Yin Yoga Teacher Training

Feb 23
3 min read

Updated: 2 days ago

Legend has it that to be a Buddha (an enlightened soul) is not so difficult after all.

Nirvana, or even Samadhi, is the easiest thing in the world, because it has already happened without our knowing.

For eons the mystics have said that a buddha is already breathing within us. All that is needed is a little recognition, just a little turning inwards - and even that must not be forced. If we do it forcibly, as an act of performance, we will miss the point entirely. It is very delicate. We only have to look inward with heart, with no agenda - not with stiff postures, serious expressions, and rigid mudras. The buddha himself is said to have taught taking things easily.

The mystics tell us that existence is very easy. We breathe perfectly well without being reminded. Our heartbeat continues even in our sleep - so easy is existence within. But we are not so easy with yoga. We are tight-fisted with it. We want everything to become an achievement. Which is why, beyond the poses, yoga so seldom truly works.

This is something I come back to again and again when I teach yin yoga. The breath does not belong to you. It belongs to the universe. We exist only for the split seconds it passes through us. Yin yoga is a chance to slow down, to strip away the performance, and to finally stop gripping. Not as a technique. Not as another thing to get right. But as a genuine resting into what is already there 👈🏽

But here is where it gets interesting for teachers.

Have you ever wondered what actually happens to the body in a yin yoga pose? You might already be a great yoga teacher - but yin feels like a different world 🌎. You know the set up, you know it's a long hold, you might know the correct breathing pattern. But at its core, do you know what really happens? In the body and most importantly, the physiology? Because understanding this for yourself changes everything.

There is a saying - "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."

That is exactly what yin asks of us. And it is exactly what my Yin Yoga programme is built around. Because students who come to a yin class are often at their most vulnerable - physically and emotionally. They deserve better than borrowed cues and language that deep down you wonder if it's true or just another yoga myth.

Anyone can learn the poses online. But being in person gives you the chance to feel rather than just learn. Yoga (even away from yin) was always meant to be felt and experienced rather than copied. When it is organic and true to you, your students will come back because they will feel your authenticity.

If you have ever felt like yoga is something you are failing at - too stiff, too restless, too distracted - this is also for you. Because the body you have right now is already enough. We are simply learning to get out of its way.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/c1de07_eb123fdcb7df4d03bbbb61314d762157/1080p/mp4/file.mp4