Yoga Teachers
Do You Know Where the Chakra Model You Teach Comes From?
A free 35-minute training for yoga teachers, with a handout and practical lesson plan.
Why This Training Matters
When I completed my yoga teacher training, I was taught a chakra model. I accepted it, studied it and went on to teach it for years.
I didn't question where it came from. Why would I? It was part of my training.
But the more I studied, the more I began questioning some of the associations we routinely make between chakras, emotions and human behaviour.
When did grief become a blocked heart chakra? And where did these interpretations actually come from?
That curiosity led me to explore the history of the chakras and eventually develop a different way of teaching them.
I don't believe we need to throw away everything we've learned. But I do believe that, as yoga teachers, we have a responsibility to understand where our teachings come from.
Because our students trust us to know what we're talking about.
This free training is an invitation to question, explore and perhaps discover another way of bringing the chakras into your classes.
What You'll Discover
Where did our chakra model come from?
Explore the history of the chakras, from the 16th-century Ṣaṭ-cakra-nirūpaṇa through the later interpretations that helped shape the familiar modern model.
Why do we teach what we teach?
Discover where some of the colours, meanings and psychological associations commonly taught today originated, and why understanding their history matters.
A different way of exploring the chakras
I'll introduce my own six-battlefield approach, which explores the chakras through six familiar human experiences: Existence, Belonging, Fairness, Boundaries, Voice and Meaning.
Rather than telling students what a chakra says about them, we can offer a lens through which they can explore their own experiences.
How to bring this into your classes
See how starting with a recognisable human experience can make yoga philosophy accessible, relevant and meaningful, without asking students to adopt our interpretations.
And you don't have to abandon the model you already teach. This is about expanding your understanding and giving yourself more informed choices.
Your Free Teaching Resources
Everything you need to explore the history of the chakras and consider a fresh approach to teaching them.
35-Minute Video Training
A journey through the history of the chakras, how the familiar modern model developed, and an introduction to my six-battlefield approach.
Accompanying Study Handout
A resource to revisit the historical background, key ideas and questions raised in the training.
Yoga Class Lesson Plan
A practical example of how to introduce the chakras through everyday human experiences, giving your students opportunities to explore rather than telling them what their experiences mean.
All three resources are completely free.
No need to abandon what you already teach. Just an opportunity to study, question and perhaps discover something new.
A Little About Me
I'm Jackie Quayle, a yoga teacher, educator and Yoga Elder with 23 years of teaching experience and more than 10,000 teaching hours.
My training includes the British Wheel of Yoga diploma, extensive studies in anatomy and neuroscience, and yoga philosophy and history at the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.
Over the years, I've continually questioned, reconsidered and refined how I teach. My approach to the chakras has been one of my biggest changes.
I'm the creator of Making Yoga Make SENSE — Yoga Through the Five Senses, a teaching framework that brings yoga philosophy into everyday human experience.
I believe yoga teachers deserve opportunities for genuine study, curiosity and critical thinking.
Come and study with me.
Ready to Explore?
Get your free 35-minute chakra history training, accompanying handout and yoga class lesson plan.
GET MY FREE CHAKRA TRAINING
