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<\/p>\n\u201cI was in the right place at the right time, but more importantly, with the right qualifications\u201d, writes Charleeze Brightman of Yoga on Yachts.<\/p>\n
I was a childhood friend of a celebrity yoga teacher. Her clients included TV personalities which upped her kudos no end. She invited me to help out at a yoga retreat \u2013 my job was that of a gofer \u2013 go for this and go for that, but I got free yoga lessons at a beginner level. She was low on numbers on the beginner\u2019s course. I was hooked on Yoga and practised three times a week.<\/p>\n
Fast forward eighteen months. I am stewardess on a 50 metre, relatively new in the industry. The captain sees me practising Yoga on deck between charters and tells me I have just resolved a massive headache for him. The charter starting the next day had requested a yoga teacher for the duration of the cruise, and the one provided by the agency had just fallen off her scooter. With no replacement available, I become a yoga teacher.<\/p>\n
I was terrified, but I remembered the words of my friend: teaching Yoga is 80% empathy and 20% skill. \u00a0Communication, observation, empathy. \u00a0It went so well that by the end of the cruise, the guests insisted I join them for dinner- the captain had to get a deckhand to cover my dinner duties.<\/p>\n
I still am amazed at how this became a job. \u00a0Word got back to my celebrity yoga teacher and she recommended me to some of her beginner and intermediary students. At the end of the season in the med, the yacht was sold, and I flew out to St Maarten to teach Yoga to a billionaire\u2019s wife\/girlfriend\/lover \u2013 it was never clear.. I have now twenty charters under my belt.<\/p>\n
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I have had some amazing experiences. Nothing beats the Sun Salutation at dawn on the deck of a beautiful superyacht.\u00a0 \u00a0I have had a few not so good experiences \u2013 gentlemen and their wandering hands \u2013 and one very bizarre experience when a celebrity client decided that she was better \u00a0at Yoga than me \u2013 she actually was practiced to a very high level \u2013 and taught me for duration of the charter. Even though I was stationed in a hotel and took a\u00a0 tender every morning, she was always waiting for me at the top of the passarelle on the dot of eight. \u2018Ready for your lesson?\u2019 she would say. She gave me\u00a0 a large tip at the end, and when I said I didn\u2019t deserve it, she replied: \u2018for allowing me to teach you.\u2019<\/p>\n
And that episode highlights an essential aspect of teaching Yoga: getting the Power Dynamics right. Get those wrong and\u00a0 a relationship can go quickly wrong. Some students expect their teacher to be dominant in the classroom; others have unresolved issues with authority. I have learned to be quick of the mark, working out the dynamics from day one.<\/p>\n
There are two types of course: one involves the teacher staying on board the yacht. This presents many practical implications because \u00a0crew\u00a0 accommodation is limited. Staying in a guest cabin is problematic. You are neither crew nor guest. My preferred option is to stay in a nearby hotel. This can be fun in the summer season as you taxi from port to port following the charter. In the Greek islands following the yacht is a great source of entertainment but it is hard work.<\/p>\n
Most of my clients are female. Yoga is for many addictive. A day without their hour of Yoga class is incomplete. Men veer towards the gym, whereas many clients look forward to meeting me for sixty to ninety minutes of Yoga and nothing compares.<\/p>\n
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One hale and hearty recommendation to the crew recruitment agencies. You may be able to get away with an existing crew member who knows a bit of Yoga with a so-so certificate but the real Yoga buffs will soon see through this. The Yoga Alliance is the benchmark for assessing Yoga teachers – there are no bluffers allowed.<\/p>\n
This is the world of superyachts and, though there have been a few less than salubrious scenes that I have witnessed, Yoga always seems to bring out the best in people. I don\u2019t know how long this will last. I sometimes think I was lucky. Other times I think you make your luck. Be lucky, dear readers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cI was in the right place at the right time, but more importantly, with the right qualifications\u201d, writes Charleeze Brightman of Yoga on Yachts. I was a childhood friend of a celebrity yoga teacher. Her clients included TV personalities which upped her kudos no end. She invited me to help out at a yoga retreat […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":3281,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[598],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n