Charlie Carter - Dynamic Yoga teacher

at Annette's School of Yoga

In his own words Charlie Carter charts his own journey

I first became aware of yoga through the 1960s television series called Yoga For Health, presented by Richard Hittleman, I can remember sitting in front of the TV struggling to emulate the postures being demonstrated by him and his assistant Lynne Marshall, I even bought the book to accompany the programme.

This was my first introduction to yoga, and as a young lad I saw it only as a form of exercise nothing more, and it’s fair to say my interest didn’t last long.

However, something must have stuck for some years later when I was practicing martial arts I found myself using the postures from his book to aid my stretching routine. In those early days I was living in London and with yoga classes springing up everywhere I was able to attended a variety of drop in classes when the mood took me, but I was still looking on yoga as purely a physical thing. It wasn’t until the late 1980’s, having now moved to Northampton, that I joined a FRYOG yoga teacher training course and began to look beyond the physical aspect of yoga and found

a depth of knowledge so great and profound that it has fascinated me ever since.

This new found interest inspired me to attended as many yoga classes and workshops that I could, practicing with many different teachers from as many different styles, but for some reason I couldn’t explain there always seemed to be something missing for me Charlie in action in class That is until I attended my first Ashtanga yoga class in December 1991 with Derek Ireland and Lesley Warrell. This class was different from any that I had previously attended, the students were flowing through a sequence of postures without stopping, every posture was synchronised to their deep breathing, sweat poured off their bodies, it was dynamic and fluid, the whole room seemed to be alive and buzzing with energy. I was instantly hooked and immediately became a student of Derek and Radha, practicing with them until Derek’s passing in 1998.

In 1995 I undertook an Ashtanga teacher training course at the Practice Place on the beautiful island of Crete, practicing with Derek and Radha for up to 6 hours a day, first and second series, pranayama and theory. Their passion and enthusiasm has inspired me ever since, even on those black days when just standing at the front your mat is a challenge.
Charlie leading a class

Although these days I no longer practice in the pure (Mysore) way, my own practice and teaching incorporates the core principles of this wonderful system, believing you should practice according to your individual needs and ability and preferring to make the mould fit you rather than the other way round, I have adapted the practice, and although still challenging have made it more accessible to a wider audience in this health conscious world we now live in.

Without yoga my life would be incomplete, it has enabled me the ability to laugh, enjoy each new day, and not take myself too seriously!

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