Carry on teacher

Giving back. Spreading the yoga love

by Paula Hines (@HumbleYogini75)

April 2013 marks two years since I learned I was being made (happily) redundant from my olf full-time job in television. The road since then has had its fair share of ups and downs for sure. I’m grateful I have learned (and continue to learn) so much about myself. And I stay grateful for the lessons, especially the ones that haven’t felt so good at the time (those are often the ones we need the most).

More than ever I feel privileged to have the opportunity to share yoga with others. I’ve been lucky enough to teach on three retreats so far this year and this month will be number four when I return to Marsh Farm House in Sussex for Sally Parkes Yoga’s Spring Detox Retreat. I’m thrilled to say I’ve been invited to join the teacher training team on the Laxmi Yoga 200hr course, led by Sally. I’m really looking forward to meeting the next group of Laxmi Yogis and sharing with them as they begin their teacher training journeys this month.

But then I realised: what a wonderful way to give back in sharing what I have learned so far

When I was first asked to join Sally’s team of fantastic tutorsI did think, “But who am I to do this? I don’t know enough!” It’s not as though I have the many years of teaching experience of the wonderful teachers I have studied with before (I think particularly of Judith Hanson Lasater’s 40-plus years).

But then I realised: what a wonderful way to give back in sharing what I have learned so far, particularly via my own experience of having a back injury and practicing and teaching yoga. It’s really not about knowing everything – no one does. But I know that I have even more passion for yoga now than when I began. Just as I wondered whether I could really be a yoga teacher before I took that first leap, the universe gave me a subtle push to tell me I was ready. This feels the same. As I often say, happily the learning never stops.

As I continue to grow as a yoga practitioner I’ve been fortunate to have people like Sally who have supported me and been there to show me  where I’ve been more ready to go than I thought I was. Now I get to help show the next group of Laxmi Yogis that they’re more ready than they think they are too.

Paula Hines @HumbleYogini75

As featured in the April 2013 issue of OM Yoga Magazine www.ommagazine.com

Paula’s blog: Adventures in Yoga – Notes from a Humble Yogini www.notesfromahumbleyogini.co.uk

Details of Sally Parkes Yoga Teacher Training can be found here: www.sallyparkesyoga.com/200hourYogaTeacherTraining

As featured in: Natural Health Magazine Q&A with Sally Parkes Yoga

Confessions of a Yoga Teacher

How did you first become interested in yoga?

Yoga and spiritual practices have always appealed to me. When we introduced yoga to our timetable at the gym I worked at as a trainer fourteen years ago, it was the perfect opportunity to try it. I had been searching for something that was more philosophical and found I loved yoga instantly. I was also amazed at how much happier I felt after my first class.

by cultivating a steady yoga practice you can manage your reactions more easily when the bad stuff happens, and be in the moment to enjoy the good stuff when that happens too

How has yoga helped you in your life?

In so many ways. Physically, my lower back-ache and other sports injuries involving my knees and shoulders rectified themselves within a few months. But more importantly yoga has become the constant in my life that I can go back to at any time when things are a little crazy. I am healthier physically but I am also happier mentally, as I know by teaching and practising yoga I am doing something worthwhile. I can’t imagine ever doing anything else!

What is the greatest lesson yoga has taught you?

Acceptance, both of myself and the world around me. Good and bad stuff happens to everyone in their lifetime, but by cultivating a steady yoga practice you can manage your reactions more easily when the bad stuff happens, and be in the moment to enjoy the good stuff when that happens too.

How would you help someone to improve their practice?

Start with a gentle ten or twenty minutes of practice a day and build it from there. Regularity is the key and being kind to yourself throughout your practice is very important. Have faith that the benefits are worth the time and effort. With ongoing commitment your overall wellbeing will improve and you will have a new lease of life.

As featured in Natural Health Magazine March 2013 www.naturalhealthmagazine.co.uk

Laxmi Yoga Teacher Training

Blending The Art Of Teaching With The Science Of Yoga

I have been fortunate enough to learn with some great teachers and have done some wonderful teacher trainings including courses with the Sitaram Organisation and Centred Yoga in Thailand. I loved what I learnt on these courses and felt that it would be fantastic to have a yoga teacher training that blended elements of Sports Science and Pilates principles with yoga asana practice, philosophy and Auyerveda, along with sharing effective teaching and communication techniques I have learnt along the way. And if I could also assist student teachers to set up as self employed teachers and actually earn a living doing what they love, even better!

if a client were extremely flexible, Laxmi yoga would work to create strength and stability within the joints 

My Journey In Yoga

After several years of hard gym workouts and in fitness instruction and personal training, I had knee and shoulder injuries as well as persistent back pain. So I started attending a weekly class the gym I used to work at. I was instantly hooked and yoga asana practice soon replaced my daily gym workouts. Over the next three years or so I healed my injuries and built a solid practice in both Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga. I also fell in love with the spiritual side of yoga and really feel that should be at the heart of our daily practice. I have been practising and teaching yoga asana and pranayama in earnest for 10-years now, and am still really blown away with how life changing a simple daily yoga practice can be.

