"The only reason we choose to do yoga is for the pleasure — the literal pleasure — of our systems relaxing and filling with energy. It is not some struggle to enjoy a future result." — Mark Whitwell

In a world full of commodified "yoga" and the proliferation of brands and styles, how do we make sure we keep the heart in Yoga? How do we practice and teach in ways that respect and recognise each individual as the unique expression of life that they are? What are the practical tools that can help us feel our own intrinsic joy, freedom, and authority, and share this?

Investigate these questions together with a collective holding decades of experience of practice and of helping people find the right yoga for them. In the exquisite surroundings of Ubud, Bali, we will explore how Yoga is not just a physical workout, a collection of information, or a "spiritual" workout towards a future, better version of ourselves—rather, it is each person's direct participation in the nurturing force of reality, as it is appearing as you and everything else.

This training is not in any particular "style" of Yoga: it is the essential principles of body and breath, quite precise, as brought forth from the Indian tradition by the "teacher of the teachers," Tirumalai Krishnamacharya, and made uniquely relevant to us as modern people. You will therefore be able to apply these principles to any style or physicality of Yoga you wish to practice or teach, to make all Yoga individualized, effective, enjoyable, and safe. All bodies and backgrounds are welcome. We could call it “Advanced Yoga for Perfect Beginners.”

You can expect to receive yoga instruction that grounds your practice in interoception, feeling the body from the inside out, yoga as whole-body prayer to Life, yoga as spiritual practice, yoga as profound internal reverie. Not yoga as exercise.

If you have questions and would like to converse with a real human who will actually be there, send a message on whatsapp to Rosalind at +64 27 715 9538 to arrange a time to speak.

Syllabus: 

• Learn Krishnamacharya's basic principles of practice, restoring receptivity and sensitivity to asana (and life);

• Demystify asana, pranayama, bandha, meditation, and chanting as practical tools for each person's participation in reality;

• Explore how asana, pranayama, meditation, and life are a seamless process;

• Study Yoga history and philosophy, including the Yoga Sutras — but philosophy in the deepest sense of 'loving wisdom,' rather than just as dry theory;

• Learn the essential principle of "strength receiving" and how Yoga enables a person to feel and enjoy the union of all opposites;

• Unravel the "social dynamic of disempowerment" that can exist in teaching situations, and learn how to care and teach as a friend and equal;

• Connect with other genuine practitioners from around the world who want something more than a cookie-cutter teacher training;

• Learn about Vinyasa Krama, the art of appropriate sequencing (which includes more than asana);

• Learn how to shape Yoga to the individual, not the individual to Yoga;

• Learn the skills through Yoga to get your life right for you, and to help others do the same;

• Understand subtle anatomy and how breath and bandha are engaged to create correct alignment naturally;

• Deeply relax and feel the intrinsic beauty of our own nature, as nature.

Costs

$1700

• $500 deposit upon registration confirms your place.

• All amounts in US dollars

• Full payment due by four weeks before the starting day (end of September 2025).

• Scholarships available for Balinese students, please apply.

• 15% discount available for online studio supporting members (from at least 2024)

What this covers:

• Full tuition, mostly with Mark, with assistant teachers Rosalind Atkinson and others

• Sattvic daily lunch together

• One-on-one discussion and personal practice help with Mark, mentors, or assistant teachers as required

• Option for ongoing teacher mentoring online via access to the online weekly “teacher’s gatherings” for one year following on;

• Printed copy of teaching manual;

• Initiation of the heart of yoga certification process if you wish for it (this requires further teaching experience and ongoing relationship);

• Private time as required with Mark or assistant teachers

What is not included:

• Accommodation - there are plenty of great accommodation options nearby in the Penustanan area.

• Breakfast and evening meal (we just have lunch together)

• Airport transfers

Feel free to contact our retreat coordinator with questions or registration enquiries:

Is it the right training for me?

Some situations that have resonated with this training in the past:

• those who have been teaching in the heart of yoga;

• those teaching yoga but feeling bored or confused or disillusioned within it;

• those looking for a gathering that is about transformative relationships and accurate practice, not information-gathering;

• those who always sensed there is magic in yoga but haven’t quite been able to touch it;

• sincere devotees of diverse traditions who are looking for a whole-body practice to enact their devotion within;

• those who found Desikachar’s The Heart of Yoga or Mark’s Yoga of Heart useful

Those who really need highly strict schedules and predictability may struggle. The mood is fluid and responsive to the needs of the group. Exact lunch time and evening finishing time will vary according to the flow of the day.

This (un)training is in traditional tantric hathayoga made uniquely relevant and accessible in modern life. It is not about information gathering. Yoga is in your entire embodiment or it is nowhere. We explore subtle anatomy as the movement of energy in the body, not body part anatomy from a western medical perspective. You won’t learn names of muscles, bones or detailed labels on the body from the outside (if you have a personal interest in this, that’s totally fine). We will be considering how to share the precise practices that enable others to feel their own intrinsic intelligence, not trying to approximate that intelligence with mental knowledge.

Discussion will include relationships, sexuality and anything else in your life you wish to bring yogic understanding to. You can speak as much or as little as you like and be assured of being listened to with respect. This is a conversation, a two-way flow of information, not a broadcast or a lecture. It is not any kind of neo-tantric workshop or space. You will get the most out of it the more reading, questioning and exploration you bring with you. You are a co-creator of this course, not a consumer of it. It does not exist outside of your presence.