ADVANCED YOGA TEACHER STUDIES: PRANAYAMA TEACHER TRAINING (PTT, 200 hours, 14 months)

Why this PTT?
My reasons are as follows:
  • As a very little child (4 or so) I got breathing exercises from a breathing coach because I suffered a lot as I couldn’t breathe well because of Asthma.
  • In 2011 I did an Ashtanga weekend workshop with Dr. Paul Dalaghan in Eindhoven. He is the owner of Samahita Retreat Centre on Koh Samui. He told me about his Pranayama studies he did with Pranayama Master Dr. O.P. Tiwari. I became very  interested.
  • In 2014 I learned the Ashtanga pranayama and started to do (the 35 minutes) practice on a daily basis until 2022. These were strong pranayama practices with both internal as well as external breath retentions.
  • In 2021 my current pranayama teacher Sudhirji Tiwari came to teach a pranayama workshop for Delight Yoga, where I worked as a teacher. Some time after the workshop Delight started the first year of the PTT with Sudhirji. At that moment my thought was how can I further expand my knowledge about yoga outside the field of asana. This was the perfect opportunity. So I did.
  • After finishing the first year there was an opportunity to start the remaining two years of the study. This time in India at the Ashram of Kaivalyadhama. I decided to do these intensive studies. Meaning in two years time traveling six times to India.
  • In Febuary 2025 I completed the 3 year (1,500 hours) Pranayama studies and became certified to teach Pranayama in the lineage of Kaivalyadhama, which is a founding member of the Indian Yoga Association. Together with the certification came the accreditation to teach this 200-hours PTT.
  • Although the long study finished my daily practices still include Pranayama, Asana, Kriyas and Meditation. I can only conclude that the study of the Pranayama became the gateway to understand what Yoga really is.
  • I hope that with the PTT I can give you the tools to further expand your Yoga horizon and start feeling that besides the beautiful benefits that Asana practice gives there is much more to discover.
Laura Bliek and Reinier Dorrepaal will host a PTT at Jai Yoga in Leiden. This course is open to people who regularly practice Hatha Yoga or Ashtanga Yoga.
Both teachers have completed the 3 year (1,500 hours) PTT at Kaivalyadhama and are certified to teach Pranayama in the lineage of Kaivalyadhama. Furthermore we have received the accreditation to teach this 200-hours PTT. Kaivalyadhama is a founding member of the Indian Yoga Association.
Added value of the training:
  • The goal of this course is to provide authentic, authoritative training in the practice of pranayama based on the texts and science of yoga as taught in the Kaivalyadhama lineage.
  • The course will cover techniques of pranayama, associated techniques (kriyas) and the effects of practice in the light of Ayurveda.
  • Given the growing worldwide interest in Pranayama and its powerful effects, it’s vital that the practice is taught correctly with techniques that have been tested for hundreds of years in the authentic yoga tradition and have been tested from a scientific point of view.
  • The practice of Pranayama has a major impact on human physiology and psychology. This is why the discipline must be approached with the caution. Only progressive, adapted, precise and dedicated exercise can bring the benefits described in Hatha Yoga texts.
  • That’s why the Kaivalyadhama Institute has designed a 3-year training program in which students acquire a correct understanding of Pranayama practices, both from a practical and theoretical point of view, as well as experientially, so that they can in turn pass on this knowledge themselves. The aim is to provide authentic, rigorous and authoritative teaching from the point of view of both traditional texts and modern science.
  • You will learn practice and teach traditional Hatha Yoga asana (poses) practice.
  • The training is held at Jai Yoga, Haagweg 4 G5 in Leiden.
  • The training days are on Saturdays. Only the four exam days are on Saturday as well as Sunday. If possible we plan around school vacations.
  • Subject to successful completion of the course the participant will receive a certificate attesting to their competence in teaching basic pranayama without breath retention. This certificate gives access to the second year of the Kaivalyadhama Institute’s 3-year PTT-program.
  • Duration and methods: 200 hours of group teaching, plus regular personal practice together with reading work (150 additional hours). So number of hours amounts to 350.
  • The PTT starts 10th January 2026 and is completed on 7th March 2027 dates and times you can find in the time schedule (click to see the schedule).
  • Price: € 2,385. Deposit on registration amounts to € 625. The remaining amount should be paid two weeks before the start of the course.
  • Price does not include books. The additional amount to purchase the obligatory books for this course amounts to € 115. Jai Yoga can provide these books.
  • After registration you will receive a confirmation / invoice, a pre-course homework assignment, the booklist and the time schedule.
  • Duration: 200 hours of teaching in group over two one week workshops and one ten day workshop (23 days in total). Regular personal practice and study are expected from the participants between the workshops.

If you are considering enrolling, I would like to invite you to read some of the references I have received from students joining the Ashtanga Teacher Training of Jai Yoga. In the past 10 years 72 students have completed this Ashtang YTT. The year 2026 – 2027 will be the first year we teach this Pranayama TT at Jai Yoga.

 

 

Kaivalyadhama Institute:

The Kaivalyadhama Institute was founded in 1924 by Swami Kuvalayananda, who was commissioned by his master to validate the empirical benefits of traditional yoga with modern science. Kaivalyadhama is dedicated to the research, teaching, study and transmission of traditional yoga, in accordance with the fundamental principles laid down for millennia by the great sage Patanjali. Kaivalyadhama enjoys a very high reputation, thanks first and foremost to the seriousness of the studies carried out here, but also to the profound respect for yogic tradition that permeates the premises. Among other things, the institute offers:

  • A center for scientific research into yoga and its impact on physical and mental health.
  • A center for the study of Sanskrit, philosophy and ancient texts.
  • A university for the study of yoga.
  • An Ayurvedic treatment center.
  • A Naturopathic center.

To find out more, visit the institute’s website https://kdham.com

Click to register or to ask your question.

 

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