Testimonials

Jessy Fassler

Edinburgh, Scotland

The 200 hour yoga teacher training with Yoga Padma was excellent. The training was run by 2 brothers and a third, external teacher. Raj teaches philosophy and alignment based yoga with the help of props, Naresh teaches Ashtanga and the external teacher taught traditional Hatha yoga. The third brother Dinesh is a pundit and led our opening and closing ceremonies beautifully, and also offered Vedic Astrology readings according to the Hindu calendar.
The whole family is very passionate about their teachings and really want the students to understand and internalise the knowledge. Raj brings stories and humour to the philosophy classes, making foreign concepts easy to understand and the format of the class is more like a conversation than a lecture. They were my favourite part of the course. He also taught us about mantras, pranayama and meditation.
The physical asana practice of Iyengar and Ashtanga were both challenging for me. Both teachers bring strong energy to the class, but even though it has brought me to my personal limits on a few occasions, I am very grateful that they both pushed us as far as they did because my personal practice has improved massively and the changes in my body just within the 4 weeks were really noticeable.
Anil taught the traditional Hatha class with a very gentle energy and much consideration for his students. We also learned a few of the yogic cleansing methods.
They operate the school with high integrity and it's more important to them to pass on the right knowledge and honour the teachings of Patanjali than maximising revenue.
I was extremely lucky to go through this course in a very small group size and feel like I've gained so much from it. When I spoke with another yoga teacher about this course and what was included, she told me that this is the real deal and sounds like an excellent school. Coming from someone who has done six 200 hour and three 300 hour trainings herself, this says a lot. She also said starting your journey as a yoga teacher with a training that is focused on alignment is the ideal way to start.
My intentions when I joined the course were always that I wanted to teach yoga afterwards. While we didn't have too many opportunities to practice teaching during the course, I do feel very well equipped to teach. I don't want to teach Ashtanga myself, but it helped me to build strength and flexibility during the course. As for alignment of body based, again I don't necessarily intend to teach purely alignment yoga, but having the knowledge of correct alignment is invaluable for teaching any yoga in the future I believe.
I couldn't have asked for a more authentic experience to start my life as a yoga teacher. I feel honoured to have learned from competent and knowledgeable teachers who truly care about their students' progress and wellbeing and I hope to incorporate many of their teachings in my classes.
Thank you very very much Raj and Naresh and the whole family for a wonderful experience in Rishikesh.

Katie Gudgeon

England

The atmosphere at yoga Padma has an instantly warm and welcoming family feel, which made me feel comfortable and settled straight away. Th!e rooms are spacious, clean and even come with a kettle so you can make your own tea!

It was clear to me from the beginning that Raj is an experienced teacher with a lot of knowledge in both asana and all other realms of yoga. In his alignment focused classes, he was able to give individual attention to each student, helping us to understand the strengths and weaknesses in our physical bodies, and giving us the tools to correct our imbalances and improve. He pushed us to work very hard, but always in a safe way to avoid injury.

The philosophy classes were a highlight of the course for me, because he was able to teach Patanjalis yoga sutras in a way that was engaging and relatable to our modern lifestyles. Rather than just reading from the book and making notes, we had interesting philosophical discussions about each topic.

In the evenings we practiced Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga. As my favourite style of yoga, these classes were a perfect way for me to continue my personal yoga practice. The teacher Naresh is friendly with a great energy and was extremely detailed with his demonstrations and adjustments in each asana. As a more fast passed flowy style of yoga, these evening classes were a perfect high energy contrast to the shower alignment focused yoga in the mornings.

I feel that I finished this TTC having been on a journey in so many ways. Firstly, with my own body, learning where my areas of strength and weakness are, and how I can open up and strengthen specific muscular areas. Secondly with my teaching practice, having gained so many more skills to help me give detailed instructions and teach correct alignment to my students. Finally, I feel that through the mantra chanting and philosophy I grew closer to the Indian culture and beautiful ancient Sanskrit language. Having delved deeper into the yoga sutras, I feel that I learned many lessons in how to practice the non-physical aspects of yoga, be open minded and a generally more conscious human being.

From the bottom of my heart, I cannot express enough thanks to Yoga Padma Rishikesh and I thoroughly recommend anyone to go and do a TTC at this school!

