INDA Yoga · Āsana Teacher Training
Chakra-Based Asana
Teacher Training
A complete system for understanding, teaching, and sequencing yoga postures through the lens of the seven chakras — integrating energetic theory, functional anatomy, trauma-awareness, and practical pedagogy.
7 chakra modules
50+ āsanas with full instruction
14 complete sequences
Deficient · Excessive · Balanced
Your progress0% complete
Module 1 · Foundations
Pedagogical Principles & Subtle Anatomy
Before teaching a single pose, a great āsana teacher needs a complete conceptual framework: how energy moves, how chakras express in the body, and how to diagnose what a student needs in any given moment. This module builds that foundation.
Deficient vs Excessive
Subtle body mapping
Sequencing principles
Trauma-aware teaching
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The Chakra System — A Teachable Map
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The chakra system is not mystical speculation — it is a functional map of how energy, emotion, psychology, and physiology integrate in the human body. Each of the seven major chakras corresponds to a region of the spine and nervous system, a set of psychological themes, and specific organs and glands. When we teach āsana through this lens, postures become precise tools for working with real human patterns, not just shapes to achieve.
The Seven Centres — Interactive Map
Click any chakra to see its themes and teaching focus.
Deficient vs Excessive — The Core Diagnostic
Deficient (Underactive)
- Energy not flowing to this centre
- Student avoids associated themes
- Corresponding body area is tight, numb, or collapsed
- Sequencing goal: activate, open, invite
- Use: long holds, grounding, inward focus
Excessive (Overactive)
- Energy stuck or spinning in this centre
- Student over-expresses associated themes
- Corresponding body area is rigid, braced, or hypermobile
- Sequencing goal: soften, contain, redirect
- Use: flow, forward folds, containment
Check Your Understanding
A student says they feel disconnected from their body, anxious about basic safety, and their legs feel weak and heavy. Which pattern are you working with?
Correct. Anxiety, disconnection from body, and heaviness in the legs are classic signs of a deficient root (Mūlādhāra). Sequence for grounding, safety, and slow long holds with downward energy.
Not quite. Anxiety, feeling disconnected from the body, and weak/heavy legs all point to a deficient (underactive) root chakra — the energy is not arriving there, not stuck there. The correction is to build grounding, not to mobilise or open a different centre.
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The Four Sequencing Principles
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Every āsana sequence is either building something or releasing something. Understanding these four fundamental directions allows you to design a practice for any student, any situation, any chakra pattern.
Grounding — downward energy, heaviness, containment
When: anxiety, overwhelm, disconnection, deficient root/sacral. How: slow pace, long holds (1–3 min), standing poses with feet wide and rooted, seated forward folds, child's pose, savasana. Breath: extended exhale (ratio 1:2), ujjāyī, downward awareness through the exhale. Drishti: downward gaze or eyes closed.
Energising — upward energy, activation, building heat
When: depression, lethargy, deficient solar plexus/crown, low motivation. How: dynamic vinyasa, sun salutations, standing poses, backbends, inversions, core work. Breath: kapalabhati, equal ratio, vigorous ujjāyī. Tempo: flowing, continuous, building toward peak pose.
Opening — expansion, vulnerability, receiving
When: deficient heart, throat, or third eye; guardedness, disconnection from emotion. How: gentle backbends, chest openers, supported poses, wide-legged poses, hip openers. Approach: slow, supported, never forced. Suggest rather than demand. Breath: full inhale emphasis, space in the chest, softening on the exhale.
Containing — boundaries, strength, structure
When: excessive heart, sacral, or throat; over-giving, emotional overwhelm, hypermobility. How: plank, chaturanga, warrior series, bound poses, core activation. Cue language: "draw in," "contain the energy," "find your edges," "engage." Breath: steady, controlled, mūla bandha engaged.
Sequencing Variables — The Levers You Control
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Tempo: Slow holds (grounding, parasympathetic) vs dynamic flow (activating, sympathetic)
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Breath ratio: Exhale-emphasis (calming) vs inhale-emphasis (energising)
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Direction: Forward folds (introspection) vs backbends (expansion, vulnerability)
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Drishti: Downward gaze (inward) vs upward gaze (expansive)
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Height: Floor-based (grounding) vs standing/inversions (elevating)
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Cueing language: "Root down / radiate up" vs "Soften / release / receive"
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Trauma-Aware Teaching Principles
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Research by Bessel van der Kolk, Peter Levine, and others confirms that trauma is held in the body — and āsana practice, done without awareness, can inadvertently trigger students. Trauma-aware teaching does not mean watering down the practice; it means creating the conditions of safety that allow genuine transformation to occur.
