Teacher profile: Julie Martin

Julie Martin, director of Brahmani Yoga in Goa, spills the beans on what yoga means to her. 

What led you along the yoga path? How long ago was this?

I was raised by unconventional parents in an Advaita Vedanta household. This entailed going to a 'church' that was essentially hindu.

I grew up with my father meditating twice a day for an hour at a time, which he encouraged in both my sister and I. It also meant attending pujas, kirtans, bhajans and philosophy lectures on a regular basis.

I didn't enter the world of asana until much later, when, through a dance injury at 26 years old, a friend said yoga could help.

After six months of practicing iyengar yoga I no longer had any pain and to this day have never had a problem with my knees again.

How long were you practising before you trained as a teacher?

I practiced iyengar yoga for six years as a measure to prevent injury in my dance career, but it wasn't until i found ashtanga vinyasa yoga (with Derek Ireland) that i ever thought about teaching it.

As i dancer i loved this flowing style much more. so after three years of adding ashtanga to my practice i started teaching, initially just to other dancers.

Which training course did you do and why?
I never signed up for a constructed training course. Instead i opted for an apprenticeship with my teacher, Kristina Ireland (Derek's widow). I assisted her for over three years before I started teaching my own classes.

What type of yoga do you teach and what drew you to this style?

I teach ashtanga vinyasa and vinyasa flow. For years it was strictly ashtanga and i still have a great love and respect for this system, but after turning 40 I realised my body needed to have a change.

Also, my mind needed to explore its creativity, so vinyasa flow was a natural progression, especially as I was missing the creative nature of the dance world.

How do you fit your own practice around your teaching?

The hardest thing once you start teaching regularly is maintaining your own practice!

When I run my teacher training courses it's one of the first things I emphasise: make sure your own practice doesn't suffer, or your body will!

I'm lucky enough to run my own centre which means i come in and practice in the early morning self-practice class, take a quick break and then teach my own classes for the day.

Before that it was a struggle as i used to have to teach early and mid morning class and also in the evenings.

What do you enjoy about teaching?

I enjoy teaching because it isn't about me. When you enter a room to teach its about everyone in that room and their individual practice and who and where they are in their life.

When i teach a class I never think I'm giving instructions. I feel like i'm orchestrating a group of musicians who all play thier own instruments.

Each person knows their own instrument more than I ever can, so i just make the space and guide the group to make some beautiful music together.

What makes a good yoga teacher?
Anyone who can realise you can't change a person or their body. they have to do it themselves. You need to be a good communicator, but not a controller.

To you, what are the most important elements of yoga - and what are the challenging elements?

The most important elements of yoga are its transformative properties. It is not necessarily the action, whether its asana, pranayama, meditation or devotion, it's what you get out of it.

This also tends to be its biggest challenge for people, especially in the asana world. A lot of the western minds want to 'get somewhere' with their practice, but they forget that as long as they are practising they are already there.

It doesn't matter what it looks like or how many times you can wrap your leg around your head. This is why there can be so many injuries in the yoga world - people try too hard to achieve something insead of just enjoying being there.

Do you think we in 'the west' give enough time and attention to meditation?

No we don't and that's why I always include a few minutes at the beginning of each class and always end with a 5 minute meditative session.

While we are doing the asana no matter how aware we are, the mind is still working.

When we sit for meditation it is time for the body and the mind to rest and most people can't handle that; they are so used to their daily lives being driven by their minds that they panic or get restless when they sit.

Ask yourself what is it about just being quiet with who you really are, beyond any thought process, that is scary? It opens up a lot of eyes to seeing themselves from a different perspective.

How is yoga perceived in the UK now? do you think it will continue to grow in popularity?

I think yoga will continue to grow and be part of most people's lives in the uk and the rest of the West.

We are now at a great stage where most people have heard of yoga and know at least a few people who do it if they don't do it themselves.

The majority of dedicated yogis are in their early 30's and 40's and that means their children are being influenced by it already.

My hope is that one day yoga will be at least a 15 minute session in all schools and it will be offered in all big offices. That some day its not a question of 'if' but 'when'.

Is it feasible to earn a reasonable salary as a yoga teacher in the uk?

When I was teaching in London I was fortunate to be teaching when the yoga boom hit the uk and I made a very good living from it.

I think in the big cities it must be harder, especially london as there are so many teachers....but i also think there are probably areas of those big cities that haven't been tapped into.

Some of my trainees who finish and go back to smaller places in the world where there is hardly anyone teaching end up in high demand almost immediately once they start a few classes.

What advice do you have for someone currently training, or considering it as a future career?

I always say train first for yourself. Look at your own practice and what does it mean to you. How do you want to evolve as a human on this planet?

A teacher training course can be the best way to do that, especially if it is an intense one where you will be away from your normal day to day life.

Once you have finished your initial training (it never really ends) then see what happens. It is surprising how many of my students who have taken my courses saying they don't want to teac end up being the best and most successful teachers.

The ones who sign up because they really want to teach quite often end up doing something else, usually because they realise they had their emphasis in the wrong place and now want to spend more time on their own practise, not quite ready to share it out with others. It is always a good ongoing process.

Julie Martin is director of Brahmani Yoga in Goa.