Yoga Teacher Training Journeys

Keeping our yoga simple: when less is more

This week I attended my sister, Miranda’s,  debut yoga class at Red Tent Yoga*, here in Byron Bay.  My sister has recently completed the Byron Yoga Centre Level 1 & 2 Teacher training course, so she is ‘cutting her teeth’ as a new yoga teacher in town.   Now, with two yoga teachers in our family, we are all the more richer!

It was a delight to be a ‘student’ in her class and open to my sister’s own individual style and approach to yoga and to teaching.  At the end of the class, Miranda asked me for my ‘valued feedback’.   As a teacher who has been practicing yoga for 20 years and teaching for almost 15 years, it wouldn’t be surprising if I was to evaluate her class as being too simple or unsophisticated.  But, to the contrary!  I am again reminded of a significant lesson that yoga and other spiritual paths can teach us:  less is more.

Miranda’s class was beautifully simple and pared back.  Her instruction was neither under-done or over-done.  Just enough of the key points for each posture were conveyed.   By immersing myself in the simplicity of her instructions, I was able to again experience old, familiar postures with ‘beginners mind’.   Somehow, it helped me access the essence of what yoga should be all about…

I was also impressed by the competency Miranda displayed in safely setting her students up in the postures, adeptly making sure they had the appropriate propping.  This is a testimony to John Ogilvie’s philosophy that is threaded throughout the Byron Yoga Centre trainings:  “safety first”.

So, here’s to you, Miranda, and your fledgling career as a mighty-fine yoga teacher!

* Footnotes

Ana Davis is a senior teacher on the Byron Yoga Centre teacher trainings and specialises in pre and post natal yoga workshops. Miranda and Ana are teaching Deep Hatha Yoga Classes at Red Tent Yoga in Byron Bay.

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