Cromwell Yoga Teacher Bron Poole
Scattered throughout small towns in New Zealand are people who’ve discovered yoga somewhere along the journey of their life and now teach it in that place they’ve ended up.
Bron Poole is just of those teachers. She found yoga in Japan, and has been grateful ever since.
Not just a yoga teacher, she also does Reiki and energy balancing, working with the chakras. It’s work that her yoga informs, and her yoga practice and teaching informs her healing work.
She’s excited about her new healing space, and excited to just be giving the gift of yoga to people in Cromwell.
1. What style of yoga do you practice and where do you teach?
I practice a style of ‘Fluid Power’. Fluid in that one posture flows to another, linked with a vinyasa, with emphasis on opening the Chakras, in particular, the heart. I guide yoga at Yoga Studio Cromwell.
2. How did you come to yoga?
I came to yoga 10 years ago… I had been thrashing myself at the gym and running about 90 minutes a day 5 times a week. I had stress fractures and a foot that wouldn’t even fit into a jandal. A guy in my boarding house, in Japan. said I should try yoga… I only went because I just couldn’t do anything else! I walked into the studio and I met a guest teacher from Hawaii. He spoke few words and had an intense presence… he lead us through the Ashtanga Series. In Navasana I had a spiritual rising… I regarded that day as first day of my ‘real’ life.
3. When did the yoga bug really get you?
I feel in love with yoga after my first class. I changed my job, changed my house and changed my life… to fit in with my yoga schedule. I practiced 8 times a week, without fail, traveling 75 minutes on the train to get there and back… twice on a Friday.
Things were a bit different in Japan… you start at the back of about 60 students… and just go with the flow. After the first few months I got moved into the middle and then in the following months I was asked into the front row. The classes were very authentic to the tradition of Ashtanga. Training was an ‘apprenticeship’. You do the hours and work towards taking your own classes. It seemed such an natural process.
4. How has yoga transformed your life?
I can’t imagine my life without yoga. I guess it is the only way I can connect to myself and when I can connect to myself I can connect with others. I have learned to love myself, accept myself and be kind to myself. As a child, and adult, I felt alone… as a result of feeling disconnected I found ways to push myself into negative situations, welcoming destructive influences… always looking for the something to make the inner pain go away or something to make sense of it all.
5. What is your home practice like?
I find it hard to settle into asana at home. I love to read, listen and watch at home. I play with postures at the studio, develop new sequences, look for innovative asanas to open the chakras. My students usually get something that I have worked on or thought about during the day.
I love to go to other teacher’s classes. I take what I love and leave what I don’t and I incorporate this philosophy into my life. At the moment I am back practising Ashtanga… it feels like I have come home.
6. When people ask you, “What is Yoga?”, what do you say?
The tools to connect… connect to yourself, let go of things that aren’t serving you, finding the eye of the storm, healing your body, detoxifying your organs… finding your authentic self.
7. What can people expect from one of your classes?
Observing the breath, connecting to it and incorporating the postures to find your moving meditation. Classes can be quite challenging for more experienced practitioners and very achievable for the absolute beginner.
8. What do you love most about teaching yoga?
Observing people find their way… out of pain and move into a lighter reality.
9. What do you wish everybody knew about yoga?
It’s not about being bendy! If you can breath and move… you can do yoga!
10. What role do you see yoga playing in our world?
I would love to see people using yoga to work through their own issues… things that impact on others, society and the world. I guess it’s all about taking responsibility… being the best person you can be on a daily basis, treating our children with love and respect, encouraging them to be kind and accepting of themselves and others.
11. Anything else you’d like to say?
Sometimes people will never understand, accept or appreciate why you do yoga… if you do enough of it you won’t care!
Yoga Studio Cromwell is also a Healing Centre. I have been healing through Reiki for about 10 years and also practise Chakra Balancing & Energy Realignment. My yoga practice and teaching incorporate these concepts.
12. And finally, how do people find you?
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