AryaMarga Institute FAQs
Frequently Asked Questions as regards the Long-Term & Short-Term Courses
How many students do you take for your courses?
We keep the batches intimate and personal so the number of students per batch of our long-term yoga training programme is usually 8-12, with our upper limit for student admissions set at 12. The ages usually range from 20´s through 60´s and the average age range of the batch i is 25-35. The gender ratio is 70:30, Female: Male on an average. The students tend to come from all over the world, with usually 50% of the students from Europe, 30% from India and the rest from assorted countries.
We require that the students have good health, are not presently prescribed any psychotropic medication, have not had any major surgeries for a minimum period of two years from before the date of application for the course, and have the stamina to keep up with the course.
The student teacher ratio is usually 3:1 to maintain the highest quality of yoga teachings and to customize the teachings based on the unique journey of each student.
Are there any resources to read more about your Lineage and it's former Gurus?
Our Yogic Lineage is the Dashanama Sampradaya, the most ancient Lineage of Yogis in India, dating back to 4000 B. C. Specifically, within the Ancient Lineage our teachings and perspectives come from the Giri Kula. On the Vajrayana/Tantra side, our Lineage is Khenste, and our Teacher is Dzongsar Khenste Rimpoche. We are sure you will find quite a bit of interesting information on our Lineages available on the Internet, we have attached a pdf that you can also refer to learn more about the Naga Lineage.
Through regular, judicious, careful and intense practice over weeks, months and possibly years, a practitioner firmly establishes themselves in their neo-natural personality.
As an aside, we may mention here that the first and most precious gift of this new personality is fearlessness that comes from the wisdom of one's own immortal nature. Having undergone a life changing shift in perspective due to this early wisdom, one's intentions and aspirations get permanently and radically transformed.
At this point, the practitioner then has the choice to share this lifestyle with others and be a Teacher. The practitioner then no longer pretends for he/she has BECOME (a teacher), in many cases most unwillingly
Then, teaching yoga becomes a way of being and personally, let us assure you, when we teach yoga, there is always one additional student present in the room, the teacher him/herself. We learn at least as much as we teach, from every session, every time, whenever the teaching is authentic.
So, the motivation to teach should arise from the motivation to evolve, because wisdom only grows when shared, and helping others evolve, having come to the point oneself whereupon one realises teaching is the fastest evolutionary path for oneself. Only then should one rightfully call oneself a teacher. Certifications have really not much to do with it at all, as you correctly surmise.
But yes, the 5 Month course with its systematic approach and range of psycho-somatic techniques, coupled with the View and Method, can offer an effective vessel, if you will, to reach that other shore of higher self nature. The rest depends on you, the navigator.
Do the long-term courses go beyond the Asanas and would it help me in my deep inner work?
Starting from the 45 day course all the way to the Tantra course, our teachings take the students through the philological and philosophical implications of every sutra and technique taught during the course, on 5 different levels, the Physical, the Sensorial, the Psychological, the Pranic and that of Pure Consciousness. Our teaching methodology ensures that this knowledge does not remain only at the level of the written word, but also gets internalised within the students as a clearly felt unique experience.
We take pride in knowing that students passing out of our course possess greater philosophical grounding and technical knowledge in the 4 Prime Yogas, than most sadhaks who have been practising for 10+ years in Ashrams in India.
But this also means that the level of commitment and effort required from the student, whether beginner or advanced, to adjust to this intense gradient of learning is also high. This is one of the main reasons why we take in a maximum of 12 students, so that we can focus on each single student and ensure the highest quality of teachers passing out of our Institute.
What is the level of Pranayama practices taught during the course?
As regards the Pranayama practice, the basics such as nadi shodhan, kapalbhati, and bhramari are taught during the 45-Day P-TAK Course. During the Yoga Psychology Course you would be introduced to the more advanced practices of Kriya Yoga which integrate Pranayama, Pratyahara and Dharana practices. The Pratyahara and Dharana practices are taught from Lineage practice texts such as Vijnana Bhairava Tantra and Siva sutras, keeping the Patanjali Yoga sutra system as foundational text for Theory of psychology. Students are instructed in the baseline application of these practices for addressing the different axes of psychological disease as well as for psychological evolution.
What kind of Yoga is taught during the 1-Month Somatic Therapy TTC?
The theory taught during the course covers disease, etiology and symptomology according to modern-medicine perspective, while disease therapy and prevention is taught according to the Yogic perspective, based on Samkhya and Tattva(Universal Elements) principles
As far as the Yoga Asana and Pranayama techniques are concerned, they're taught in the classical Hatha Yoga style adapted to Preventative Therapy. In this style, the students are taught the usage of blocks, belts, yoga chair, etc in order to help with the patients recovery through assisted asana sequences. Every disease has it's own sequence of curative 5 Elements based asanas, pranayamas, diet, lifestyle and meditations. The majority of prevalent lifestyle diseases will be covered during the course.
Can you please share more details about your Yoga Psychology Course?
