Hyde Park, London 2010
I moved to Darwin, Australia with my boyf in February 2011 before then living in London. I originally trained as a dancer, then went on to study Psychology at University and ended up working in Marketing. I completed my Yoga Teacher Training in Byron Bay in April 2011, studying yoga philosophy and ethics, meditation, breath work, anatomy and physiology, sequencing and postural alignment. My dream then came true when I found a beautiful Yogini in Darwin at her studio Agoy Yoga, she asked me to teach some classes and it’s since been the most enlightening, inspirational, challenging experience any newly trained yogi could want…
I first discovered yoga in 2006, throwing myself in the deep end with Bikram Yoga at the Bikram Yoga studios in London. From that point, I was hooked and ended up getting a little obsessed, taking over 5 classes a week!! I then started to explore the other myriad of yoga styles available, variety is the spice of life after all! It was so nice to find something again after all my years of dance training, that allowed me to balance, re-focus, calm my body and mind. It has since honestly become one of the best thing in my life. I cant imagine my life without the moments spent on a mat!
My style of yoga has since developed into a dynamic flow through the traditional Ashtanga yoga asanas, with movement at its core. I believe movement to be a gift and the best way to explore and connect with your body, mind and soul. I have definitely learnt through yoga, like in life that we all strive for a bit of balance. As we evolve and grow, so do our preferences…. the beautiful thing with yoga is that it allows you to recognise these changes. Each time you practise will be different from the last, but there has never been a time that I dont feel more wonderful at the end of a class than I did at the beginning! There are so many different styles of yoga… so find what works for you at this moment and go with it! Keep the journey moving!
In Dec 2011 I completed my Pre-natal and Post-natal Yoga Teacher Training with Bliss Baby… Yoga is a truly wonderful experience for a soon-to-be mother and mums n bubs both to explore, with so many wonderful techniques to prepare for the birth of your baby and then to nourish, re-vitalize and energise as a new mum.
The journey continues…
5 Comments
Hi Laura
By way of introduction, my name is Farida and I live in Singapore. I chanced upon your blog while I was looking up the Internet on teacher training experiences. I’ll be joining the TTC in October 2011 at the Byron Yoga Centre and was wondering if I could trouble you with some questions about your experience there? Would appreciate your views since you’ve been there done that and all
Thank you for your time.
Namaste
Farida
Hi Farida
Yes most definitely, what questions did you have, happy to answer any? Ooh how exciting, bet you cant wait, Byron Bay is just so beautiful and you will love every minute at the Byron Yoga Centre!!
Namaste
Laura
Thanks so much. Hope you don’t mind me being nosy but could you share your thoughts on these:
(1) Why did you choose this particular teacher training program?
(2) What do you feel you learnt most from this program?
(3) What would you recommend that anyone doing this program do before and during the program?
I’m a bit anxious being away from home and going through such an intense schedule and would love to hear your views.
Hi Farida
I did LOTS of internet research online for yoga courses, for about a year to decide. I wanted a holistic course, away from home and Byron seemed one of the best places.I wanted to get the best general knowledge and background in Yoga to start the journey as a teacher. I was really impressed by their website and credentials and liked the fact that it was an intensive too. I was worried that being an intensive that i wouldn’t learn enough and feel confident in such a short space of time, but the course was just so well put together to start you off really well. I would just say that, as i’m sure you already know with yoga, its an endless journey of learning and developing, so I have put 10 times more work in since leaving the course as i did whilst there, im learning everyday. They just start you off in a very clear concise way. I loved the variety on the course and the variety of different people too, it was quite full on but very life changing. I would just say that it is just the start of the process of becoming a teacher if that is what you want from it, after the 12 days you will be equipt to teach a beginners class. I found my confidence came later and I just developed my own style and teaching at an established school with a teacher as a mentor. I think it will leave you wanting to study more yoga and go on more courses, teaching and just developing as a yogi.
I think the best thing you can do before the course is learning the sanksrit words for the level 1 asanas that they should send you a pre reading list of, learn them early, then you can just focus on the instruction instead of worrying about not knowing what all the postures are called. If you can start to do a bit of background reading on Ashtanga and Patanjali’s yoga sutras, just so you start to get a nice understanding for the course. They teach you everything you need there, but if you want to feel a little more confident then getting a bit of the above done will help with that.
Don’t be anxious, I had just moved from the UK to Australia and then went on the course, feeling very unsure about my future plans and path and felt very homesick, but everybody there is in the same situation really and you form a great bond as a group.
Please keep in touch, be fab to hear how you get on, my facebook is laulovesyoga.
Let me know if you have any other questions
Namaste
Laura
i love yoga too!