Shanti Yoga School and Full Movement Training School stage open day event in Nottinghamshire

Yoga is coming under the spotlight at an open event being held by Shanti Yoga School in Nottinghamshire.

The event on Saturday January 14th is being held at the Eco Centre at Home Farm, Screveton, and will focus on new classes that are launching this month and next.

These include seated yoga for the less mobile and a course to train as a yoga teacher.

The event, which runs from 11am to 3pm, will also be an opportunity to find out more about the Full Movement Training School – a sister company to Shanti Yoga School - which teaches a unique therapy linked to Hatha yoga.

Both organisations were run by Andy Thomas, from West Bridgford, who died in March 2011, and the open event marks a re-launch by his family, friends and colleagues.

“The open event at the Eco Centre is the chance for anyone interested in yoga or the full movement method to find out more,” said Liz Thomas, Andy’s wife.

“We have a range of yoga classes starting in January and February, for people who want to learn yoga and for people who currently practise yoga and would like to learn how to become teachers. A course to train in becoming a Full Movement Method practitioner also begins at the end of January.

“The open event will feature some mini taster sessions and also the opportunity to meet members of the team and teachers.”

A six-week course of yoga classes for men and women starts at 6.30pm on Monday January 16th at the Eco Centre, while yoga classes for the less mobile begin on Thursday January 19th from 11am to 12.30pm.

The seated yoga classes are run by Sandra Fowkes, who explained that yoga could be beneficial for those with reduced mobility.

“Everybody can have a go and you can still get the benefits,” she said.

Shanti Yoga School, which has recently been accredited by Yoga Alliance as an approved Teacher Training School, was founded in 2003 and has trained dozens of teachers in Hatha Yoga, who have since gone on to run their own classes.

A two-year teacher training courses run at specific weekends to help students who have weekday commitments starts in February 2012.

The Full Movement Training School, which is based in Colwick, Nottingham, but also runs courses at the Eco Centre, teaches therapists in the discipline of the Full Movement Method, a unique blend of yoga and physical therapy that was created by Andy Thomas.

Andy trained therapists locally, nationally and abroad to practise FMM, which resolves muscle and joint pains, immobility and malfunction, and students have gone on to open FMM clinics in Bournemouth, Sheffield and elsewhere.

In November 2011, the Full Movement Training School was given official accreditation from the Federation of Holistic Therapists, the largest and leading professional association for therapists in the UK and Ireland.

To get to the Eco Centre, follow the signs for Car Colston off the A46 and pick up the Screveton sign in Car Colston. Turn left at the Farmeco sign in Screveton.

For more information visit www.shantiyogaschool.co.uk or www.fullmovementmethod.co.uk


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More men urged to join yoga teacher training course

Tutors are challenging more men to step forward to train as yoga teachers as the Shanti Yoga School unveils its teacher training courses for the New Year.

More and more men are taking up yoga as a way of keeping fit, supple and relaxed. International footballer Ryan Giggs and tennis player Pete Sampras are among the high-profile men who practise the discipline.

“We have trained several men to be Hatha Yoga teachers, and we’re expecting a number on next year’s course,” said Liz Thomas, who jointly runs Shanti Yoga School. “For some, it’s been about a career change following redundancy or a change of direction. For others it’s been a lifestyle choice to work for themselves or to work part-time.

“Yoga has often been seen in the Western world as a ‘women’s interest’ even though it was developed by men, but it does seem that more men are realising the benefits. We now see more men in yoga classes and more men coming forward to learn to teach yoga too.

“We welcome men and women to train as yoga teachers at Shanti Yoga School, but we’re anxious to let men know that if they wish to become yoga teachers we’d give them a very warm welcome.”

The challenge comes after a University of York report earlier this month revealed that yoga can help those with lower back pain. Researchers discovered that patients with a common form of back pain who did three months of classes in the therapeutic discipline were able to do daily tasks they previously would have found impossible.

The Shanti Yoga School training courses are run at the Eco-centre at Home Farm, Screveton, in Nottinghamshire – the new home of Shanti Yoga School, which has been training yoga teachers since 2003.

The courses are designed for yoga enthusiasts who want to run their own classes, and for existing yoga teachers who wish to improve their knowledge or continue their professional development.

“Lots of us are facing a change in our life just now, whether it be through redundancy or retirement, life-style change, raising children and being around for them or just ready for a change in direction,” said Liz.

“Becoming a yoga teacher and running your own business could be the answer. Yoga can help us to feel an inner peace and give us the presence to deal with our busy and complicated lives; doctors recommend it for lowering high blood pressure and if you know anyone who does yoga then you might agree that they do look serene and, well, perhaps a bit younger-looking for their age?

“Yoga helps you to stay flexible and strong, sit still and allow your mind to rein in those “wild horses that charge about in our minds”.”

Starting in February 2012, the two-year teacher training courses run at specific weekends to help students who have weekday commitments.

Shanti Yoga School, which has recently been accredited by Yoga Alliance as an approved Teacher Training School, has trained dozens of teachers in Hatha Yoga, who have since gone on to run their own classes.

Retired probation officer Michael Tickner took a course with Shanti Yoga School a few years ago and now runs a class each week in Tollerton, Nottinghamshire.

“A good percentage of my class are men and I enjoy passing on to them what I have learnt,” said Michael, 68.

