Situated in Essex, Same Star Yoga School is the leading provider of yoga training in the South East. Following the firm’s well-deserved success in the Fitness & Nutrition Awards 2020, we caught up with Samantha Layzell to find out more.
Established in 2019, Same Star Yoga School aims to build a long-term community focused on healthy wellbeing and mindfulness. To start, Samantha provides a brief overview of the school and offers more insight into some of its services.
“The school’s commitment to the fundamental principles of yoga is demonstrated by treating each other and the wider community with respect. Seeking to understand the ways that we can co-create a culture of interdependence where everyone’s unique contribution is welcome and equally valued.
Faye continues…
“We have crafted an intimate yoga training programme with the distinct intention to inspire the Yogi to begin ‘The Exploration of the Self’. This presents an opportunity to shine the light of compassion within and to create a space in the restless mind of the seeking Yogi in order to cultivate the ability to hold safe and sacred space for others from the dwelling places of their own uniqueness.”
Having begun her yoga teaching journey over 15 years ago, Faye has experienced first-hand the dramatic increase in yoga participation all over the UK. Moreover, as Samantha explains, there are now so many teacher training courses it can be overwhelming for aspiring teacher trainees to be sure they have found the right fit. “Our teacher training course is multi-style, covering the philosophy, history and practices from four different yoga lineages and a key feature is our celebration of each student’s unique strengths. This ensures each student has the opportunity to develop their own style into something as unique as they are. It isn’t our intention to create cookie cutter teachers, it is our deepest wish to allow students to blossom into their own truth.”
The firm’s internal culture revolves around the eight limbs of yoga, as Faye goes on to explain, trainee teachers are encouraged to fully embrace all aspects of yoga including societal and personal ethics as well as the yoga practices of postures, breathwork and meditation. “As a community (kula) we provide a welcoming and inclusive space for all yoga practices, where we encourage self-discipline and motivate our students towards their life goals. Moreover, at the same time we ensure our school is consistently run with an intention of light heartedness, compassion and fun”.
Despite the outbreak of COVID-19 Same Star Yoga’s online presence has enabled the school to continue to operate successfully as Samantha explains further.
“The pandemic has heavily impacted our business. In the first lockdown we had to close, and this prompted us to invest technology for our online livestream yoga classes. Winning two awards for ‘Best Online Yoga Studio’ was such an honour as we are always striving to deliver only the best for our kula. During these uncertain times we have put so much thought and care into ensuring that our students get the best online experience possible enabling us to remain connected even when forced to be physically apart. As we head into winter with COVID uncertainty looming, we continue to offer our kula the opportunity to connect and unwind through our online classes.”
Finally, Faye and Samantha discuss some of the developments seen in the industry before commenting on some of the firm’s future plans as we look ahead to 2021 and beyond.
“Yoga has experienced a huge increase in popularity around the world in the last century and has become far more accepted for its physical, energetic, spiritual, and overall health benefits. There continues to be a definite shift towards practices with a holistic approach, which is why we aim to provide a space for holistic well-being and eventually open an organic cafe and small health food store on site.”
“Many students have joined our 200-hour Same Star Yoga Teacher Training Programme but what we’ve realised is, most of our students want to enhance their practice & increase awareness, especially through these challenging times. However, not everyone wants to be a teacher or put themselves through an examination process. So, starting in May 2021 we have an exciting new opportunity for each and every one of our students. Our new 250-hour yoga training programme is split into three modules giving our students the opportunity to deepen their practice and knowledge with one or two modules or take all three if they wish to become a qualified teacher.”
For more information, please contact Samantha Layzell at www.samestaryoga.com
