by Neil Baldwin
- Unlikely Beginnings
- Finding My Way to Teacher Training
- 16 Months of Learning and Discovery
- Yoga Teacher Grad at age 53!
- Learning Continues
Lineage: In My Yoga Journey, you will see reference made to these awesome and impactful yoga instructors (in alphabetical order): Courtney Bruce, Joy Dorsey, Michelle Lehegarate (Garcia), Che Marville, Brenda McMorrow, Sundeep Tyagi.
Unlikely Beginnings
Though I had tried (read: reluctantly accompanied someone to) a few yoga classes over the years, my true yoga journey began in 2011, though not with any actual intention toward such a journey. I was looking ahead to a coming year-long sabbatical from my role as a Counsellor at a public college and had the notion that I should make some moves to be in a solid state of physical and mental health before sabbatical. That way I could make the most of the time I had been so fortunate to be granted by my employer rather than spend the first few months re-tuning.
There happened to be a “boutique” yoga studio near where I was living, and I liked the idea of being able to walk to whatever activity was to help me with improving physical and mental health. And I liked the notion of a small studio such as this was, 10 people was the max size for a class, which seemed more personal and less of a “show” than larger venues.
So I got a monthly membership and began attending yoga classes 2 or 3 evenings a week. Not that I really knew anything much of what yoga was about, or what I was getting myself into. Or that, 6 years down the road, I would find myself perched in the air atop the legs of our Yoga Teacher Training leader.
Finding My Way to Teacher Training
Yoga is one of those experiences that isn’t the same for any two people. You make it what you need it to be, what you want it to be. And it also makes you. Get into a regular yoga practice and it will poke you and prod you. And likely intrigue you enough to keep wanting to continue along the path… perhaps similar to cooking or arts or music or other such engaging pursuits.
After 5 years of practice, some in classes but lots of it on my own, I decided to enrol in a Yoga Teacher Training (YTT) program. Like many people who undertake YTT, I had no intention to be a teacher; the goal was just to deepen my practice in way that could not be found through classes or solo practice.
The YTT program offered by Sheridan College in partnership with a local studio appealed in part because of the curriculum balance between asana (i.e., the poses) and yoga theory. Though it lead us to an RYT-200 (the 200 referring to hours of training) certification, the program was 288 hours of in-person instruction split evenly between practical and theory.
YTT: Learning and Discovery
Rather than the intensive schedule of many YTTs, our program was spread over 16 months, which for my likes offered better opportunity to integrate what I was learning. It was quite an odyssey of learning and discovery, as much from the four instructors each with their unique styles and backgrounds as from my own meanderings inspired by what we were exploring in the program. The theory component–going beneath and beyond the physical practice of asana–became a deep interest, especially the yamas & niyamas which despite being ancient yoga sutras have everyday relevance and application.
Sundeep Tyagi, who lead our theory courses, came to Canada in 1999. He has practiced yoga since childhood in northern India, is certified as a Vedic priest, and has a Masters degree in Sanskrit. He described his mission as “selfless service to humanity disseminating the ancient knowledge of how to achieve radiant health and spiritual development” and it occurred to me that this was about as close as I was might get to a yoga guru without going to India. He added a dimension to our experience that I suspect is not often found in YTT programs.
In addition to Sundeep, our other YTT program instructors each had unique experiences and perspectives which, together, made for a rich impact: Joy Dorsey, with a solid and dedicated lineage in yoga, movement and healing; Courtney Bruce, who is a professional educator, a sunny spirit, and well known for teaching stand-up paddleboard yoga classes; and Che Marville, as skilled and dynamic yoga teacher as you will ever experience and a limitless entrepreneur.
Yoga Teacher Grad at age 53
By our fourth and final semester, I was starting to consider the idea of actually teaching yoga. I began YTT to deepen my own practice but having had the genuine privilege to learn so much, one begins to feel an obligation to share. By the final semester I was developing some clarity in my own style and found myself imaging how and what I might teach. I’ve always been someone who straddles both the “right brain” intuitive, conceptual world and the “left brain” linear, practical world (evidenced in the services I provide at SoulTrail) and that is reflected in both my yoga practice and my yoga teaching.
In June of 2018 our YTT class joined graduates of many other Sheridan College programs taking our turn walking across the stage at convocation. It all felt a bit surreal, having worked at this college for years and seen many of the students I have known make that same walk to receive their credential.
Soon after graduation, I got certified as a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-200) by Yoga Alliance, the largest nonprofit association representing the yoga community to foster and support the high quality, safe, accessible, and equitable teaching of yoga. But graduating and becoming certified didn’t feel like arriving at a destination so much a waypoint on a much bigger and longer journey.
Learning Continues
Once you embark on the yoga journey, the more you learn the more you realize how much you don’t know, and the exploration really never ends. In the time since graduating from YTT, I’ve continued learning through self-directed reading, practice, many brief online courses, plus some major in-person trainings:
Bhakti Heart Fire (Deva Tree School of Yoga, London Ontario, 2021) was a 50 hour teacher training adjunct program that opened my eyes and my soul to the joys of Bhakti (devotional) yoga, with a focus on Kirtan, and delightful learning which meandered through the Hindu deities and their colourful stories and traditions. Lead by Kirtan recording artist Brenda McMorrow, who has rich experience gained from many years practicing and sharing Bhakti in Canada, India and around the world.
Yin Yoga & Yoga Nidra Teacher Training (Two Rivers Yoga, Cahuita, Costa Rica, 2025), was a 50 hour practice-intensive program that explored a yoga style with roots in ancient Chinese traditions and Taoist philosophy. Yin focuses on joints, more so than on muscles of Hatha yoga, and holds poses in stillness and time that is almost meditative. Lead by Michelle Lehegarate (aka First Nations Yogini), a masterful yoga teacher of many styles and superb role model for engaging and dynamic yoga instruction.
“KEEP TRAVELLING THE YOGA JOURNEY, AT WHATEVER SPEED IS YOUR OWN, AND MEANINGFUL, FASCINATING EXPERIENCES WILL SURELY CONTINUE TO UNFOLD IN FRONT OF YOU, SOMETIMES IN UNEXPECTED WAYS.”
and so says me, Neil, it’s true as can be
™ The Yoga Alliance name, trademark(s) and logo(s) used herein are the intellectual property of Yoga Alliance.
Soul Trail 