Experiential Training in KNOWGA Yoga facilitation.

i-SKY certified - accredited as a Yoga Alliance Professionals 200 hour Foundation Course.

KNOWGA: 
Everything is, was and will be – the ever changing is our awareness of that reality.
Kundalini is the energy of awareness
Knowga is a Gathering in awareness.
Knowga resonates in the “space between”; it is in the innate awareness and alignment of body, emotion, mind and spirit; “Right Action : Right Reaction”

This 200+ hour KNOWGA Yoga Facilitation course comprises online/in person instruction, lecture, practice and tutorial and additional home study assignments, practice, research and study. Students are registered with YogaAllianceProfessionals.org and successful course completion merits membership of Yoga Alliance Professionals (UK) - "raising standards of yoga teaching worldwide".

“Today's Gatherers, teachers and leaders should validate their sources and understanding through personal experience - and then seek to share such for the benefit of all.”

Upcoming KA courses    

i-SKY Local websites worldwide  

i-SKY now offer our courses as in-person, online and hybrid (mixing online with in-person attendance). Our intention for KA (KnowgA) is for it to become an entirely flexible modular course allowing 100% in-person or online participation (or any hybrid mix of the two). The nature of a KA (KnowgA) course is both to share a common foundation and to afford each individual the opportunity to select personal content. Our autumn 2024 program will begin as online modular courses with the proviso that any parts of them may also be offered in-person locally (anywhere in the world) where it is financially viable to do so.

The KA (Knowga) course

The KA course is firstly a journey of personal development in Self Awareness; secondly, the course prepares one to facilitate a personal and group exploration of heightened awareness and transformative experience within a defined structure (Knowga). The object of the KA course is for the participant to identify and establish their own personal Knowga space (through meditation/contemplation etc) and then to extend and hold that awareness as a safe transformative space for others (the Knowga Gathering).

The Gathering: safely sharing a space for inner journeying. A transformational process begins safely within a sound structure, held by a Gatherer who has travelled that way before and who works to ensure s/he remains a competent and neutral facilitator.
The Gatherer does not make transformation happen, s/he holds a space where it can be experienced and within which a personal path toward self awareness may be discerned.
There is no one “right” structure but there are some that are less appropriate for the time, place or circumstance

KA is an experiential journey of personal awareness - tailored to and by each individual participant. Each participant will be encouraged and assessed around the work s/he creates rather than upon the recollection of set texts - there is no one Knowga text book. There is a twin core of reading and research recommendations but additional reading and research will also be self-directed. A variety of shared experience will be shared, facilitated and encouraged. Participants are encouraged to record, share and evaluate their experience, individually and collectively. The culmination of a successful coursework journey will be the facilitation of a Knowga Gathering.

The Core KA Content. The modelled content of the first KA courses is Modern Kundalini Yoga (as taught worldwide by i-SKY since 1995) i.e. participants will be trained and certified as yoga teachers. i-SKY has always espoused a broad and inclusive definition of yoga and KA is an opportunity for us to extrapolate three complementary threads (Yoga, Healing and Shamanic Practice) as prime examples of Knowgic Gatherings. Course participants are additionally encouraged to develop their own Knowgic specialism during and after this course.

The KA course includes:

• Use of  breath, posture, sound, and meditation to awaken & train the mind & body. 

• Kundalini and Yogic philosophy. 

• Yogic and Western Anatomy;

• Developing a clear calm meditative mind 

• Utilising mantra and sacred sound from various traditions

• The way of the Yogini;

• Developing a daily Knowga Yoga practice;

• Developing a personal yogic/knowgic  lifestyle;

• Teaching modern Kundalini Yoga classes.

• The ethics, role and conduct of a teacher.

• Truth, transformation and the guru complex.

• Examining a variety of sources to determine a personal position

During this course you will: 

Challenge yourself. 

Confront self-imposed limits. 

Experience heightened awareness. 

Work creatively with a group of like-minded people

Gain the knowledge & confidence to build a more peaceful and creative life.

Learn to safely and beneficially apply an ancient awareness in a contemporary yogic context. 

