Parasha Foundation · Online
Dhāraṇā Path — 50-Hour Online Meditation Teacher Training
धारणा · ध्यान शिक्षक प्रशिक्षण
From meditation practice to the art of guiding meditation — a structured, live online program for building a real personal practice and learning to teach it, wherever you are.
50 Hours · Live Online
Starts October 26, 2026
Join From Anywhere
No Experience Required
The Training
What if you could learn meditation deeply — and learn to guide others?
Learning a meditation technique and understanding meditation deeply enough to guide another person are two different things. Dhāraṇā Path is built for the gap between them.
This is a 50-hour structured online meditation teacher training combining personal practice, traditional yogic wisdom, meditation methodology and teaching practice. You won’t just learn what to do in meditation, you’ll begin to understand why a practice is done, how it affects the mind, how to structure a session, and how to guide a student from basic awareness toward deeper practice.
Why Dhāraṇā Path
A progressive discipline, not a quick technique
The yogic tradition approaches meditation as a progressive discipline for understanding and training the mind is not an isolated relaxation trick. Dhāraṇā Path introduces this approach through a carefully structured progression, rather than rushing toward advanced experiences:
Awareness → Concentration → Meditation → Mantra → Inner Observation → Witnessing → Conscious Living
The objective is not to rush toward advanced experiences. The objective is to develop a stable foundation.
What Makes This Course Different
Rooted in tradition, built for how you actually learn online
This course teaches the tradition behind the technique, and how to pass it on.
Traditional Yogic Foundation
Grounded in Patañjali’s Yoga Sūtras and the Bhagavad Gītā — meditation is taught as the tradition understands it, not as a stand-alone relaxation technique. The Sūtras are not studied as philosophy alone; their teachings are connected directly to practice, including:
- Citta & Vṛtti
- Abhyāsa & Vairāgya
- Dhāraṇā, Dhyāna & Samādhi
- The Seer, and identification with mental activity
Progressive Meditation Practice
You move step by step from awareness and breath to concentration, mantra and witnessing your true self.
Philosophy You Can Actually Use
The Gītā’s teaching on equanimity and steady awareness is unpacked as something you live with, not a text you study once and set aside. Meditation should not remain limited to the cushion but it should gradually influence:
- The mind, and equanimity
- Action and attachment
- Self-discipline and awareness
- Inner balance and the yogic way of living
Learn the Art of Teaching
Knowing how to meditate doesn’t automatically make someone a teacher. Alongside your own sādhana, you learn:
- What to teach — choosing a practice for the student’s level
- How to teach — breaking a practice into clear instructions
- How to guide — voice, pacing, silence and language
- How to observe — spotting confusion, distraction or dullness
- How to adapt to different students
- How to close — bringing students back gently
Your Learning Journey
A simple but meaningful progression
1
Practice
You learn to establish your own meditation practice.
2
Understand
You begin understanding the philosophy and principles behind the practices.
3
Experience
You observe how the practices influence your attention, mind and daily life.
4
Learn to Guide
You begin learning how to communicate and guide meditation for others.
Who Should Join
This program is for you if you are —
Complete Beginners
Yoga Teachers Adding Meditation
Wellness Practitioners
Spiritual Seekers
Working Professionals
Aspiring Meditation Teachers
Beginners
You don’t need years of meditation experience. If you want to understand meditation properly and establish a meaningful practice, this course provides a structured beginning.
Yoga Teachers
If you already teach yoga but want to develop your ability to teach meditation specifically, Dhāraṇā Path can help you build a stronger foundation.
Wellness Practitioners
The course can provide meditation-teaching foundations that complement other wellness and holistic practices you already offer.
Spiritual Seekers
If you are looking for a deeper understanding of meditation and yogic philosophy, this program offers a chance to study and practice systematically.
Working Professionals
You don’t have to leave your work or travel to an ashram to begin. Study and practice from home through a structured online program.
Aspiring Meditation Teachers
If you feel called to guide meditation for individuals, groups, communities or wellness settings, this course gives you a foundational introduction to the teaching process.
