Teacher Training

DATES for 2024 at Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing

Friday, January 26 (check in 3-6pm; program starts 7pm)
until Friday, February 16 (check out and depart after lunch)

Contact Anna if you’re interested or have questions.

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION

TUITION: $3,000

ROOM and BOARD at Dharmakaya: Prices are all inclusive (includes tuition fee)

Private Room (shared bath): $5,436
Junior Suite (private bath): $6,360

Couple Pricing also available (shared room with one double bed).

REGISTER on Dharmakaya’s Website
(after Application has been accepted)

This is a 3-week INTENSIVE TRAINING, with NO days off.

The Daily Schedule is as follows:

6:00am Coffee/Tea
6:30-7am Meditation
7-9am Morning Yoga
9-10am Breakfast
10am-1pm Learning Session
1-2pm Lunch
2-4pm Learning Session
4-5:30 Afternoon Yoga
5:30-6pm Learning Session
6-7pm Dinner
7-9pm Personal Study Time
10pm Lights Out

FACULTY

ANNA (Amba) WINKLER, Director of Shakti Yoga & living arts, E-RYT500, YACEP, LMT

Anna has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1989. She was originally certified through the Sivananda Yoga Organization, where she served as a volunteer staff member for over 6 years. Among many other things, she assisted in the Yoga Teacher Training courses and modeled for 2 yoga books during her time there: Yoga, Mind and Body and 101 Essential Tips: Yoga.

Anna began practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 1997 with Eddie & Jocelyn Stern, as well as other authorized teachers, including Pattabhi, Saraswati, Manju and Sharath Jois, Nancy Gilgoff, Tim Miller, and others. She began teaching Ashtanga in 2002. Anna began studying and practicing Iyengar Yoga at Studio Yoga (now Santosha Yoga) in Madison (and with other Senior Iyengar teaches) in 2007. She received her second 500 hour teaching certificate from Theresa Rowland of Studio Yoga in 2014.

Anna teaches an Alignment Based Hatha Yoga class. She has been teaching in the Maplewood area since 2001, She is the founder and director of Shakti Yoga & living arts since June 2005 (formerly the Yoga Room in Millburn).

Anna graduated from Nalanda Institute‘s Contemplative Psychotherapy Program (Compassion Module) in May, 2021. In March, 2022, she became a certified Compassion Based Resilience Training (CBRT) teacher, also with the Nalanda Institute. Anna graduated from the first Embodiment Module of the CPP in June, 2023. She thoroughly enjoys sharing these teachings with the community.

Anna is honored to serve on the Board of Directors and as a teacher at the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing, a retreat center in Cragsmoor, NY, founded by her teacher, Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche.

Anna’s teaching style is both challenging and nurturing. With a dash of humor, a focus on alignment and sometimes just going with the flow, her classes will leave you feeling worked, yet tranquil and energized.

Donna (Amrita) Davidge, Director of Sewall House Yoga Retreat, E-RYT500, YACEP

Donna Amrita Davidge, E-RYT500, YACEP is the Director of Sewall House Yoga Retreat. Donna took her first yoga class in college in the 1970’s but it was not until the mid 1980’s that she immersed herself in learning yoga, first teaching Kundalini Yoga and then branching out to teach other forms of yoga based on studies with Dharma Mittra, Eddie Stern (Ashtanga) and Genny Kapuler (Iyengar). She has taught full time for over 35 years in New York City, and since 1997 at her yoga retreat in northern Maine www.sewallhouse.com. She has taught at Golden Bridge, Kundalini Yoga East, Pure Yoga and the Open Center, among other places in Manhattan. She has a popular Chakra Series online with Daily Om and has created other products over the years as well. Her teaching ranges from restorative to active vinyasa, including nidra and yin. Her love for chanting, pranayama and meditation came our of her studies with Kundalini Yoga.

Donna has been offering 200 hour Yoga Alliance Teacher Trainings twice a year since 2009 in Maine at her retreat. In 2019 her memoir was published, part the story of how yoga helped heal her and part the journey of purchasing her ancestral home to create a haven for healing. www.donnadavidgeyoga.com

“If you’re looking for a relatable grounded master teacher, that’s what you’ll find in Amrita’s detail oriented, highly informed yoga classes. Conscious, mild paced, and attentive is her style.”

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

To receive your teaching certificate you must attend the entire program of 181 contact hours. You can miss up to 12 hours of this, but anything more than that must be made up in a private session (1 hour private tutoring per 3 hours missed) at a rate of $95/hour. If you miss more than 19 contact hours, you cannot make it up in private sessions and you will not receive a teaching certificate, even though you have paid in full for the training.

You must complete all homework assignments (including teaching, giving and receiving feedback) and the final exam.

YOGA ALLIANCE CERTIFICATION

You will need your Yoga Teacher Training Certificate of Completion (received at the end of the training. Go to www.yogaalliance.org and follow the directions there.

