Yoga Teacher Training - Level 1
Yoga Alliance Accreditation (200+ hours)
Teachers: Heather Elton, James Mallinson, Chris Kummer, Edward Clark, Norman Blair, Leela Miller & Fausto Dorelli
Dates: 9 weekends in July/Aug/Sept 2013
Venue: Yogaloft, Queen's Park, London, UK
Cost: 2695 GBP (includes yoga tuition)
Over the summer eltonyoga is presenting an exciting series of weekend yoga workshops with some truly exceptional teachers. These workshops are part of the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program in London. Participants are welcome to either register for the full training or attend the various workshops. Numbers are limited so book soon.
For booking and venue details - see the Yogaloft Web Site.
For dates and details on the teachers see HERE
A Yoga Asana & Philosophy Intensive with Heather Elton and Rose Baudin
The Sanctuary at Two Rivers, Costa Rica
18 – 28 June 2013 | 1650 USD / 1095 GBP
(Includes yoga tuition, 3 meals a day and shared accommodation in a luxury jungle tree house.)
Journey to the Inner Temple is a magical 10-day yoga intensive designed for yoga teachers and students (with a strong intermediate asana practice), who want to deepen their understand yogic philosophy in a practical way that will make the spiritual inquiry relevant to life. Heather Elton and Rose Baudin are the teachers on the course and between them they have over 75 years of yoga experience, each with their own insight into the ancient yogic techniques and a lot to say about the practice. You will immerse yourself in yoga for eight hours a day, but the practice will overflow into nature - into the ocean, the surf, the river and waterfalls, natural pools and jungle. There will be plenty of time for reflection and integration of the teachings in an awe-inspiring environment.
This retreat will be authentic, intense and fun. It will be an transformational journey through Ayurveda principles, Patanjali's 8-limbed path, Samkhya philosophy upon which yoga is based, a comprehensive understanding of koshas and vayus, and the use of mudras, yantras and mantras in the practice - all seamlessly woven together through asana, lectures, rituals and ceremonies. Lectures will examine both Dakshina Marga (right-hand) ans Vama Marga (left-hand) paths of tantric tradition. This retreat offers insight into your true nature and tools to transform deep-seated habitual behaviour and emotional states. We wish to lead you into the heart of pure nature in Costa Rica, and to your own heart on a journey to the Inner Temple.
For details SEE HERE
Vinyasa Yoga Retreat: La Rosa Dei Venti, Puglia, Italy
August 3-10, 2013 / from £895 pp (shared accommodation)
La Rosa Dei Venti is an exquisite yoga venue in Puglia. The 16th century masseria (farmhouse) has been elegantly restored in a way that the old Apulian style meets contemporary chic . The cool, white stone building makes it a perfect temperature even under the hot Italian sun. The stylish rooms are extremely comfortable and the traditional Italian cuisine is mouth-wateringly divine. This magical spot in the Itria Valley is secluded in the countryside dotted with the traditional small white conical buildings - trullis. Martina Franca is nearby with its charming cobbled streets, markets, Italian coffee and ice cream. La Rosa Dei Venti is the ultimate yoga destination.
Whether you want to deepen your yoga practice, chill by the pool, relax with a massage, cycle the rolling hills, or swim in the sea - all is possible in this spectacular location. Two yoga classes a day with the opportunity for each guest to practice at his/her own level making the week suitable for students of different abilities. Do yoga and get to the spiritual heart of the practice.
For details SEE HERE
Yoga Teacher Training - Level 1
Yoga Alliance Accreditation (200+ hours)
Space is limited to 16 students - to ensure a place in the program we encourage you to apply early.
Dates: February 12 - March 14, 2014
Venue: Satsanga Retreat, Goa, India
Cost: 2895 GBP (includes yoga tuition + 2 Ayurvedic vegetarian meals a day + twin share accommodation)
Video from the 2013 Teacher Training retreat in Goa
Photographs of the yoga practice during the 2013 Yoga Teacher Training at Satsanga Retreat in Goa.
Photographs of students doing adjustments during the 2013 Yoga Teacher Training at Satsanga Retreat in Goa.
Photography is a big passion of mine and I’ve been taking photos since the 80s. My new photography website showcases recent photographs of spiritual practice in India. My intention with photography is to reveal the spirit of the place whether that is found in the Himalayas, the smiling eyes of a Rinpoche, or the intrinsic devotion of a stone carving. It's about dristi (gaze) and trying to remove the obscurations of my ‘ego view' in order to see the essence of the object in front of me. I want to communicate the sense of AWE /AH that I feel in sacred places, the decisive moment when I lose my sense of Self and merge with the object. The great cinematographer, Vilmos Zsigmond, once said, "Photography is writing with light." For me, the light is the Guru and photography a spiritual journey.
The photo website consists of the following:
THEMES: Destinations, Buddhas, Deities, Temples, Nature, Yoga and Projects.
