300-Hour Advanced Studies Program
Meeting Requirements, Exceeding Expectations
Click here for our 300 Hour Advanced Studies Catalog.
Desert Song Yoga offers a 300-Hour Advanced Studies Program for students who have completed a 200-hour teacher training program. Upon completion, students may combine the 200 and 300-hour certifications in order to apply for a Yoga Alliance 500-hour certification. The Advanced Studies Program offers three tracks that can be taken individually or can be combined to complete the 300-hour requirements.
Track 1. Anusara® Immersions, Anusara® Teacher Training
Advanced studies in the Anusara® tradition are offered as individual trainings on an ongoing basis. Through participation in all of these programs, students gain professional credit hours toward an Anusara®-inspired and/or Anusara®-certified teaching license. All requirements must be met for participants/students to receive licensure through Anusara® administration.
“The vision of Anusara yoga® is grounded in a Tantric philosophy of intrinsic goodness. In this philosophy we take the premise that everything in this world is an embodiment of Supreme Consciousness, which at its essence pulsates with goodness and the highest bliss. All of creation is divinely danced into existence for the simple delight and the play of embodying the Supreme’s own blissful nature. The highest intention of practicing Anusara Yoga® is to align with the Divine. As we deepen our alignment with the Supreme, we step deeper into the flow of Grace. “ www.anusara.com
Track 2. Therapeutic & Wellness /Healthy Life Practices
Presented in 3-hour, 6-hour or 12-hour weekend workshop format on a wide range of topics, such as back care, arthritis, depression, stress management, osteoporosis, and menopause. Course study in the eight-fold path of yoga including yoga philosophy, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dyana, etc., are also offered. Beginning in September 2011, 12 hours of monthly training are offered through the Advanced Studies Therapeutic & Wellness/Healthy Life Practices track (one 12-hour workshop or two 6-hour workshops). Embedded in most of the weekend workshops are clinics, which are attended by members of the general public wishing to receive information and guidance about the specific condition the workshop addresses. Attendees receive instruction in asana, pranayama, and individualized adjustments by the student teachers enrolled in the 300-hour workshop series with guidance from a primary E-RYT instructor.
Track 3. Children, Prenatal, and Family Studies
Presented in 6-hour or 12-hour weekend workshop format and including a 95-hour certification program in teaching yoga to children. Preliminary foundations workshop begins in September 2011.
Enrollment
Participants apply to the 300-Hour Advanced Studies Program and meet with Mary Beth Markus, the program director, to establish a course of study. The Advanced Studies Program operates on an independent study model and enrolled students can progress in their studies at their own pace. Students are required to keep track of their accumulating hours, and the number of hours in each of the Yoga Alliance educational categories for each training session must be indicated on a form supplied by Desert Song Yoga.
Students who have completed any of the Anusara® Immersion hours at Desert Song in the last three years may apply them toward their 300-hour Advanced Studies Program with approval of the program director.
Fees:
Advanced Studies or C.E.U. credit rates are “pay as you go:”
Track 1: Anusara® Immersions $625 (three 12-hour sessions/36 hours)
Track 2: Therapeutic & Wellness/Healthy Life Practices and/or
Track 3: Children, Prenatal, and Family Studies
Students may pay by the individual workshop rate or purchase a workshop series card at a reduced rate (e.g. students could purchase a card to cover three 6-hour workshops).
Individual 6-hour workshop = $120
Three 6-hour workshops = $324 (10% discount or $108/per workshop)
For the 300-hour program, Yoga Alliance requires 265 contact hours, and 35 non-contact hours. Workshop instructors may assign work (e.g., a research paper, presentation, observation, etc.) that can be counted as non-contact hours as more fully described in the catalog. These hours will be indicated to students so they can include them in their documentation record. No fees payable to Desert Song Yoga are associated with non-contact hours unless the instructor’s time is involved in some way, which would be arranged in advance by the instructor and the trainee at a cost of $75 per hour cost to trainee.
Because you pay as you go, there is no large up-front cost. This unique program allows you to choose from a variety of workshops to reflect your own interests.
Faculty
Mary Beth Markus
E-RYT 500, CYI, LMT
Program Director, began her studies in 1979 in the Iyengar method and in 1983 graduated from Ananda School of Kriya Yoga second-level yoga teacher training. She primarily studied and taught Hatha yoga in the Iyengar method; then, within the last fifteen years she met John Friend and has been strongly influenced by the Anusara® method of yoga. She has been training teachers since 1990 and was an founding board member for the American Yoga College. She has been a licensed massage therapist for 30 years and Director of Desert Song Yoga & Massage Center for 28 years, teaching both locally and abroad.
Meg Byerlein
BSN, E-RYT 500, CYI
is an Anusara Yoga® certified instructor with 19 years of teaching experience. She studies extensively to maintain her ongoing commitment to personal and professional development, while concurrently pursuing education in allied fields of interest including: yoga therapeutics, yoga philosophy, and psychology. Her teaching style incorporates deep respect and appreciation for the multidimentional practices and the unique process of unfolding and integrating yoga as living experience.