No previous meditation experience is required, and you don’t need to already be a yoga teacher, only sincerity and a willingness to practice through the live sessions each week.
What you do need is:
- Willingness to practice
- Openness to learning
- Regular participation
- Commitment to self-reflection
This is not a 100-hour teacher training. It is a focused, honest 50-hour foundation: the right starting point if you want to know, with confidence, whether residential training is your next step.
Curriculum
Five modules, fifty hours, live online
Module 1 — Foundations of Meditation
- What meditation is, and why we meditate
- Meditation vs relaxation vs concentration
- Awareness and attention
- The role of posture and a steady sitting practice
- Preparing the body and mind
- Establishing a daily personal sādhana
- Introduction to yogic meditation
Module 2 — Breath, Prāṇa & Attention
- Breath awareness and natural breathing
- Breath observation as a foundation for attention
- Preparing for meditation through breath
- Prāṇāyāma foundations
- The relationship between breath and mental state
- Concentration through breath
- Guiding breath-awareness practices
Module 3 — Dhāraṇā & Concentration
- What is Dhāraṇā? One-pointed attention
- Working with distraction
- Concentration objects, including breath concentration
- Sensory awareness
- Building sustained attention
- Practical concentration exercises, including Trāṭaka
- Teaching concentration to beginners
Module 4 — Mantra, Japa & Inner Awareness
- What is Mantra? What is Japa?
- OM / Praṇava
- Audible, soft and mental Japa
- So’ham — breath-linked mantra awareness
- Mantra and concentration
- From mantra to silence
- Introduction to inner awareness
Module 5 — Witnessing, Self-Awareness & Teaching Practice
- Sākṣī Bhāva — the Seer and the mind
- Observing thoughts, emotions and sensations
- Thought identification, and reaction vs response
- Awareness in daily life, and developing conscious pauses
- Meditation as a way of living
- The basics of guiding another person through a short meditation
- Practice feedback and closing reflection
What’s Included
Everything you need for the fifty hours
- 50 hours of live online sessions over the course of the program
- Guided meditation practice in every session
- Study of selected Yoga Sūtra and Bhagavad Gītā teachings
- Supervised teaching practice and feedback
- A personal daily sādhana plan to take with you
- Recorded sessions to revisit if you miss a live class
- Direct access to your teacher for questions during the course
- Final reflection and the Dhāraṇā Path Certificate of Completion
Beyond the certificate, you’ll also leave with your own development — subject to successful completion of the program’s learning and teaching requirements:
- A personal meditation practice
- Practice notes and reflection work
- Hands-on teaching experience
- Meditation session structures you can reuse
- Foundational teaching skills
What to Expect
What the online experience is like
Each live session blends guided practice, philosophical study and reflection — with real teaching practice introduced once the foundation is in place. You’ll need a quiet space, a reliable connection, and a willingness to show up each week.
- Live online sessions, not pre-recorded lectures
- Guided meditation practice in every class
- Philosophical study woven into each module
- A personal practice to maintain between sessions
- Supervised teaching practice toward the end of the course
- Time for reflection and honest self-observation
This is a foundational, 50-hour program — not a 100-hour training. It’s designed to give you a genuine grounding in meditation and the first skills of teaching it, and to help you decide, with real experience behind you, whether a residential training is your next step.
A Course for Your Personal Journey, Too
You don’t have to become a professional teacher for this to matter
Dhāraṇā Path can also help you simply live with more awareness. The ability to guide others begins with learning to practice yourself.
- Develop a regular meditation practice
- Improve your ability to concentrate
- Understand your mental patterns
- Develop greater self-awareness
- Create conscious pauses before reacting
- Study yogic philosophy
- Bring meditation into everyday life
Why Only 50 Hours?
An honest foundation, not a shortcut
We believe deeper meditation teaching requires more than an online introductory course. Dhāraṇā Path is intentionally designed as a 50-hour foundational pathway — a genuine foundation, a personal practice, and a teaching introduction, without pretending that a short online course is equivalent to an immersive residential teacher-training experience.
