Vinyasa Yoga School

I attended Vinyasa Yoga School in August 2019, and had a really wonderful experience. The course content was great, and I feel so prepared to teach holistic yoga classes after this course. The teachers were supportive and kind. The food was consistently delicious and I had no fear of getting sick. The accommodations weren't glamorous but they were exactly what was needed at the end of our long days (a comfy bed and AC). Rishikesh is a really beautiful place that's easy and safe to explore in your free time. The yoga studios overlook the Ganga, which makes getting up for early classes a little easier (beautiful sunrises & sunsets)! I was really hesitant before attending this school because it was really difficult to pick from the many options in Rishikesh, but I am so glad I chose VYS. I plan on going back one day for my 300 hour course because I know I can expect the same quality that I received during my 200 hour. Thank you to all the lovely staff, and to my fellow students because it really was a life-changing experience. I can't wait to start teaching in my community!

My time spent in Vinyasa yoga school was a thoughtful learning experience for me. The positive vibes and serene location was so much devotional to the art of this practice.

Yoga has been a crucial element that has helped me conduct my life. It helped me to explore spirituality with peace and all of that has been achieved from the vinyasa yoga school. I am so grateful to them.

India as its own has always fascinated me and when I had the opportunity to visit Rishikesh through Vinyasa it was overwhelming for me. Thankyou vinyasa yoga school for some amazing memories and friends.

My cousin recommended this place to me and the time spent at this place was truly the best time of my life.

Coming to this place and learning yoga from experts has truly been an incredible experience for me. I will cherish my days in Vinyasa Yoga School for the rest of my life.

The who course journey has been an intense learning session for me. The sense of purity and enrichment is so fulfilling. Thankyou vinyasa for the experience.

The time spent in Rishikesh has been a life-changing experience for me. I enjoyed every bit of it and would implement the knowledge in my life ahead.

Had an amazing experience at this place learning yoga and virtue of life. Instructors were incredibly helpful and it was a privilege to learn from them.

I miss each and every moment spent in Rishikesh beside the Ganges learning yoga and divulging into spiritual healing. Indeed it was a one in a life time experience.

Had the best time of my life in Rishikesh. The place is peaceful, spiritual and overwhelmed with culture. Learning yoga in Vinyasa yoga school has helped me learn the virtue of life.

Being a student and learning from my gurus in Vinyasa was a life changing experience for me. I feel myself blessed to be a part of this name.

Joining this institution was like a breath of fresh air for me. I have learned a lot from this place and will surely inculcate in my lifestyle to lead a healthy life.

I had a great time in Vinyasa Yoga School that I am surely going to cherish for my entire life. The experience has resulted in a great impact in my outlook towards life and wellbeing. My humble regards to all the trainers over there for such an amazing experience.

My stay at Vinyasa Yoga School has transformed my life. The whole spiritual experience helped me a lot to grow more as a person with healthy body and mind.

The fact that the teachers in Vinyasa yoga India are so cooperative with their students, makes learning the ancient art so exciting, and fun. I was able to ace my way through the training program and I hope they will continue the way they are doing it all right now in the future as well!