Harri Barker

Wales

I completed my 200 hour yoga teacher training course at yoga Padma school in May 2020. I think it's safe to say that we all fell in love with the teachers at this school. The quality and the knowledge of each one of them is exceptional, their commitment to you and their passion for what they teach is truly inspiring. There is a high level of individual attention in class and I was pushed to my full potential every day.We shared endless laughs and stories in philosophy class with our teacher Raj, class was always interesting and we would never get bored, he taught in such a way that we could apply what we learnt to our everyday lives and I have opened my mind to a whole new meaning of yoga that I was totally unaware of before.The facilities were always peaceful and clean, the yoga hall is one of the best I have seen in Rishikesh and fully equipped with everything that you could need, the food was super tasty and I always felt like home staying here.I really couldn't reccomend this school more and I will be sure to come back one day soon!

Leandro Navel

Argentina

Sun Xiao Jun

China

For the first time in Padma philosophy class, I've learnt yoga philosophy. Teacher gave stories that make us easy to understand each Yoga Sutra and the truth. Yoga was integrated into life it was be conscious of your each word and action, and try to incorporate the principles of Yoga Sutra into your asanas and daily life. Raj ji teaches us Mantra chanting one word by one word, I would like to listen and chant again and again, it's full of energy.  I studied RYT200 with this school and after that I started my self-practice, many thanks to my best school.

Peng Fan

China

The first time when I met Mr. Raj was during the anti-cancer chemotherapy. In the beginning I followed him practice to gradually strengthen my body. Later, I organized his RYT200 and participated in the course. That was my first time got in touch with yoga philosophy, and mantra chanting, to realized the deep meaning of yoga, and how Yoga guides us and integrates into life. Raj Ji's philosophy is humorous and easy to understand, asana instructions are pithy and full of logical.

His sequences are superb for self-practice and teaching. Raj Ji's teaching is humorous and vivid, it's lucky and happiness for us to meet Teacher Raj ji .

Dong Jianying

China

Mr. Raj's courses are easy to understand. He teaches the principle of complex asanas is very clear. His sequences has strong logic, suitable for self - practice.
His philosophy class is very educational, and I can have a deeper understanding of what yoga is and what it is all about.

Liu Juan

China

I love Raj Ji's course very much, especially the philosophy class , I learnt a lot in Raj Ji's class, and help me to understand the deeper meaning of yoga , yoga is beyond asana.

Wu Li

China

When I mentioned that Raj ji came to my mind, there were a lot of pictures coming in, how to describe it! He is very serious, hard like a coconut, but sometimes he is very gentle, like coconut juice nourishing my heart, I feel everything is so real, His precise and rigorous asana teaching deeply attracted my curiosity of yoga knowledge!
In the philosophy class, he is like a master of catching butterflies，because he was be able to capturing my attention easily through humorous explanations! On the way to yoga, he is like a rushing river leading us into the ocean of yoga, alleviating the pain of our body along the way, using scientific alignment to adjust our body properly. Sometimes Raj ji moisturizes my inner heart like a moist rain, so that my heart gradually calms down, and I can easily understand the nature of life. Each time when I joined his course in the past few years, I always inadvertently learn the yoga knowledge what I want and each time I learn something new. I really love such courses like that. Those knowledge give me more confidence, and my inner energy has been continuously enhanced. I will follow Raj Ji's footsteps forever!

Zhang Lili

China

My teacher Raj ji is serious, rigorous, enthusiastic and always kind to everyone, according to each student's physical condition, taught us to focus on different asanas practice and methods vary with each individual and step by step to open our body and mind, helped us to find our inner balance and connect with our inner self.
The most impressive thing for me was all students sat on the ground in the forest and we discussed philosophy together with Raj ji, where far away from the hustle and bustle of the city and follow Raj Ji's guidance to find our inner peace，had a deeper understanding of life.
In Rishikesh, it's seem to I forget who I am, where I come from, body and mind are immersed in the embrace of the Himalayas, in the shimmering waves of the Mother Ganga and the spirit chanting from the temples, I walked on this sacred land and experienced the simple and natural life.
Although the time past very fast , but all my study in Rishikesh will promote my future yoga practice and guide me a positive impact, however, I know that this is just the beginning of my yoga life, there are many things I have to learn, and I hope I can study with Raj ji continually, thank you my dear teacher.

Yi Guohui

China

Teacher Raj's courses are so good, he explained the principle of complex asanas very clear so that no matter you are a new beginner or advanced practitioner his class suitable for each level of students. His sequences are perfect for self-practice and teaching.
Raj ji usually say that " The more asanas you dislike, the more you have to practice", because those muscles are lack of elasticity, those parts are stiff, and you need to strengthen flexibility.

First and Last Name

Country

"continued."