Vajra Yoga of New York City - Teacher Training Schedule

the School for Compassionate Action: Yoga & Meditation for Communities in Need (SCA)

we are no longer accepting new applicants for the Vajra Yoga & Meditation 200 - hour training, but we are accepting applications for SCA.

We are very pleased to announce some of our guest presenters for The School for Compassionate Action: Yoga & Meditation for Communities in Need program.

Venerable Ajahn Amaro, Co-abbott of Abhayaghiri Monastery, Roshi O'Hara of the Village Zendo, Dr. Wendy Barron PhD. Clinical Pyschologist at Gouverneur Hospital, Andrew Schuch MS, Child Study Center,Yale School of Medicine, Robin Boudette PhD, Princeton University, and some surprises soon to be announced!

The School for Compassionate Action (SCA) is both a training to develop the necessary professional skills to offer yoga and meditation to help others help themselves, as well as source for finding highly skilled teachers for a given population.

Our location varies according to where we are needed - hospitals, rehab centers, schools, half way houses and detention centers. We are primarily in the New York City area and soon we’ll be in Burlington Vermont and San Francisco California.

Our intention is to take action – in our community - and in yours.

Founded by Jill Satterfield in 2004 as the Social Action Teacher Training, SCA takes the traditions of yoga and meditation seriously – and respectfully takes them out of yoga studios and meditation centers and into places where they can reach those who may not have access, knowledge of or the money to practice them. Integrating these traditions into our society is our priority, and being trained well to do this is what we are about.

The School for Compassionate Action (SCA) Training

You can take the entire 5-month (February – June 2010) course, or come to a daylong or weekend workshop.

Our focus is with the following:

At - Risk Action- for working with at-risk youth and adults

Health Action – to help people living in chronic pain and with illnesses

Addiction Action – working people in recovery from alcohol, drugs and eating disorders.

Trauma Action – assistance to those locally affected by the World Trade Attacks and anyone coping with PTSD

The Skills You Will Develop in any of our Weekends:

How to practice and or teach:

Yoga asana with an emphasis on practicality, alignment and safety.
Meditation from the Buddhist tradition that is accessible and usable by many.
Breathing techniques for specific populations and personal conditions.
Visualization techniques to heighten the connection of body and mind.
The ability to access insight about your own body and mind

The Benefits to Enrolling in the Entire SCA Course:

In addition to the above, there are additional benefits to taking the whole course. By joining our community, you will receive:

Practicum teaching experience with the population(s) of your choice
Mentoring from SCA lead teachers and Founder Jill Satterfield
A weekly class with Jill
One private session with Jill
Community dinners and events with special guest teachers
Process groups with therapists and Social Workers
Job placement assistance
The opportunity to grow with us and become a lead teacher in New York and around the country
Discounted price for all 8 weekends
Letter of Certification

Join Us for a Day or Weekend:

You are welcome to drop in to a day or a full weekend – you will experience and learn from some of the brightest and most respected meditation and yoga teachers, therapists and Buddhist monastics in the country. Attending a day - long workshop, or full weekend does not include all the same benefits of joining the entire course, but plenty of enrichment none -the - less! Space is limited, so please register early.

Costs:
The entire course is 120 contact hours with additional practicum hours $2000

Dates:
February 5-7, 20-21
March 5-7, 20-21
April 10-11, 16-18
May – for those in the entire course there will be workshops with Venerable Ajahn Amaro and Jill
June 4-6

Scholarships/Work Study Opportunities:

We have limited number of scholarship/work study opportunities, if you are interested in signing up for this, please fill in the skill offering area of the application and we’ll be in touch.

We are Looking for Help! Do you have a business degree or marketing and PR skills? We are looking for the right people to join our team. We can make this a work-study position, or develop it as a paying position. Please write jill@schoolforcompassionateaction.org if this interests you and tell us a bit about yourself.

Hire a Highly Skilled Teacher

We would be happy to help you find one of our trained teachers to work with your class or group. Please write us with a description of your population, the dates and times you would like and we will find the perfect match for you: info@compassionateaction.org

The cost to hire a teacher will depend on your group, the location and duration of time. We will do our best to work within your financial means.

Be One of Our Training Sites:

We are open to more training opportunities with a variety of populations: at risk youth and adults, people in recovery, people in chronic pain and illness, PTSD and Trauma. If you or your organization is interested in having us, please contact Jill Satterfield: Jill@schoolforcompassionateaction.org for more information on how this works.

We are no longer accepting applications for the VY&M training...please check back for September 2010.

read below for our past subjects and presentations.

