Namaste and welcome to Byron Yoga Centre
Byron Yoga Centre was established in 1988 by John Ogilvie and is one of the longest running yoga schools in Australia.
Our class studio is located in town at 6 Byron Street, Byron Bay, where we offer daily general yoga classes of diverse styles.
Our training and retreat centre is at Purna, Skinners Shoot, Road Byron Bay, where in addition to daily classes, we offer workshops, yoga and health retreats, 200 and 300 hour Yoga Alliance approved yoga teacher training courses and Australia’s first fully Government-accredited Certificate IV in Yoga Teaching.
Byron Yoga Centre maintains a strong holistic philosophy to yoga that mirrors the essence of its birthplace. The Centre provides a wealth of experience for anyone considering yoga teacher training or simply wishing to advance their existing practice.
Our style and approach - Purna Yoga
Purna Yoga - Making Yoga Complete
Yoga is a lot about giving and receiving. It has been proposed that we only keep what we have by giving it away, which is one of the main motivations for teaching and training others to teach.
The yoga taught at Byron Yoga Centre is called Purna, meaning integrated or complete. Purna Yoga represents a holistic approach to yoga, integrating not just the physical postures but also philosophy, meditation, pranayama (breath control) and the yogic personal and social code of ethics. The postural instruction is alignment focused. Sequences range from gentle restorative to dynamic. Blocks, belts, blankets and bolsters are available to be used to support and modify postures safely.
We seek to integrate all 8 limbs (Ashtanga) of yoga the way it was originally taught, more than 3000 years ago in India. Yoga asanas, or postures, are just one of these limbs. The other limbs are equally important, including meditation, pranayama, and the personal and social code of ethics, the yamas and niyamas.
The practice of yoga is intended to be joyful and to lighten the heart and mind by calming and energising. We encourage students at all levels to build flexibility, strength and stamina of body, mind and spirit. Yoga philosophies, such as ahimsa (non violence), are threaded throughout our classes. This helps bring about a deeper understanding of the key yogic values including diet and lifestyle aspirations. Many Byron Yoga Centre teacher trainees discover, as a consequence, that yoga becomes for them a way of life.
“The name of the Lord is like the Sun, dispelling all darkness. The moon is full when it faces the sun. The individual soul experiences fullness (purnata) when it faces the Lord. If the shadow of the earth comes between the full moon and sun there is an eclipse. If the feeling of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ casts its shadow upon the experience of fullness, all efforts of the sadhaka to gain peace are futile.” - B K S Iyengar, Light on Yoga.
Byron Yoga Centre is a centre of excellence in delivering yoga teacher training. Byron Yoga Centre teachers inspire a spiritual lifestyle in others, are role models in sattvic living and are authentically motivated to improve peoples lives through Yoga.
At Byron Yoga Centre we value the ability to balance the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness of our students and employees. We seek to provide an environment in which we can all prosper and reach our own inner harmony and contentment.
Byron Yoga Centre’s vision is to promote peace by spreading yoga to every city and country in the world.