The Ananda School of Yoga & Meditation® offers high-quality, spiritually-focused professional teacher trainings that empower individuals to deepen their own lives and to support others in an expansive way.
Learn to practice and teach a broad spectrum of meditation and yoga techniques that address all levels of being: body, mind and soul.
2023 - 2024 Trainings
Keys to The Bhagavad Gita
Online: Feb 22 – May 17, 2023
with Nayaswamis Gyandev & Diksha
The Gita is a treasure trove of practical tools for the spiritual life. This course will help you apply those tools to your own life, aided by Paramhansa Yogananda’s powerful Gita insights.
Ananda Spiritual Counseling Training Online
Online: Apr 5 - May 17, 2023
with Nayaswami Diksha
This training will enhance your interpersonal skills as you learn to listen actively, respond with clarity, open the doorway for superconscious understanding and solutions, and help you guide others to find their own solutions.
Ananda Yoga®
Teacher Training
In Person (California): July 2 – 30, 2023
with Melody Hansen & Darshana Moore
Located in the beautiful foothills of the Sierra Nevada Mountains at Ananda Village, our month long teacher training program offers you an opportunity to live in spiritual community, dive deep into Ananda Yoga, and develop a deep connection with your Higher self.
Ananda Yoga®
Assistantship
In Person (California): July 2 – 16, 2023
with Melody Hansen & Michele Tsihlas
A 13-day residential course of lecture, discussion, and daily opportunities to practice verbal, visual, and touch assists. Help your students deepen their asana practice by better understanding their body mechanics so that they can self-adjust, relax more consciously, and deepen their awareness of subtle energy.
Advanced Pranayama
In Person (California): Sept 3 - Sept 10, 2023
with Melody Hansen
A powerful week encompassing extensive practice of advanced breathing techniques, bandhas, mudras, and hybrid techniques and deeper exploration of the chakras, astral body and energization exercises.
Living the Yoga Sutras
Online: Oct 4 – Nov 18, 2023
with Nayaswamis Gyandev & Diksha
Experience the very essence of Yoga with Ananda’s unique approach to the Yoga Sutras. You’ll go beyond philosophy to understand more deeply how to access the higher realms of consciousness—and begin to do it. Paramhansa Yogananda’s action-oriented teachings will give you the practical tools to get there.
Restorative Ananda Yoga® Online
Online: Oct 18 - Nov 22, 2023
with Melody Hansen
Whether you plan to deepen your understanding of restorative yoga or teach it to your students, this comprehensive online course will help you gain the knowledge–through experience—of the healing power of restorative yoga!
Ananda Meditation® Teacher Training Online
Online: Jan 24 - Apr 6, 2024
with Nayaswami Gyandev & Nayaswami Diksha
Dive deep into classical meditation in the tradition of great master, Paramhansa Yogananda. Join our dynamic and diverse learning community, where you’ll discover new dimensions of your own meditation practice as you help others build theirs.
Asana Intensive for Yoga Teachers
Online: Mar 10 – Apr 21, 2024
with Melody Hansen
In this engaging, hands-on course, you’ll broaden and refine your understanding of Ananda Yoga as you explore the 25 Level 2 Ananda Yoga postures, which include both advanced asanas and basic asanas not covered in the Level 1 YTT.
Ananda Yoga® Teacher Training Online
Online: Sept 8, 2024 - Feb 23, 2025
with Melody Hansen and faculty
A transformative 20-week online experience to expand and share your light with Ananda Yoga. Join an international community of fellow truth seekers to practice, live and share yoga.
Bridge to Ananda Yoga® Online
Online: Sept 8 – Nov 9, 2024
with Melody Hansen and faculty
If you’re looking for something deeper in your own practice and would like to offer more than just a physical experience to your students, transferring to Ananda Yoga may be the right step for you.
The Bhagavad Gita: Bring Its Power into Daily Living
Online: Oct 9 – Nov 23, 2024
with Nayaswamis Gyandev & Diksha
The Gita is a treasure trove of practical tools for the spiritual life. This in-depth course, will help you apply those tools to your own life, aided by Paramhansa Yogananda’s powerful Gita insights.
Meet Our Faculty
Nayaswami Gyandev McCord is the Director of the Ananda School of Yoga & Meditation. Gyandev has an advanced certificate in online teaching methodology, is the Director of Ananda Yoga worldwide, and is a co-founder of Yoga Alliance.
A member of the teaching staff at the Expanding Light Retreat for more than 30 years he is well known internationally for his profound ability to share the teachings of yoga asana, meditation, yoga philosophy, and the joy that comes from living a yogic lifestyle.
