Show Notes Episode 11

 Today’s episode is an interview I did with senior, international yoga teacher Julie Martin.  We recorded the interview on Sunday March 15th, just as Covid-19 was really starting to take a hold.  We were in the midst of the Great Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020 here in the UK and I don’t think there were any coronavirus cases in Hawaii where Julie lives at that time.

Anyway, the reason I reached out to Julie is because I came across this article she’d had published on Shut Up and Yoga, entitled The 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Training and The Demise of Modern Yoga.  I felt that I had to speak to her.

In the article, Julie says that she no longer refers to herself as a yoga teacher.  Twenty-five years ago, it was a given that if you were a yoga teacher, you’d put a huge amount of time and energy into honing your skills and that enabled you to be able to share your knowledge in front of a class of yoga students.  In 2020 she says, in most major cities in the world you are never more than twenty feet away from someone who has done a 200-hour yoga teacher training.

She compares the minimum training requirements of other fields of body-work with the minimum training requirements of the yoga industry, specifically Yoga Alliance, and asks the question would you be prepared to put your trust in a physiotherapist for example, who had only done a three week, 200-hour training?  And why, given that yoga teachers must understand the principles of anatomy and movement, postures and their functions, modifications, breath, the nervous system, the mind, philosophy, common injuries and so much more besides, do we believe that 200 hours in enough as a minimum requirement for training and qualification?

I found our conversation very interesting and I think you should listen to it if you are thinking about committing to an initial yoga teacher training AND if you train people to become yoga teachers yourself.

It’s funny, having never met Julie before and having only exchanged a couple of emails, we found we got on famously from the beginning and we never stopped talking for over an hour!  We both had so much to say to each other, so here she is…. Julie Martin, owner of Brahmani Yoga, based in Hawaii, but sharing her 25 years of experience all over the world.

Things mentioned in the podcast

Kat's article on Great Malvern Yoga - At Least Find Out My Name.

Gary Carter

Get in touch with Julie

Julie's website, Brahmani Yoga

 On Instagram, @brahmanijulie

 Julie Martin, Brahmani Yoga on Facebook

About Julie Martin

15 years ago Julie set up Brahmani Yoga in Goa, India after teaching in Brighton, UK for over 8 years.  The largest motivation for the yoga centre was to create a community that could join together each winter season and practice without judgment, learn to let everything evolve and be totally inclusive to all yogis.  What grew out of that is an international reputation especially in training teachers to challenge the “norms” of the yoga world when they no longer work for us.  Julie’s work as a teacher trainer leaves students inspired and empowered. Now Julie travels around the world inviting students and teachers alike to join the Intelligent Yoga rebellion.