My yoga teacher training began many many moons ago - and now I see all the training I’ve ever done as coming together in the most beautiful woven tapestry called my Classical Yoga Teacher Training - At 15 my dad could see I was struggling and gave me a book on yoga - there were no pictures in it - just a dude on the front in lotus position and a lot of instructions on pranayama - I was lost completely but the seed was planted - thanks Dad ! I battled with that book for a few years and then found myself in Waterstones upstairs and found a book The Iyengar Way - whoah I thought this is incredible. For ten years I practiced out of this book. I then moved to East Clare and found the East Clare Yoga Centre and Susanne Sturton’s class - Hallelujah ! This was like putting manure on your garden I just took off - turbo boost was on. From that day to this I have constantly seeked out the best training I could find to try to satisfy the deep quest I was on. Money was no object - I estimate I have spent over 40,000 euros on training - worth every penny. Distance was no object - thousands of airmails clocked up going to India for immersions. Sweat and toil were embraced - as I honed in on this subject of yoga with ever more focus and intensity. My legs used to shake driving home from training. Having children - 3 - never stopped me. Working as an accountant never stopped me. The momentum in my life has always come from the unquenchable fire called Yoga . This quest has brought me to this point where I can see how a life of study, training, discipline and practice in many fields gives me a very unique vantage point to teaching yoga. If you want to skip to a more detailed decription of the course click here….

So here’s my pedigree and here’s why its relevant to my Classical Yoga Teacher Training Program which I am launching in September 2021 - and taking bookings for today - 6 years training with Aisling Guirke in Dublin to Junior 3 Level - intense weekends and lists of poses to be practiced and taught, with an intense examination by UK assessors on both practice and teaching skill - a very high failure rate and each year involved over 1800 hours practice and 900 hours training.

Within these 6 years I attended so many workshops its hard to remember them - but I do because in each one I learnt something new in my body and mind. I estimate I spend over 900 hours training at various intensives and immersions from the best teachers in Iyengar style yoga in Europe, USA, UK and India - Abbijata Iyengar, Dona Holleman, Jayne Orton, Richard Agar Ward, Uday Bhosale, Jawahar Banghera, Margaret Rawlinson, Mary Niker, Marion Kilburn, Doug Keller, Corrine Biria, June Whittaker, Garth Mclean, Carrie Owerko, Eyal Shifroni. If there was a weekend workshop anywhere I was going to it. I spent so many happy hours travelling to the UK, Italy, Sweden and France. Every one was a joy and a pleasure. I couldn’t wait to get home and back to teach my students the gems I had discovered.

I then went to India,Pune to the RIMYI Institute - mothership of Iyengar Yoga - while I was there attending a month long intensive Mr Iyengar passed away , may he RIP - it was an incredible experience to meet him 2 days before he passed - I remember it clearly - he was sitting outside in a beautiful white blanket with his granddaughter Abbi - the sun was shining. I had left the class early and I saw him sitting there looking old and frail but bright. An Indian student brushed past me and bent down to honour Mr Iyengar - he made it look so natural - awkward westerner Suzie Dodd thought ok that’s what you do - I thought “I can’t let this moment pass - I owe this man so much” - so down I got on my knees and l looked at him and thanked him. His granddaughter smiled a beautiful genuine smile. 2 days later he died - I went to his funeral with the other students and realised what an honour it was to have met him and practiced yoga under his tutelage.

I spent 4 seasons in Lake Garda, Italy studying Centred Yoga with Dona Holleman - an ex student of Iyengar who had gone rogue. A brilliant mind and a great communicator and animal lover - here I learnt about anatomy of both humans and animals, about practising with a blind fold, about balance, how to use sticks, about core and about patterns. It was a great experience and I learnt a huge amount as Dona has a great skill in teaching yoga. Her book centred yoga is a great favourite of mine. Plus Italy is fantastic.

