Sun Power Yoga teacher training 15 year anniversary

Building a successful school

I

n 2003, Anne-Marie Newland took

a risk and decided to start her own

teacher training school. A graduate

of more than one school herself she

saw that training schools at that

time were few and far between and often

so difficult to join that she was aware of a

missing element: and that was flexibility.

As a single mother of four with the

need to work she wanted to do what she

loved. She had been teaching bodywork

since she was 19 starting with ballet and

then contemporary dance at The Place

in London and also with Arlene Philips of

Strictly Come Dancing fame. She was

born to teach and had found her purpose

early on.

Having trained with Iyengar in the 70’s,

qualified with Swami Vishnu Devananda of

the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta School in India

in the 80’s, then Astanga Yoga with Beryl

Bender Birch in the 90’s, she was ready

to create a modern school based on

ancient teachings.

So, Sun Power Yoga the school was born.

Now one of the highest accredited schools

in the country and recognised across the

entire world it is hard to believe how far

both the school and their ethos has spread.

Anne-Marie Newland’s personal

statement:

“It has been a joy creating my school and

seeing our graduates flourish and spread

their own wings after their initial course

ends. We always say it’s the start of their

course rather than the end! Much like a

yoga class starts when you leave; using

all the skills of mind and breath control to

manoeuvre life’s obstacles.

I often get asked what is different

about our teachings and how we deliver

our syllabus; apart from being a modern

contemporary school based on traditional

teachings, for me it’s a simple answer:

“Be authentic, allow for all walks of life to

join your classes and remind yourself that

a yoga teacher is no different to being a

servant of the community.”

We attract single parents, gay students,

grandparents, people from all faiths,

the unemployed, and the homeless (by

giving a scholarship and supporting their

endeavours to get a place to live and help

them find a teaching job) as well as GP’s,

physiotherapists and sports specialists. The

Yoga Alliance USA, the YMCA, REPS, IYF, as

well as the Job Centre – of which we are

very proud – also endorse us.

You may be thinking that this is not what

you expect from any organisation but it’s

important to live in the world, of the world,

but to see it from a distance too. Lives are