Mind Bending
Sydney Morning Herald
Wednesday February 6, 2002
``I'll never forget my first yoga class," says Simon Voysey. ``It felt like a chemical high but better."
A yoga teacher and remedial therapist, Voysey is now dedicated to helping others achieve that natural high. He began doing yoga during the mid-1980s after a naturopath suggested it might help his kidney problems. From his first class he was addicted: ``I thought, `What's this drug?' "
He runs his own yoga schools under the banner of Mind and Body. In its eighth year, the school has 12 yoga instructors, fitness instructors and massage therapists running classes in Sydney.
His clients are a broad mix of people. The Department of Veteran's Affairs and the ANZ Bank are the latest corporate clients to sign up for yoga, joining an eclectic mix of secondary schools, football and soccer teams and classes in Glebe that attract everyone from dreadlocked teens to 70-year-old women. Mind and Body holds country retreats and workshops in meditation, nutrition, yoga and stress management.
Voysey, a former personal trainer, has formulated his own brand of yoga that borrows moves from Pilates, traditional yoga and shiatsu massage.
``My classes are the culmination of my background and other jobs I've had," he says. ``After I left school, I became a registered nurse but left because I wanted to move away from conventional medicine. I then studied remedial massage before becoming a fitness trainer and developing programs in gyms. I kept going to yoga and approached an instructor with a view to one day teaching a class."
Voysey then served an ``apprenticeship" with the yoga teacher. Two years later, he began teaching.
In his classes, Voysey emphasises ``being not doing". He says: ``Life is not about working 60 hours a week. Your body will start making complaints such as fatigue, back ache or lack of suppleness.
``Yoga can give people a break from a competitive society. Everyone works at their own pace. It is not like the gym, where you are expected to attain goals."
Voysey has taken this philosophy into schools, where many physical education classes are competitive. He believes this can alienate some children.
He admits, however, that younger children can get distracted easily. ``Kids love doing relaxation exercises but it can be a challenge getting them to do the stronger movements."
Physical fitness, strength, good communication skills, passion and selflessness are characteristics Voysey looks for in a yoga instructor. `` In yoga, there is no room for the `I'. It's all about ego dissolution."
Instructors, he says, must be prepared ``to go on a spiritual journey with the class. They must be interested in inner growth and expanding their mind."
As for the future? ``My dream is to live in the country for six months a year and run a holistic health retreat, then spend the remainder of the year in Sydney looking after the body and mind."
The point:
To instruct others on the finer points of yoga, you need to be a little bit twisted.
How he got there:
Name: Simon Voysey.
Age: 41.
Qualifications: Registered nurse (SRN), Diploma in Remedial Massage, Bachelor of Human Movement, Accredited Pilates Instructor.
Salary: Voysey says it ranges between $50 and $200 per class, depending on whether you are working in a gym, your own school or for a private client.
Highs: ``Empowering people at the beginning of their journey to fitness and health. I love it when people realise they are capable of getting fit."
Lows: ``People who are dogmatic."
Life tip: ``Follow your path with your heart."
© 2002 Sydney Morning Herald
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