Shri Kali Ashram in Goa

Yoga Discussion General Yoga
#1

Does anyone have any experience at Shri Kali Ashram in Goa?

Im looking for a RYS 500 (for 300 hours to add to my 200), and their training dates are flexible and within my budget. But their website and their contact person are not very informative. Any info or experience (preferably direct) would be most appreciated. I havent found much by googling it. I was particularly interested in what the schedule and curriculum were like, but the contact person only gave me such vague answers as we do asanas in the morning and evening with lectures in the afternoon and we adapt the curriculum for each student. I dont take that to mean that its necessarily bad, but it could be. This school is registered with Yoga Alliance, so I gather they do adhere to some standards.

Anybody?

#2

what did you find out?
i’ve been searching all over the internet, and i haven’t been able to hear from anyone who has been there…
thanks and namaste ~*~

#3

hi, i haven’t found anything out. i can’t get much specific info from contact person, which gives me the impression that they don’t have a well-defined curriculum. so i decided against it. i may be heading to goa next week though, so if i check out the ashram i’ll update the thread. :wink:

#4

have you tried yogafinder.com ?

#5

I was recently at Shri Kali. I had a very enriching experience at Shri Kali Ashram… very little of it came form the actual ashram and teachers itself though. I learned some great lessons (some about following my instincts… they were right about Shri Kali, I kinda thought something sounded a bit off about the school and I was right about that), and some life changing experiences.

Met some wonderful people there and saw a bunch come and go. BUT, if you are looking for a yoga teacher training program there are a lot of other ones out there… this one failed miserably. I suggest you think twice before taking this one.

I recently spent some time there. The “ashram” is not all that it appears to be on their web site. Run out of a guest house, it has no yoga shalla (most of the pictures on line are from when they were in Thailand). You did yoga on the roof or wherever there was room depending on weather.

I was hoping to become a Yoga teacher. The program did not do any teacher instruction. Students were given one opportunity to teach a part of one class during the entire month. I was shocked that was all we did for actual teacher training. You are basically paying for the piece of paper (certificate) rather than the education. I was really hoping for the education.

We did a lot of yoga on a daily basis and some pranayama and some ayervedic walking massage. You were lucky if you got 7 hours of lecture a week on random topics. There was no structure to the lectures or the program for that matter. It was VERY disappointing from the perspective of someone wanting to do a yoga teacher training. It was almost fraudulent from that perspective as they did not follow Yoga Alliance guidelines and actually invested a fair amount of energy in talking bad about Y.A…

They sure love to talk down on Yoga Alliance (the certifying body that they advertise on their website) for that matter, they talked down on “western yoga” in general. Broad sweeping statements discrediting western yoga and students just interested in doing asanas etc.I was just shocked at how opinionated and non yogic the school was by spending so much time discrediting and speaking badly of things they were making broad generalizations about and clearly knew very little about. They spoke badly of other yoga schools and bodies on numerous occasions, rather than being positive and showing their own way without having to discredit and talk down on others. All in all a very disappointing teacher training program and facilities.

Agonda on the other hand is a wonderful little beach with some great places toe eat, nice people and quiet pace. Would suggest Agonda to anyone.

#6

I too attended teacher?s training at Śri Kali Ashram and had a wonderful and enlightening experience exploring Tantra and Yoga. I have been to many other yoga schools, training classes and intensives. At Śri Kali they teach people to have quality in teaching and the ability to execute asanas, prānayama, and so on to high standards. Furthermore, they even create individual programs for each student depending on their ability or disability. This seems to be the modern way of teaching where teachers are facilitators for their students? own journeys. In the beginning this probably appears that there is less structure to one who has no awareness or skill in teaching, which is the case with absolute beginners or people who have no teaching experience or no experience of learning in the modern way.

Here there were some people who could not perform simple asanas and they wanted just intellectual pointers to set up a yoga class. When they were required to practice they felt inadequate. The teachers at Śri Kali taught people to perform the asanas as well as teach. They didn?t just teach the intellectual aspect, they wanted us as teachers to be able to teach honestly. People who could not perform asanas were disappointed and wanted us all to agree with them. Other students were so happy with this program that they decided to continue with the next level. Those who felt lesser were desperate people who performed a few asanas, and in their desperation, they just wanted to set up yoga shops and wanted to ignore the standards offered by the system. When the teachers also emphasized the importance of philosophy a couple of students felt challenged. I never once heard the school speak ill of Yoga Alliance and I found that the school strictly adhered to the Yoga Alliance standards in the depth and breadth of their teaching. Some people have ideas and ideals that are incongruent with Yoga. These ideals and ideas coupled with extreme trust issues and learning difficulties kept some people from seeing the value of going through a Yoga Alliance program. The teachers had to deal with all these complexes of students and maintain Yoga Alliance standards. This yoga school has serious philosophies and an asana culture that is variant from other schools as it teaches asanas from the Tantric perspective. Its emphasis is on prāna or chi and it is differently performed and taught. This is different from performing asanas as acrobats. Sometimes when teachers teach the philosophy of Yoga and Tantra it seems that peoples? pet theories and myths are challenged. People who have no culture of learning or schooling opt for shortcuts in existence and make a fuss when their piecemeal belief systems are challenged. Students often misread this as the teachers being opinionated rather than the student having a preconceived opinion of how a class should be taught. It seemed to me that the teachers were trying to teach a complete yoga system and a few students came with just the motive of gaining a certificate as quickly as possible. Yoga is a science of self culturing and is not for desperate existence.