TESTIMONIALS

“This has been one of the best learning experiences in my life so far. In only three weeks, I’ grown into a joyous and confident yoga teacher! The teaching was very intimate, which allowed us to learn from our teachers and each other. We spent lots of time studying Sanskrit, Yogic lifestyles, and Patanjali’s Sutras. It wasn’t just learning asanas, although we spent a good amount of time on that, too. We were introduced to different schools of yoga, such as Iyengar, Kundalini, Sivananda, and Ashtanga. It broadened our vision in our personal practice and was also helpful for our future career goals. Our two fabulous teachers, Amba and Donna/Amrita, has motivated me greatly with their lifelong devotion to the learning and practicing of yoga. Both of them are strong, powerful women with so much love and wisdom. I will cherish everything they shared with us forever. I am now determined to practice yoga my whole life, and to share my understand of yoga to everyone else.” ~ Dr. Tedi Zeng, 2022

“Extremely experienced and knowledgable instructors. Great teaching environment and practice.” ~ Pnina Zmora, 2022

DATES FOR 2023 AT SHAKTI ONGOING

14 Tuesdays 6-9pm, April 25 – September 12(no Tuesdays evenings July 4 – August 15)
18 Mondays 6-9pm, July 10 – August 14 & Sept 18 – Dec 4
9 Thursdays 6-9pm April 20 & Oct 5 – December 7 (no class November 23)

7 Weekends: Saturday & Sunday 1-5pm
June 3 & 4, July 29 & 30, Aug 5 & 6, Sept 16 & 17, Oct 14 & 15, Nov 11 & 12, Dec 2 & 3

Contact Anna if you’re interested or have questions. Hope you’ll join us…

DOWNLOAD APPLICATION

TUITION: $3,200 if paid in full at least 1 week before the start date. $3,400 if paid in full after that, but before the start date. Monthly payment plan is available, due on the first class of each month at $400 per month, with an initial payment of $800 due before the start date (so no payment in the last month) for a total of $3,600.

Anna Winkler will be the primary teacher, with assistance from other Shakti Teachers and perhaps some outside teachers as well for Anatomy & Philosophy. The style you will learn to teach is Alignment Based Classical Hatha Yoga.

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FACULTY

ANNA (Amba) WINKLER, Director of Shakti Yoga & living arts, E-RYT500, YACEP, LMT

Anna is honored to serve on the Board of Directors and as a teacher at the Dharmakaya Center for Wellbeing, a retreat center in Cragsmoor, NY, founded by her teacher, Trungram Gyalwa Rinpoche.

ADDITIONAL FACULTY

C-Ray Mankowski will introduce you to Yoga with Props based on the Iyengar Yoga method (and his own madness) JK!!

Donna Davidge will introduce you to the practice of Kundalini Yoga.

Ellen Kaplan will introduce you to the Iyengar Yoga method, using language, demonstration and props to encourage an awareness of alignment in your poses.

Emily Ramos will go over teaching methodologies including use of voice, identifying and understanding your particular learning and teaching style and how to teach to all types of students.

Gena Rho will share the teachings of Somatic Education with you. An excellent approach to a yoga practice.

Ires Wilbanks will introduce you to teaching Prenatal Yoga.

Milena Rubinstein will introduce you to the classical Hatha Yoga system, Integral Yoga.

PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS

You must complete all homework assignments (including teaching, giving and receiving feedback) and the final exam.

YOGA ALLIANCE CERTIFICATION

You will need your Yoga Teacher Training Certificate of Completion (received at the end of the training. Go to www.yogaalliance.org and follow the directions there.

TESTIMONIALS

“I met Ambaji at the Sivananda TTC at Uttarkashi. I had already been practicing and teaching for a sometime and was looking for a teacher who could advance my personal and teaching practices. Ambaji’s clear, detailed and anatomically precise instructions fulfilled me. I thought I had a well developed breath capacity but was introduced to an entirely new diaphragmatic awareness. Her warmth, compassion and ability to spot the mental flaw that holds you back from performing an asana properly is what I seek to give to my students as well. I highly recommend her yoga training course to both the newbie and advanced.” ~ Surabhi Rathod

“Amba,or Anna Winkler,was my asana teacher when I took the Sivananda Yoga Vidya Peeth Teacher Trainning Course in Uttarkashi, north India.I was inspired by Ambaji a lot. She was always full of energy and longing for teaching us everything she knows. She was so experienced, dedicated and kind. It seems every class was not enough time coz Ambaji always wanted to share more knowledge and skills about yoga. Apart from class, she also is our good friend, always took photos of us, to help us keep the best memories of India. I feel so grateful living and learning with Ambaji for one month. I will always remember “chest up” and keep practicing in my entire life. OM!” ~ Jubing Zheng (Chinmayi)

“My yoga teacher training at Shakti was one of the most transforming experiences of my life. It was so worth the effort and focus it required of me and has served me well as the foundation of my yoga practice in the years since. The training was varied, covering so many areas beyond the in-depth asanas I expected to learn to become a teacher. Some examples: anatomy, lovingly offered support for practice teaching (a scary thought for this introverted soul), study of the yoga sutras, chair yoga, use of props, chanting, meditation, pranayama. There was even one class conducted entirely in the dark and another given over the phone on a snowed-in evening! Anna is a wonderful, talented, genius of a teacher with a strong intuition for what her students need. Take this training and you will learn not only yoga, but will also gain insights into yourself and into all that yoga has to offer us all in this wacky world we live in.” ~ Susan Pendleton

‘I completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training in 2012 with Anna Winkler. I found it to be one of the most enriching experiences of my life. Learning yogic philosophy and gaining a deeper understanding was life changing for me. I am forever in Anna’s debt. She has boundless knowledge in so many different areas of yoga, and teaches with humility and patience. I highly recommend this training.” ~ Jane Guzzi

“I completed Anna’s Yoga Teacher Training in 2011 and have been grateful ever since. She is extremely kind and patient as well as very knowledgeable in classical yoga texts and teaching asanas. But, what sets her apart from other teachers and their teacher training programs is her ability to know what each student needs, and to focus her teaching to meet that need. Once you understand, you can pass that knowledge on to your students. If you are taking this training to teach classes yourself or just to deepen your own practice, you will not be disappointed. I highly recommend Anna’s YTT.” ~ Kim Reynolds