I then opened my own studio in Kinvara, Co Galway - I had always taught in community centres and schools - but now it was time to get a nest - a nest with ropes, bolsters, chairs, blocks, belts and anything else a teacher needs to pass on this great Yoga.

In the middle of all this I trained with Susan Church in Pilates - after being asked by my students would I do pilates with them. I didn’t really get pilates for ages but now I am completely sold. Joseph Pilates was a genius and he designed such a great exercise system and equipments - once I got stuck in I could see that the core was so important to use and understand - for some reason core is not taught in the yoga I had practiced - the word abs was verboten ! I began to realise my own style of yoga, which involved a lot of core, small preparatory moves, clever use of props and no long holds at end range - all of which prepares the student to do the asanas with so much less tension. I discovered Blandine Calais Germain and studied her books and methods - I began teaching in this style to my own students. I could see their improvement instantly. My own practise boomed with the correct use of transverse engagement. I began to play around with reformers, soon about 600 pieces of a giant jigsaw fell neatly into place and I could see all my skills coming together. I had heard that the Ozzies are top of the pilates game so I trained with Nicholas Psarros TMR Academy.

I came across the Gokhale Method about 15 years ago - I studied this method and have used it to teach correct posture to all my students - whenever I see someone with their head position dropped I reach for the head pillows I made thanks to this method. Learning about posture is such a key part of yoga and pilates and basically living pain free. Our bodies learn bad habits and patterns in standing, sitting and driving and then when we go to move, do yoga, run, cycle or dance we amplify the poor posture patterns. It is truly one of my favourite things to teach someone their postural bias and how to fix it.

Working with students who have issues with walking due to MS or Parkinsons has given me so many interesting journeys too and brought me to study the Feldenkrais method - another brilliant man Moshe Feldenkrais had a motorcycle accident and was told he would never walk again - he was a physicist and realised he had learned to walk as a child - we are not born walking like a horse or cow. He created an amazing array of gentle movements based on observing babies learning and training the muscles of walking.He learnt to walk again and taught many people to walk again. I use these methods in so many classes - both group and individual to prepare the body to do yoga poses. Improving the mind to muscle technique. This is now called somatic yoga but its really the Feldenkrais Exercises adapted to suit yoga. I’ve spent over 200 hours studying and practicing Feldenkrais movement. Most people have a dominant side and a weaker side - this has always fascinated me and these excercises really remove this bias in such a clever simple way.

In 2019 I began my studies in Acapuncture - studying anatomy, physiology, Traditional Chinese Medicine has always been a dream of mine - acapuncture has always been my go to therapy. Really when I look at my life it has truly been a life of learning. I hope to qualify in June 2021. I have been blessed to have many students who have been my guinea pigs and I have learnt so much about meridians, organs, energy and flow in the human body which so resonates with the yoga its incredible. Its great to be able to give some one a meaningful acapuncture treatment with Electro Acapuncture. give them some Tuina ( massage) and then spend an hour teaching them beautiful, relevant and meaningful excercises that either stretch and/or strengthen the muscles and retrain their brains to pattern correctly. Bringing these skills to people in Kinvara is such a gift.

Being self employed has never been a challenge to me - my dad was self employed so maybe that was it. I did a B.Comm in UCD and trained and qualified as an ACCA accountant. So I have always been able to do my own accounts, make business plans and apply for loans and grants successfully. I feel this is a really important part of becoming a yoga teacher and I have always benefitted from this degree and training. So I will be teaching a module on running your own successful yoga business as part of my training course. How to keep records, reporting obligations, allowable expenses etc - so the administration of the finances of your business are kept clean and yogic and your tax return will be easy to do.