This course is suitable for:

• Students and Practitioners of any of the many paths of yoga but particularly modern Kundalinin Yoga

• Teachers and Practitioners from other spiritual perspectives

• All seeking to deepen a yogic experience (including those who don't intend to teach yoga)

• All seeking to develop an enhanced spiritual awareness

Certification Requirements:

• Attendance and participation in all sessions 

• Satisfactory practical assessment

• Passing grade on any required examinations (practical/written/verbal/etc.)

• Attendance of 20 approved yoga classes outside the course

• Participation in a minimum of 5 designated early morning group sadhana

• Completion of at least two assigned 40-day yoga kriya (set and/or meditation)

• Creation of 2 sample Knowga Yoga class curricula

• Satisfactory completion of all required coursework 

• Timely payment of all course fees

• Upholding a designated Professional Code of Excellence

Please note:

1. The i-SKY Teacher Training team reserve the right to grant certification based solely on their discretion and evaluation of each student’s readiness to be a Knowga Yoga Teacher. This evaluation is based on successfully meeting the course requirements including but not limited to those listed above. 

2. Students are strongly encouraged to submit all certification requirements within 6 weeks after the end date of the course. All requirements must be completed and submitted no later than 12 months after the conclusion of the course. 

i-SKY offer the KA course as a Foundation Course certified by i-SKY and recognised by Yoga Alliance Professionals (UK)

An i-SKY K1 course is also recognised by the Yoga Alliance (USA) - Full details on request.

i-SKY Training Teams

No less than 75% of every i-SKY YAP course is taught by one or more Senior Yoga Teachers (e.g. Darryl. Guru Dharam, Livtar Llyn)

As Mentoring Lead Trainers within the Aquarian Trainer Academy (USA) Guru Dharam and Darryl created a international i-SKY Training team, over 30 years, complementing friendly local i-SKY administrative and student support teams around the world. YA compliant i-SKY courses are still conducted under the direction of, and usually attended by at least one of, the Mentoring Lead Trainers - Full details on request. 

All i-SKY team members are required to maintain a continuous process of ProfessionalSupervisionSpiritualGuidance (i-SKY PSG - established under the direction of the late Judy Fraser).

Why train with i-SKY?

Our yoga teaching syllabus has been evolving since 1995. Our approach is to challenge the group and in return to rise to the opportunities they present - every student group takes the teachings in new directions. The minimum level of instruction and the required level for certification should be the same the same for any YAP Foundation course anywhere in the world but some students will be better suited to one program or trainer than another. We have been offering such courses for longer than most and have a great deal of diverse experience from many places. We try to be inclusive, to offer a yogic perspective which we can substantiate (rather than random rules to be enforced), and we have always been seen as taking a more liberal view toward modern Kundalini Yoga than most. We have over three decades of excellent student feedback and are always happy to put prospective students in touch with a recent graduate to talk about the course from a students perspective. Whenever possible we offer the option to try a day or weekend before committing to the whole course. We endeavour to make all our courses affordable and graduates consistently report that they got much more out of the course than they had expected - some having paid much more in the past for "similar" programs that delivered less. If you have the opportunity to do so please join us on one of our retreat weekends where you can chat to current students, see the quality of their delivery, and get a taste of the i-SKY style.

The international School of Kundalini Yoga  (i-SKY) offers the longest established Kundalini Yoga training in the UK (1996) and was amongst the first of the KRI (Kundalini Research Institute - USA) certified programs across the world. i-SKY evolved into a network of international Schools of Kundalini Yoga offering a variety of other training programs, short courses, retreats and events - in addition to training kundalini yoga teachers in the UK, USA, the Middle East, South East Asia, and across Europe.

i-SKY remains committed to spreading the safe practice and broader understanding of yoga (body, mind and soul) and recognises diverse sources of Kundalini Yoga as our touchstone. i-SKY seeks to create competent, confident practitioners and instructors of Knowga Yoga through example, challenge and encouragement; and so to inspire a new generation to explore an age-old technology of personal transformation. 