Language of invitation, not command
Replace "Do this" with "You might try..." or "If it's accessible today..." This returns agency to the student. Their nervous system cannot feel safe if it does not have choice.
Always offer modifications
Present the full pose, the modified version, and the supported version simultaneously — without hierarchy. A student using a block is not doing less yoga.
Ask before touching
Always obtain verbal consent before any physical adjustment. For trauma survivors, unexpected touch can trigger a threat response that undoes the entire practice.
Recognise window of tolerance
Each student has a window of activation within which learning and integration occur. Too little stimulation = disengagement. Too much = overwhelm and shutdown. Your job is to help them work within this window, not push them through it.
Module 2 · Āsana Lab
The Seven Chakras — Poses, Sequences & Teaching
Explore each chakra through its key āsanas, complete deficient and excessive sequences with a guided practice timer, and deepen your understanding of how posture, breath, and cueing create energetic effects in the body.
50+ āsanas
Sanskrit · Alignment · Benefits
14 complete sequences
Live sequence timer
Module 3 · Sequencing Science
Designing Intelligent Sequences
Knowing individual poses is not enough. A master teacher sequences them into an arc — a journey with a clear beginning, middle, and resolution. This module teaches you how to build that arc for any chakra, any student, any goal.
Peak pose theory
Energetic mapping
Build your own sequence
Therapeutic sequencing
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The Three-Part Arc
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Every well-designed class moves through three phases. Miss any one of them and the class feels incomplete or even destabilising.
The Arc Structure
Opening
Arrive · Ground · Orient. Gentle movement, breath awareness, check-in.
Building
Warm · Develop · Peak. Progressively deeper engagement toward the peak pose.
Integration
Counter-poses · Release · Savasana. The nervous system consolidates what was opened.
Build Your Own Sequence — Root Chakra Practice
Drag your own notes into each phase, or use the prompts below to plan a 60-minute root chakra class.
Module 4 · Teaching Skills
The Art of Cueing — Verbal, Tactile & Energetic
The pose instruction is the least important thing you say. What matters far more is the quality of attention and presence you bring — and the cueing language that guides a student into their own experience, not your idea of how the pose should look.
Verbal cueing
Physical adjustment
Energetic cueing
Observation skills
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The Three Layers of Cueing
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Anatomical cueing — what the body does
"Press the four corners of your feet into the mat. Draw your inner thighs back and apart. Engage your quadriceps to lift the kneecaps." Precise, teachable, essential — but alone, leaves the practice at the level of mechanics.
Functional cueing — what the body achieves
"Root down through your feet so that the earth can lift you." "Allow your hips to open — not by forcing, but by releasing what's held there." Functional cues build the bridge between alignment and awareness.
Experiential cueing — what's happening inside
"Notice what arises when you stay here longer than comfortable." "Can you be curious about this sensation rather than just enduring it?" "What is this pose asking you to trust?" Experiential cues are where āsana becomes yoga — where the body becomes a doorway to awareness.
Practice: Translate This Cue
Transform this anatomical cue into an experiential one: "Lift your sternum and draw your shoulder blades together and down."
Example: "Allow your heart to rise — not because you're pushing it forward, but because you're willing to let it be seen. What does it feel like to offer openness from this place?"
Module 5 · Practicum
Teach Chakra-Based Classes — Real Observation, Real Students
Theory becomes teaching in the practicum. Here you design, deliver, and reflect on actual chakra-based āsana classes — developing the observational and adaptive skills that distinguish a transformative teacher from a sequence-follower.
Design 7 complete classes
Observation framework
Adaptation in real time
Case study work
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The Observation Framework
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The best teachers have a plan and hold it lightly. They are watching — always watching — for what is actually happening in the room. These are the four observation layers to develop.
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Structural: Where is the body collapsing, bracing, compensating? What does the spine tell you?
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Breath: Is the breath free, shallow, held, or forced? Breath quality tells you everything about internal state.
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Face and jaw: Tension here reveals mental resistance and stored stress — especially relevant for throat and third-eye work.
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Room energy: Is the group with you? Are people checked out, over-effortful, or genuinely present? Adjust tempo and cueing accordingly.
Practicum Assignment — Teach and Reflect
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