Marketing online is so easy and effective these days. I did Chalene Johnson‘s MIA - Marketing Impact Academy which really gave my online marketing skills a boost they needed. This course was intense but really kept my eye on the most important part of any business - Sales and Monetization - sure I always taught yoga because I loved it - but there is nothing wrong with making money and being successful and feeding your kids and having holidays. Not all the hype online suits me and my style but I really enjoy marketing and interacting on social media - in an authentic way. In this course we will talk about preparing your website and social media accounts so that in 10 months time when you are qualified and insured your clients are ready and know you are there. Its all about having a presence. Even designing good posters is a great skill to have.

Two yoga pregnancys brought me to study pregnancy yoga with Janet Baleskas and Geeta Iyengar. Both my births were natural and incredible - I also used hypnobirthing which I highly recommend to mums to be. Yoga helped me so much in pregnancy to understand the changes in my body and to regulate hormones. I was lucky to find the menstrual yoga program taught by Geeta Iyengar and practiced this in my cycle for over 15 years - I also used Bobby Clennels’ work in this field too. It is very important as yoga teachers and women to work in rhythm with the cycle, understanding the flow of oestrogen and progesterone, the luteal phase, ovulation and using appropriate poses to support a woman who is struggling in this cycle is such a great benefit of yoga.

Savasana and Restorative Yoga is a whole other love of mine. Judith Hanson Lasater came to my life 20 years ago and I have used her books ever since. I have also studied with Marisa Piers and Jeffrey Allen who both teach energy and relaxation tools that I use in my classes. I have practiced and studied Japanese Buddhism for 20 years now and always fall back on the philosophy of the Middle Path in my teaching. Deepening into a connection with yourself is really the whole point of our lives - to feel true joy and happiness is my total mission. This course will be taught with this spirit as the fundamental drive.

I have also completed a great course on Motor Control with Kinexology - what is that? Its basically the study of movement and what are the best ways that people learn movement and retain what they have learnt. Its about not talking too much, about really learning to observe your student, about understanding the key elements of poses, its about feedback, its about tactile cueing and its all backed up with serious studies that show how effective these methods are. Did you know we don’t learn by watching an expert do a pose ! We learn by watching an expert teaching a beginner and watching that beginner improving over time. We learn by making mistakes ! We learn by practice ! We learn by working on one key element then another then another one at a time. Its completely brilliant and has changed the way I teach forever. You don’t talk someone into yoga - you will learn the tools of motor control relevant to teaching yoga so you can really teach your student so they are independent and confident in their practice.

Another great course I nearly forgot about was training in Kids Yoga with Brynne Caleda at Yoga Ed - it was one of my favourite courses and I learnt so much in this course - not just about kids - essentially we are all kids and we like to have a bit of fun. I taught in many local schools and still do. I love working in schools as kids just love yoga - they are natural movers. There’s nothing I like better than meeting a kid in the Londis who sees me and drops me a tree pose - that is pure gold !

I trained in AntiGravity Yoga too - this was a great learning experience - how there are fads in the fitness industry that just don’t take off. I loved swinging around on a hammock, I loved the feeling of the silk around me in savasana - I’m still not sure why antigravity yoga didn’t work it just didn’t, it was a fad - this is one of the reasons I teach Classical Yoga - there are no fads here, no tricks, no expensive pieces of equipment, and no franchise. You will qualify and get insurance. Job done.

The next course brought me to train with Jo Manuels - Yoga for the Special Child - this course was brilliant and Jo is a very gifted woman. She taught me to see and hear students in a very different way. I have worked in schools and units with children with various challenges. This type of teaching is so rewarding and I would highly recommend bringing yoga to these kids. To be honest it’s you who gains not them. They are completely perfect and you realise when you work with this population how disconnected we really are. I’m actually smiling so much thinking of the group I taught pre covid in Gort School - the real learning and training is in the real world.

So this is what your getting - all my knowledge, experience and expertise on the mat in a ten month course. The course is just a spring board to get your juices flowing and your insurance in place. You will be competent and you will have the map that will get you started on the road being a great yoga teacher. As you can see you never get it done and you shouldn’t want to . I hope to be training when I am 90.