85-hour Yoga Alliance Recognised Course
Embodied Woman: Prenatal and Postpartum Yoga Teacher Training with Amber Sawyer, PhD
December 2 - 10, 2019
As women, we are cyclical creatures. From experiencing life through our emotions, our monthly moon cycles and our archetypal journey including for some from Maiden to Mother, our path and life experience is not linear. To be an embodied woman, means to know that in our deepest truth, our source of knowledge lies within the body, within these cycles, as an intuitive knowing. An embodied woman uses her feelings and her body as a starting place to ground her choices and actions. In Ayurveda, the Shakti Prana of every woman exists within her womb, as an inner strength that affects every level of health, the wax and wane of all cycles and the attunement with our intuition and empathy.
This unique prenatal and postpartum yoga teacher training, recognised by Yoga Alliance, provides a holistic perspective on the natural cycles of a woman’s life from preconception to pre and postpartum, for the expectant Mother, grounded in awareness and embodiment. Leaning on the principles of Ayurveda and Traditional Chinese Medicine, we will explore how the Elements function during these cycles, as well as how to tailor asanas, pranayama and meditation specific to these life stages. Going beyond the traditional role of teaching yoga, this training dives deeper into how to hold space for these sacred transitions, from honouring moon cycles to cultivating a conscious and healthy pregnancy, to preparation for an active and mindful birth, to support for the entrance into matrescence and the postpartum journey.
Created through Amber’s personal experience of conscious conception, pregnancy and empowered birth, two decades as a yoga practitioner, one decade as a yoga teacher, several years of offering pre/postpartum yoga, her work as a birth doula and midwife assistant, combined with her scientific and Ayurvedic backgrounds, this training brings forth a unique perspective on maternal health and wellbeing through the yogic path. Following this training, you will be equipped with the skills and confidence to safely teach pre/postnatal yoga and to honor these sacred life passages with sensitivity, wisdom and connection.
"Yoga and meditation are the strongest offering that we can give to a pregnant woman. Through conscious pregnancy, birth and early parenting, we set the foundation for life-long health and happiness in a child.”
— Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa
ABOUT AMBER SAWYER
As an Embodiment Facilitator, Amber shares the joy of living through holistic practices of yoga, active meditations, and elemental wellness, as well as combines these offerings with her service as a birth doula and holistic guide for pregnancy/postpartum women. With nearly 20 years of study and practice in Yoga, Ayurveda and Meditation, as well as a PhD in Biomedical Engineering in the field of stem-cell tissue repair, Amber brings a unique perspective on healing and self-discovery through the influence of scientific and ancient wisdoms.
From 2009 to 2018, Amber founded a community in the heart of Singapore known as Satsanga where she offered weekly active meditation and yoga classes, kirtans and community events. Amber has also studied directly under the tutelage of many Masters, learning to share Active Meditations (using sound and movement), as well as has been certified in Universal Yoga, Hatha Yoga and Yin Yoga, Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga and Mindful Birth, Elemental Yoga Therapy and Ayurvedic Lifestyle Counselling. Amber also holds certification as a birth and postpartum doula, and has been serving as a midwife assistant and doula over the last two years.
After the birth of her little one in 2015, Amber shifted into her current offerings, which include mothering her vibrant little one, supporting her family, continued work with group immersions and retreats, biannually leading a 200hr Elemental Yoga Teacher Training and Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga Teacher Training, and working on a more individual basis of empowering others to find their inner and outer harmony through a variety of practices including breathwork, nutrition, constitutional analysis, yoga, meditation and daily rhythms. Part of this dharma particularly focuses on empowering women to have a conscious pregnancy, birth experience and preparedness for motherhood.
Amber currently resides in Singapore while also traveling internationally with her life partner and little yogini, to share conscious movement, yoga, meditation, holistic health, love, laughter and light world wide!
COURSE OVERVIEW
- Understanding women’s physiology, hormone cycles and health
- Application of menstrual cyclical wisdom to a yoga practice
- Holistic view of fertility, womb care and female pelvic anatomy
- TCM/Ayurveda/5-Element Theory for preconception, pregnancy and postpartum
- Anatomy and physiology of pregnancy
- Trimester specific asana, pranayama and meditation during pregnancy
- Guidelines and contraindications for teaching prenatal yoga
- Preparing sequences for prenatal classes, prenatal modifications, or pregnancy-related complications
- Safe abdominal toning and core work during pregnancy
- Understanding the role of the pelvic floor before, during and after pregnancy
- Stages of birth and labor anatomy
- An overview of the medical model of birth and alternatives with active birthing
- Optimal fetal positioning
- Cultivating intuition and empowerment through embodiment practices
- Understanding the emotional terrain of the expectant Mother, the birth of the Mother and into the postpartum journey
- The importance of postpartum healing and support through a yoga practice
- Guidelines and contraindications for postpartum yoga
- Sequencing for postpartum yoga
- Reconnecting to the body, pelvic floor stabilisation, closure of ab separation
- Diastasis recti and other postpartum complications
- Breath awareness during preconception, pregnancy and postpartum
- Yoga practices to support through miscarriage, birth trauma and postpartum complications
- Application of these principles into daily activities or other styles of asana classes
SCHEDULE
December 2 - 10, 2019
8am - 6pm
8am - 9:30am Yoga Practice
9:30am - 11am Theory/Practicum
11am - 1pm Teaching Methodology/Theory
1pm - 2pm Lunch
2pm - 3pm Theory / Practicum
3pm - 4:30pm Theory / Practicum
4:30om - 6pm Yoga Practice
TUITION
Early bird (by Oct 31): $1,950
Regular: $2,290
Deposit: $500
Register to: www.homyoga.com
TRAINEE BENEFITS
All trainees are entitled to unlimited complimentary yoga classes and 10% off all retail during the period of the training, and 20% off our packages upon completion of the teacher training.
CANCELLATION POLICY
All deposits are non-refundable.
Any cancellation received 60 days prior to course incurs a fee of $250.
Any cancellation received 30 days prior to course will result in forfeit of the full tuition fee.
Cover photo by Ruthi Schooling, @ochre.root IG