Deborah Kayatt
MS, E-RYT 500, IYT, CYI
Debbie began practicing yoga in 1999 and completed the 200-hour teacher-training program at Desert Song in 2003. Debbie went on to earn both her 500 and 1000-hour certifications through the Integrative Yoga Therapy Program in 2007. She also has a Masters’ Degree in Marriage and Family Therapy, which has been a great compliment to her certification as an Integrative Yoga Therapist because this work is about looking at a student in a holistic way. She has also studied with Doug Keller, John Friend and Todd Norian.
Matthew J. Taylor
PT, PhD, E-RYT 500
Dr. Taylor has 30 years of sports medicine/orthopedic experience and a wellness/integrative medicine practice. As the leader in integrative rehabilitation, his Scottsdale practice has been featured in national publications for both patient care delivery and administrative design. His futuristic mind-body clinic is based on a fusion of orthopedic rehabilitation, classical Yoga Therapeutic principles and his doctoral work in modern transformation learning theory. He uses Yoga as a practical, simple method of using new science discoveries to address pain and movement challenges for all types of conditions. Dr. Taylor led research at the Courage Center in Minnesota with Matthew Sanford to create the first mind-body based residential physical rehabilitation center in the country. He is also past president of the board of directors of the International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) and a sought after author and speaker. This program has been praised at several national conferences and he presently chairs the business development section of IAYT. His Institute trains licensed health professionals to create new integrative methods of rehabilitation. www.drofyoga.com
Heidi Lichte
E-RYT 200, CYI
received her certification from Desert Song Yoga in 1999. Heidi teaches yoga full-time and as of 2011, she has over 7,500 hours of teaching experience. From her own past experience of living the “pain for gain” model, she has a passion for now finding strength and transformation from a philosophy of ease. Her classes focus on creating a safe environment for healing, longevity, and the space for each student to practice self-mastery. She has a love for anatomy, physiology, breath work, therapeutics, psychology, meditation, and spirituality. Her eclectic style is rooted deeply in alignment-based teachings from the Anusara tradition, Doug Keller’s work and the philosophy of Erich Schiffnann. Heidi is a Master Reiki practitioner.
Mary Glover
MA Elem Ed, E-RYT 200, CYI
completed Desert Song’s teacher training program in 2005 and since then has expanded the children’s program to include a weekly class, monthly workshops, and private sessions for typical and special needs children. She is actively developing yoga programs for children with autism and children at Phoenix Children’s Hospital. She has also completed training in Integrated Movement Therapy at the Samarya Center in Seattle to further her work with special needs children. Mary’s adult classes follow the Anusara® principles and she draws on her 30 years of classroom experience when teaching children. She was recently certified as an experienced yoga teacher at the 200 hour level through Yoga Alliance and is also a certified children’s yoga teacher.
Ellen Martinoni
MBA, RYT 500, CYI
After leaving the corporate world behind, a bad back brought Ellen to Desert Song in 1998 and it was love at first down dog. She completed her 200-hour training in 2001 with Desert Song and her 500-hour training through Anusara® Yoga in 2007. In addition to her classes at Desert Song, since 2005, she has practiced yoga therapy at Arthritis Health assisting patients to see their own light and to manage or overcome any “limitations.” Having studied extensively with John Friend, Rod Stryker, and Doug Keller, she continues to train to always learn more. By embracing the vastness of yoga, she creates an inclusive style without adhering to only one system. With concise instruction, every class is entertaining, challenging and new.
Stefanie Sichler
E-RYT 200, CYI
Even though she didn’t know it at the time, Stefanie practiced yoga with her grandfather from the early age of 5. Some of the poses stayed with her until she was formally introduced to yoga in 1997, looking for a way to work through panic attacks and anxiety. Immediately drawn to the strengthening, balancing and calming experiences, she completed the Desert Song Teacher Training in 2007. She continues her personal and professional education with a focus on safety and emotional effects of yoga. In class, Stefanie creates a safe container, where students are encouraged to find their own practice through poses, breath, meditation and self-inquiry. Having left the corporate world behind, she now follows her heart teaching yoga, creating websites and exploring psychology and counseling. Stefanie is a Life Force Yoga I Practitioner.
Evon Hart
RYT 200, CYI
Evon started her yoga practice in 1999. She receive her 200-hour yoga teaching certification through Desert Song’s program in 2003 under Mary Beth Markus. Becoming a mother to Sam in 2005 brought her the opportunity to deepen the lessons of her yoga practice. Motherhood provides constant opportunities for self-study! Yoga has brought shifts into her life on many deep levels. Her hope is to create a space for her students where they can let down their guard and realize their fullest potential. Her primary yoga influences are Erich Schiffmann and Meg Byerlein, and she is committed to continuing education through workshops with various instructors.
Desert Song Yoga & Massage Center is fully accredited and licensed by the Arizona State Board for Private Post-Secondary Education.