YOGABEYOND®
We do not produce cookie-cutter yoga instructors!
Our trainings focus on bridging the gaps in contemporary yoga between practice and theory. By reconciling theory and practice we can explore how they both come alive when integrated into our daily lives.
Our Vision
The YOGABEYOND® vision is to take yoga beyond the conventional hatha yoga tradition and offer an integrated approach to practice, which synthesises the ‘traditional’ with the ‘modern’ to establish a practical and relevant living practice that evolves with you.
By extracting meaning and context from ‘traditional’ yoga practice and philosophy, and combining them with contemporary insights drawn from pioneering research fields in functional anatomy, neuroscience, energy medicine and psychology, we dare to inspire a new wave of yoga practitioners and teachers who are empowered with the mastery of their own mental, physical and emotional well being.
Our Philosophy
The modern world – and human consciousness – is evolving at a breathtaking rate. As human awareness shifts so does the lens through which we perceive and understand the core teachings of yoga.
Evolution brings about expansion, with new scientific understandings and advancements emerging all the time. We must accept that Traditional’ yoga practice and philosophy is neither contradictory, nor independent, of these contemporary understandings.
YOGABEYOND® core philosophies:
- Yoga is a Living Tradition – a continuous flow of knowledge, insight and experience that has been passed down through the ages from teacher to student.
- Interrelationships: A commitment to explore how systems and philosophies connect and relate to each other.
- Yoga is more than just an escape from everyday life. Yoga is life and everything in it.
- Success in Yoga is not governed or measured by grabbing your heels in a backbend or by your ability to intellectually grasp complex yoga theory.
- Inspiring yoga teachers are forged in the fire of regular, dedicated and meaningful practice.
- The answer to all questions is “It depends…”
- Nothing is absolute; context is everything.
I had been considering doing a yoga teacher course for a couple of years, but I didn't find a course I wanted to commit to. Having practised with Chris and Yulie at EYW, when I heard they were going to run a course I knew instantly that was the course I wanted to study! As a student, I find the combination of Chris and Yulie's styles of teaching the perfect balance of maintaining the essence of tradition whilst nodding to modern perspectives. I knew that this was the dynamic that I wanted to study further on a YTTC.
Lynne (YTTC 2020-21)
Yoga Teacher Training Accreditation
YOGABEYOND® holds itself to the highest standards among yoga educators and is a registered and accredited TrainerPRO with Yoga Alliance Professionals (YAP).
Yoga Alliance Professionals (YAP) ensure that both individuals and organisations who join us are legitimate and have trained to the highest of standards offering ‘peace of mind’ to the general public and yoga students. They also provide insurance for yoga teachers to ensure that all teachers are compliant with YAP teaching standards.
Over 80% of the total hours of our training courses are delivered as in-person contact hours, offering you the most thorough and up-to-date training content available, face-to-face.
YOGABEYOND® Founders
Chris Croft
Co-Founder, Course Director & Senior Teacher
A published author and pioneer in the field of human behaviour, Chris Croft has been practicing Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga for over 15 years, teaching, both in the UK and internationally, for the last 10 years. With over 900 hours of training in the UK, US, India, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Nepal, he leads workshops, Intensives and retreats in the UK and Europe.
Chris is the co-founder and director of Exeter Yoga Workshop.
As a pioneer in the field of emotional and physiological well-being (through his ground-breaking work with The Enneagram, a Universal map that unravels the mysteries of human behaviour) Chris’s unique approach to Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga blends over 10 years of daily yoga practice and self-study, with a deep understanding of the complexity of human personality patterns. This powerful synthesis awakens a truly inclusive approach, which embraces the differing individual needs of each student who comes to practice. By adapting the entry point to the practice, highlighting key subtle internal alignment principles and encouraging a profound intimacy with the inner breath, Chris brings the Ashtanga method to life with humour and insight.
As an award-winning international designer, Chris worked in the commercial world of product design before illness forced him to explore deeper meaning to both life and work. Since leaving the commercial world of design in 2004, Chris has dedicated his life to the practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga through numerous trips to Europe, Asia and North America to both practice and teach.
During that time he has been fortunate enough to study with inspirational teachers Neil Barker, Kathy Cooper, John Scott, Matthew Sweeney, Paul Dallaghan, Richard Freeman, Mary Taylor and others; as well as extended trips to study under the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Rangaswamy in Mysore, India.
In 2011 he was invited to attend Richard Freeman’s one month Teaching Intensive in Boulder, Colorado. Richard remains Chris’s primary teacher and source of inspiration.
Having settled in Exeter, UK, he and his wife Yulia are the founders and directors of Exeter Yoga Workshop – Exeter’s first purpose built studio, and home to Exeter’s only daily morning Mysore Ashtanga Yoga programme.
Outside of yoga Chris is a published author and international public speaker, leading courses and workshops on The Enneagram, an ancient wisdom that unlocks the mysteries of your deepest self.
Yulia Heaton
Co-Founder, Course Director & Senior Teacher
Yulia Heaton, Co-founder of Exeter Yoga Workshop, BSc (Hons), DipDSY, LicAc, MBAcC, MIHHT
Yulia has been a full-time Yoga teacher since 2001, and continued to study with variety of teachers upholding CPDs. She has taught for the Devon School of Yoga on their Teacher Training and Yoga Therapy courses from 2003 until 2015 and now owns and runs Exeter Yoga Workshop with her husband, Chris Croft, in Exeter.
Her style of teaching is informative, unique and playful. She always encourage students to practice from a place of authenticity and joy. The ever-evolving style of her teaching is rooted in the traditions of Ashtanga Vinyasa, Vinyasa Flow and Universal Yoga, and enlivened by the greatest source of inspiration of all – life itself.
After discovering Yoga whilst studying for her first degree in Psychology in 1998, she completed her first Teacher Training with The Devon School of Yoga (DSY) in 2002. Since then her practice evolved through extensive further studies with the likes of Mik Burley, John Scott, Lino Miele, Richard Freeman, and Andrey Lappa.
Yulia also teaches Yoga as part of the Movement Skills module on the BA Acting course at the Royal Welsh College of Music and Drama in Cardiff. She is trained to teach specialist classes, like Pregnancy Yoga, Yoga for Children, and Mum and Baby Yoga.
She has been practicing Chinese Medicine, including Acupuncture, since 2008 when she qualified from the London College Of Traditional Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine. Since then, she worked both independently and as a full-time employed acupuncturist at several clinics, mostly specialising in women’s health and treatment of infertility. More recently, she completed training in Si Yuan Balance Method acupuncture as taught by the late Dr Tan and is expanding her clinical interests in treating acute and chronic pain with instant results.
Yulia’s fascination with the human body and mind has led her to begin the Structural Bodywork journey with James Earls’ and Tom Myers’ Fascial Release for Structural Balance (FRSB) and John Barnes’ Myofascial Release (MFR) trainings, and to explore Mindfulness and Meditation practices through the teachings of Michael Stone. These are ongoing and ever inspiring, feeding into her regular Yoga classes and workshops.
Yulia’s 10 year old daughter Lydia remains her most loved Yoga teacher to date.
I have always felt there was something missing when I went to see the teachers I have learned from in the past, and now I know why. I was looking for Chris and Yulia! They are extremely professional, patient, and can explain things in a way that anyone can understand.
How to Apply
Places are limited to between 14-18 students ensure the best standard of training, and providing a personal and supportive learning experience. We usually receive more applications than we have places, and these are considered on a first-come-first-served basis. All applications and investments are subject to acceptance on to the training course(s).