the sacred breath

Com­mon Ques­tions about this Train­ing

Is it a cer­ti­fied Train­ing?
Yes, com­plet­ing this Train­ing qual­i­fies as 75 Yoga Alliance Con­tin­u­ing Edu­ca­tion Hours and can also be used as part of the Svaru­pa Advanced (300Hr) Train­ing. A cer­tifi­cate is issued for 75 hours of Train­ing (The Sacred Breath — Advanced Pranaya­ma and Breath). This Train­ing is part of the stan­dards we hold at Svaru­pa.

Do I need to attend all the hours online dur­ing the Live Stream?
This is entire­ly up to the stu­dent. Many peo­ple do all of the hours live on zoom, from their own home or when­ev­er they want to be based for the course. Some peo­ple can­not attend all the hours live, and so they mix; some hours live on zoom with the group and some they watch record­ed. in some cas­es due to time zones, or sched­ules, a moti­vat­ed per­son can attend this course all as record­ed ses­sions with­in the 6 month year time lim­it. To get the cer­ti­fi­ca­tion there are sev­er­al sim­ple tests, and sub­mis­sions to prove that you have under­stood the work and the prac­tice.

How and When can I watch the Record­ings?
All par­tic­i­pants in this Train­ing, have access to a dig­i­tal library with a pass­word. They can access writ­ten doc­u­ments, spe­cial lec­tures, and all of the course hours prac­tices and talks includ­ing the Ques­tion and Answer sec­tions. Of course you can watch the con­tent on demand at any time and on repeat for up to 1 year from the time of the course begin­ning. Life­time access is extend­ed for some peo­ple that want to have that, for a fee.

The con­tent is gen­er­al­ly post­ed onto the Library the same day that the ses­sion hap­pens (often with­in a few hours). Peo­ple in dif­fer­ent time zones or with sched­ule con­flicts can do the ses­sions as close to the live time as pos­si­ble. In some cas­es peo­ple, do the ses­sions a few days or a week after it takes place to stay on the same rhythm. This can be dis­cussed to help you build the pro­gram in the most effec­tive way.

Does it mat­ter what time of day I watch the record­ings?
Ses­sions that are intend­ed for morn­ing or evening are labelled as such. Gen­er­al­ly the the­o­ry, lec­tures and dis­cus­sion ses­sions can be reviewed at your con­ve­nience and can be repeat­ed as often as you like. The prac­tice ses­sions are often designed for a spe­cial phase of the day and it’s rec­om­mend­ed to do them as close to those times as pos­si­ble. (exam­ples: morn­ing before eat­ing, ear­ly evening sun­set hours, just before sleep, dur­ing full moon, on men­stru­al cycle, etc.).

Can I attend some of the con­tent live in the sha­la with Stephen?
IN some cas­es, yes. But this must be dis­cussed in advanced as there is lim­it­ed space in the Cave, espe­cial­ly with the record­ing equip­ment. But some peo­ple enjoy this and we try to make some space. In gen­er­al we have found that peo­ple real­ly love to make a lit­tle alter at home and do the course from that space. This kind of sub­tle work does sur­pris­ing­ly well in this dig­i­tal envi­ron­ment.

Does a dig­i­tal online course real­ly work for such sub­tle work?
“It is inter­est­ing how much you can feel the trans­mis­sion of the ener­gy and the depth of the prac­tice plus the con­nec­tion to each oth­er, espe­cial­ly in the live zoom ses­sions. The course has been very suc­cess­ful in this way. Peo­ple can gen­er­al­ly dive deep into the prac­tice if they have a qui­et space in the home or on the road. The only thing miss­ing is the one-to-one con­tact. For that, we offer fol­low up retreats, spe­cial in house cours­es and pub­lic class­es in Bern and Zurich. But as a course, I con­tin­ue to offer in this for­mat because the feed­back has been pos­i­tive and encour­ag­ing. It works in this for­mat as a study and prac­tice tool” Stephen Thomas.

Is the course inter­ac­tive?
Yes, stephen and the guest teach­ers are teach­ing and guid­ing, but there are spaces after almost every prac­tice or the­o­ry ses­sion to have ques­tions and answers and these pro­vide oppor­tu­ni­ty to engage with each oth­er in the dig­i­tal set­ting. There is also oppor­tu­ni­ty to have 1 – 1 men­tor­ing ses­sions with Stephen or fac­ul­ty when that is desired or need­ed. Short 20 min ses­sions are offered as part of the course and longer ses­sions can be request­ed as part of the course or after the course for fol­low up.

Is there work between the Mod­ules?
Yes, There is a week­ly guid­ed pranaya­ma ses­sion that is uploaded to your Library every week. In addi­tion, there is an expec­ta­tion that you prac­tice min. 3 times per week (they are short prac­tices) to work on the var­i­ous themes and top­ics. There is guid­ance giv­en by email on what to prac­tice, when, and how. Like many train­ings, and things in life, the more you put into it — the more you get out. But it’s self direct­ed and a self moti­va­tion to do the prac­tices. There are also some excel­lent pre-course prac­tices to help you get ready and to get the most out of the course.

Do I need any­thing spe­cial to do the course?
Books — there are a few rec­om­mend­ed books to buy for the course. (approx. 50 USD). Oth­er­wise, most of the read­ing mate­r­i­al is pro­vid­ed as part of the course.

Props — it is high­ly rec­om­mend­ed to have; 1 yoga mat, 1 – 2 blan­kets which you can fold for the var­i­ous sit­ting posi­tions, 2 blocks, 1 yoga strap, 1 yoga bol­ster. there is a video that explains all of this. This allows you to dive deeply into the restora­tive and ther­a­peu­tic aspects of the breath.

Alter — silent, scared space to do the course, and to do the week­ly prac­tices is very use­ful

Is there a Man­u­al for the course?
Yes, there is an exten­sive 100 page + man­u­al offered for this course, includ­ing pho­tographs, details tech­niques, work­sheets and the­o­ry sec­tions. It is avail­able as a pdf in the Dig­i­tal Library. It is copy­right­ed and for your per­son­al use only. You are wel­come to print it as a hard copy.

Do I need expe­ri­ence to do this course?
Yes, some expe­ri­ence in Yoga is required. The capac­i­ty to feel sta­ble in some long restora­tive forms, to be able to sit for 20 mins in a steady way (even on many cush­ions or a chair is ok) and you should have at least touched the prac­tices of breath and pranaya­ma before. If not, there is an excel­lent begin­ners course to fol­low. If you’re uncer­tain, sched­ule a call with Stephen. Oth­er­wise, make the appli­ca­tion and we will fol­low up with you.