Nayaswami Diksha McCord is a senior faculty member of the Ananda School of Yoga & Meditation in Northern California, serving as the Director of the Spiritual Counseling Training, and as co-director of the Ananda Meditation Teacher Training program online. She has been meditating for more than 30 years, and training meditation teachers for more than 20 years.
A powerful and dynamic woman of great warmth and humor, she is gifted in both intelligence and intuition. Diksha brings a broad background to her teaching—from physical wellness to Ayurveda to profound spiritual understanding. Above all, she awakens in her students their own inner wisdom and the will to make positive changes in their lives.
Melody, E-RYT 500, directs the Ananda Yoga Teacher Training and Restorative Yoga Teacher Training online programs. She is a Certified Ananda Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT and a trained Prenatal Yoga Instructor.
Melody has been practicing the teachings of yoga since the age of 14, and began teaching at age 17. She loves to help her students experience the depth of Ananda Yoga and Meditation.
She will be the main asana instructor for this course and will support you every step of the way in becoming a confident yoga teacher. It is her joy to serve you!
Mangala has a background in a variety of healing modalities including Nursing, Ayurveda, Yoga teaching and Yoga Therapy practice and teaching.
She currently serves as the Director of the Ananda Yoga Therapy Training program. She has been a RN, Nurse Practitioner for many decades and has been involved in assisting residents of Ananda Village for over 30 years with health and illness-related situations, and also with the process of dying.
She also serves as a teacher, spiritual counselor and minister. She enjoys helping people to find positive ways to cope with and even thrive with challenges presented by illness and dying. Mangala is an Ananda minister.
Maitri, E-RYT 500, directs the Online Ananda Yoga Assistantship program, Holistic Health Retreats and teaches in the Yoga Teacher and Ananda Yoga Therapy Trainings. She is a Registered Nurse, Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT and an Ananda Minister.
Maitri first started practicing yoga and meditation as a teenager and has continued as a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda for many decades. She is enthusiastic about sharing these techniques with people of all abilities.
Darshana, E-RYT 200, became interested in meditation and found the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda and Swami Kriyananda in 2009. Since then, she has been applying them in her own life and sharing them with others.
Darshana moved to Ananda Village in 2011 and graduated from Ananda Yoga Teacher Training and Ananda Meditation Teacher Training in 2012. She is currently studying to become a certified yoga therapist. Darshana teaches meditation and yoga philosophy.
Arya Cheng, RYT-200, is passionate about sharing yoga as a tool for managing stress, transformation and healing in body, mind and soul.
Her journey as a yogi started at age 14, when she attended Ananda’s Living With Spirit Program and experienced first hand the transformative effects of yoga and meditation.
Arya currently lives at Ananda Village and serves as an Ananda Yoga Instructor for the Ananda School of Yoga and Meditation. She is a lead asana instructor for Ananda Yoga Teacher Training and here to encourage you to shine your light!
Michele, E-RYT 500, is a Certified Ananda Yoga Therapist, C-IAYT, Personal Trainer and author. She is passionate about the pursuit of wellness from the inside out and dedicated to helping people achieve a higher quality of life. She enjoys inspiring students to find their unique gifts and talents, not only to bring fulfillment and wellness into their own lives, but to also share the healing aspects of yoga in the classroom and beyond.
Michele will be leading sadhanas and teaching classes for Professional Essentials.
Tracy, E-RYT 500 and C-IAYT, received her yoga and meditation training certifications from Ananda beginning in 1993, and soon after completed massage therapy (LMT, BCTMB), personal training, and Pilates certifications.
She enjoys teaching and sharing therapy at YMCAs, schools, hospitals, and a home studio. She helps lead an Ananda Midwest Meditation Group and yearly retreats and is an Ananda minister. It was her blessing to help teach the first AYTT in India, and now assist with AYTTO.
She looks forward to infusing your study of anatomy with energy and joy, experiential learning, and its many practical applications!
Alba, RYT-200, recently graduated from AYTTO and is passionate about sharing the transformative approach of Ananda Yoga. She has been practicing yoga since the age of 21 and is a trained Ananda meditation teacher and restorative yoga instructor. Currently based in France, she is working on developing Ananda Francophone to help spread the teachings of Paramhansa Yogananda in French-speaking countries. In this course, Alba will be an asana instructor and lead a weekly sadhana. She is inspired to help students integrate the healing potential of yoga into their own lives, so that they can share it with others.
What We Offer
- A transformative experience to expand and share your light
- The ability to take charge of your life with yoga, while integrating it into your daily life
- Gain in-depth understanding of ancient yoga philosophy and the art and science of yogic techniques on physical as well as subtle levels
- Receive personal support, coaching and feedback from experienced yoga teachers who live what they teach
- Join an international spiritual community and establish deep connections with fellow truthseekers all over the world
- Engage in a balanced approach of learning to acquire the skills for teaching asanas confidently to anyone
