200-hour ‘Untraining’

"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 level 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.” Everyone’s practice will look different because we are all different.

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.

Vision

In the company of Mark Whitwell and Rosalind Atkinson, and each other, we will:

  • 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.

dates are confirmed and venue paid, you are safe to book flights

Cost and Accommodation Options

Cost varies by accommodation option chosen.

What this covers

  • Full tuition with Mark and assistant teachers

  • Delicious and nutritious daily breakfast and lunch buffet from the plant-based kitchen

  • One-on-one discussion and personal practice help as required

  • Option for ongoing mentoring with Mark and brilliant teachers at all levels of experience around the world via an invitation to the “teacher’s gatherings” weekly for the rest of 2024

  • Balinese ceremony with Tya and Nevin

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

  • 14 nights accommodation (unless offsite option chosen).

  • Printed copy of comprehensive teaching manual

  • Use of the pool looking over the ricefields

Accommodation Options

Bunkroom sleeps four

1. Bunk Room: single bed in shared bunk room of 4: $2300 (two beds still available)

Simple room with single bed and access to shared bathroom

2. Simple Room: private small single room w access to shared bathroom: $2500 (one available)

Villa, showing Shared living and kitchen space, with Mezzanine bed visible top right.

3. Private cottage with A/C, private garden, small kitchenette, own bathroom $2700 (four still avail)

4. Villa king room with AC, pool and private outdoor ensuite $2750

5. Villa king room with AC, river view, pool and private ensuite with outdoor bath $2950 (FULL)

6. Villa king bed on mezzanine $2500 (1 still avail)
Click here for more villa images

7. Own accommodation offsite: $2050 (lunch still included, breakfast can be by arrangement) (many nice hotels in the close area, within 2 mins walk, we can recommend options)

How to book

  • $750 deposit upon registration confirms your place.

  • All amounts in US dollars

  • Full payment due by one week before the starting day (10th March).

  • Scholarships available including for Balinese students, please apply.

  • Bali 2020 cohort who were disrupted by the pandemic are warmly invited to attend as guests, you will just need to cover or arrange your own accommodation costs as prior.

  • 15% discount available for online studio supporting members (from at least 2023)

  • Fee reduction or scholarships available for Bali residents, please apply

What is not included

  • evening meal (as people may like to dine out around Ubud or have quiet time – food delivery options provided)

  • airport transfers - we recommend trusted drivers however

  • massage - optional, available to be booked onsite

  • any other optional extras

You will need to look after dinner for yourself in the on-site restaurant or one of the many healthy delicious options of Ubud.

Schedule (flexible)

Friday
Arrive any time after 2pm. It’s recommended not to fly in on this day, give yourself a day or two to recover if travelling, more if possible. Many flights arrive into Bali late at night and its better to arrive at least a day ahead.
Everyone takes care of their own dinner: onsite restaurant available. Gather at 7pm.

Regular schedule
7am: morning personal practice, transitioning from guided to completely personal
8am: breakfast
9am-12.30pm morning session (lecture, discussion, asana, pranayama, dhyana)
1pm-ish Lunch
3pm-6pm, sometimes 6.30pm: afternoon session
Everyone does their own dinner
Evening activities: on several evenings there may be organised activities such as music, movie night

Last day
Morning practice, breakfast, pack rooms, morning session/ceremony, lunch together, depart

Balinese traditional blessings/ceremonies and live music are woven into the training.

Accreditation

This programme can be used for 200hr registration with the Yoga Alliance and for certification with the Heart of Yoga Alliance. Our certification process to becomes a fully qualified teacher requires ongoing teaching practice and mentoring, an organic and personal process that takes a different amount of time for each person.

This process is designed for those who require certification for certain workplaces, however, we teach that the main requirements for a teacher are: 

  1. That you have your own daily yoga practice

  2. That you have a good teacher

  3. That you truly care about others

This training will give you the tools to meet these sincere human requirements, in addition to the ‘official’ certification.

Prerequisites / Required Reading

Prior to the course beginning, students are required to read: 

  1. Heart of Yoga by T.K.V. Desikachar

  2. Yoga of Heart by Mark Whitwell

  3. God and Sex: Now We Get Both by Mark Whitwell with Rosalind Atkinson and Andy Raba

It’s also recommended that you read the full essay “The Yoga of Love and Sex” on this website.

These texts are indispensable for helping you discover whether this is the right training for you, based on resonance with the teachings. Please only come if you have read these texts, and done a class with Mark or watched videos online and felt a personal resonance. Teaching happens within that relationship, not as an info-dump from an authority.

FAQ

Is it the right gathering for me?

Some people who have resonated with this ‘un’training in the past:

  • those who have been practicing in the heart of yoga and transitioning to teaching;

  • 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 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 as a text

  • those who have trained with students of Mark and would like to take the opportunity to “go to the source”

How is it different from most other yoga trainings?

We look back to the actual practice tradition brought through by Krishnamacharya that is mostly not available in the yoga industry. Once you taste the power of your own breath, you cannot go back.

You will not be cramming your head with endless knowledge. It is an experiential process for the whole body, allowing you to teach from the body’s intuition, not from the head’s knowledge.

We don’t presume to try and know better than each person’s natural bodily intelligence… what could know better than the force that grew you from a single cell, and presently beats your heart and moves your breath? So there is no gross adjustment, and no imposition of teacher knowledge over another person. We learn to share the breath practices through which each person can participate in the power and beauty of their own natural life. As such there is no hierarchy because each person is already the beauty of the natural world.

We usually host a very diverse group of ages, nationalities, and a pretty even balance of male and female. There is no one “type” of person drawn to study with Mark, it tends to be those drawn to what is authentic and deep, and we come in all shapes and sizes.

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 and love. 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.

 

Use this form for questions or registration enquiries