The 1-Month Yoga Psychology Course is a culmination of over a decade' research to integrate the diverse systems of ancient Yoga Psychology into a single composite system of psychological diagnosis, prognosis and therapy, called the 0 Point System.
Starting with customised diagnosis of personality traits as per Yoga Psychology, the 0 Point System provides customised suites of Yogic tools - comprising Asanas, Pranayamas and Psychological techniques suited to the individual personality. The customisation process is decided by the initial survey and observation based diagnosis of the individual, a process called Personality Mapping based on the tantric and pranic understanding of the Chakra and their individualised 'petals' . This process allows us to understand our own unique personality system.
We then target personality traits desired by the individual and finally give form to the suite of tools so that they may act as a ‘Personality Bridge’ between the existing personality with its existing traits and the Desired Personality with its desirable traits.
The process of transformation or Personality Expansion, is then activated and realised, its speed depending upon the regularity and intensity of practice of the suite of individualised Yogic tools within
the 0 Point System.
As far as the Yoga Asana and Pranayama techniques are concerned, they're taught in the classical Hatha Yoga style adapted to Preventative Therapy. In this style, the students are taught the usage of blocks, belts, yoga chair, etc in order to help with the patients recovery through assisted asana sequences. Every disease has it's own sequence of curative 5 Elements based asanas, pranayamas, diet, lifestyle and meditations. The majority of prevalent lifestyle diseases will be covered during the course.
I don't have a degree in Psychology, can I attend the 1-Month Psychology Course?
The fact that you do not have an academic background in psychology is not an impediment. Since the Yogic 0 Point Psychology, 3P system and 6 Chakra schema are all systems and methods of psychology which are quite different from clinical systems of psychotherapy, even students who might have completed post graduation studies in clinical psychology would be almost at the same level as a beginner in the study of this system. But it is important that you carefully study all the online classes of our Raja Yoga and Samkhya Yoga available on Udemy before attending the Yogic Psychology TTC. The free access pass to those online classes will be given to you as a Welcome package as soon as you register for the TTC.
What kind of therapy can I offer after attending the 1-Month Psychology Course?
Patients and students who avail of your services after you complete the Yoga Psychology course can expect the following:
a. An unprecedented level and detail of Personality Profiling and Trait Mapping
b. Highly efficient and customised psychotherapeutic treatment across 5 axes based on their personality profile-Asana, Pranayama, Yogic Psychological techniques, Lifestyle, Meditation techniquesand Diet for non clinical psychological problems
c. Advanced level of Lucid Dreaming therapy
d. Sensorial therapy
e. CAB (cognitive, affective and behavioural) therapy based on Yogic principles
f. For those wishing to make self progress or self engineering, not therapy, a whole customised psycho-Somatic structure will be developed by you for each client, based on their aspirations and objectives, which will psychologically enable the client to achieve their objectives.
Shri. Roshan Mohandas Palat, who was a lawyer before training under his Guru, Shri. Ganapati Giri, in the mountain forests of Uttarakhand, is an initiate in the Traditions and Lineages of Vajrayana Buddhism and
the Naga Lineage of monks.
Shrimati. Thanida Rakkaew, is from Thailand, where after teaching in Asana studios for 5 years, she undertook advanced Asana and Yoga training in various centers and under various Gurus in India for a period of 5 years, after which she helped to co-found AryaMarga Yoga and has been the Director of the Asana Programme since such time.
Shri Akshat Madan left his investment banking job in 2015, after being initiated by Shri. Roshan Mohandas Palat and has been studying , conducting research and teaching with AryaMarga Yoga since then, specialising in somatic disease research and alternative body based therapies.
Are you affiliated with Yoga Alliance?
We are in no way affiliated with Yoga Alliance or any organization as such. We are a Lineage based Institute and a stand alone in Applied Yogic Research. Our courses offer a highly intensive immersive experience of traditional Yogic teachings and hence it is counterproductive for us to compromise our standards and our 6,000 year-old tradition of ancient teachings by associating with yoga teacher directories such as Yoga Alliance.
You may apply for a 6-month tourist visa which the Indian government allows or we have the 2-week break in the middle of our course for those who only have a 3-month visa. During this time they can go back to their home countries to re-apply or go to Nepal, Sri-Lanka, Thailand or any other neighboring country that allows to apply quickly for another 3-month visa. If you need an invitation letter for any of these, we would be happy to provide you with an official invitation letter from the Institute to help you with the process.
You can pay the whole course at once or you can just pay our Registration Fee of USD $500, and pay the rest of the fee anytime before the start of the course. The Registration fee is necessary to book your spot, reserve your accommodation of choice and allow us to print the necessary course material for you. We accept all major International Debit & Credit cards.
Bir-billing, Himachal Pradesh has extremely changing weather and during the 5-months we will be fluctuation from very cold to hot to very wet. Layers and fast-drying clothes are highly recommended. When the student registers with us, we send them a Welcome Kit with information that will help them prepare and pack for the necessary time spent. You may also write to us with any specific questions you may have and are welcome to send or order things to the Institute if you feel you need anything extra that you didn't pack with you.