February
6th, 6-8 pm 438 Broome, 3s	200 hour Teacher Training: Meditation, orientation and dinner (for trainees only)
7th, 11 am-4 pm 4:30-6, 2nd semester students only Breathing Project	Meditative Awareness in Postures Traditionally, meditation hasn't been thought of as being a separate component of a yoga asana practice, but in the last 40 years, it has become less common to practice the two intertwined. Usually meditation is practiced a bit before, and maybe for a few minutes after an asana practice, making the two practices unnecessarily distinct. This workshop will focus on weaving meditation into asana by developing a 'meditative awareness' that will be the thread of the posture practice, and anywhere else this thread might be useful to you. The meditation practices taught will be from the Buddhist tradition. No prior experience with meditation is necessary, but familiarity with yoga is recommended. (Open to the public, click to register, space limited. $75)
8th, 11-3 3:30-4:30	Anatomy with Amy Matthews: the lower limbs (for trainees only) an hour of integration with Jill
March
13th, 6-8 438 Broome 3s 8:00 dinner for all trainees VY&M, SATT	Addiction Action with Loch Kelly Loch will present: A holistic understanding: Bio-psycho-social-spiritual approach to addiction and recovery. Why is addiction a dis-ease? What is the process of recovery like and what is helpful to people in recovery? What are particuar areas of concern for working with people in recovery? What is the interface between biological, psychological, social and spiritual approches to recovery? Where do yoga and meditation fit in?
14th, 11-4 4:30-6, 2nd semester students only Breathing Project	Standing poses, Alignment and Assists This workshop is for yoga teachers and VY teacher trainees. Register here ($50, space limited, email for more information).
15th, 11-2 438 Broome 3s	Resiliency training for at risk youth with Dr. Fran Clemente In this workshop we will look deeper into the subject of resilience by investigating how survivors of troubled families rise above adversity. Resiliency is the capacity to bounce back from hardship inflicted in life. While this hardship can cause enduring pain, often it is also the breeding ground for uncommon strength and courage. We will learn how pain can become opportunity and by learning about resilience we can become resilient ourselves. We will study the mind/body connection between adversity and resilience and discover how we can better serve the youth we work with. (Register here, $35, space limited, email for more information)
15th, 3-5 438 Broome 3s	*The resilient mind; meditation and discussion with Jill* Register here, space limited, $15.
April
3rd, 6-8 location tba	Metta and loving kindness/ compassion meditation with Jill
4th, 11-4 4:30-6, 2nd semester students only Breathing Project	Learning to 'See' Others Clearly, Take the Temperature of a Room, and Prescribe Accordingly with Jill Satterfield How to take the temperature of a class. How to ‘see’ someone’s mind and mood in the body. How to appropriately sequence a class based on what we ‘see’. Sequencing for various moods and disorders – both meditation and asanas This day will be full of ‘what if’ scenarios as we practice ‘seeing’ the moods and minds of our students. Not only will this ‘seeing’ ability be useful in open classes, but essential for teaching a private, and working with specific populations. In taking the metaphorical temperature of a room, or of an individual, we hone our intuition by beginning with basic anatomical clues – breath and posture, and sensing tone of voice, energy etc. These outward and subtle signals help us as teachers to develop a sixth sense - in reading someone more and more clearly, and offering the best yoga/meditation antidote to what we 'see'. As important as the development of this sixth sense is the sense of humor that needs to accompany the inevitable occasional mis-readings we might encounter. And last but not least, we will draw on the practice of Metta for ourselves and others so that we can loosen any feelings of being separate from our students by relating deeply to ourselves and responding to the “quivering of the heart in response to suffering”. (one of the classical descriptions of compassion in the Buddhist tradition) *** This workshop is for yoga teachers and VY trainees only. $55, email for more information.
5th, 10:30-1:30 438 Broome St 3s	Working with at risk youth with Andrew Schuch. 2:30-4:30 with Jill Andrew will introduce ways to take the temperature of a room full of at risk youth. Knowing that each class room of at risk kids can be a disparate and frenetic arena, Andrew will teach us how to stay in control of the class, how to relate to different issues coming from many minds at once, and how to keep our selves calm and relatively at ease in these high energy situations. There will be a brief overview of some of the conditions that we will encounter with at risk youth. Andrew will present his talk “Psychopathology and Trauma” again in the fall. Register here, $60 for the whole day.
May
8th, 6-8 438 Broome 3s	The four foundations of mindfulness; talk and meditation with Jill
9th Breathing Project	Asana and meditation intensive
10th, 11-3 438 Broome 3s	Anatomy with Amy Matthews; the upper limbs
June
5th, 6-8 438 Broome 3s	SATT
