I Was Wrong About Yoga. Here’s Why.

Short answer: you can do Iyengar yoga in Townsville with Flametree Yoga Studio through live online classes, taught in real time from our Darwin studio. Darwin runs 30 minutes behind Townsville, so an 8.30am Darwin class is 9am in Townsville. Your first class is free if you are new, then beginners get 12 classes for $59.50 (10 at half price plus 2 free, no code, 14-day money-back guarantee).

The Wonderful Yoga World That Unfolded For Me

My early childhood was spent on a cattle station, near Townsville, Australia. (I’ve been along Charters Towers Rd so many times!).  But my childhood was not a place where I ever heard the words “Yoga Townsville”. Nobody our family knew did yoga in Townsville, or looked for a yoga studio Townsville. Of course, even if we had known about it, we would have had no clue about what to look for to find the best yoga Townsville offered.

But with that lack of background, I (Stuart) still had plenty of pre-conceptions about yoga. It turned out that most of them were wrong!

Different and better

In other words, what I got from yoga was very different to what I expected. At the start, I began yoga for flexibility and general exercise.

The first thing that surprised me was that I got stronger. I didn’t realise yoga would do that.

Of course, when I reflect on the fact that we spend so much time lifting our own weight, it makes perfect sense.

Some of my friends who do gym think it is a big deal when they lift one third of their own weight! Almost every time I do yoga, I lift my own weight many times!

The real surprises with yoga started turning up when I started doing 5 or more classes a week… usually with 15-30 minutes in the studio, on a yoga mat, before the class (working on the things that I the most crappy at!).

Most importantly, I got lean, flexible strength. My yoga teacher says it’s the combination of stretching and muscle building that gives this effect.

I came to see it’s all possible with yoga, without either yoga and Pilates combinations, gym, or other physical fitness options. All I did was a form of traditional hatha yoga. It included some yin yoga, but was more diverse than that alone. Overall, yoga has kept giving me better health, and many other positive changes.

Newcomers To Flametree Yoga: Free first  ONLINE yoga class

Beginners: 12 classes for $59.50 (10 at half price plus 2 free), online or in the studio. No code needed.

Non-beginners: 30 days of unlimited online classes for $29 (online classes only). 

Starting to live in the present

One day driving home I noticed that plain old gum trees started looking more beautiful to me. I was appreciating the natural beauty of “stuff” I have driven past many times.

It took me a while to realise it… but I was of course more present. I was living in the moment more… instead of the past or future where I usually hang out!

But the real surprises from yoga were yet to come.

Dealing with upsets

One day I arrived at the studio about half an hour before class. I was feeling very grumpy because of a dispute I was involved in at work. I was carrying on endlessly about it… blah, blah, blah.

Chris Lalor, from Flametree Yoga Studio, said to me: “Do legs up the wall pose.”

I was of course resistant to the idea, because I did not think any particular pose could calm me down.

Slowly however, over the next weeks and months, I fell in love with Legs Up The Wall” pose. For me, it eased my anxiety and upsets, and I slept better.

Improving my sleep, and reducing or managing stress, has certainly been a major benefit of yoga. But again, the best was still to come.

A wide range of health benefits too

I (Stuart) work with Chris Lalor at Flametree Yoga to take pictures that demonstrate various poses. In order to help work out what postures to photograph, I started digging around through books like “Holistic Health” by BKS Iyengar.

In the back of that book, it has a wide range of sequences of poses for a whole bunch of health improvements. The poses range from stress to prostate health.

The order of the poses makes a difference

So that’s when I realised that the same group of postures, done in a different order, could lead to a wide range of different health and wellness benefits.

That was yet another surprise, and it was something that had eluded my awareness in decades of classes.

Being a Westerner, and being trained in evidence-based thinking, I still was wary. I was not sure if a sequence for x, y or z would really deliver. So off I went to read up all of the many clinical studies of the benefits of yoga.

People like Dr Tim McCall were really useful. For example, his book “Yoga As Medicine”, and other articles on his site, list 117 health conditions (as of June 2019) where studies suggest yoga can help, with the research for each.

On another front, in the UK, the national clinical guideline for low back pain (NICE NG59, 2016) recommends group exercise, which can include yoga, as one option for managing low back pain.

That information satisfied my Westerner skepticism!

But there were still more surprises to come.

There were mental benefits too

I was still largely focussed on the fitness, health and longevity benefits of yoga.

Through all this time, I had of course begun to realise that most of the time, I was more chilled out from doing yoga. In other words, I was calmer, less stressed, and less likely to lose my temper. As you may know, so-called pitta (in Ayurveda terminology), or A-type personalities, are very prone to “losing it”!

So, it means that I was beginning to glimpse the MENTAL benefits of yoga.

I had of course seen surveys of yoga students showing that the longer they did yoga, the more they did it for personal growth. But again, I had not really appreciated how putting my body in a range of shapes could change my mind.

Plus personal growth & happiness

We all know that the bookshelves of airports and the (remaining) other book shops have over the last few decades filled with many rows of book on personal growth.