It is a comprehensive, all encompassing, thorough and honest approach to yoga and how to teach both Hatha and Vinyasa 

My Journey To Laxmi Yoga Teacher Training

I have been fortunate enough to learn with some great teachers and have done some wonderful teacher trainings including courses with the Sitaram Organisation and Centred Yoga in Thailand. I loved what I learnt on these courses and felt that it would be fantastic to have a yoga teacher training that blended elements of Sports Science and Pilates principles with yoga asana practice, philosophy and Auyerveda, along with sharing effective teaching and communication techniques I have learnt along the way. And if I could also assist student teachers to set up as self employed teachers and actually earn a living doing what they love, even better!

And So To Laxmi Yoga….

And so after much thought I put together Laxmi Yoga 200 hour teacher-training. Named after the wonderful goddess of abundance, Laxmi yoga is a new teacher-training program, which after running successfully at the Dru Yoga centre in Snowdonia, is now heading to the beautiful mountains of the Andalucia and will be held at The Hacienda Retreat Centre. It is a comprehensive, all encompassing, thorough and honest approach to yoga and how to teach both Hatha and Vinyasa. It is both rooted in yoga philosophy and subtle anatomy, as well as including the latest research in exercise physiology and anatomy, and demonstrates how certain approaches to yoga can be used to marry traditional yoga techniques and approaches with modern day exercise science.

As a teacher-training provider, Laxmi yoga promise to:

• Treat all teacher-training students with love and respect.
• Deliver both traditional and new approaches to yoga asana and pranayama practice.
• Teach traditional yoga philosophy and Ayurveda.
• Provide on-going support and provide work placements where possible.
• Provide students with solid and effective teachings and the tools to ensure they are the best teacher they can be.

Testimonial from a current Laxmi Yoga student:

For me Laxmi Teacher Training has been transformative. I am already teaching yoga so I came to this course having attended other teacher trainings. This training delivers what it promises and more! Sally’s depth of knowledge, wealth of experience, inclusive and non-dogmatic style has encouraged each of us to find our unique voice and develop our own style, and also the ability to adapt to teaching different markets. Added to this, with Sally’s ongoing guidance and support I have gained invaluable advice on the business of yoga and actual teaching work – teaching on Sally’s retreats and gaining work with clients. I am incredibly grateful to have found this course and shared this experience with a wonderful group of fellow yogis! Paula Hines. 

Applications for 2013 training courses are now open. For enquiries please visit sallyparkesyoga.com 

Early bird discount: Book now and save £300!

As featured in the January 2013 issue of Yoga Magazine www.yogamagazine.co.uk

Hello from Sally…

Hi there.

I hope you have had a lovely week. I have had an interesting week in that the universe decided to stop me in my tracks by giving me very intense muscles spasms in my lower back. If you have ever had this you will know what a challenge staying a nice person is, ouch! It started on Tuesday lunchtime at work, and by the time I got home an hour later I could hardly move.

My yoga teacher Shola Arewa  just said ‘nothing like a back problem to reassess things’, and I think she was pretty much right. I spent two days at home, just me and my ice pack, thinking about life and my work and especially about the Yoga Teacher Training program  I will be running this September. I realized that my current back problem, which the osteopath said was largely from and little rest (yes very un-yogic I know , I’m working on it!), was largely because I don’t manage my schedule as well as I could, and that I need to do less demonstrations in class and maybe ask some of my regulars to helps me out on the demo front (I will let you know how that goes). If you are a teacher, is that something you do regularly or are you in the routine of doing everything yourself and hoping everyone follows?

How to protect yourself as a yoga teacher from injury is something no one ever seems to talk about. Is it because we let our ego get in the way and don’t want to admit defeat, or that we like people to think we are beyond injury and physical breakdown?  Or is that just me? I’d be really interested to know your thoughts on this. I feel this kind of questioning and information is so important if we are to have a long teaching career, and I will be discussing it with other teachers and teacher trainers I will be working with later this year in Wales.

As I said I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on the above and anything yoga related: info@sallyparkesyoga.com

Sally Parkes teaches in London at Indaba Yoga, and will be running Laxmi Yoga Teacher Training 200hr in Wales at The Dru Yoga Snowdonia Lodge.