6th, 11-5 Breathing Project	one on one clinic
7th, 5-9	graduation dinner
Past Workshops - Fall 2008 September
26th, 7 pm	*Orientation dinner at Jill's*
27th, 11 am - 5 pm open, 5 pm - 6 pm for second semester students The Breathing Project 15 W. 26th st. 10th fl	*Tadasana, the Thread of All Physical and Energetic Postures* In order to understand alignment and it's role in keeping us safe in asana practice, how it re-structures the physical and eventually energetic body, and wakes up the flow of consciousness through the central channel, we need a basic understanding of tadasana. We'll explore how to 'see' tadasana in many different types of postures; standing, seated, lying down, upside down - whatever shape we're in alignment principles remain the same. Tadasana is the 'clue' for all postures - once you get it, your practice changes dramatically. (Open to the Public, space limited $90. Email Jill to register)
28th, 11 am - 5 pm 438 Broome st. 3s	*Anatomy with Amy Matthews : Breath (the big subject)*
October
11th, 11 - 5 pm	Vajra Yoga & Meditation In The Body; A Practical Focus On Pain And Discomfort **Required for SATT for working with chronic pain and illness. The Tibet House, 22 West 15th Street, New York City. Detailed Information
17th, 6 pm - 8 pm	*Meditation and Talk: Resiliency training for at risk youth with Jill and Dr. Fran Clemente* (Open to the public, click to register. Space is very limited. $30)
18th, 11 am - 5 pm open, 5 pm - 6 pm for second semester students The Breathing Project	*The Bandhas: Foundations of an Asana and Meditation Practice* The bandhas aren't taught in a very elegant ways anymore. They are paid basic lip service and not really explained. We will look at the bandhas in depth, and with all their glorious subtleties to understand why they are the foundations for postures and meditation and how they both protect the physical body and move energy through the system. The bandhas work hand in hand with alignment, so we can understand and experience them esoterically or physically. Whichever door we enter, it leads to the same (fantastic!) experiences. (Open to the Public, click to register, space limited $90.)
19th, 11 am - 5 pm 438 Broome St. 3s	*Avoiding the Minefield: Working Effectively with At-Risk Youth and Adults* Co-taught by Jill Satterfield and Andrew Schuch, this workshop will explore the potential difficulties of working with an at-risk population. We will discuss effective ways to structure a class, work with defiant members, and engage the students. Written information will be given to take home including a list of 'don'ts' when teaching a class. (Open to the public, click to register, $125)
November
14th, 6 pm - 7:30 pm 438 Broome St. 3s	*The Four Noble Truths: Meditation, Contemplation, Discussion* The Four Noble Truths were the very first teachings that the Buddha gave, and the platform of all Buddhist understanding. We will do all of the above listed in the title as well as examine how living with these 4 simple truths can alter our lives for the better. (Open to the public, click to register, space limited, recommended donation $15.)
15th, 11 am - 5 pm open, 5 pm - 6 pm for second semester students The Breathing Project	*Inner and Outer Alignment; Standing Postures* When we combine the tadasana 'clue' with the bandha's and an understanding of breath, standing postures make so much more sense and become so much easier! We will practice the many 'basic' standing poses, and their emotional/energetic ramifications, so that you will know how and why to prescribe them for a class or your own practice. (Open to the public, click to register, space limited. $90)
16th, 11 am - 3 pm 438 Broome St. 3s	*Anatomy: Muscles*
December
5th, 6 pm - 8 pm 438 Broome St. 3s	*Addiction Action: Working with Adults and Youth in Recovery from Drugs and Alcohol with Jill Satterfield and Paige Kelly MS.* Join Jill and Paige for a thoughtful and lively discussion about working with those in recovery programs. Learn how to develop a class or program appropriate for recovery, and language useful to help people in recovery work with what is. (Open to the public, click to register, space limited. $30)
6th, 11 am - 5 pm, 5 pm - 6 pm for second semester students The Breathing Project	*Inner and Outer Alignment: the Hips* The hips are part of the root system of the physical body, as well as an extremely important place for the energetic body. Space in the hips is relative - due to our individual bone structures - therefore spacious hips can mean open muscles, deep and plentiful breath in the belly, awareness of sensations in the first two energy centers, settled winds in the pelvic bowl, just to name a few. We'll go exploring in this region, carefully... with lot's of humor... and patience! (Open to the public, click to register, space limited. $90)
7th, 11 am - 5 pm	*Trauma, Yoga and Meditation: Ways to Heal. With Jill Satterfield and Andrew Schuch* This workshop will examine and define the nature of psychological trauma and how it affects the human brain. Discussion will revolve around PTSD-type symptoms, anxiety and depression; and how they are linked to traumatic experiences. We will also discuss what yoga postures (and sequences) for each symptom, and what meditation techniques are useful for the same applications. (Open to the public, click to register, space limited. $125)