“A tree is known by its fruit.”

i-SKY KA Modular Course Structure

The KA course comprises a minimum of 200 hours of instruction and is offered in a variety of formats mixing 1 - 5 day in-person and online modules. Our 2024/5 courses follow a three stranded approach, intertwining perspectives of yoga, healing and shamanic practice:

Part 1   KNOWGA: SADHANA & SERVICE - TWIN ROOTS OF YOGA   

Part 2   CHAKRA, YOGIC ANATOMY & PHYSIOLOGY

Part 3   GATHERER, TEACHER & STUDENT

Part 4   BREATH, SOUND & MANTRA

Part 5   ASANA & ALIGNMENT 

Part 6   KNOWGA GATHERINGS & YOGA CLASSES

Part 7   MIND & MEDITATION

Part 8   KNOWGIC YOGIC LIFESTYLE

Part 9   GATHERINGS & TEACHING PRACTICALS  

Part 10 EXAMINATION, COURSEWORK & TUTORIALS

Cost and Dates

Costs will vary from region to region but we always try to offer great value for what is a proven transformational experience. We do not offer whole course "one month intensives" as we value the gradual assimilation of a deep process of personal transformation.

Please see local course links for specific course details in countries other than the U.K.

The information below is specific to the UK but will still be of general interest if you are considering a course with us in another country.

U.K. KA Knowga course information

The next Knowga course will begin online in Autumn/Fall 2024

See the latest information here 

KA ONLINE

See the latest information here 

LONDON (Weekday non-residential)

Dates To Be Advised

SOUTH (Location to be advised)

Dates To Be Advised

NORTH (Location to be advised)

Dates To Be Advised

U.K. Fees:

SOUTH: £2985 Prepaid or £3495 PayAsYouGo
includes course materials, Yoga Alliance Professionals student membership & student teacher insurance (conditions apply);

NORTH: £2985 Prepaid or £3495 PayAsYouGo
includes course materials, Yoga Alliance Professionals student membership & student teacher insurance (conditions apply);

LONDON: £2985 Prepaid or £3495 PayAsYouGo
includes course materials, Yoga Alliance Professionals student membership & student teacher insurance (conditions apply);

U.K. General Information

Since 1996 when i-SKY established the very first UK Kundalini Yoga course in the UK we offered an annual cycle of what proved to be a very successful and rewarding programme empowering ever more competent teachers - many of whom never expected to teach at all!

Every year students joined us with little awareness of their intention to teach but with a genuine motivation to deepen their understanding of the process that Kundalini Yoga had sparked within them and many of those students discovered themselves, in the realisation that we are all teachers in the making.

The experience of a modern Kundalini Yoga class or practice touches the soul or spirit and engenders a deep yearning for something missing in our modern lives; although we treated all our course participants as prospective yoga instructors we were aware that ever more of our students were using the K1 course to facilitate a necessary transformation in their increasingly demanding lives - rather as the cocoon facilitates the metamorphosis from caterpillar to butterfly.

Student Feedback

An extended post Covid-19 break afforded us an opportunity to review how we might best serve the needs of the 2020's; there is merit in being the first and in maintaining authenticity but, whilst profound truths do not change, how they are best communicated and shared will move with the times. Life, like awareness, is an ever changing perspective. The consequence of our 2020 reflections is Knowga and the KA course: Kundalini Aware, largely experiential, delivering a foundational yoga teacher training and holding the space for more....

The next opportunities to join our online KA course is this Autumn. The course must be completed within a 2 year period (i.e. any unit missed in the first series must be attended in the next). As well as the core group of new students, who will progress through the course with you, you may meet experienced students from the previous cohort completing their attendance requirement. We find this approach broadens the participant’s experience as well as allowing some flexibility for those juggling other time commitments.

The KA syllabus continues to be developed by Darryl O'Keeffe, Guru Dharam Singh Khalsa and Livtar Llyn Codling; each Part is presented by one of the i-SKY Senior Yoga Trainers supported by a member of our Teacher in Training team and/or an experienced Aide, whom you will have met on your first weekend - this ensures continuity as well as a variety of presentation styles.

We encourage students to begin to instruct/facilitate during the course (and can offer suitable insurance arrangements to do so). We encourage our graduates to continue appropriate professional development - both through Yoga Alliance Professionals and/or through PSG supervision within i-SKY.