I did the 200 YTT in March 2019, my experience was overwhelming disappointing and frustrating. I would not recommend this school and honestly recommend looking for another even if you have already placed your (very expensive) deposit. The website and the communication before hand are just well done marketing tactics that do not continue once you arrive (and they demand final and nonrefundable deposit) before the first day of class. Several people from my course wanted to leave after the first day but we could not get our deposit back. I understand this is India and expectations are going to be considerably different that what I would get in the west but I have several friends and meet other people doing courses that were far better and half the cost. Expect to eat rice and beans (not a yogic diet and advertised) every day, and good luck if you're vegan. Wifi is also very poor and many of us had to spend more on food and sim cards on top of a really expensive course. The school is know as one of the worst for just being a business and focused on social media. The vinyasa teacher had a pre-ejaculation stains on his pants during a few of the classes I don't know if this is a physical issue or a case of being aroused by the student but I never felt comfortable in class once I noticed this while receiving an adjustment. The teacher also stressed "no pain no gain, " "lock your knees, " and over stretched/pushed me to far in poses because there is a pressure to be more flexible rather than letting it come with time. My favorite classes were Hatha, I completely adored the teacher and she was what made this course worth it for me, but I also wasn't complete sure what hatha was after a month of classes which bothered a few other students. I also enjoyed pranayama, the teaching class, and meditation (although our teacher was not the person listed on their website). There is NO free laundry service provided as listed on the website, there is a tiny washing machine that was alway being used. The full capcity of the program is supposed to be 40 students, our course was only 17 and it was already a nightmare fitting into meal rooms, having space in class, and doing laundry with students and staff. The food is okay at best most days, and when we as a classes asked for better food and variety we were told the food we get is very expensive already (again mainly rice and beans). I had several friends in other course who raved about their food and complained about gaining weight from wanting to eat so much and they paid 1,100 usd for their course. 4 or 5 of the students went to the hospital with a 3 day period possibly related to the food prep. Please note that the men that doing all the cooking and cleaning at the school are the nicest and most hard working people, I have no grudge against them. They took the sick students to the hospital and took really good care of us. The AC's and outlets in my room did not work in several rooms. The course materials are heavily copied over and seem to be plagiarized. There was terrible construction outside of the schools control making it difficult to hear during lessons. Rishikesh is also massively touristy at this point and it's only getting worse as more businesses/schools capitalize of westerners coming to "the birth place of yoga. " I was looking for a deeply spiritual experience and feel like I was handed a certificate. We also didn't do as much yoga as I was expecting and you have a lot of free time. Other schools offer 4 Sunday excursions, a massage, and FREE taxi pickup at the local airport or bus stop all included with the course. One of our four Sunday excursions is considered the massage. Most of the excursions are things you can do for free or they do the cheapest way possible. If you book a taxi though the school it's nearly double (they take a cut) if you just book at the airport or on your own. The school is just out for your money. Don't book a course until you visit in person to find genuine teachers at a school that aren't hired to fill slots created by the yoga alliance.

I wanted to be a professional yoga trainer but was clueless about how i can get the appropriate training for the same! I got to know about vinayasa yoga school rishikesh, enrolled myself in this top yoga centres in india, and now I'm getting closer to my dream each day!

I am writing this review as it would help to have this when choosing a school. Attended in Sept 2018.

Hatha: this consisted of a few lessons for a week and a half and then Co teaching with another student one of your own classes.the teacher was lovely and gave some wonderful advice but I, and a number of other students felt that there was a lot of time poorly used I.e classes were spent chatting about topics completely unrelated to yoga  e.g arranged marriage in India - in the end I think we had around 5 actual classes taught to us (2 of which were basic joint movements to warm up). Shatkarma was also included in this and was expertly guided by the teacher from start to finish with care and understanding.

Pranayma: a good class that introduced various pranayama techniques and built up the practices on a daily basis to improve ability.

Philosophy: this class turned out to be my favourite. The teacher was truly passionate and taught from the heart with personal anecdotes for many of his teachings. I gained so much more knowledge than expected.

Anatomy: the class was okay but it often felt laborious or that things were being explained for the sake of it without linking it to yoga. It would have been good to have more demonstrations and used this class to point out common/possible injuries etc in yoga.

Vinyasa: split between two teachers one was more theory whilst one more practical. Although the theory was useful we mostly spent the class reading from the textbook with the teacher. Demonstrations of the asanas would have been more useful, highlighting common alignment mistakes or issues. All of the class felt that they did not know/could not demonstrate the asana correctly. We requested this but was told it was not possible due to time constrains

There were some very good practical classes from this teacher. Second class was good and built strength quickly and taught a wide range of techniques to build strength and create classes.

Meditation: great class which was different almost every day. Went very deep into some meditations and gained a full understanding of techniques.

Homework: most of the group found that this took up the bulk of our time and honestly it seemed like it was overkill. Teachers advised that we should copy out of the book so not much actual knowledge was gained from this and it seemed that this was more of a time filler than anything else. I think the exams were worthwhile and beneficial overall.

Accomodation: personally I had no complaints about the accommodation as the luxuries like Aircon, wifi and hot water all worked perfectly well for me.

Food: the food was good overall. After learning about the satvic diet in class however, I would disagree that this made up the bulk of the diet that we ate as stated.

