James, a caring, warm and professional Support Worker, joined Yogafurie Hot Yoga classes in 2014. He went on a journey of self discovery through Hot Yoga, and joined Yogafurie Academy Yoga Teacher Training in 2018.
Way back in 2018 James offered us this story of how he discovered Yoga whilst on a completely different life path.
Now a teacher at Yogafurie, and a Mentor and Course Instructor for our 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, James has openly shared his story and experience since then.
What is / was your profession when you signed up for Yogafurie Teacher Training?
“I had just stepped away from a 25 years of working within the media and started as a support worker for a local Care Company.”
What was it about Yoga that made you want to learn more through a 200 hours Yoga course?
“By that point Yoga had already had a significant impact on my life. It had become my safe port of call in the storm that my life had become.”
Did you aim to teach afterwards or was this a journey to deepen your knowledge about Yoga?
“Both. They went hand in hand. To be able to teach the journey needed to deepen, and it continues that way to this day.”
How did you feel the moment that you signed up to the 200 hours course?
“Of course feelings of anticipation and excitement but mixed in with a deeper sense that this was going to be the start of something that was going to change my life in ways I could not begin understand at that moment. I also new others were going to have to make sacrifices to enable me to do the Teacher Training, and for that I am still and always will be grateful. My Beautiful Stel and my wonderful Children.”
How did you feel on your first day of the 200 hours Yoga course? What was the experience of your first weekend with us?
“In some strange twist of fate it was also my 50th Birthday. So there was plenty of stuff swirling around. Finally meeting my fellow students was wonderful. By the end of the weekend I knew that this going to be a challenging but incredibly rewarding experience. It was going to ask a lot of me and to get the most from it I had to give it my all.”
How did you feel on your last day of the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Bristol?
“My initial overwhelming emotion was one of relief. Those sacrifices I mentioned had taken their toll on me, and those I loved the most. But that was countered by a deep sense well-being, knowing the foundations had been put in place from which I could continue my life as a student of Yoga.”
What is your favourite learning that you will take away with you? Do you have any new / unique areas of interest since the 200 hour Teacher Training course?
“What an impossible question. The fire of curiosity has been lit under every topic which we looked out and I continue to build on all of them. I do always find myself coming back to the breath, its relationship to the nervous systems and in turn its relationship to the physical body. On its own that could be a life time’s learning and is deeply connected to my yogic experience.”
Now you are a wonderful Yoga Teacher at Yogafurie. How do you enjoy the experience of teaching Yoga?
“I taught my first public class very soon after finishing the training. I started the course so I would be able to share this thing called Yoga which has been so beneficial to me, so there was never any question in my mind that would happen.”
“Yoga has a beautiful simplicity yet many complex spirals, each reveal themselves as practice deepens. I feel very lucky to be able to guide people along that path to the best of my abilities. The Students’ experience is theirs. I feel very lucky.”
What is different about your life now than when you started the course?
“I was already going through a period of significant change and my practice among other things was informing that. By doing the Yoga Teacher Training Bristol and going on to teach I now have the opportunity to continue my studies, share my love for Yoga and the very real benefits anybody can experience.”
What was your favourite thing about the Yoga Teacher Training Bristol course with Yogafurie Academy?
“I must have written and re-written the answer to this question. It’s hard to think of it as individual parts when the sum of it was so much greater than any one of them. So that’s how I’ll leave it.”
Is there anything else you would like to offer up as a reflection on this journey?
“The mind is like an umbrella…no use unless it’s open. If you’re thinking of
doing the course, leave any preconceived ideas at the door, they probably won’t be there when you leave.”
We believe in the quality and support we offer with our 200 Hours Yoga Teacher Training Bristol. And we often hire graduates of our Teacher Training Course.
Would you like to learn more about completely transforming your life? And even perhaps your career? Follow this link to discover Yoga Teacher Training Bristol.
