about the yoga teachers  

  

Pete Yates

 

I have practised and studied Yoga on a daily basis for more than forty years and I have taught the discipline since 1976. Since 1994, I have added day-long workshops and weekend and week-long retreats to my teaching formats as well as developing an in-depth Teacher Training Course. In 1996 I co-founded the Parkdale Yoga Centre in Wolverhampton (UK) with my student Anna Ingham in order to offer Yoga classes to the local community in an environment conducive to meditation, as well as to work with students in a communal living situation. Over the years, I have benefited immeasurably from the attentions of some powerful teachers, but I maintain that my teaching is ultimately rooted in my own practice, experience and being, and is not a repetition of received dogmas. (In fact, this is the open and creative approach I learned from my own teachers.) My approach to teaching is to respond spontaneously to the time, the place and the people in order to bring what is needful to each unique teaching situation. I use resources from Hatha Yoga – postures and breathing disciplines – and Raja Yoga - meditations - as well as humour, music, silence and play. I encourage students to encounter their own existential situation and their own spiritual practice with both discrimination and trust and, where it is helpful, to draw upon the world's spiritual and therapeutic traditions. In 2003 I gave up employment to devote more time and energy to Yoga Teaching. Before this I taught art, philosophy and Yoga to physically disabled adults in a Day Care setting for twenty four years and also worked as a visiting lecturer at Wolverhampton University. My other activities, (which are not really separate from the above) include making music and art and conducting research in Eastern and Western philosophy. I hold a first class honours degree and a PhD in Philosophy and am a published author in the discipline. I am a Yoga Elder with the Yoga Register and a founder member of the Independent Yoga Network.

 

 

Anna Ingham

 

Yoga for me is about becoming alive. Alive with a capital "A". Alive and awake. It is about learning how to open yourself up to the radiance of life itself and everything that we are. This brilliance is not only present when we are happy or have finished paying off the mortgage. The sparkle of life is reflected in every moment. It permeates every second of our darkest hour, dances in our morning coffee, and gurgles in the belly of the wartiest toad. It is present in the ordinary and the extraordinary and moves inside our every breath. To wake up to this is why we practice Yoga. The Yoga of life that floods off our Yoga mats and follows us out into the day. For me, my daily practice on the mat is only a fraction of what it is to practice Yoga.

 

My approach to teaching begins with recognising the need for people to begin where they are. As a result, our teaching is very down to earth and practical. I know that everyone has their own stuff to work through and I'm aware that this process can be difficult and challenging. I have long experience of working through my own stuff and at times it has been extremely tough. This has given me a very gentle approach to anyone suffering in similar ways. I could write volumes at this point but to save your eyes I won't. If you would like to know more get in touch.

 

Something about me: My yoga adventure began when I met Pete in 1994 after completing my fine art degree. A pretty incredible time! Every time I think life couldn't get any more amazing, up pops another layer to it all and I'm astonished all over again. We began the Parkdale Yoga Centre in 1996 and we have gone through a lot of changes since then. A particularly interesting and challenging adventure has been teaching Yoga in inner-city schools to 5 - 11 year olds.

 

Another aspect of my work is complementing Yoga with certain therapies. I have practised Shiatsu and various forms of massage for a number of years. I am qualified in The Bowen Technique and am now exclusively using this wonderfully effective therapy. It is very important to me that Yoga not be seen as only for fit people. In fact I have done some of my most profound and life changing Yoga at times when I have been ill or not at my best for one reason or another. I could waffle on for ages but I think that's enough for now. So I will leave you with this, one of my favourite sayings. LIFE! THIS IS IT!