The Perfect Time is Now

Here are some testimonials from Mynah teacher trainings.

Mynah has not only grown me as a yoga teacher, but as a human who wants to leave this place better than I found it. Mynah was able to bring in the foundation through history, philosophy, anatomy while tapping into something much much deeper within. Mynah was able to prepare me to a point where I am now much more comfortable in my own personal practice and am also confident to lead a practice. Mynah was paramount in my development and will always hold it dear to my heart. I will never forget this experience and look forward to continuing my growth through Mynah in the future.

- Winifrey Valencia

I had been interested in completing a YYT for a few years but the ones I had researched locally and otherwise just didn’t feel like they meshed quite right with what I was looking for. At that point I had also had the pleasure of taking multiple classes with Kate Mak at a studio I was attending and was incredibly sad when she left, but I knew it was because she was pouring her heart and soul into Mynah School of Yoga. Once I heard the next available dates, I knew it was the imperfectly perfect time to sign up and complete a 200 hour. Kate has always been inspiring because her knowledge as a teacher is so broad and she balances her technique with humour which I thoroughly enjoyed and aspired to one day incorporate into my own style of teaching.

There aren’t enough words to describe how much I learned and how deeply I appreciated this training. I have told so many people that I don’t know if I learned more about yoga or more about myself. This training is thorough, hands on and a challenging experience in which you utilize what you learn daily from lecture into physical practice and movement. It’s a perfect balance of exploring the vast concept of yoga while also honing tools and skills that I have since used every day in my life on and off the mat. I especially liked that we began teaching on day 1 of training (I was not expecting this!) which helped IMMENSELY in preparation for teaching the final exam class at the end. I stepped out of my comfort zone so many times within this training and shone light into cracks and crevices of my life I had kept in the dark up until that point. The training was transformative for my practice and for me as a person.

- Lesley Frick

5 years ago, I felt like I was ready to take my yoga practice to the next level. At that time, there were no yoga schools out there that I felt would really help me learn and feel competent teaching yoga. There are no words that can accurately describe the joy and excitement that rushed into my body when Kate announced her 200HR YTT. The perfect time was now and so I began my application.

This 200 HR training allowed us to delve deeper into sacred texts such as the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita. The discussions we had about these texts provided me with deeper insight into how these ancient texts are still relevant to our lives today. Other modules we worked on included anatomy, mantra, meditation, koshas, kleshas, and chakras. Each of us also got valuable teaching experience and feedback.

The Mynah 200 HR YTT allowed me to embrace my authentic self and learn to shine the brightest parts of myself while I am teaching. There was no formula taught on how to sequence the perfect yoga class. Instead, we were given the tools that would allow us to create our own magic. 

I’m so thankful for the growth I saw in myself while taking this 200 HR training. What you learn goes beyond what you can read in training manuals and “How to Teach Yoga” books. Everyone should take a yoga teacher training at some point in their lives even if they have no interest in actually teaching yoga. Mynah School of Yoga and Junction 9 worked together to create a beautiful environment that allowed all of us to learn, grow, and connect. It didn’t take long for us trainees to turn into a yoga family ❤. 

- Gurmeen Gill

I completed my 200 hour teacher training in May, 2015 with Kate W. Mak
as one of the lead teachers. Kate is one of the most present, grounded
people I've had the opportunity to meet, and I enjoyed learning from
her immensely. 
She put so much extra time into marking all of our Sanskrit homework
and was always available outside of class if we required extra help or
needed to discuss anything.
Teacher training was the most profound experience of my life, and Kate
played a big role in making it as special as it was.  I am excited to
be sharing my knowledge and my passion for yoga with my own students
as I continue to expand my practice and blossom into my new role as a
teacher.
Thank you Kate for making this journey truly special. I am so honoured
to be able to call you my teacher!

- Chelsey S 

Kate has so much to offer as a teacher and learning from her was truly an honour.  Kate has been an inspiration in my life since the very first class I took with her. Kate's passion for yoga and life comes through in her teaching.  My weekends with Kate were some of my favourite. She shared her moving personal stories with us and made her subjects relatable and memorable.  I was able to grasp all of the concepts that she covered and think about them long after our training ended.

Kate is so knowledgeable in Sanskrit and she made learning the alphabet exciting and doable!  I really feel comfortable with my Sanskrit pronunciation after our extensive work on it.  Kate brought her love of Sanskrit to her teaching and allowed all of us to see the importance in learning the pronunciation correctly.  I think this is a skill that not all yoga teachers have, but a critical piece of yoga to honouring the practice and extensive heritage of yoga.  The amount of work we did with Sanskrit was such an amazing piece of our training and would not have been possible without Kate! I feel very lucky to have learned so much about Sanskrit with Kate and it was a unique part of our teacher training.  

We were able to clearly understand how to cue different populations and how these modifications may feel in a body other than our own. Kate has an amazing gift of being able to break down a lot of information in a short amount of time and allow the information to be memorable. 

The business of yoga was another one of my favourite days of our training. At the end of the day we need to make money and yoga is a business.  Kate gave us valuable education of how to be a successful teacher. She had excellent tips on how to run our business.  There was so much information that I did not know previously to the training.  Kate covered a lot of information for us.  Everything we learned about the business of yoga was essential to our future careers.  I am very grateful for all of her advice.  Kate is very successful and having her share her knowledge with us made me feel excited and optimistic that I would be able to teach full time.  

Kate made me feel very prepared for teaching.  Her feedback throughout the training, as well as my feedback after my practical exam was helpful and allowed me to focus on areas I needed improvement on. Kate is excellent at giving constructive feedback that is specific and allowed me recognize areas I needed to improve on.  All of her advice has helped fine tune my teaching.

Kate's well rounded body of knowledge is an amazing gift to be shared with other teacher trainees.  Just being around her brings light and joy to everyone. I truly believe Kate is meant to be a teacher and completing my teacher training with her only solidified that. Anyone would be lucky to be able to take a teacher training from the lovely Kate W. Mak!

- Lara W.