Following the Dalian TriYoga Conference in September, DJ (John) and Santoshi teamed up to teach the first full-manual Level 3 teacher training in China. Held at TriYoga Center Bao’an in Shenzhen, the Level 3 group met for 25 days between September 28–October 30.
Congratulations to the Lucky Thirteen: China’s first fully-certified L3 TriYoga teachers! There were 18 students total in the training, 15 full-time and three who joined the majority of the training. Students attended from four different provinces in China and included members of the junior-level teacher training staff, two TYC Directors, and a yoga club owner who had never tried yoga before, but decided she wanted to learn TriYoga and came to the Level 3 training as a student!
The training group represented the “history” of TriYoga in China since 2006: Lalita, Lily and Kiki all met Yogini Kaliji on her first visit to China and attended (along with Ajasa, Zhang Li, and Lei Jun) the first China Basics Teacher Training with DJ and Santoshi 2009! Others had attended trainings across the intervening years, and new Level 3 teacher Hai Yan began her TriYoga study in November 2014. Nearly all had previously studied with DJ and Santoshi, and students in the group had also studied with senior teacher trainers Eva-Maria and Chandra and Chinese junior teacher trainer Kiki.
The dedication, discipline, and motivation of the wonderful Chinese students was evident as ever during the Level 3 training. After five hours of Level 3 flows in the full tropical heat and humidity, many students would remain at the TYC for hours, studying and flowing together, practicing teaching, and listening to the recording they had just made of the day’s session. This “training after the training” is a distinctive feature of Chinese trainings—their work ethic and stamina is astonishing and inspiring.
One afternoon, several of the students joined Santoshi for a “Nada Club” meeting– they carefully practiced pronunciation of favorite chants (and discovered some funny linguistic flows: for example, the Mandarin word for pineapple is “bolo”, so when students chant “Bolo Bolo Sabmila Bolo”, many of them are thinking of a tropical fruit).
As the grand finale for the training, the interns met with Kaliji via skype, and received their notification of certification directly from Yogini Kaliji!
Already four of the new teachers have started Level 3 classes and workshops in their hometowns and studios.
Many teachers from the first full Basics training in 2009. From left: TYC Director Lei Jun, Suki (not a teacher—manager of UYoga during the first training), Junior-level Teacher Trainer Kiki, Zhang Li, Lily, Junior-level Teacher Trainer Lalita, and TYC Director Ajasha.
Great thanks to Kiki for providing translation during the training, with wonderful assistance from Zhang Li.
DJ and Santoshi are honored and grateful for the amazing teaching opportunities in China, for the beautiful relationships that have developed with the China TriYoga Community, and for the transformations they have experiences themselves. The photo on the left was taken just before the Fire 108 training in 2009; the picture on the right during the Level 3 training in 2015. TriYoga works!