How to choose a Bodrum yoga teacher

Every summer Bodrum fills with yoga: classes on hotel lawns, sunset flows on the beach, retreats in the hills behind Yalıkavak. When you are here for a week or two, choosing a Bodrum yoga teacher can feel like choosing a restaurant from a long menu in a language you half understand.

After more than 15 years of teaching and bodywork in the Seychelles, the Caribbean, Istanbul and now Bodrum, I have seen what makes a session work for someone on holiday, and what leaves them sore, bored or no closer to feeling at home in their body. These are the things I would look for if I were booking a teacher myself.

1. Training you can name

“Certified” can mean a weekend course or years of study. Ask where and when your teacher trained, and who they have continued to learn from. A 200-hour teacher training is the usual starting point. What happens after it matters more: further study in anatomy, therapeutic work, trauma-informed teaching, or bodywork.

My own path started with Reiki in 2005 and yoga in 2007. I completed my first 200-hour training in 2010 and kept studying with teachers such as Godfrey Devereux, Bryan Kest, Jason Crandell and Meghan Currie, then bodywork traditions in India from 2012. You do not need a teacher with the same story, but you should be able to hear theirs in a few sentences.

2. A session that starts with your body, not a sequence

A good Bodrum yoga teacher should ask about you before they ask you to move: old injuries, how you slept, how long the flight was, what you would like to feel at the end. If the class would look exactly the same for a marathon runner and someone recovering from a back injury, it is a performance, not a private session.

In my sessions the first minutes are observation and conversation. The practice that follows might be slow and somatic, strong and fascia-focused, or close to rest. That decision comes from what your body shows, not from a plan written the night before.

3. Attention to the nervous system

Holidays are often when people finally notice how tired they are. Pushing hard in the heat of a Bodrum afternoon is rarely what the body needs. Look for a teacher who talks about pacing, breath and rest as part of the work, and who is comfortable ending a class in stillness. Regulation comes first. Flexibility and strength follow far more easily once the body feels safe.

4. They come to you, and know the setting

Private yoga in Bodrum usually happens where you are staying: a villa terrace, a hotel garden, the deck of a gulet anchored in a quiet bay. A teacher who regularly works on location will think about shade, wind, the time of day and the surface you are standing on, so you do not have to.

5. Clear, kind communication

You should feel free to say “that doesn’t feel right” and have the session change. Cues should be precise enough to follow with your eyes closed. If English or Turkish is easier for you, ask which language the session will be in before you book.

Questions worth asking before you book

• Where did you train, and what have you studied since?
• How do you adapt a session for injuries, pregnancy or stiffness after travel?
• How long is a session, and what does it include?
• Can you come to my villa, hotel or boat, and what space do you need?
• What happens if I need to change the time?

What a first session with me looks like

We start with a short conversation about your body and your week in Bodrum. The class itself lasts 60 to 70 minutes and is shaped as we go, with detailed cueing and a short mindfulness meditation at the end so the work can settle. If you like, it can close with a sound healing extension using Tibetan and crystal bowls.

If you are looking for a Bodrum yoga teacher for your stay, you can see my free times and request one, or read more about private and group yoga classes.