Living Arts Yoga - The Living Teacher

Established 2026

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Living Arts Yoga Institute

11465 Central Pike, Mt. Juliet, TN 37122, USA

Mt. Juliet, TN

Program Instances

In person

Mar 14 – Mar 21, 2027

8 days • 125 hours • $ 4400+

Mt. Juliet, TN, US

Led by

Christy Lynn Hicks

CYT-L3

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Purpose

Prepare experienced practitioners to skillfully embody, communicate, adapt, and teach the practices and principles of Yoga.

What to expect

Move into the craft of teaching. Sequencing, methodology, observation, cueing, modifications, contraindications, special populations, philosophy, pranayama, meditation, teaching practice, feedback, ethics, and developing the ability to respond intelligently to the people in front of you.

Style/Lineage

Living Arts Yoga Institute is rooted in the Krishnamacharya tradition, honoring Yoga as a living, adaptive discipline rather than a fixed system.

At the heart of this lineage is the understanding that Yoga should meet the individual. Breath, movement, philosophy, meditation, and other practices are applied with attention to the person, the context, and the intended outcome. Students are encouraged to understand the principles beneath a practice so they can make intelligent choices rather than simply reproduce a prescribed form.

The Living Arts approach is deeply informed by classical Yoga, including the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali and the Bhagavad Gita, while drawing from a broad range of traditional and contemporary disciplines. These include asana, pranayama, meditation, mantra, subtle body and chakra philosophy, Ayurveda, yoga therapeutics, anatomy and physiology, somatic awareness, nervous system science, positive psychology, communication, and leadership development.

This is an integrative program, but not a grab bag of techniques. The curriculum is designed to help students see the relationships between these systems and understand how they support the larger purpose of Yoga: developing awareness, discernment, relationship, and the capacity to meet life skillfully.

Asana is taught as more than physical exercise. Breath is more than a breathing technique. Philosophy is more than something to discuss in a classroom. The nervous system is not simply a modern add-on. Ayurveda is not simply a collection of lifestyle practices. Each becomes part of a larger inquiry into what it means to be a human being who can pay attention, respond intelligently, and participate fully in life.

Living Arts also recognizes that Yoga continues to evolve through the people who practice and teach it. Students are therefore invited to honor lineage without becoming confined by it. They learn to distinguish between tradition and habit, between adaptation and dilution, and between teaching from a framework and teaching from direct experience.

Rather than training students to reproduce one particular branded style, Living Arts Yoga Institute develops practitioners and teachers who can think, feel, observe, discern, adapt, and respond.

The intention is simple: to preserve the depth of Yoga while allowing it to remain alive.

Additional Information

Core competencies

By the end of this program, graduates will be able to…

Teaching Skills	Design a complete class sequence using peak-pose methodology and a chosen theme, structuring preparatory postures to build toward both simultaneously. Apply both anatomical and energetic cueing language within a single posture, offering an alignment cue alongside an invitation-based cue. Practice a hands-on adjustment using a full consent-based process, confirming permission before offering physical guidance. Evaluate a student's stated condition against a planned posture, justifying which modification or prop would make the posture appropriate. Assess a class plan intended for a specific special population, justifying whether the approach is presence-centered rather than management-oriented. Construct a complete class with soul: integrating philosophy, movement and silence, structuring each element to serve one unifying intention. Examine a planned sequence for its intended nervous system effect, distinguishing whether the pacing and pose selection support activation or settling.
Anatomy, Physiology, Biomechanics	Explain the distinct roles of primary movers, stabilizers and antagonists within a muscular action, describing how each contributes to a single movement. Describe the structure and movement capacity of the spine, explaining how its design supports both mobility and protection. Examine a student's response to a posture through the lens of nervous system state, distinguishing a structural limitation from a protective nervous system response. Analyze a common yoga injury for its typical mechanism, examining how anatomical variation between individuals changes the associated risk.
Lifestyle & Ethics	Evaluate a described teacher-student interaction for ethical soundness, justifying whether the relationship maintained appropriate professional boundaries. Assess a class's use of a cultural or traditional practice, justifying whether it reflects appreciation or appropriation of that tradition. Practice holding space during a student's difficult moment, prioritizing attentive presence over a scripted response. Develop a personal statement describing one's role within a living teaching lineage, articulating how personal voice extends what was received from earlier teachers.
Practice Skills	Practice a posture through its full arc of entering, holding and releasing, applying intelligence and awareness to each phase of the movement. Practice a sequence of pranayama techniques in a considered order, structuring the sequence to build toward a specific intended state. Practice a mantra alongside a breath or movement pattern, coordinating the sound with the pace of the accompanying practice. Examine one's own practice experience through the lens of the five koshas, distinguishing which sheath the experience seems to be arising from. Explain the basic function of the Bandhas within an energetic practice, describing their traditional role in directing internal energy.
Yoga History & Theory	Compare the concerns addressed across the four padas of the Yoga Sutras, examining how the text's focus shifts from one section to the next. Differentiate jnana, bhakti and karma yoga as three distinct paths described in the Bhagavad Gita, examining what each path emphasizes as the route to realization. Apply the chakra system when designing a themed class, selecting postures and language that reflect the qualities of a chosen energetic center. Apply Ayurvedic principles when sequencing a class for a particular season, adjusting pace and posture selection to reflect that season's qualities.

AYC allows each school to state and evaluate the competencies each student acquires. Students rate how well the program delivered them.

Program Emphasis

Evaluation methods

Program evaluations

Oral Exam
Solo Project Or Presentation
Written Exam
Written Submission
Graded Skill Demonstration
Direct Observation

Students will be evaluated through a combination of written/oral submissions, solo projects, direct observations, and skills demonstration

AYC Evaluations

AYC also requires the following experience for Level 2 Yoga Teacher badges:

4+ years teaching experience
sessions taught per year

More about AYC levels

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Program Faculty

Featured Faculty

Christy Lynn Hicks

aka Christy Marsden

I specialize in Yoga philosophy, the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali, asana, meditation, pranayama, visualization, mindfulness, and subtle energetics, integrating these disciplines into practical, embodied teaching for modern practitioners, teachers and leaders. Based in Nashville, TN

christylynnhicks.com

Mt. Juliet, TN, US