Byron Selorme
Science Based Yoga Educator

I began to study Body Building in the mid 1990's and I was fortunate enough to spend a large quantity of time studying form, technique and balanced development. This helped me to develop strong biomechanical models that have served me well in Yoga.

Sandy introduced me to Yoga at Downward Dog Yoga Studio in Toronto where we met Scott Davis. The way he taught the classes and how I felt afterwards, I was hooked. It was a much more complex experience than I had ever felt at the gym. We studied privately with Scott for over 3 years and I feel very fortunate to have had that one on one time with him, it helped me to develop and understand things about myself that I would not have found otherwise.

We have met some really great teachers over the years (like Carl Horowitz in NYC). The experience of working with a teacher who is really present with you as you have a challenging situation arise is a big part of what makes Yoga for me.

I have had over 18 years of formal education over my life but unfortunately none of that time included critical thinking. As a result, I have believed and followed some pretty silly ideas in the past. Becoming aware of that was a painful process and I think that this is a fundamental part of an authentic Yoga Practice. There is a lot of nonsense in the world and quite a bit of that comes out of well intentioned people teaching Yoga among other things.

I have made up the term Science Based Yoga Educator as a result of this and some conversations with really great people at a website forum called SomaSimple. Science is a method of investigating whether what you believe to be true actually is. By basing the education of Yoga on strong scientific principles we eliminate plenty of useless ideas in the process and this does us a world of good. In the absence of this all we can say is we don't know, and getting comfortable with this uncertainty is a big step forwards in our maturity.

I am a former member of the Dundas Valley Sunrise Rotary club. I am also currently working on my Psychology and Neuroscience degree at McMaster University. Being part of the community. Getting involved and giving back.