STRETCH ACADEMY
350hr YOGA TEACHER TRAINING
Now in it's 9th intake, our teacher training program has graduated over 170 teachers now teaching all around the world!
Contact us via phone or email to arrange a private meeting!
We offer you
Brisbane's most comprehensive yoga teacher training. Led by Senior Teacher Miriam Van Doorn with over 20years teaching experience and supported by Stretch Owner PJ Wells, Senior Teacher Nirvana Pilkington and Senior Physiotherapist and Exercise Physiologist Mauricio Bara.
Offering a full 350hr option approved by Yoga Australia and Yoga Alliance, Stretch Academy's teacher training has more face-to-face contact hours than any other course in Brisbane!
Online, Face-to-Face and Mixed Training Options Available
Brisbane's most comprehensive yoga teacher training. Led by Senior Teacher Miriam Van Doorn with over 20years teaching experience and supported by Stretch Owner PJ Wells, Senior Teacher Nirvana Pilkington and Senior Physiotherapist and Exercise Physiologist Mauricio Bara.
Offering a full 350hr option approved by Yoga Australia and Yoga Alliance, Stretch Academy's teacher training has more face-to-face contact hours than any other course in Brisbane!
Online, Face-to-Face and Mixed Training Options Available
Stretch Academy's Values & Vision
At Stretch Academy we understand that teaching yoga is more than just accumulating knowledge.
It's about finding your voice.
Our trainings are filled with interactive workshops, practice in hands on teaching and adjusting, real life skills for finding work in the industry and more!
You'll learn, you'll laugh, and most importantly you'll walk out feeling confident to teach multiple styles of yoga. Our graduates are trained in vinyasa, hatha, yin, prenatal, meditation, yoga nidra, restorative yoga and myofascial release!
Our teachers walk away with the ability to offer inspiring, nurturing and progressive classes. This makes them in high demand at studios and gyms around Brisbane.
They have incredible knowledge in anatomy, biomechanics and asana, but most importantly understand how to use this to help their students grow and progress.
Our goal is to facilitate not just a course, but build a community of like-minded individuals that will continue to support and inspire each other well after the training is completed.
With classes, workshops, retreats and community classes this is more than just a training - it's a journey!
At Stretch Academy we understand that teaching yoga is more than just accumulating knowledge.
It's about finding your voice.
Our trainings are filled with interactive workshops, practice in hands on teaching and adjusting, real life skills for finding work in the industry and more!
You'll learn, you'll laugh, and most importantly you'll walk out feeling confident to teach multiple styles of yoga. Our graduates are trained in vinyasa, hatha, yin, prenatal, meditation, yoga nidra, restorative yoga and myofascial release!
Our teachers walk away with the ability to offer inspiring, nurturing and progressive classes. This makes them in high demand at studios and gyms around Brisbane.
They have incredible knowledge in anatomy, biomechanics and asana, but most importantly understand how to use this to help their students grow and progress.
Our goal is to facilitate not just a course, but build a community of like-minded individuals that will continue to support and inspire each other well after the training is completed.
With classes, workshops, retreats and community classes this is more than just a training - it's a journey!
Our Faculty
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Lead Trainer Miriam Van Doorn
Miriam first came to yoga because of sciatica and scoliosis. After attending her first yoga class in 1995 she noticed that her body felt much better and over time her posture started to improve and she had no more pain. With regular practice, she discovered yoga’s benefits in both body and mind, planting a seed that has never stopped growing. “This was my turning point to start studying yoga and become a teacher myself as I wanted to delve deeper and find out how this was at all possible, I have never looked back since.” Miriam has studied with some of the world's best teachers both in Australia and internationally. She has now been teaching for 24 years and is a E-RYT 1000 and Level 3 Senior teacher (the highest possible designations!). As one of Brisbane's most senior and loved yoga teachers, you can be assured that you are in the safest of hands! Miriam leads retreats both locally and internationally, as well as sold out workshops, classes and courses. She is an expert in yoga for women's health and has a passion for prenatal and antenatal yoga. She has a 15 yr old son Keanu, likes the occasional cheeky glass of bubbles and if you're lucky she'll sing to you in savasana. It's amazing - we promise! |
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Principal PJ Wells
PJ founded Stretch Yoga in early 2014 and has been firmly at it's helm ever since! She is now in her 10th year of teaching, is an E-RYT 500hr qualified yoga teacher and still holds a strong passion for showing people that the world of yoga can be fun, joyful and light. With two busy studios offering classes, courses, workshops and teacher training she is an industry leader in Brisbane. She comes from a background in Business and Nutrition and Dietetics and loves to integrate the latest scientific research and biomechanical modifications into her classes while still keeping the essence of what yoga is all about. She is soon to marry her partner and fellow Stretch Academy teacher Mauricio, and together the run Articulate Physiotherapy and raise their son Otis and furbaby Banjo. She encourages new teachers to find their own voice with compassion, grace and humour. |
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Trainer Nirvana Pilkington