Such personal growth shelves include lots on how to get numerous mental benefits. Personal growth and so-called “motivation” is obviously an area that many want to know more about.

Like me, most people don’t think that putting your body in a bunch of shapes could make a difference to who you are, how you feel, how happy you are, and more.

Then, fairly recently, the penny suddenly dropped for me again. It was after numerous years of doing yoga. Maybe I am just slow!

Or maybe its typical of being highly trained in a Western approach to psycho-therapy, medicine, and all things mainstream. (I’ve spent my life in law, economics and digital marketing, and been hammered with the idea that if you can’t count it, it doesn’t exist!).

A feeling being who thinks

In other words, I’ve worked on the basis that I am a thinking being who sometimes feels! In reality, we are all feeling beings who sometimes manage to think!

Strangely, the penny dropped when I read the five sequences of yoga postures outlined by the Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher, Eyal Shifroni. He has a new book called “The Psycho-Physical Lab”.

For instance, Mr. Shifroni has yoga sequences designed to deliver various mental benefits, such as emotional stability, increasing confidence, reducing explosiveness, cutting fatigue, building optimism, and building joy.

I’ll have more of all of those benefits please… with big helpings!

Shifroni’s book also has sections on why and how yoga delivers courage, balance, tolerance, equanimity, persistence, awareness, sensitivity, motivation, acceptance (without surrender), concentration, truthfulness, sincerity, and more.

I am not trying to sell you his book. I’m just saying that reading his book made me realise what there was even more to get from yoga.

And I was ready to believe him because I had already seen some small glimpses of some of these mental benefits.

What I got, and what anyone else can get in Townsville, or wherever, is a personal and powerful yoga health studio.

Beginners: 12 classes for $59.50 (10 at half price plus 2 free), online or in the studio. No code needed.

Newcomers To Flametree Yoga: Free first  ONLINE yoga class

Non-beginners: 30 days of unlimited online classes for $29 (online classes only). 

The preparatory yoga poses also work

I still have a huge yoga and mental development journey ahead of me. But I have gotten far enough into the foothills of the journey up the mountain to be able to see what gains I’ve made. Of course, I can now also see the further mountains in front of me.

I have also realised that it’s not about how well I can do the postures. I am still in the very preparatory stages of many poses.

But I now understand that as long as I am doing those preparations and incomplete poses correctly (or at least not incorrectly), I still get the various mental and physical benefits.

It’s good for the Western ego to be able to do a pose as close to perfection as possible. But I now realise that it’s not necessary in order to get all the yoga benefits.

That’s another realisation that has been good for me to see too. With advancing age, and numerous injuries from sport and life, there’s much I will never do. Who cares!

Easy because its enjoyable

I can still get what yoga has to deliver, so long as I do yoga several times a week.

I also know that yoga will give me more if I give it more. That of course means doing it more regularly, and preferably every day.

But now, I don’t even find that regularity to be hard. Even on the days when I am exhausted from careering around in Darwin’s hottest and most humid months, I can still do a practice of restorative yoga.

As I do those restorative poses, I slowly build energy. In addition, while I am holding the poses, I can see that I am still stretching my muscles, and even building them up.

At the same time, I’m zoned into a place where I’m steadily getting some combination of any of those various mental benefits.

So I say: “Bring it on!”

Online yoga: an excellent option for yoga Townsville, or anywhere

These days, to find the best yoga Townsville, or wherever, you don’t have to be in a studio to get top yoga. The welcoming environment of Flametree comes right to your home.

Whether you’re looking for yoga Townsville, or yoga in Townsville, or for a yoga studio Townsville, you can in fact do it better online, and with a lot more convenience.

The online yoga classes are also cheaper than in a studio.

Try what yoga offers, and see what you get for your body and your mind.

Flametree Yoga Studio class times

Flametree beginner classes are LIVE online, at Darwin time (GMT+9.30). Townsville is 30 minutes ahead of Darwin all year, so add half an hour. Online beginner classes (Darwin time) run Monday 8.30am and 7.15pm, Saturday 10.30am and Sunday 11am, plus Gentle Yoga on Friday 10.15am and Restorative Yoga on Saturday 4pm. See the beginner timetable for the latest times.

The classes are all standard, introductory hatha yoga poses. They suit most ages and levels of fitness, from all walks of life.

The online format allows you to get a wide range of beginner yoga classes Townsville, or for wherever you are.

There’s also many options, including Gentle Yoga, Women Only Yoga, Yoga for Back (& Neck & Shoulders), and Restorative Yoga For Heart Health. Together, these classes create a unique system for beginners to start their yoga journey.

At the non-beginner level, there’s extra options like Yoga For Immune System, Fifty Plus Yoga, and more advanced levels.

If you’ve already done some yoga, there are also live online pranayama (breath meditation) classes at 6.30am Darwin time on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

As you can see, that is a wide range of options to choose from.

In addition, you get top Iyengar yoga Townsville opportunities. The studio is run by Chris Lalor, an accredited Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher.

