Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga Teacher Training
This 11-month comprehensive teacher training, based on Tarthang Tulku’s first Kum Nye text Kum Nye Tibetan Yoga, includes 9 weekend workshops, as well as 36 weekly classes taking place during the Nyingma Institute’s Early Fall through Late Spring academic terms. The next training begins in August of 2026.
As this is an online training, it allows for participation by those who live at a distance from Berkeley. The weekly class is presented online at two different times each week to accommodate different time zones: Monday evenings BST/GMT led by our assisting instructors in the U.K. and Ireland; and Tuesday evenings Pacific Time led by Nyingma Institute faculty. See schedule posted below for dates and times.
Registration coming soon!
This second-level teacher training is open to those who have completed their Level 1 certification and want to develop further with ‘Kum Nye for mind and senses’, presented in depth in Tarthang Tulku’s second Kum Nye text The Joy of Being. This training, starting in October 2025, includes 9 weekend workshops, as well as 48 weekly classes. It is also possible to take this program if you have not done the first training but have extensive experience with Kum Nye, though you would not be eligible to teach. This training is unique in that the workshops will be held in conjunction with the KNTT Level 2 program at the Dutch Nyingma center in Amsterdam. All combined trainings will be conducted in English. Click here for the introductory Dharma Talk, given by Abbe Blum & Johnathan Clewley.
As this is an online training, it allows for participation by those who live at a distance from Berkeley. As with the Level 1 program, the weekly class is presented online at two different times each week to accommodate different time zones: Monday evenings Pacific Time led by Nyingma Institute faculty; and Wednesday evenings BST/GMT led by our assisting instructors in the U.K. See schedule posted below for dates and times.
Early Bird Registration: $2,250
Early Bird Payment Plan: $205/10 Months, $500 deposit
Faculty
Abbe Blum
Abbe has been teaching in the Nyingma Mandala since 1998, and currently presents Kum Nye, Joy of Being, Lotus Trilogy, Caring, and Nyingma Psychology courses at Nyingma Institute and Dharma College. She worked as one of the editors on several of Rinpoche’s latest books and co-designed the hands-on Joy of Being Workbook.
Santosh Philip
Santosh has taught at Nyingma Institute since 2003. His primary teaching area is Kum Nye, where he conveys his considerable love and respect for Tibetan Yoga self-massage and movement practices to his students, both at the advanced and introductory levels. He is also an architect and entrepreneur.
Anita McNulty
Anita has been a student of the Nyingma teachings since 1982. She has a special interest in the study and practice of Kum Nye. She is retired from a 42 year career as an RN & currently lives in Michigan with family.
Donna Morton
Donna first encountered Nyingma teachings in 1997. Upon completing a 6-month retreat program at Nyingma Institute in 2001, she began teaching Kum Nye programs here. She is also a physical therapist, holistic nutritional consultant, and health educator.
Assisting Instructors
Angela Bushaway
Angela has been practising Kum Nye for many years. She has attended annual Kum Nye retreats in The Netherlands and Germany, as well as training programmes in California. She currently teaches Kum Nye classes in Malvern, England with her partner Roger. Angela is a trained acupuncturist and shiatsu practitioner. When not working she enjoys walking their dog in the Malvern Hills.
Jonathan Clewley
Bram Williams
Bram is a long term student of yoga, dharma and Nyingma. He came to Kum Nye almost by mistake, subsequently attended several programmes and trainings in California, attends annual Kum Nye retreats in Holland and Germany and now practices and teaches in London and Oxford. Currently studying myofascial anatomy in movement, Bram is also an occasional puppeteer and a qualified Lip-Reading Tutor.
Matt Padwick
Matt has been practising meditation and Kum Nye as a member of the Dzogchen Beara Retreat Centre community (in West Cork, Ireland) since 1998.
He was first authorised to teach Kum Nye in 2019, and completed this Teacher Training as a student in 2023-24.
Matt offers Kum Nye workshops and retreats at Dzogchen Beara, elsewhere in Ireland and online.
2026-2027 Level 1 Schedule
2025-2026 Level 2 Schedule
Exercise 37: Balancing the Senses
Exercise 48: Enjoying Space
Exercise 44: Touching the Senses
Exercise 22: Flying