Other points: class size was listed as 15 maximum which I thought meant that there would be a total of 15 in the cohort but therr was infact 30 split into two classes. Class was combined in theory classes. People who had studied with smaller classes said this was more beneficial as you got more experience teaching/demonstrating.

In all honesty although I had a wonderful time here and made incredible friends, I don't think (based on actual teaching content) that I would choose this school. I feel that there is too much lacking within it to prepare you as a yoga teacher who has the ability and confidence to help students especially with adjustments and alignment. I mean this with no discredit to the teachers but just that it is a huge gap in the syllabus. After speaking to a number of students from other schools they had classes on 'how to be a teacher' and specific daily classes on alignment (where a particular pose was broken down and examined) and on adjustments of groups of asanas: they said that they felt these were the most beneficial classes in order to safely teach and assist students. I left the school with a lot of knowledge that I can work on but also feel there are large gaps where I wouldn't feel I could safely assist a student.

I’ve just completed my 300hrs at VYS in May 2019, I also completed my 200hrs here in Dec 2017
It’s not the Ritz, it’s a bit noisy (just another one of life’s distractions) and the food is a bit basic (babied down for westerners) but the teachers are wonderful, kind, caring and knowledgeable!
Once you understand where you are and understand the traditional ways of Indian teaching you can really appreciate what VYS offers, you are able to really find space to delve deep into yourself, finding levels of yourself you didn’t know existed.
And to have the Mother Ganga right on your door step is magical!
I would definitely recommend this school, you will gain so much more than your YTT. I promise!
I also want to give a huge shout out to Pankaj, my pranayama teacher! You are amazing and I’ve learnt so much, not just about breathing but myself, who’d have through breathing could be so profound!
Finally, Just a few things to bear in mind
- the course in taught in English
- It’s a bit noisy as building work is happening near by, but of course that won’t last forever!
- It’s intensive training.if you want quiet, beautiful rooms, fine dining.go on a yoga retreat!
- Be open minded, and you’ll have an amazing experience

I did the 200 YTT in March 2019, my experience was overwhelming disappointing and frustrating. I would not recommend this school and honestly recommend looking for another even if you have already placed your (very expensive) deposit. The website and the communication before hand are just well done marketing tactics that do not continue once you arrive (and they demand final and nonrefundable deposit) before the first day of class. Several people from my course wanted to leave after the first day but we could not get our deposit back. I understand this is India and expectations are going to be considerably different that what I would get in the west but I have several friends and meet other people doing courses that were far better and half the cost. Expect to eat rice and beans (not a yogic diet and advertised) every day, and good luck if you're vegan. Wifi is also very poor and many of us had to spend more on food and sim cards on top of a really expensive course. The school is know as one of the worst for just being a business and focused on social media. The vinyasa teacher had a pre-ejaculation stains on his pants during a few of the classes I don't know if this is a physical issue or a case of being aroused by the student but I never felt comfortable in class once I noticed this while receiving an adjustment. The teacher also stressed "no pain no gain, " "lock your knees, " and over stretched/pushed me to far in poses because there is a pressure to be more flexible rather than letting it come with time. My favorite classes were Hatha, I completely adored the teacher and she was what made this course worth it for me, but I also wasn't complete sure what hatha was after a month of classes which bothered a few other students. I also enjoyed pranayama, the teaching class, and meditation (although our teacher was not the person listed on their website). There is NO free laundry service provided as listed on the website, there is a tiny washing machine that was alway being used. The full capcity of the program is supposed to be 40 students, our course was only 17 and it was already a nightmare fitting into meal rooms, having space in class, and doing laundry with students and staff. The food is okay at best most days, and when we as a classes asked for better food and variety we were told the food we get is very expensive already (again mainly rice and beans). I had several friends in other course who raved about their food and complained about gaining weight from wanting to eat so much and they paid 1,100 usd for their course. 4 or 5 of the students went to the hospital with a 3 day period possibly related to the food prep. Please note that the men that doing all the cooking and cleaning at the school are the nicest and most hard working people, I have no grudge against them. They took the sick students to the hospital and took really good care of us. The AC's and outlets in my room did not work in several rooms. The course materials are heavily copied over and seem to be plagiarized. There was terrible construction outside of the schools control making it difficult to hear during lessons. Rishikesh is also massively touristy at this point and it's only getting worse as more businesses/schools capitalize of westerners coming to "the birth place of yoga. " I was looking for a deeply spiritual experience and feel like I was handed a certificate. We also didn't do as much yoga as I was expecting and you have a lot of free time. Other schools offer 4 Sunday excursions, a massage, and FREE taxi pickup at the local airport or bus stop all included with the course. One of our four Sunday excursions is considered the massage. Most of the excursions are things you can do for free or they do the cheapest way possible. If you book a taxi though the school it's nearly double (they take a cut) if you just book at the airport or on your own. The school is just out for your money. Don't book a course until you visit in person to find genuine teachers at a school that aren't hired to fill slots created by the yoga alliance.