Sometimes people with psychological difficulties also come to yoga schools. It is common to meet people with obsessive compulsive disorder (looking for superhuman details), performance complexes, scarcity complexes, self-esteem problems, control issues and various other neuroses. When yoga challenges them to face this, a few manifest behavior that results from an inability to move on from their neuroses, the same neuroses that limit them from a positive personal culture. All these issues are best dealt with by psychologists. This school is good for progressive people looking for a serious science and culture of life. I enjoyed my time at Śri Kali Ashram and recommend it for students who appreciate the long-term value of immersing themselves in this ancient and timeless culture.

#7

Do anyone know how can I get the phone number of Sri Kali Ashram in Goa, I only have the email
Thanks

#8

Thank you for your interest.

You can reach the Ashram by phone at +918806910408

Shri Kali Ashram

#9

Aloha to all,
The Shri Kali Asram is for serious practicioners of Yoga that are not interested in buying a certificate, but really going through a rigorous training program. The teachers here are the real deal, they are not business people simply graduating one class after another and making profit, but are sincerely interested in the development of each serious student. The teach FOR UNDERSTANDING.
If you want to simply be given a sequence of asanas, go elsewhere, But if you want to know the deeper meaning of all the asanas, you will learn it here.
If you just want a certificate, you can get them anywhere, but if your goal is to be not just a “teacher” but a lifelong student of Yoga itself, then Shri Kali will give you the tools to really grow in your own practice. I find it sad that there are so many people in the west eager to become teachers (in as little time as possible) when they never learned first to become students.
If you want to learn the true science of Mantras, Yantras and Tantra, this is one of the few places in the world where you will get accurate information that is Universal, you will be able to use it and apply it, irrregardles of your faith, and it will enrich both your Yoga practice and everyday life.
The main Guru- Bhagavan Shan is a kind and patient man,
I learned so much from him, over many cups of tea, during the monsoon when I was there in 2009, that I am still digesting the knowledge that I was given. The depth of the teaching here is greatly understated, and the teachers both humble and extremely resourceful and knowledgable. I plan to return in the near future.

#10

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#11

What I find worse than bad reviews are reviews that are super positive, reviews by avatars with just one post or reviews that blame customers… :stuck_out_tongue:

#12

I have to agree with mukimuki, someone is blowing his own trumpet but in an unfamiliar key!
I am interested in tantra, from the point of view of embracing the totality of experience, but I won’t be going to ShriKali, there’s a lack of honesty displayed right here on this board, no need to look further!

I studied yoga in the west for 15 years before ever I went to India. I found too many teachers in India would begin the class by disparaging the west as if they felt intimidated. They were never good teachers themselves, they simply had never trained to teach.

The best yoga teacher I ever knew was an Indian, teaching Sivananda style in kovalam.
He was very honest. He told me his primary aim was to transmit positive energy to his students during the class. He wasn’t the most technically adept practitioner I have come across and he never lectured anyone. I always felt good after his classes. He was unique.

#13

I just recently completed a 500 RYT at Shri Kali Ashram. I found it to be a very insightful training program. I have taught yoga for over 8 eight years and I could see how the program might not live up to expectations for people who are looking to be turned into yoga instructors, but I have several friends who have participated in different RYT courses who feel the same way. There is just so much you can learn in a short period. Shri Kali and other courses provide you with a start, but “becoming” a yoga instructor comes through experience. Shri Kali teaches you several formats for an hour class and you will be prepared to teach those formats after completing the course, but it’s understandable that some might not feel %100 confident in teaching after 2 months of training. I think that really just depends on the person. It took years of teaching before I stopped feeling a little nervous before a class. Shri Kali teaches [U]Traditional Tantra Yoga[/U]. The teacher there does an excellent job of explaining the difference between modern western yoga and traditional yoga. If you are going to verify what you think you know about yoga you will be horribly disappointed. If you are going with an open mind wanting to learn a more traditional practice and philosophy you will be very pleased. Not only is the course informative and educational it’s format is designed so that you can experience yoga. Yoga is an experimental practice meaning you can’t just intellectually learn about yoga. You have to experience it to truly understand it. At Shri Kali you do more yoga than teaching yoga, but that’s how you are going to walk away with a real understanding of the practice, by doing it yourself. I highly recommend Shri Kali. Participating in the program was a very enlightening experience for me.

#14

rat with many disguises

#15

After doing my 200hrs YTT at Ayur Yoga School in Rishikesh, I got a recommendation to come to Shri Kali Ashram in Goa. The ashram seemed ideal as they offer a flexible schedule to complete the 300 hours in 6 or 8 weeks. And since I had already studied one month ayurveda I could join the classes for the ayurveda diploma which normally takes 3 months and complete the degree now in just 2 months. I went there for a week retreat in December to try before committing to spend 8 weeks there. I really loved it so decided to get a new visa and come back to study there. It really is like Anahata says above: there is maybe less structure but the philosophy goes much deeper than in other schools (though I can compare only with one :wink: ). You are expected to do extra reading and take responsibilty for your own learning. You are not being spoon-fed information but it’s all there and if you have questions you can always ask one of the teachers.
Also they probably have changed their program for the teaching yoga practicums since the older posts: if you stay one month to complete 200hrs, after you learn the series of asanas you will teach in small groups of 3 people for about 2 weeks. This is way more than I got in my 200hrs in Rishikesh.
I met many lovely people at the ashram, many also returning like me, so if you have any doubts, try for a week retreat like I did and then decide :slight_smile: