Our School - Hamilton Yoga | Iyengar Yoga School Newcastle

About Us

OUR SCHOOL

In 2017 Amanda Hood and David Morley partnered to establish Hamilton Yoga as an Iyengar yoga centre in Newcastle NSW. This Yoga School was first founded by David Morley in 1996 as Newcastle’s first Iyengar Yoga school, the Novocastrian School of Yoga. Amanda Hood is Newcastle’s first and only Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher. We have the most experienced Yoga teachers in Newcastle, with David and Amanda each having over 20 years full-time teaching experience.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Yoga means union. Regular practice can provide a way for us to feel connected and present with ourselves and the world we live in.

The subject of yoga is vast and its effect on the mind and body can be profound. At Hamilton Yoga we aim to provide the environment where each student can develop to their full potential and explore the great depths of this ancient practice. Our teachers aspire to offer immersive experiential classes based upon Yogic principles that challenge students beyond their habitual ways of perceiving and acting.

We value steady, consistent and applied effort and our school is structured, based on decades of teaching experience, to provide pathways for you to progress at your own pace. For this reason, we have developed 10-week courses with a curriculum that builds week by week, year by year. Asanas (yoga postures) and yoga philosophy are introduced sequentially with the aim of building strong foundations for future development.

We teach authentic Patanjali yoga, knowledge passed down through a teacher / student lineage over thousands of years. At Hamilton Yoga we acknowledge the great contribution made by BKS Iyengar and his children Geeta and Prashant and grand-daughter Abhijata. BKS Iyengar was significant in bringing the practice of yoga to the West, and we are indebted to his dedication and disciplined life of enquiry.

We teach Iyengar Yoga exclusively, providing an excellent foundation to build a lifetime’s practice upon in this inspiring style.

OUR COMMUNITY

Community is a living expression of unity and it sits at the heart of who we are and all we value. We have a kind, supportive welcoming community of students and teachers. Many friendships have formed over coffee after classes, and we hold regular school social get-togethers. Stay tuned by subscribing to our newsletter (see below) and checking the News and Events page for upcoming social events.

OUR IYENGAR COMMUNITY

Hamilton Yoga is connected to a broad network of Iyengar schools and teachers across Australia and the world.

Cygnet Yoga in Tasmania

Yarraville Yoga Centre in Melbourne Victoria

Maroochydore Yoga Centre in Queensland

Darwin Yoga Space in the Northern Territory

Lismore Yoga Studio in Northern NSW

Ballarat Iyengar Yoga in Central Victoria

Geelong City Yoga in Western Victoria

Doutta Galla Yoga in Melbourne, Victoria

Iyengar Yoga with Paula in Southern NSW

Yogaville in Preston, Melbourne Victoria

Balmain Iyengar Yoga Studio in Sydney

Yoga Mandir in Canberra

Queanbeyan Yoga Room in A.C.T.

Yarra Ranges Yoga in Monbulk, Victoria

Tassos Yoga in Paros, Greece

We source our props mostly from

Iyoga props – online, based in Yarraville Melbourne.

OUR FACILITIES

We aim to enable access to all people regardless of fitness, age or ability in our inclusive and supportive environment.

Our beautiful yoga school faces Gregson Park in Hamilton. We are located just a two-minute walk from the cafes and shops of lively Beaumont Street in Hamilton, Newcastle. Our charming historic building offers natural ventilation, filtered sunlight, gorgeous timber flooring, as well as split-system air conditioning and ceiling fans. Warm in winter and cool in summer, it is a lovely comfortable place to practice yoga. The indoor facilities have been freshly renovated adding a cosy change room.

The yoga hall is a dedicated yoga space and has been recently redesigned to give students the best possible access to all equipment, improving the flow of classes and enhancing your experience on the mat.

It is fully equipped with everything you will need for your class, and props that can help you to experience the depth of this subject even if you are stiff, unwell or have a disability.

Our hall is wheelchair accessible and there is disability parking nearby on Steel street.

