Jayne Nicholls

Jayne is owner/director of GXT, creator of the Freestyle Yoga brands and a somewhat reluctant Yogi. She has taught group exercise for over 25 years with 17 dedicated to Yoga.

Every day it pulls me in a little deeper! I will always retain my love of moving to music and this is my key teaching style which is why I often smile to myself as I OM. I love mixing what I know about the human body with traditional aspects of yoga. It is this modern approach that makes our YTT both unique and successful.

Di Leek

Di is truly 1 in 1 million. Her dedication to the learning process on our yoga diploma is so welcomed by our students. She is both lead tutor and assessor, you will see her on our online guidance and she is on hand to help you throughout. Di does not post bios, she is not on social media, she is Di who walks her own path in her own way and GXT are privileged to have her on our team.

Monica Linford

Monica Linford is a motivational speaker, author, wellness coach and therapeutic movement specialist. With an extensive background in classical ballet, contemporary dance, Pilates and yoga, she is a highly regarded industry expert in Mind-Body Fitness. Her presentations have inspired students and teachers of mind/body exercise for 25 years in over 18 countries around the world.

 Monica is the recipient of FitPro UK’s “Award of Excellence”, South Australia’s “Fitness Leader of the Year” and is the founder of The ChiBall Method™, Wellness Warrior™ and her new concept WuWELLNESS™. 

Peter Webber

Peter joined the fitness industry 32 years ago in 1986 and has taught never fewer than 6 classes a week ( often many more ) ever since.
He teaches a diverse range of classes including Freestyle Fitness Yoga, Fitness Pilates, Pilates, Gymstick, Body conditioning and recently Freestyle Yoga  for more years than he admits to!

Peter says: I can’t tell you how excited I will be to meet ,inspire and educate you on this Freestyle Yoga Journey. Joining Jayne and Diane and the rest of the Group X educators team is the pinnacle of my fitness career

Annalie Gilliver

Annalie has tutored with GXT for nearly 3 years and taught exercise full time for over 20. As a former professional dancer, Annalie has been teaching
community classes in boutique clubs where she specialises in Pilates, Yoga, FFY and Barre Fitness.

Yoga teacher training level 5 practical days:

• Day 1 – Breathing Bandhas, Mudras, Meditation: We consider the role of breath practice in yoga and experience different breathing techniques. the use of locks, seals and gestures is put into perspective and we explore different methods of meditation and mindfulness.
• Day 2 – Historical perspectives of yoga, and asana analysis: We explore the background and history of yoga, key perspectives, practices and texts, and notable exponents.We analyse asana in terms of their possible benefits, their planes of movement, the joints and muscles involved, and how to regress, progress, and adapt the asana, along with the use of teaching aids
• Day 3 – The planning and practice of yoga: We examine planning skills, and how to put the plans into practice. We look at the components of yoga classes, and we practice teaching yoga.
• Day 4 – Freestyle Fitness Yoga: We construct an entire class understanding the power of effective language and teaching skills along with an in depth look at the fitness benefits of a yoga practice.
• Day 5 – Freestyle Fitness Yoga: Yoga masterclass and teaching practice

Your optional qualifications:

• You can choose from our hot yoga certification or the level 3 certificate to teach yoga to children aged 5-16

Your Yoga teacher training level 4 diploma consists of 5 units:

1. Teaching Yoga as a Profession
2. Planning and Delivering Yoga Classes
3. Understanding and applying the Philosophy of Yoga
4. Teaching Asana to meet the Needs of Mixed Ability Students
5. Finding the Breath Classes

Your additional modules include:

1. Hot yoga certification or level 3 certificate to teach yoga to children aged 5-16
2. Business mentoring
3. Myofascial yoga

Your anatomy and physiology  units:

1. Level 2
2. Level 3 (with hot yoga only)

To prepare you for the practical role of Yoga Instructor, you will learn:

• The skills necessary for teaching Yoga
• The role of a Yoga Instructor
• The benefits of Yoga