From a young age, movement and bodywork have been a part of Nirvana’s life. As a youngster, Nirvana was exposed to dance, various sports, drama, yoga and massage. Their yoga journey continued into adulthood giving relief to the pressures of school teaching life. Nirvana’s practice and teaching has been immersed in a variety of styles and their classes have become a fusion of these elements (hatha, vinyasa, sakshin ghatashta, anti-gravity aerial yoga, acroyoga and mindfulness based training). Nirvana's classes largely connect to the flow of movement and breath, anatomical alignment for greater energy flow and intuitively working with the needs of students. They passionately continue to explore new realms of yoga by regularly immersing themself in workshops and ongoing training. |
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Trainer Kristy Robinson
Kristy is a 500 hour trained yoga teacher trained in hatha yoga who has been teaching for 7 years. She has taught everywhere from studios, gyms, high schools, corporate classes, community sessions, courses, one on one and yoga teacher trainings. and her aim is to adjust students to better alignment & safely deeper into postures, and encouraging & inspiring others on their journey to improve overall wellness & health. What she enjoys most of all however is to provide a space where students can just be themselves and have a little fun. Kristy danced for over 18 years, and initially turned to yoga as a way to get back into exercise after an injury, but quickly discovered that the practice of yoga was so much more than being bendy. She travelled to India where she completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training with Dr. Gaurav Malik at the Ashtak yoga school, and then again in late 2017 travelled back to complete an additional 300hrs. She has taught in Thailand, London and Australia. Kristy has a passion for helping people to live a more conscious & sustainable lifestyle and loves to travel. |
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Trainer Mauricio Bara
Mauricio is an Exercise Physiologist and Physiotherapist with 12 years clinical experience and a passion for complex cases and performance enhancement. He's a lover of movement in all it's forms - he runs, swims, rock-climbs, practices yoga and Pilates and walks his cheeky pup daily. Mauricio is renowned for his sense of humour, ability to explain things well and his belief that you have the ability to fix yourself with the right prescription of movement. Mauricio is a firm believer in evidence-based practice and continues to invest time in PD and research. He guest lectures in the Exercise Physiology program at QUT and speaks Spanish. He is a father to two beautiful humans and loves being a dad. |
Testimonials
"I had been researching yoga teacher training courses 1 year ago and debated doing a teacher training course overseas in Thailand or Bali for a month. But, it felt risky not knowing the teacher and people, so when I found the course in my local town and being led my Miriam who teaches at my local studio, I jumped at the chance and paid my deposit.
Doing the course has meant so much to me personally. I love yoga and the practice and teachings of yoga. Being able to deepen my understanding with Miriam and PJ and the teaching team at a stunning studio has been simply amazing.
I have been learning the technical side of teaching yoga, anatomy and biomechanics which is completely outside of my comfort zone. I come from a corporate background so a yoga teaching course is a jump! I have thoroughly enjoyed stretching myself and learning.
The meditation and spiritual component and philosophical component of the course were taught at the right time for me - right when personal events could have potentially thrown me, the teachings grounded me and helped me through what was potentially a rough ride. For that I am grateful for serendipitous timing!
Thank you Miriam, PJ and Team for such a beautiful course. I know it will only continue to grow and we do need more yoga teachers in the world! - Roxy A
The 200hr Stretch Teacher training was an excellent course to learn more about yoga and prepare me in becoming a yoga teacher. I was really impressed with the amount of topics that were covered, from the history of yoga right through to the anatomy and physiology of the human body.
Everything was planned and organised really well and the information was delivered in a way that made it easy to understand. I really enjoyed getting to know the other trainees; this has been a great experience that we have all shared.
All of the teachers were approachable and prepared to answer our many questions. I'd recommend this course to anyone looking to deepen their knowledge of yoga, or anyone interested in becoming a yoga teacher. - Paul S
I consider myself very lucky for having chosen to take my Yoga Teacher Training at Stretch.
Even though I was quite eager to get into teaching, I wasn't just after a certificate that would allow me to deliver yoga classes. I was also looking forward to the self discovery and learning process that would come from my yoga teacher training experience.
And I can totally say that the Stretch Yoga Teacher Training program met and exceeded my expectations not only in that sense, but also in the sense of preparing me with the technical skills needed in order to be a teacher who can lead a meaningful and anatomically safe practice.
The course content is very thorough and interesting. I got to learn so much, but at the same time had a lot of fun whilst attending the classes and going through my workbooks at home.
I also found it amazing how we got to have an experienced movement professional to deliver the anatomy module. When talking to other friends who have recently took their teacher training elsewhere, they all agree that they felt let down when it comes to anatomy and biomechanics.
Thank you so much for this incredible experience and for setting me on the right path in my yoga learning and teaching journey. - Karina A