La Croce Yoga School

La Croce is a true retreat - an ancient, rambling farmhouse in an awe-inspiring natural landscape. Its calm and simplicity makes it infinitely possible to immerse yourself in the ideas and practise of yoga. Every morning was an inspiration as we practised outside, overlooking the beauty of a forested mountain valley.

The course itself was detailed, rigorous and all-encompassing, going far beyond what you might expect on a 200-hour teacher training intensive. I loved the two-and-a-half hour early morning sessions that allowed time for breathing and meditation practise, along with allowing us to explore the main asanas in great depth. Whilst the focus was primarily on key postures, by the end of the course I had developed enough flexibility and strength to move naturally into advanced postures I had previously found tricky.

A lot was expected of us, but it was clear that the teachers wanted us to do well and to go away with a thorough understanding of postural alignment and integrity, anatomy and physiology, and yoga theory. The emphasis throughout was on safe practise and how to teach in a way that would help our own students develop core postural strength, balance and calmness, whilst avoiding injury. Eliana introduced us to the benefits of restorative yoga, whilst Virginia and Chris focused on the importance of alignment and muscle chain activation, and Charlie led some wonderful flow classes.It was a bonus to learn anatomy from Chris, an award-winning osteopath.