We firmly believe that experience is the key to understanding and, where possible, we offer opportunities to experience our approach before committing yourself to registering as a course student. An annual yoga retreat over the New Year in the UK offers the opportunity to meet with past and present students and teachers and get a flavour of the i-SKY style. Secondly (subject to availability), you can attend Part 1 and/or 2 of the KA course, with no obligation to continue the course further unless you then choose to do so. Please note though, that the demand for places on our courses previously has meant that only those who pre-registered for the course could be assured of a place. Several places were usually reserved a year in advance and late applicants were disappointed.

The final part of each course may include an "open to all" retreat and does always include a variety of Knowga Gatherings (experiences or yoga classes) facilitated by our graduating students.

Our main UK course venue, 2005-2020, was Ufton Court near Reading in Berkshire - a beautiful Tudor manor, extended in Elizabethan times, set in its own delightful grounds which balanced the quiet of a rural retreat with easy access by road, rail and air. It remains one of the venues we consider for in-person events such as our New Year Retreat.

KA

KnowgA

Everything, is was and will be – what is ever changing is our awareness of reality.

Kundalini is the energy of awareness.

Knowga is a gathering in awareness.
Knowga is the “space between”; it is the innate awareness and alignment of body, emotion, mind and spirit;

“Right Action : Right Reaction”

Yoga is a path of self-development, a path to the realisation that All is One. Yoga means the "union of all". All yogic paths lead to an awareness of the subtle energy centres or chakras and the latent spiritual energy of Kundalini. Kundalini is the point of union at which all paths of yoga meet.

THE THREE THREADS of the KA course

Healing is the restoration of harmony at all levels of being (commonly identified as physical, emotional, mental and spiritual).

Kundalini Yoga facilitates the integration of body, mind and soul through achieving, maintaining and expanding a state of higher consciousness. This state is reached through asana (physical exercises and postures), pranayama (breath control), meditation, relaxation, yogic philosophy and a yogic lifestyle as shared, taught and practised on this course.

Shamanic Practice facilitates a relationship with the spirit in all things allowing a person to be in direct relationship with whatever they perceive as a higher power.

This course is essentially experiential.
You will be learning and practising a proven spiritual discipline that bridges scientific and religious understanding.
You will experience, enjoy and participate in creating a spiritually charged group dynamic.
You will develop a deeper understanding of your own spirituality and yoga practice.
You will be making new friends and sharing a lot of laughter with like-minded people.
You will have the opportunity to qualify as a Knowga Yoga Teacher and/or Knowga Facilitator and , even if you choose not to do so, you will be better able to support those who increasingly turn toward you because they are uncomfortable where they are and they perceive that you did something that left you comfortable "standing in your own truth".

Suitability
This course is open to all and everyone has the potential to benefit from it:
Experienced students with a well-developed personal practice of yoga or another holistic and/or spiritual practice over one or more years who may now wish to share those benefits with others.
Less experienced seekers simply seeking to deepen their understanding of self or spiritual awareness.

Online Weekend Schedule

Monthly (dates as advised)

Friday

19:00  Session 1

Saturday & Sunday

09:00  Session 2 & 6

11:00  Session 3 & 7

13:30  Session 4 & 8

15:30  Session 5 & 9

plus variously scheduled weekly sessions of 75-90 mins for the duration of the course.

Outline in-person weekend Schedule

FRIDAY      

17:00   Optional Yoga Class            
18.15   Supper
18.45   Registration
19:00   Diary Feedback
20:00   Weekend Theme
21:00   Close of Day
SATURDAY
07:00   Sadhana
08:00   Breakfast
09:00   Session 1
11.30   Session 2 (Active)
13:00   Lunch
14:00   Session 3
16:00   Session 4
18:00   Supper
18:00   Session 5
21:00   Close of Day
SUNDAY
07:00   Sadhana
08:00   Breakfast
09:00   Session 1
11.30   Session 2 (Active)
13:00   Lunch
14:00   Session 3
16:00   Close of Weekend

Basic Certification Requirements for YAP Foundation level Knowga Yoga certification

i-SKY courses (led by YAP SYT's) register Trainees with Yoga Alliance Professionals where, upon successfully completing the following 11 aspects of the course, the Trainee can upgrade YAP Trainee membership to Yoga Teacher membership and follow a personal path of professional development beyond i-SKY. 