PARKING

Please allow enough time to find a car park. Usually there is plenty available around Gregson Park, with occasional busy periods when you may need to park in the neighbouring streets.

OUR TEACHERS

David Morley

David is a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, the first in Newcastle, and has been teaching Yoga since 1994.

He started his Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training in 1995 with Pixie Lillas of the Balmain Yoga Studio, Sydney.

David was certified as an Iyengar Yoga Teacher in 1999.
He has also studied in India with B.K.S. Iyengar at his 80th birthday celebrations in 1998, and also with Geeta Iyengar and Prashant Iyengar in 1999 and 2006 at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune.

Amanda Hood

“The subject is a vast ocean, and to really experience the ocean you need to jump in, and swim around in it. Float, dive, study, explore. There’s so much more to it than meets the eye”

Amanda is Newcastle’s only senior Iyengar Yoga teacher. She first became certified in 2000 after serving an apprenticeship at Clifton Hill Yoga Studio in Melbourne, and in 2003 helped found the busy Yarraville Yoga Centre in Melbourne’s western suburbs.*

With twenty years of teaching experience, she chose Newcastle to be her new hometown as a way of ‘giving back’ to Iyengar Yoga.

Amanda travels regularly to Pune to study under the Iyengar family and pay respect to the lineage at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. Her first visit was in 2000, and most recently in 2017 learning with renowned and revered teachers in their own right, Geeta Iyengar, Prashant Iyengar and Abhijata (Granddaughter of BKS Iyengar) Amanda has also studied with a number of senior Australian Iyengar teachers. She has studied for several decades, and continues to do so with Alan Goode of Yoga Mandir in Canberra, as well as with Pixie Lillas of Balmain Iyengar Yoga.

Amanda has an interest in social justice and has taught yoga to ‘at risk’ youth in Melbourne’s west, as a volunteer with asylum seekers and other detainees in Maribyrnong Detention Centre, and most recently in the remote NT Pine Creek primary school.

Amanda serves on the Iyengar Yoga Australia Board and the Ethics and Certification Mark Committee, and currently holds the Junior Intermediate Level 3 teaching certification.

Amanda Hood

“The subject is a vast ocean, and to really experience the ocean you need to jump in, and swim around in it. Float, dive, study, explore. There’s so much more to it than meets the eye”

With twenty years of teaching experience, she chose Newcastle to be her new hometown as a way of ‘giving back’ to Iyengar Yoga.

Amanda serves on the Iyengar Yoga Australia Board and the Ethics and Certification Mark Committee, and currently holds the Junior Intermediate Level 3 teaching certification.

Harriet Ferguson

Harriet has been practicing Iyengar Yoga since 1992. Her primary teacher throughout this time has been Senior Iyengar Teacher Pixie Lillas. Harriet was awarded her Iyengar Yoga Introductory Teaching Certificate in 2016. Harriet has a special interest in remedial yoga and enjoys teaching to students of all abilities.

Candace Schreiner

Candace first attended Iyengar Yoga classes in her early 20’s whilst working as a registered nurse in Melbourne. She was impressed by the quality, precision and high standard of teaching in this form of yoga and found this sparked an interest in studying and practising yoga ever since.

Candace undertook teacher training in 2015 with Senior Iyengar teacher Shayna Odgen at Ballarat Iyengar Yoga, during this time Candace taught regular classes at the studio and became a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher in 2017.

Candace and her family moved to Newcastle in 2018 and she is continuing to attend classes and workshops with Senior Australian Iyengar teachers such as Alan Goode of Yoga Mandir in Canberra and Pixie Lillas of Balmain Iyengar Yoga as well as regularly attending classes and workshops here at Hamilton Yoga with Senior teacher Amanda Hood.

Candace finds her role as an Iyengar teacher highly rewarding and is motivated by the personal transformation observed in students who regularly attend classes at Hamilton Iyengar Yoga.

Candace completed a Masters of Art-Therapy at La Trobe University In Melbourne in 2008. Candace now works as a registered art-therapist in the Newcastle region, she has a passion for working with both adults and children helping them to express themselves through creative processes to achieve their individual goals.