We've come a long way since we opened our doors in 2002 to begin offering Teacher Training in the UK; for the first time in 18 years and a combined 44+ cohorts of Teacher Training Diploma students later, we will welcome 24 yogis bravely ready to start their lifelong journey of becoming a yoga teacher through the doors of a virtual studio setting. The evolution of yoga is changing as we know it, and we are welcoming new ways of working, socialising and living together. This open letter thanks our incredible community including teachers, students, and staff, in showing us the true meaning of yoga in embracing the new dynamics upon us.
Dear community,
First off, a big heartfelt thank you goes out to You, as part of the Yogacampus community along with our teachers, students, & staff, in willing to embrace the changes that these new dynamics brought upon us. Your continued support and dedication to Yogacampus strengthens our purpose of #SharingKnowledge even more.
This week, we are reflecting on how much has changed since the pandemic arrived on our shores and the new ways of living so many of us have had to adapt to; particularly, in learning environments. Whether you are a parent or not, the education system is something we are all connected to and it is no different in yoga education either.
When our dear friend Richard Freeman rightly said in 2016 ‘Modern Yoga is finally evolving’, we never would have expected the situation we face today:
Yet, here we are. Faced with new ways of teaching, learning, and interacting. Not only is the face of yoga changing as we know it, but we are welcoming new ways of working, socialising and living together.
When the lockdown measures were put in place and we effectively had to close our campus doors, our top priority was ensuring to continue supporting the learning needs of our community safely.
Our Diplomas team worked around the clock with our incredibly supportive teaching faculty to transfer an entire teaching module online for our Yoga Therapy Diploma students, and instead of us telling you what a great success it was, we will let the words of our students speak:
"I think every teacher and Yogacampus team did amazing work to make module 4 happened under the lockdown, so big THANK YOU. Really helpful to have the recording afterwards as well."
- Yoga Therapy Diploma Student
"Was really grateful that we were able to continue learning online. It was intense and quite tiring but I think all the organisers and lecturers did amazingly accommodating the new structure. Thanks so much!"
- Yoga Therapy Diploma Student
"I just wanted to say a big thank you to everyone involved for organising all the online lectures at such short notice. I can't imagine what a headache it must have been to reconfigure everything. I thought it worked really well and was grateful for the opportunity to continue my course safely at home and learning even though we couldn't attend in person.... Thank you for your efforts. It was lovely to see everyone's smiling faces after such a difficult week."
- Gillian Liversedge, Yoga Therapy Diploma Student
At Yogacampus, the month of May usually begins to mark ‘Back-to-School’ season on our calendars, and for the first time in 18 years since we began offering Teacher Training in the UK, we will be welcoming a new cohort of 24 yogis ready to start their lifelong journey of becoming a yoga teacher in a unique setting. A special shout-out to them for bravely embracing this new teaching paradigm as London’s Intake 33 begins through the doors of our virtual studio setting.
We’ve come a long way since we first opened our doors in 2002 to run one of the first Teacher Training programmes in the UK. Yogacampus has been successfully educating local yoga communities around the nation and run over 32 intakes in London and 12 between our Northern territories: Hebden Bridge, Manchester and York.
Having introduced a blended learning style to the diploma programmes in previous years, our response to the crisis meant we could transfer the remaining modules online swiftly thanks to the support of our incredible online learning platform.
The same system also houses many of our other online offerings and truly makes the learning experience we offer so much more supported thanks to its interactive features and ability to continue to connect with your sangha online. Just see for yourself here.
The power of community cannot be underestimated during this time, and together we will come out stronger. Thank you to all of you! Please give our wonderful students and teaching faculty a big warm virtual welcome.
