TEACHERS
Iyengar Yoga teachers are amongst the best qualified yoga teachers you can find! It takes three to four years of intense teacher training followed by a rigorous assessment process of international standard before teachers are granted their entry level certificate.
Carole Baillargeon
I started doing Iyengar yoga in Montreal, Canada in 1986 to help me deal with a hip injury and it worked! After completing a BA in history and literature I knew what I wanted to do: practice and teach yoga. I ended up doing my teacher training in Sydney and taught there for 5 years before I fell in love with Darwin and opened Darwin Yoga Space. That was in 1995. I hold a Senior Intermediate Level 2 Iyengar Teaching Certificate and I have taught interstate, overseas and taught yoga retreats in Bali since 1996. I have trained all the teachers who teach at Darwin Yoga Space which gives the classes a uniform quality that students enjoy.
When I don’t practice or teach yoga, I run the business side of things and in my spare time I go for walks and love to read and sing in a choir. I keep abreast of what makes the world go round by watching news, social and current affairs programs.
Anja Behlmer
I moved to Darwin from my native Germany in 1997 where I trained as a physiotherapist. I started Iyengar yoga in 2000 and became very committed to it in 2004. I believe that yoga can be the answer to a lot of physical symptoms. It was the answer for me when I suffered from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome: yoga was instrumental in giving me back my energy, strength, and stamina. I started the teacher training program with Carole in early 2006 and holds an Introductory Level 2 Certificate.
I have always worked as an advocate for people with disabilities and I get involved with human rights issues when I can. I love the Australian bush and go camping often with my husband and daughters.
Kumi Hamaguchi
My first yoga class at DYS was in 2000 and in 2010, when my children had become independent enough, I became a regular practitioner. Since 2010, DYS is like my second home. Yoga leads me on a journey for finding the true me. I started Teacher Training in 2019. Becoming a yoga teacher was one of my dreams, yet, it is more challenging than I thought. Apart from being a mother and teaching yoga, I attend classes, practise on my own and study yoga.
I have seen many students improve in my classes. This is my motivation to keep learning. I would like all our students to be healthy, happy, strong, resilient and to love themselves. This is my dream at the moment.
Glenys Clarke
I started Iyengar yoga lessons in 2004 with intermittent breaks until 2018 when I became more dedicated to my practice. I obtained my Iyengar Yoga Certification in May 2024.
I love the poetry and precision of the Iyengar method and continue to be happily surprised by the ongoing benefits and insights that yoga has given me, both philosophically and physiologically. I think I am lucky to have the opportunity to undertake teacher training at a school with such well trained teachers and an established community of interesting and supportive people. It is my hope that yoga will help me to age with more grace and acceptance …… and with less aches and pains than I would otherwise.
When not studying yoga, I work as a school teacher and a bookkeeper in our family cabinetmaking business. I also enjoy spending time with my family and gardening, particularly with edible and native plants.
Lana Howitt
I started Iyengar Yoga as a child at a studio near my primary school in Ascot Vale, Melbourne. Those yoga classes involved a lot more afternoon tea and competitive games than the classes at DYS, however I always say they gave me access to my ‘quiet place’, for which I am eternally grateful. I remember my teacher well – she was deeply compassionate, observant, patient and generous. These are traits I find common to all the yoga teachers I meet and would like to cultivate in my own teaching.
Since moving to Darwin in 2013 I have worked in libraries and for arts organizations, before I trained to become an Early Childhood educator. Music, family and friends make me happy when I’m not teaching kids or practicing yoga. I entered into the Teacher Training Program at DYS in July 2022 and received my level 1 certification in 2024.
“A good book is better than a bad teacher. A good teacher helps you to explore to the maximum.”