I am writing this review as it would help to have this when choosing a school. Attended in Sept 2018.

Hatha: this consisted of a few lessons for a week and a half and then Co teaching with another student one of your own classes.the teacher was lovely and gave some wonderful advice but I, and a number of other students felt that there was a lot of time poorly used I.e classes were spent chatting about topics completely unrelated to yoga  e.g arranged marriage in India - in the end I think we had around 5 actual classes taught to us (2 of which were basic joint movements to warm up). Shatkarma was also included in this and was expertly guided by the teacher from start to finish with care and understanding.

Pranayma: a good class that introduced various pranayama techniques and built up the practices on a daily basis to improve ability.

Philosophy: this class turned out to be my favourite. The teacher was truly passionate and taught from the heart with personal anecdotes for many of his teachings. I gained so much more knowledge than expected.

Anatomy: the class was okay but it often felt laborious or that things were being explained for the sake of it without linking it to yoga. It would have been good to have more demonstrations and used this class to point out common/possible injuries etc in yoga.

Vinyasa: split between two teachers one was more theory whilst one more practical. Although the theory was useful we mostly spent the class reading from the textbook with the teacher. Demonstrations of the asanas would have been more useful, highlighting common alignment mistakes or issues. All of the class felt that they did not know/could not demonstrate the asana correctly. We requested this but was told it was not possible due to time constrains

There were some very good practical classes from this teacher. Second class was good and built strength quickly and taught a wide range of techniques to build strength and create classes.

Meditation: great class which was different almost every day. Went very deep into some meditations and gained a full understanding of techniques.

Homework: most of the group found that this took up the bulk of our time and honestly it seemed like it was overkill. Teachers advised that we should copy out of the book so not much actual knowledge was gained from this and it seemed that this was more of a time filler than anything else. I think the exams were worthwhile and beneficial overall.

Accomodation: personally I had no complaints about the accommodation as the luxuries like Aircon, wifi and hot water all worked perfectly well for me.

Food: the food was good overall. After learning about the satvic diet in class however, I would disagree that this made up the bulk of the diet that we ate as stated.

Other points: class size was listed as 15 maximum which I thought meant that there would be a total of 15 in the cohort but therr was infact 30 split into two classes. Class was combined in theory classes. People who had studied with smaller classes said this was more beneficial as you got more experience teaching/demonstrating.

In all honesty although I had a wonderful time here and made incredible friends, I don't think (based on actual teaching content) that I would choose this school. I feel that there is too much lacking within it to prepare you as a yoga teacher who has the ability and confidence to help students especially with adjustments and alignment. I mean this with no discredit to the teachers but just that it is a huge gap in the syllabus. After speaking to a number of students from other schools they had classes on 'how to be a teacher' and specific daily classes on alignment (where a particular pose was broken down and examined) and on adjustments of groups of asanas: they said that they felt these were the most beneficial classes in order to safely teach and assist students. I left the school with a lot of knowledge that I can work on but also feel there are large gaps where I wouldn't feel I could safely assist a student.

I attended the course in September last year 2018 and i can't recommend this yoga school. First of all, the school does not take care of their students in the way I expected and my experience was definitely not worth the money. In addition to that, you have to sign a contract stating that you wont demand the money back after you had paid, wonder why?

Second of all the pictures that the Vinyasa Yoga School had shared on the website is not realistic to the real conditions. The room was in a bad condition and very poor isolated (very noisy), which made it hard to sleep.