Certified teachers in the Iyengar style

Flametree is owned and run by Chris Lalor, an accredited Senior Yoga Teacher, in the Iyengar style of yoga.

In addition, she is qualified and certified to do yoga therapy, including in online private sessions.

In day to day yoga classes, from a yoga therapist point of view, Chris also sees and communicates things that are highly useful to the daily life of a normal student in everyday yoga classes.

She is a a social entrepreneur, with 30 years of experience in yoga, who has a live life get active philosophy. For the purpose of improving lives, she runs her yoga space with a view to the positive social impact that yoga can bring to Townsville and every community where online can provide high quality and low cost yoga classes.

Fortunately, in this online yoga age, it now not necessary to be in Townsville CBD, or even Hermit Park Qld, to get a wide variety of yoga classes.

Flametree’s range of yoga class options will give you everything needed, from deep twists, balance work, and luscious hip openers.

The good news is that you can now have a yoga center in your own home, whether you’re in New Zealand, or North Ward Qld, or Woolcock St, or Flinders St Townsville.

Chris is based in Darwin, so she knows yoga in the tropics: no heated room is needed.

Chris’s personal yoga practice is built on completing more than 12,000 hours of yoga teacher training.

If you like, check out what other Flametree students have said about Flametree’s online classes.

Yoga studio Townsville options, or for far beyond

The online Flame Tree Yoga Studio beginners yoga Townsville and beyond, can be started at any time.

There are also classes for several other levels of experience. If you have done yoga before, you can start with 30 days of unlimited online classes for $29. See the deals at the end of this page.

For beginners, your first class is free, and then there is the beginner deal: 12 classes for $59.50, with a 14-day money-back guarantee.

See the beginner timetable for class times.

Some students also start with a private class or two, and then move onto regular online or in-studio classes.

Flametree’s many online options will give you the best yoga classes in Townsville, Qld, or wherever you are.

Do your free first class, and then make up your own mind.

What students say about Flametree yoga and it’s benefits

If you’re still not sure about yoga, read reviews of what customers say about their yoga classes at Flametree.

In addition, see the wide range of benefits they say they have received from both online or in-the-studio yoga at Flametree.

Free online first class, & current deals

If you are new to Flametree, you can do your first online beginner or non-beginner class for free.

Just click the class time you want and we email you the link to join.

Then beginners can get the beginner deal: 10 classes at half price plus 2 free, $59.50 in total, online or in the studio. No discount code, and a 14-day money-back guarantee. For newcomers and anyone away three months or more.

For non-beginners, there is 30 days of unlimited online yoga for $29 (online classes only), or the non-beginner half price 10 pass with 2 free for $104.50, online or in the studio.

Newcomers To Flametree Yoga: Free first  ONLINE yoga class

See the beginner class times, online or in the studio

Non-beginners: 30 days of unlimited online classes for $29 (online classes only). 

Yoga in Townsville: common questions

Can I do yoga in Townsville with Flametree Yoga Studio?

Yes. Flametree teaches live online Iyengar yoga classes from its Darwin studio, and you can join from anywhere in Townsville with a phone, tablet or laptop. There are beginner, gentle, restorative and non-beginner classes most days of the week.

What time are the online classes in Townsville time?

Townsville is 30 minutes ahead of Darwin all year. So the Monday 8.30am beginner class is 9am in Townsville, the Monday 7.15pm class is 7.45pm, the Saturday 10.30am class is 11am and the Sunday 11am class is 11.30am Townsville time.

Is the first online class free for people in Townsville?

Yes, if you are new to Flametree. Click the class time you want on the class list and we email you the link to join. You only pay if you choose to keep going.

How much do Flametree’s online yoga classes cost from Townsville?

After your free first class, beginners can get 12 classes for $59.50 (10 at half price plus 2 free), which works out under $5 a class, with a 14-day money-back guarantee. If you have done yoga before, there is 30 days of unlimited online classes for $29, or 12 classes for $104.50.

Is online Iyengar yoga suitable for beginners in Townsville?

Yes. Beginner classes teach the basic standing poses, forward bends and relaxation step by step, with props such as a chair, a belt and folded blankets so the poses suit stiff or older bodies. Tell your teacher about any injury before class.

Are Flametree’s online classes live or recorded?

They are live. Each online class is taught in real time over Zoom from the Darwin studio, at the same time as the studio class. Classes are not pre-recorded videos.

What do I need at home to do yoga online from Townsville?

A yoga mat, a little clear wall space, a sturdy chair, a belt or tie, and two or three firm blankets or towels. Yoga blocks help but books can stand in to start. Set the device so the teacher can see your whole body.

Is Flametree’s online class hot yoga?

No. Flametree teaches Iyengar yoga, which is not a hot yoga style. You practise in your own room at home, and in the Townsville climate that is usually warm enough to loosen up. The focus is on careful alignment, using props, rather than on heat.

General information only, not medical advice. Sources: McCall T, Yoga as Medicine, and his list of 117 conditions studied in yoga research (June 2019); NICE guideline NG59, Low back pain and sciatica in over 16s. Flametree Yoga Studio, Darwin and live online.

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