of body and mind. They help connect the inner with the outer world. We reach a cellular consciousness that enables us to work in harmony with our body instead of against it, changing the quality of the vibration of body and mind.
This needs a well developed capacity for concentration, a fine intuition and an intense awareness of the breath.
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As a guide to our asana practice and to connect the body, the energy and the mind, we systematically use the principles as described in the book “Dancing the Body of Light” by Dona Holleman and Orit Sen-Gupta:
1. Relaxation of the body
2. Relaxation of the mind
3. Intent
4. Breath
5. Rooting
6. Connecting
7. Elongating
The first three principles (relaxing the body, relaxing the mind and intent) are related to a state of mind, the last three (rooting, connecting and elongating) are related to the body.
Breath is the link between body, mind and spirit, and leads us to the energy body.
Daily practice is essential. This includes meditation, kriyas, vayus, pranayama, āsanas and study of texts.
Students should use the Vijnana Yoga Practice Manual to guide their practice.
Other asana practice can be added.
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Several classical yoga books will be studied. A list of these books will be provided.
Without these studies there is little understanding of the background of yoga, or notion of its essence.
In the first chapter of the Yoga Sutras, Patanjali describes yoga as the restraining of the fluctuations of the mind/consciousness. What can this mean to us? Why do we practice and get fascinated by it?
During these three years, students will hopefully catch a glimpse of what it means to bring the mind to a state of calmness.
Each year a few books concerning the themes mentioned above are selected for reading and discussion.
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Students need to acquire a basic knowledge of anatomy, and a thorough understanding of how the body moves. Also important is the understanding of the mechanics of the body in relation to gravity. Observation of your own body and also that of others is required. This involves study, research, conclusions and possible changes. The body is our instrument and as such it has to be understood.
The Structure
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In the first year we will work on integrating the vital principles into our practice, followed by the didactics related to teaching: how to teach; how to distinguish between postures for beginners and those for advanced students.
The books selected are Hatha Yoga Pradipika, the Gueranda Samhita and the Siva Samhita.
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In the second year we will study Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, translated from Sanskrit by Orit Sen-Gupta. Commentary of Vyasa will be added.
Based on observations arising from the assisting process, and also out
of the student’s own practice, discussions will be held on:
• When and how to correct
• The process of teaching
• Professional and ethical behaviour
• Learning how to assist.
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In the third year we will study in detail the subject of therapeutic yoga: how to understand different physical problems; how to evaluate, help and improve.
The trainee teacher has to develop the skill of teaching each āsana according to the ability of the student.
By the third year it is essential to know the different āsana sequences and the Sanskrit names of the postures.
The book we use is Anatomy of Movement by Blandine Calais-Germain.
The philosophy book chosen is the Bhagavad Gita.
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Each of the first two years students are required to write an essay of 2 pages on the books read and discussed during each year.
In the third year, for the evaluation, students will present a project based on any yogic topic that calls their attention, or on any of the subjects studied during the three years. Other forms of presentation are possible if previously agreed: for example a film.
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After three years of attending the Vijnana Yoga Teacher Training Course, and complying with all the requirements for the assessment, students may apply for partaking in an assessment at the final weekend.
Requirements for the assessment:
• Development of a personal and regular daily practice that includes meditation, kriyas, vayus, pranayamas and asanas
• Assisting at beginners or advanced classes, learning how to place the hands and providing directions to follow. This has to be understood as a help and not as an imposition of the postures
• To be able to perform certain asanas, know their Sanskrit names and understand the asana performed
• To understand and integrate the Vital Principles in your own practice and while giving lessons
• To teach as an apprentice
• To have read and discussed the indicated books on several subjects
• To write one essay a year based on the texts or chosen books
• To present a project based on a subject of your own choice
For the assessment weekend, a Vijnana Yoga Teacher Trainer recognized by the Vijnanaa Yoga International Foundation, will be invited to participate in the evaluation of the students.
Newly qualified teachers will be registered on the website of the foundation.
The cost of the assessment weekend (€ 300) is not included in the yearly price.
However, the most meaningful reward you will receive is yoga itself, or your students who confirm your ability to transmit and share your knowledge and experience.
Ready to join us?
Get in touch with Teresa now. Upon registration, the first year fee of €1500 will be required.