To educate you in the history of Yoga, you will learn:

• The origins of Yoga
• The relevance of ancient Yoga texts
• Understanding the 8 limbs of Yoga
• Understanding the 4 pathways of Yoga
• Understanding the key concepts of Yoga including Kriyas, Mudras, Bandha

Anatomy & Physiology for Yoga

Planning a series of Yoga sessions

• Understanding breathing, relaxation & meditation techniques
• Understanding how to plan a Yoga session
• Use of teaching aids in Yoga
• Progressing your Yoga classes
• Setting up a Yoga class

 Health & Safety for Yoga

• Understanding the requirements of special populations
• Understanding the importance of screening clients
• Understanding the health & safety aspects of teaching a Yoga class 

Teaching a Yoga Session

• Practically including all of the above into a class presentation
• Learning, understanding & presenting Yoga postures 

Personal Yoga Development & Practice

Yoga from a Freestyle Fitness perspective

• Learn how to prescribe postures to a live audience with typical posture and practice traits
• Learn how to use a language that people understand and respond to
• Learn how to talk from an informed perspective rather than quoting form received Yoga teaching
• Learning to understand and progress the posture for each individual
• Learn how to create Yoga flow

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You are assessed on 5 individual units. These can be completed individually and sent to your personal assessor for marking as you progress.

You are marked on the completion of your workbook, teaching plans, and practical assessment.

UNIT 1  Teaching Yoga as a Profession= Worksheet

UNIT 2  Planning and Delivering Yoga Classes = Worksheet

UNIT 3 Understanding and applying the Philosophy of Yoga = worksheet

UNIT 4 Teaching Asana to meet the Needs of Mixed Ability Students = DVD practical submission & worksheet

UNIT 5  Finding the Breath Classes = worksheet

Formative observations (completed on live days training), Summative observation (DVD submission with 5 – 12 participants), Self evaluation, Personal development plan, Personal practice and reflection diary

We accept approved prior learning (APL) from students who have previously completed relevant parts of the course.

Students receive a home study pack designed to encourage research into the key areas of teaching Yoga. During completion of this study we ask you to develop an idea of the kind of yoga instructor that you would like to be. Once you are confident in the areas that you would like to focus, we then offer you further study, specific to your needs

HOT YOGA  MODULE =  worksheet

BUSINESS MODULE = mentoring one to one with Jayne Nicholls.

Please remember these 3 important things:

1. You can start your course on any date. Simply diarise dates from the day you book on.
2. All dates roll over – we run 2 per venue each year.
3. You can diarise at any venue, create a timetable to suit your own time and repeat dates as many times as you need

Next live dates 2020:

London Virgin Active Barbican
Breathing bandhas, mudras & meditation – February 1
8 limbs & posture clinic – February 2
Understanding practical yoga, teaching practice and visual assessment February 7
Freestyle Fitness Yoga February 8/9

Birmingham Virgin Active Solihull
Breathing bandhas, mudras & meditation – February 22
8 limbs & posture clinic – February 23
Understanding practical yoga, teaching practice and visual assessment February 28
Freestyle Fitness Yoga February 29/1

Leicester MBTS Studio Leicester Market Bosworth
Intensive course – March 9-13

Manchester Virgin Active Salford Quays
Breathing bandhas, mudras & meditation – September 26
8 limbs & posture clinic – September 27
Understanding practical yoga, teaching practice and visual assessment October 2
Freestyle Fitness Yoga October 3 / 4

London Virgin Active Barbican
Breathing bandhas, mudras & meditation – October 31
8 limbs & posture clinic – November 1
Understanding practical yoga, teaching practice and visual assessment November 6
Freestyle Fitness Yoga November 7/8

Birmingham Virgin Active Solihull
Breathing bandhas, mudras & meditation – November 14
Historical perspectives of yoga, and asana analysis – November 15
The planning and practice of yoga – November 20
Freestyle Fitness Yoga November 21/22