The Ancient Arts of the Priestess Academy
Our Lineage: Thirumoolar’s Ashtanga Therapeutic Yoga
At Rose Temple Yoga School, yoga is taught as more than physical movement. It is a living tradition that supports healing, self-awareness, spiritual growth, and compassionate service.
Our approach is rooted in the South Indian teachings of Thirumoolar’s Ashtanga Therapeutic Yoga. Bertena studied under Mary Irby, founder of White Crow Yoga, whose training was influenced by her studies in Chennai, India, with Guruji Dr. Asana Andiappan. Dr. Andiappan is internationally recognized for his work in therapeutic yoga and for developing accessible practices inspired by the ancient teachings of Sage Thirumoolar.
We honor this lineage by teaching yoga with respect, integrity, and a commitment to making the practice available to a wide range of bodies, abilities, and life experiences.
A Deeper Understanding of Ashtanga Yoga
In the West, the word Ashtanga is often associated with a physically demanding and athletic sequence of postures. However, the traditional meaning of Ashtanga is “the eight-limbed path.”
The eight limbs offer a complete approach to yoga that includes:
Our training explores yoga as a holistic path—not simply a method of exercise. Students learn how movement, breathwork, meditation, philosophy, energy awareness, and self-reflection can work together to support the whole person.
Ancient Wisdom for Modern Life
Our curriculum brings together the foundational teachings of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras and the wisdom found within Sage Thirumoolar’s Tirumandiram.
The Tirumandiram is an influential Tamil spiritual text that explores yoga, breath, meditation, devotion, the subtle body, ethical living, and the relationship between physical well-being and spiritual realization. These teachings encourage students to understand the body as sacred and yoga as a path of inner transformation.
Rather than separating physical practice from spiritual development, this tradition recognizes that the body, breath, mind, energy, and spirit are deeply connected.
The Core Pillars of Our Teacher Training
Our Yoga Teacher Training programs invite students to move beyond simply memorizing postures and teaching scripts. Students learn how to create thoughtful, inclusive, and meaningful practices that meet people where they are.
Therapeutic and Accessible Asana
Students explore supportive posture sequences designed to encourage mobility, balance, relaxation, body awareness, and overall well-being. Emphasis is placed on adapting practices for different bodies, abilities, energy levels, and stages of life.
Our philosophy is that yoga should meet the student—not require the student to force their body into a particular shape.
Pranayama and Breath Awareness
Students study traditional breathing practices and learn how the breath can support concentration, nervous-system regulation, energy awareness, and meditation.
Breathwork is introduced progressively and taught with careful attention to comfort, safety, and individual needs.
Meditation and Inner Awareness
Meditation is an essential part of the eight-limbed path. Students develop a personal meditation practice while learning techniques they can confidently and compassionately share with others.
Practices may include guided meditation, silent observation, visualization, mantra, and breath-centered awareness.
Mantra and Sacred Sound
Students are introduced to the use of mantra and sacred sound as tools for concentration, intention, energetic awareness, and spiritual connection.
These practices are taught respectfully, with attention given to their meaning, purpose, and traditional roots.
Subtle-Body Studies
Our curriculum explores traditional yogic teachings about the chakras, nadis, prana, and Kundalini Shakti. Students learn how these concepts have been understood within yoga philosophy while developing responsible and grounded ways to incorporate subtle-body awareness into their teaching.
Yoga Philosophy and Ethical Practice
Students study the eight limbs of yoga, including the yamas and niyamas, and consider how these principles apply to relationships, teaching, professional boundaries, self-care, and everyday life.
Yoga philosophy is not presented as something to memorize. It is an invitation to reflect, practice, and live with greater awareness.
Teaching as Compassionate Service
Students learn how to create welcoming spaces where people feel respected, supported, and empowered. Our training emphasizes inclusive language, accessible options, trauma-aware teaching principles, and the understanding that there is no single “perfect” expression of a yoga posture.
Why Choose a Lineage-Informed Yoga School?
Studying within a lineage connects students to a tradition that extends beyond modern fitness culture. It reminds us that yoga has been developed, practiced, preserved, and shared across generations.
A lineage-informed education helps you understand not only how to guide a practice, but also the philosophy, intention, and wisdom behind what you are teaching.
As a graduate, you will be prepared to:
You will graduate with more than a collection of poses. You will carry forward a healing-centered approach to yoga that respects tradition, welcomes individuality, and recognizes every student as a whole person.
Yoga is not about performing the perfect pose.
It is about creating a compassionate relationship with the body, quieting the mind, awakening inner wisdom, and learning to live with greater awareness.
Who Is This Training For?
The Rose Temple Yoga School Teacher Training is for students seeking a welcoming, accessible, inclusive, and spiritually meaningful approach to yoga. You do not need to be young, flexible, athletic, thin, or experienced to begin.
This training was intentionally created for real people living in real bodies—especially those who may not see themselves represented in traditional yoga teacher training programs.
This training may be right for you if you are:
There is no expectation that every posture must be available to your body. At Rose Temple Yoga School, we do not say, “I can’t do yoga.” Instead, we recognize that a particular expression of a posture may be “not available to my body right now.”
Your age, size, health history, physical ability, or experience level does not disqualify you from practicing or teaching yoga. Your lived experience may become one of your greatest strengths as a compassionate teacher and guide.
It Is Never Too Late to Begin
Many people feel called to yoga later in life. You may be entering retirement, recovering from a major life transition, adapting to changes in your health, or finally making space for a dream you have carried for years.
Older students bring invaluable qualities to yoga teacher training, including wisdom, patience, resilience, empathy, professional experience, and a deeper understanding of life’s challenges. These qualities cannot be learned from a textbook, yet they can profoundly shape the way you support others.
You do not need to perform advanced postures to become an effective yoga teacher. You need a willingness to learn, respect for your body, compassion for others, and a desire to make yoga more welcoming and accessible.
Your future students may not need someone who can demonstrate the most advanced version of a pose. They may need someone who understands what it feels like to be older, larger-bodied, physically limited, uncertain, or afraid to enter a traditional yoga space.
They may need a teacher like you.
Choose the Path That Is Right for You
Rose Temple Yoga School offers two learning tracks so you can choose the experience that best reflects your goals, calling, and desired relationship with yoga.
Track One: 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Certification
This track is for students who want to complete the full teacher-training curriculum and prepare to teach yoga professionally.
Track Two: Spiritual Yoga and Personal Enrichment
This track is for students who want to study yoga as a personal and spiritual path. It is ideal for anyone seeking deeper spiritual knowledge, personal healing, sacred self-discovery, and a stronger connection between yoga and everyday life.
This track places greater emphasis on inner development, spiritual practice, personal transformation, and the sacred dimensions of yoga.
One Sacred Foundation, Two Meaningful Paths
Both tracks are rooted in the same guiding values:
Whether you feel called to become a yoga teacher or simply want to deepen your personal and spiritual practice, there is a place for you at Rose Temple Yoga School.
You do not have to become younger, thinner, more flexible, or more experienced before beginning this journey.
You are welcome to begin exactly as you are.
Please email me at [email protected] or call me at 859-437-0082 to set up a consultation call.