What is Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training?

Ashtanga Yoga is the eight-folded path of yoga. It is a specific yoga tradition, but at the same time Ashtanga Yoga can be seen as covering all aspects of yoga within any yoga tradition.

The ultimate purpose of the Ashtanga practice is purification of the body and mind. By moving so quickly and powerfully, you will get a lot of tapas and everything extra, physical and mental, will have to get out the way. This practice has a strong sense of purpose and you are forced to focus and grow.

Yoga is a Sanskrit word that means both union and concentration. Its practice aims our bodies, breath, nervous system and mind in a coherent direction to create a state of health, vitality, calmness, clarity and insight in the practitioner. This is accomplished through practicing yoga postures in conjunction with regulated breathing and concentration, in a technique called vinyasa.

Ashtanga Yoga is often called Patanjali Yoga, referring to Maharishi Patanjali, the ancient author of the famous Patanjali yoga sutras that describe Ashtanga Yoga. Historians place the writing of these scriptures at around 200 B.C., but the original is probably thousands of years older. These teachings belong to an oral tradition, passed on unchanged by memorisation of the verses in which their wisdom was captured. More recently (15th century) the term Raja Yoga is also often used instead of Ashtanga Yoga, meaning "royal yoga".

What is Hatha Yoga Teacher Training?

With ha meaning "sun" and tha meaning "moon," Hatha Yoga is commonly translated as the yoga that brings union "of the pairs of opposites." Sometimes Hatha Yoga is also translated as the "forcefull yoga", because it requires a lot of physical effort. Hatha Yoga is certainly the yoga that is the best known in the West, which is part of the reason why so many definitions of Hatha Yoga exist.

In  most  Indian  languages,  in  common  usage,  the  word  “hatha”  means  being  adamant. This is the quality that you will need. Your body says, “Enough, I had it.” But you are adamant. This  is  Hatha  Yoga. Your mind says, “I give up, I can’t do this anymore.”  But you  are  adamant,  you  simply  do  it.  We  want  to  take  the  physical  form  beyond  its present  levels  of  limitations.  In  a  way,  Hatha  Yoga  means  you  want  to  make  your comfort zone universal.

Just to confuse things more, some studios throw something called hatha flow into the mix. Wait, didn't I just say that hatha wasn't flow? Well, since the term is so open, it can be used to mean almost any kind of asana class. What some call hatha flow, I would call vinyasa. However, some places take the confusion one step further by offering both hatha flow and vinyasa. In this case, expect the vinyasa to be a little more vigorous, but so much depends upon the approach of each individual teacher that it's impossible to be definitive on this point without taking specific classes. If you need more clarification, ask at the studio or gym where the classes are taught.

http://www.arpityoga.com/hatha-yoga-teacher-training-india.php 

What is Meditation?

Meditation is a practice where an individual trains the mind or induces a mode of consciousness, either to realize some benefit or for the mind to simply acknowledge its content without becoming identified with that content, or as an end in itself.

There are different ways to meditate, and since it’s such a personal practice there are probably more than any of us know about. There are a couple that are usually focused on heavily in scientific research, though. These are focused-attention, or mindful meditation, which is where you focus on one specific thing—it could be your breathing, a sensation in your body or a particular object outside of you. The point of this type of meditation is to focus strongly on one point and continually bring your attention back to that focal point when it wanders.

Meditation is a word that has come to be used loosely and inaccurately in the modern world. That is why there is so much confusion about how to practice it. Some people use the word meditate when they mean thinking or contemplating; others use it to refer to daydreaming or fantasizing. However, meditation (dhyana) is not any of these.

In meditation, the mind is clear, relaxed, and inwardly focused. When you meditate, you are fully awake and alert, but your mind is not focused on the external world or on the events taking place around you. Meditation requires an inner state that is still and one-pointed so that the mind becomes silent. When the mind is silent and no longer distracts you, meditation deepens.

http://www.arpityoga.com/yoga-teacher-training-india.php