Also, the air condition in the rooms/yoga halls and the fast wifi promised on the website was not Working. In relation to that the 32 students were only divided into 2 Groups into 2/6 subjects (vinyasa and hatha classes) and sometimes even these subjects were taught for all the students together. Even though the website states: “Unlike other courses with 50-100+ students, we split our classes into groups of 15 people and cap our courses at 45 students”.

What an amazing experience, where should i even start!
Going to India is something I would recommend to everyone and choosing Vinyasa yoga school would be the best option for your YTT!
I have spend 500 hours at this school and I am thankful for most of my teachers for the knowledge and the passion they have put into their class. I have learned LOTS! So many school around are names "vinyasa something " but only teaches you Ashtanga, but VINYASA YOGA SCHOOL is the only school around who will give you a VINYASA flow!
The best part without a doubt was the highlight of the school, the vinyasa with Deepak Ji, he is such a good teacher! He brought such a motivation to each one of us during the entire month, his flows are what we needed every day, powerful, stretchy, challenging, sweaty, creative; Everyone had a different level and he still kept everyone challenged, big up super Ninja!
Second favorite would be my philosophy teachers, Simon Ji and Mahesh Ji, how amazing it is to understand the meaning of yoga, when you find a great balance between your asana teacher and your philosophy teachers!
they have made sure to teach our mind and soul the right way, to understand FULLY what is the journey we were about to start and how to grow up in it.the foundations we needed! I would never say thank you enough.
Pankaj Ji our pranayama teacher, such a kind heart, he taught us how to start to control our breath, highly recommend his class!
Mandeep Ji, our ceremony priest and our Mantra and kirtan teacher holds also a great place in my memories. Always happy, always with a great and positive energy, he will teach you and remind you to love and be loved, what a great soul! Also I would like to thanks all the kitchen boys staff, and the manager Manu, they did their best to make our stay perfect! Always happy, polite and smiling back to all of us.
Mainly I felt very very very grateful.

Of course you will come there with some expectations even if you trying not to. I also had some and even if i won't change my review (it IS the place to be) i have been disappointed by a few point and some teachers
it could be a positive improvement to give to the school.
During my 200 hours:
* Group capacity: I choose this school because they offered small group capacity, we were 20 in my group even if they promised us on the website to be 10 to 15, it is something that everyone complained about, in the other hand, i have seen other groups in this school being smaller, maybe something to work on
* FOOD: the cook is definitely not the best in town and not the finest one, the food variety is boring and not the greatest, having done my 100 hours somewhere else in India, I had a great comparaison.be sure to be heard if you have a food allergy diet!
* Vinyasa Methodology: Telissa is the only westerner teacher you will have that works at Vinyasa Yoga School, every other teachers are from India, and Because we were so many in class, part of her class (Health and safety) was divided between 6.30 to 7.30 AM and our "free 45 minutes breaks" after the morning vinyasa class; 8.15 to 9 AM.
Telissa made this 45 minutes class not mandatory, to help us if we needed this time for ourselves but I think it s a shame to fit classes on our rest time just because the group is too big in capacity, it could have been nice to have a smaller group or an other solution.
Also, If you are not talking fluently english you might, as I did, find it hard to follow her class because of her accent and the fact that she speaks super fast in comparaison with other indian teachers that makes it easy to understand, I wish it would have been less theoretical and more practical to be able to understand it all better as i did and enjoyed her YIN class in 300 Hours as it was more practical!

Most of it, I enjoyed my time during my training, thank you for everything!

A 200hr YTTC with lots of plus points and room for improvement. Staff and teachers were lovely. Location, accommodation and value for money were ok. Felt cheated on the taxi from Delhi booked through the school, $210, double the price of a local firm. Philosophy was fun and inspiring, anatomy was not. The teacher needed to apply anatomy to the mechanics of yoga asana and maybe the philosophy of chakras and nadis too. Biggest disappointment - it felt very patchy, not everything was integrated into teaching a yoga class, plus we did not learn how to apply fundamental methods like the bandhas. Biggest plus - the heart and soul of the staff and teachers.

Overall experience will give someone, relatively new to yoga, a terrific time culturally, physically and mentally. Also if you're looking to deepen your practice it would be a good choice in Rishikesh. However, having taught and experienced other YTTCs since, I recommend that f you are serious about becoming a yoga teacher and really want to learn the basics effectively and thoroughly, to consider elsewhere.