Only if also offered - those successfully completing the following 11 aspects of the course may also be certificated by KRI (Kundalini Research Institute, USA) as Instructors of Kundalini Yoga to the Yoga Alliance (USA) Level 1 standard and may be registered as such with the UK Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association or, in the case of overseas students, the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association (IKYTA).

 1    Full attendance of all sessions within a 2 year period and full payment of all fees in advance.
 2    Completion of 20 Kundalini Yoga classes after commencement of the course.
 3    Satisfactory performance in practicum
 4    Passing grade of 75% or better in any examinations.
 5    Creation of two kundalini yoga course curricula.
 6    Completion of two 40 day kriya (yoga set/meditation).
 7    Regular participation in morning sadhana (full attendance of a minimum of 5 group Aquarian Sadhana).
 8    Satisfactory performance in a course exit interview (if offered or required).
 9    Attendance of a designated additional day of meditation practice.
10   Representation of an approved Code of Professional Standards for Yoga Teachers.
11   Completion of Certification Requirements (all set coursework and examinations to a satisfactory standard) before the end of the program.

 Additional (optional but recommended) Certification Requirements for i-SKY Teacher Training (Unit 1)

Those successfully meeting the expanded criteria (some of which are detailed below) will be credited as having achieved Unit 1 of the SKY Teacher Training Programme, will receive a Certificate of Achievement crediting them with Unit 1 of the Teacher Award and will be advised of the evidence requirements to complete the award in their final tutorial.

12    Attendance of 20 morning sadhana on the course and regularly holding/teaching a Knowga/Kundalini Yoga gathering/class to a satisfactory standard.
13    Completion of five 40 day kriya.
14    Undertaking a 40 day yogic food journey.
15    Maintenance of a daily journal of experience and progress.
16    A minimum of 2 years personal practice (attendance of 100 classes).

  
Evidence Requirements for the Achievement of i-SKY Teacher Training Unit 1
 1  Written verification of course attendance by i-SKY. 
 2  Written verification of observation by a teacher trainer or experienced teacher/facilitator (acceptable to i-SKY).
 3  Written verification of observation by a teacher trainer or experienced teacher/facilitatorr (acceptable to i-SKY).
 4  Completed K1/KA exam paper marked and signed by i-SKY.
 5  Two completed course curricula agreed and signed off by i-SKY.
 6  Personal statement supported by Student Diary entries
 7  Written verification of observation by a teacher trainer or experienced teacher/facilitator (acceptable to i-SKY).
 8  Written verification of observation by the exit interviewer (where conducted).
 9  Personal statement detailing the date, location and experience of a designated day of meditaion practice.
10 Signed and dated copies of a Code of Ethics and i-SKY Certification Requirements.
11 Submission of all coursework requested to a satisfactory standard and written verification of complete submission by i-SKY.
12 Personal statement supported by Student Diary entries and written verification of teaching observation by a teacher trainer or experienced teacher/facilitator (acceptable to i-SKY).
13 Personal statement supported by Student Diary entries.
14 Personal statement supported by Student Diary entries.
15 Personal statement summarising the journey documented by the diary and written verification of observation by a currently licensed i-SKY teacher trainer (or experienced teacher/facilitator acceptable to i-SKY) of a Student Diary with daily entries maintained for at least three months.
16 Personal statement countersigned by the student's current teacher/facilitator/s (acceptable to i-SKY).

i-SKY Coursework (example submission meeting the requirements of 11 above) specific coursework required may vary from course to course and person to person

"You cannot teach a man anything; you can only help him find it within himself." Galileo 

 “The most important surrender is the surrender of your character, your way of being, so that it may change. If you do not surrender your very own nature, never will this nature change.” The Mother - Mirra Alfassa.

Upcoming KA courses     i-SKY Local websites worldwide