Sacred Breath | Pranayama Teacher Training | LIVESTREAM

Melanie Cooper | 2 Nov - 11 Dec 2024 | 35 hours | Price: £450

Pranayama is an ancient practice of controlling the breath and through this, increasing and purifying our energy and lifeforce. Pranayama is a great tools for modern day life, a way in which we can change our mental and energetic state through our nervous system. The breath is an important bridge of communication between our body and mind and for many learning how to control the breath can be a transformational experience. Breath can also be utilised to turn our attention inwards, away from our minds chatter and into a quieter more meditative space. The potential benefits of Pranayama are endless and this course is attended by a wide breadth of students looking to help a wide range of clients as well as for their own personal wellness.

This 8-session exploration of Pranayama is both theoretical and practical. Students will receive a personalised self-practice, together with the knowledge and tools to start including Pranayama in classes or workshops. The course focuses on all aspects of Pranayama, including how to practice, the roots of Pranayama, benefits and contra-indications. The course is delivered via 8 livestream sessions with catch up recordings available for those who cant attend. We do recommend you attend mostly via livestream to allow involvement in the experience of the practices but also discussions and the chance to ask questions.

Students are encouraged to attend all the sessions live and must at the very least attend the first and last sessions live. For those who can’t always attend the livestream sessions, the recordings will be be sent out to you to catch up. This course can be attended as a stand-alone course or as an optional module on our 300-hour programme.

Pranayama Teacher Training Course Overview

Melanie Cooper will dive deep into the subtle art of yogic breathing on this 8-week course. You will receive a personalised self practice together with the knowledge and tools to start including Pranayama in your teaching.

This course will give you an in-depth understanding of:

The philosophy behind the practices
The anatomy of breathing
The ancient practices – where they come from and how they fit into a modern practice?
Breath and the Nervous system
Breath and the brain
Increasing the resilience and strength of the lungs and breathing system
What modern science has found about Pranayama?
How to introduce Pranayama to your teaching

The course covers many topics that are important for those who want to teach this wonderful practice, including the who, when, where and how of each technique. Learning how to incorporate Pranayama will greatly expand your horizons as a teacher and through the course you will receive ongoing personalised support in developing your own personal pranayama practice.

Pranayama Course Content

Each session will take an in-depth look at different practices and how to make them safe and trauma sensitive for practitioners. In each session we will cover:

the practicalities of each practice
the science behind each practice
the cautions and contra-indications
who will suit the Pranayama and what the benefits are
the nuts and bolts of how to lead the practice

There will be two guest recorded sessions as follows:

Trauma Informed Pranayama with Josefin Wikström (see below)
Teaching Children Pranayama with Ayala Homossany

You will also receive a pdf written manual, plus 8-hours worth of a Video Manual, including all the basic knowledge and information plus guided practices to support your personal practice and teaching.

Are you interested in this Course?

Melanie Cooper Biography

(E-RYT 500)

Melanie Cooper is passionate about Pranayama & how simple techniques and the magic of the breath can give us such amazing benefits physically but also mentally and emotionally. Her approach to Pranayama is grounded in science and a trauma sensitivity to make sure that we teach in a way that is safe, accessible and positive for all. As well as the physical benefits, Pranayama can help us to deepen our meditation and bring states of profound stillness and silence.

Melanie studied in Goa, India with Emil Wendle and taught nightly Pranayama classes in India for many years. Melanie also worked for 10 years in a mental health setting sharing simple powerful breath techniques to support and nourish. Her approach is grounded in experience and science – she shares this knowledge in a structured and accessible way that meets each person where they are and makes the practice right for them

Working as a yoga teacher is amazing – but it also takes a lot of energy – and can be very draining if you do not look after yourself. It’s very easy to not give ourselves that time/attention/self care – so in the training we will also place emphasis on how to create space for your own health and practice: to stay balanced and mentally strong.

You can visit Melanie’s website here

Josefin Wikström Biography

TCTSY-F, e-RYT 500, YACEP, RCYT, Yoga therapy for the mind, Yoga in Health Care Alliance, Trauma Research Foundation

Josefin Wikström is the founder of Trauma-Adapted yoga (TAY) in Sweden and is educated at and has a close collaboration with former Trauma Center in Boston now Trauma Research Foundation founded by Dr. Bessel van Der Kolk. She is also a licensed facilitator within the evidence-based method Trauma Sensitive Yoga TCTSY-F and a licensed experienced yoga teacher trainer (e-RYT 500). She is in ongoing training with Harvard Medical School and their Global trauma program

Josefin is also the European Director of Programs for the Prison Yoga Project and one of their main teachers for international training. She has been working with trauma exposed populations internationally for the past 17 years and the human encounters and shared moments the yoga practices provide is her inspiration and resource in her work. Josefin and the Prison yoga Project is a part of The Trauma Research Foundation therapeutic alliance. Josefin holds a yoga therapy certification with The Minded Institute and is an approved therapist through Yoga in Health Care Alliance and British Council of Yoga therapy

She has facilitated weekly classes at maximum security prisons for men and women in Sweden for the past 13 years. Author of the book “Freedom from the inside” Yoga Therapy for female inmates, published in the US and UK 2021, co-creator of the methods in the book “Yoga as therapy in an institutional environment” published in Mexico and South America on behalf of the UN 2018

Josefin lectures on the therapeutic potential of yoga in an institutional environment in international contexts such as at the House of Lords British Parliament, International Trauma Conference Boston USA, Yoga in Health Care conference in London and more

Ayala Homossany Biography

Teacher Trainer, E-RYT/ YACEP/SYT/BWY Teacher/ Yoga Therapy Trainee

Ayala Homossany is a certified yoga therapist, having completed 580 hours of training with the Minded Institute and currently working towards her 820-hour certification to become an internationally accredited yoga therapist. Today, her primary focus is on therapeutic yoga, offering tailored practices that address complex conditions such as trauma, anxiety, ADHD, and emotional regulation through various yoga therapy techniques.

As a Senior Yoga Teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) and the lead trainer in Enchanted Wonders ’children’s yoga and mindfulness training, Ayala is also the founder of Enchanted Wonders Ltd. She is the creator of the award-winning and best-selling Enchanted Wonders A-Z Yoga Cards, a tool designed to inspire creativity, self-expression, and imagination in children and families.

With over two decades of experience and more than 1,400 hours of specialist training, Ayala’s work today is centred on therapeutic yoga. She integrates meditation, pranayama, breath awareness, Yoga Nidra, restorative yoga, and mindful self-compassion practices into her teaching. Her therapeutic approach addresses anxiety, trauma, ADHD, and emotional regulation, offering practical tools to support healing and personal growth.

Ayala has had the privilege of studying with many world-renowned teachers, including Kristin Neff, Chris Germer, Doug Keller, Judith Hanson Lasater, Jyoti Manuel, Janina Fisher, Bessel van der Kolk, Robin Rothenberg, and Lisa Kaley Isley, as well as from the living lineage of Tantric Hatha Yoga under ParaYoga.

Her teaching philosophy emphasises empowering students to appreciate themselves, discover their inner voice, and stay curious and playful in their practice. She is currently spearheading the integration of yoga therapy into mainstream schools in London, with a particular focus on supporting children with ADHD. Ayala is also a member of the ‘Yoga in Society ’All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) in the British Parliament, advocating for the benefits of yoga in public health and education.

Ayala is collaborating on the book Yoga Therapy for Complex Trauma, scheduled for publication in 2025. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Visual Communication Design with honors from the Holon Institute of Technology (HIT) and resides in London with her husband and three boys, now a teenager and young adults.

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