DESTINATIONS (India) has images from Sikkim, Ladhak, Himachel Pradesh, Dharamsala, Goa, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa and Mysore, Varanasi, Bodhgaya, Darjeeling, Kalimpong as well as slideshows from Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
TEMPLES include Konark Sun Temple, Shravanabelagola, Belur, Halebid, Belur, Rajrani, Hampi, Mahabalipuram.
DEITIES focus on all aspects of spiritual practice, puja and darshan, on the Hindu trail in India.
BUDDHAS include images of golden buddhas, monasteries, sacred shrines, sculpture, paintings, and Buddhist culture in around Ladkak, Himachel Pradesh, Myanmar and Sri Lanka.
NATURE has images from the place I love most. The photographs all go full screen and there is a thumbnail bar that enlarges all the images in the gallery.
My new blog contains a selection of my writing and photography of a spiritual nature. They symbolise a kind of 'mystical burning,' or devotion, an inner self-discipline (tapas) that burns away impurities and kindles the sparks of divinity. They mark the journey inwards and are a metaphor for the 'inner limbs' of Patanjali's Ashtanga yoga. Posts include my travels to Varanasi, Dharamsala and Tiruvannamalai, as well as an essay on the French theatre guru, Antonin Artaud, and a memoir on adoption.
For details: Visit the Blog
Article by Heather Elton
October 2012 - Namarupa Magazine publishes "City of Light: A photo essay on Varanasi"
Article by Heather Elton
July, 2011 - Namarupa Magazine publishes "Spiritual Heart: My Travels in Tiruvannamalai"
The Yoga
I teach Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow Yoga in London and on international yoga retreats and workshops, including Yoga Teacher Training in Goa. Ashtanga is taught in the Mysore tradition of Sri K Patabbhi Jois and Vinyasa Krama, or Hatha Flow, is an intelligent linking of poses rooted in classical yogic traditions that explores the physical, mental and subtle aspects of the practice. I consider Sri T Krishnamacharya to be the Grandfather of modern yoga and endeavor to teach all 8 limbs of ‘classical' Ashtanga in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (200 B.C.). I'm a believer in the sacred power of yoga, the awakening of the Kundalini, and the transcendent path to Self-Realisation that Tantric mystics describe as a journey to the Divine through reverence and perfection of body, breath, mind and spirit.
Yoga philosophy is integrated with asana and breath to explore the inner/outer techniques of Vinyasa Yoga that transform the mind and body, accelerate personal growth and illuminate one's highest potential to find purpose and meaning in life. I aim to reveal the spiritual path underlying the practice and the technology to stabilize the mind, so we can shed the veils of Maya perpetuated by the ego, glimpse at our true nature and liberate ourselves from suffering. My approach is a deep physical and psychological practice that moves beyond a mere physical experience to make the spiritual yogic inquiry authentic and relevant to real life. The ultimate aim of yoga is love, liberation and freedom. Moksha.
The Practice
I began Hatha Yoga (BKS Iyengar) in 1986 and my yoga path has involved extensive studies with brilliant teachers from around the world, many who have had a profound influence of my unique style. I studied Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga intensively with Sri K Pattabhi Jois in Mysore and many of his senior students including John Scott, David Swenson, Matthew Sweeney and Rolf Naujokat. Nancy Gilgoff was my first Ashtanga teacher and I've attended many of her 'Adjustment Clinics' to learn how to safely assist people in the Primary and Intermediate Series. I completed a 200-level Yoga Teacher Training with Richard Freeman (2004) and a 200+ level training focusing on the traditional Krishnamacharya method of Asana, Pranayama and Kundalini Metaphysics with Sri BNS lyengar at the Patanajala Yoga Shala in Mysore (2008/09). On the Vinyasa Flow side of yoga, I completed the Tripsichore Yoga Theatre Teacher Training with Edward Clark (2002). David Life and Sharon Gannon (Jivamukti Studios) and Emil Wendel (Beyond the Asana) are also inspirational people and teachers. More recently, my yogic path led me back to the alignment principles of BKS Iyengar and take regular classes with Alaric Newcombe at the Iyengar Institute in London. In 2012, I did a month-long Iyengar training with Glenn Ceresoli in Goa. I’m also a student of Tibetan Yantra Yoga, a practice that is probably the closest form to classical Indian yoga that exists today. Throughout my yogic journey, I keep an open mind about the practice and try not to succumb to dogma.
I have studied various meditation techniques, including the Tibetan Tantric Vajrayana path with Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. I completed a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat in Myanmar (Burma) in 2006 and Dhamma Dipa (Hereford, UK) in 2009. I am interested in all forms of non-dualism including Self-Inquiry, the direct path to liberation, based on the teachings of Ramana Maharishi and visited his ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India (2009). My spiritual path informs my teachings and has led me to sacred sites throughout India and the world. I'm a passionate traveller and my published writings and photography and can be found on this website.
I'm a certified member of Yoga Alliance at the highest level, E-RYT 500, and am certified at RYS-500 to offer Yoga Teacher Training.