For students who wish to go deeper, we offer our 100-hour-and-above residential meditation teacher-training pathway — see From Online to Residential below.
Course Details
What you need to know
Total Learning
50 Hours
Format
Live Online
Location
Online — Join From Anywhere
Level
Foundational
Prerequisite
No Previous Experience Required
Certification
Dhāraṇā Path Certificate of Completion
Language
English, with Hindi Support
Dates
Next batch begins October 26, 2026
Investment
₹13,999 (India) · $325 USD (International)
From Online to Residential
An online starting point for the full teacher training path
Dhāraṇā Path is deliberately kept to 50 hours. It gives you a real foundation and lets you test your own commitment before investing in a residential program in Rishikesh. When you’re ready to go further, our in-person path continues from here.
This Training
Dhāraṇā Path — 50 Hours Online
A foundational step, from anywhere
You don’t need to commit to the residential path to begin. Dhāraṇā Path stands complete on its own — and if you want to go further afterward, see the full Meditation TTC path.
Who Should Choose Residential Instead?
If you’re already committed to becoming a serious meditation teacher
If you can dedicate yourself to an immersive learning environment, we recommend considering the residential pathway directly. The residential experience allows greater time for:
- Extended sādhana
- Direct teacher guidance
- Deeper philosophical study
- Teaching practice and peer learning
- A yogic lifestyle, with silence and introspection
- Immersive practice
Dhāraṇā Path is not intended to replace the residential pathway. It is designed to open the door to it.
Is This Course for You?
Ask yourself
- Do I want to understand meditation beyond techniques?
- Do I want to establish a consistent personal practice?
- Do I want to explore meditation through traditional yogic wisdom?
- Do I want to understand the mind and develop greater self-awareness?
- Do I want to learn how to guide basic meditation practices for others?
- Do I want to eventually pursue deeper residential teacher training?
If you answered yes to even one of these questions, Dhāraṇā Path may be the right place to begin.
Frequently Asked
Before you register
Do I need previous meditation experience?
No. Dhāraṇā Path is designed for complete beginners as well as those who already have a practice and want to deepen it.
Do I need to be a yoga teacher to join?
No. This course is open to complete beginners, yoga teachers, wellness practitioners, spiritual seekers and working professionals alike.
Is this the same as a 100-hour teacher training?
No. Dhāraṇā Path is a focused 50-hour foundation. If you’re ready for a program comparable to a 100-hour training, see our in-person Dhyāna Praveśa — Level 1 in Rishikesh.
Will I actually learn to teach?
Yes. Alongside your own practice, the course introduces the basics of guiding another person through a short meditation, with feedback included.
Will the Yoga Sūtras and Bhagavad Gītā be studied?
Yes. Selected teachings from both texts are woven into the modules as the philosophical grounding behind the practice, not as a separate academic study.
Can I do this while working full-time?
Yes. The course is built around live weekly sessions designed to fit alongside a working schedule, with recordings available if you miss a class.
Is this course fully online?
Yes, entirely. You can join from anywhere with a reliable internet connection — no travel to Rishikesh is required for this program.
Is a certificate awarded?
Yes, a Dhāraṇā Path Certificate of Completion is awarded once you’ve completed the course.
Can I join a residential program after this?
Yes. Dhāraṇā Path is a natural first step toward our residential Meditation Teacher Training path in Rishikesh, whenever you’re ready for it.
A Final Invitation
Meditation is not something you learn only to teach someone else. First, it changes the way you meet yourself. Then, through understanding and practice, you may become capable of creating that space for another person.
Dhāraṇā Path is an invitation to begin that journey — from practice, to understanding, to experience, to guiding others.
Begin From Wherever You Are
Start your meditation teaching journey, online
Fifty hours, live online, to build a real meditation practice and take your first steps in teaching it. Our next batch begins October 26, 2026 — ₹13,999 (India) · $325 USD (International).