Former policeman Kev Green took up yoga as a way of alleviating back pain after being diagnosed with spondylolisthesis – crack in the lumbar vertebrae. He went on to train as a yoga teacher with Shanti Yoga School.

“I truly believe that yoga can help in most situations and can help sportsmen and women to improve their performance through greater flexibility and mental concentration and focus,” said Kev, who lives at Newton, near Bingham in Nottinghamshire.

Shanti Yoga School was founded by Andy Thomas, of West Bridgford, who died in March 2011. His wife Liz Thomas and the teachers at the school have vowed to continue his legacy and have re-launched the school, along with Andy’s other business the Full Movement Training School which is based in Colwick, Nottingham, and which teaches therapists in the discipline of the Full Movement Method, a unique blend of yoga and physical therapy that Andy created. Some 24 practitioners and more than 50 yoga teachers have been trained since the businesses started.

For more information about courses visit www.shantiyogaschool.co.uk

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Accreditation success for Full Movement Method therapy training

Therapy teaching centre The Full Movement Training School is celebrating after being given official accreditation from the Federation of Holistic Therapists.

FHT is the largest and leading professional association for therapists in the UK and Ireland, and the news means that the Nottinghamshire-based Full Movement Training School has achieved official recognition for its course.

The Full Movement Training School, which teaches therapists a unique technique devised in the East Midlands, has been conferred an accredited course in the Full Movement Method Diploma Level 3.

“This is wonderful news for the team at The Full Movement Training School, as it gives us extra kudos, and will also show future students that we are an organisation that delivers results and that they can be confident in,” said FMTS director Liz Thomas.

The news comes as the Full Movement Training School prepares to launch courses in the New Year, which will be taught in Colwick, Nottingham, and the Eco-centre near Car Colston, Nottinghamshire.

Held roughly once a month at weekends over two years, the courses will teach participants to become therapists in the Full Movement Method, a unique method of resolving muscle and joint pain, immobility and malfunction.

It was developed by Andy Thomas, from West Bridgford, Nottingham, who had treated hundreds of patients over many years, including sportsmen and women, actors and road accident victims.

For many years, Andy trained therapists locally, nationally and abroad to practise FMM, and students have gone on to open FMM clinics in Bournemouth, Sheffield and elsewhere.

Andy, who died in March 2011, also ran the Nottinghamshire-based Shanti Yoga School, which has trained dozens of yoga teachers in Hatha Yoga. The core postures in yoga are at the heart of initial diagnosis for FMM, and Andy saw the flexibility that yoga postures bring as a fundamental key to relieving pain via FMM.

Shanti Yoga School has also recently gained its own official approval - an accreditation from Yoga Alliance UK, which sets standards for yoga, yoga teacher training, yoga teachers, and yoga training providers, and is re-opening in a new home at the eco-centre at Shackerdale Farm, Car Colston, near Bingham, in 2012.

“Now that both organisations have accreditation we are ready to take Andy’s legacy forward, and are looking forward to welcoming new students in the new year, and to teach them how to become therapists in FMM or teachers of yoga,” said Andy’s wife Liz Thomas. “We are also running Continuous Professional Development courses for existing teachers of both disciplines.”

For more information visit www.fullmovementmethod.co.uk or www.shantiyogaschool.co.uk

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Yoga course kicks off in the New Year

A Nottinghamshire yoga school has begun recruiting for its next teaching course, which starts in January.

Shanti Yoga School has trained around 40 yoga teachers since it was launched six years ago.

The yoga is based on the Full Movement Method – a unique approach that’s been developed and pioneered by Nottinghamshire yoga teacher and therapist Andy Thomas, 64.

Andy, from West Bridgford, also uses the Full Movement Method as a basis for treating patients for muscle and joint pain, including international sportsmen and women, musicians, and actors, as well as accident victims.

The latest teaching course is due to start in the New Year for anyone interested in learning the method, with tuition taking place at Colwick Quays Business Park, Colwick.

Full details of costs, dates, start times and venue are at http://www.shantiyogaschool.com/

Yoga book by Nottingham author raises money for African children

Nottingham yoga expert Andy Thomas is helping to raise money for children in Kenya with his latest book Yoga. How and Why it Works.

Proceeds from Andy’s book will go to the Calvary Zion Children's Home in Mombassa, which is building a new, more comfortable home for abandoned or orphaned youngsters.

Andy, 64, is the founder of the Nottinghamshire-based Shanti Yoga School, which has trained dozens of yoga teachers since it was launched six years ago and now runs courses in West Bridgford and Colwick. From yoga, Andy has condensed or distilled the full movement method of therapy which is also taught.

The therapist has written three previous books, Message in the Body, Deep Yoga and Deep Yoga, Deep Healing, which have so far helped to raise nearly £2,000 for the Kenyan children’s home.

His fourth book Yoga. How and Why it Works is a detailed examination of the reason for the effectiveness of yoga as a system of physical, mental and spiritual cultivation.

“Yoga. How and Why it Works is ideal for the serious yoga practitioner, the serious interested student and the teacher,” said Andy, who lives in West Bridgford and who has also used the Full Movement Method as a basis for treating thousands of patients for muscle and joint pain, including international sportsmen and women, musicians, and actors, as well as accident victims.

“I am really pleased that sales of my new book will continue to help orphaned and abandoned kids living at the children’s home in Mombassa.”

Yoga. How and Why it Works is published by Arima Publishing and is available from Amazon priced £9.95.

Visit http://www.shantiyogaschool.com/