Hi and welcome!
I’m a long term yoga practitioner and Yoga Alliance certified Yoga Teacher, specialising in supporting stressed out Urbanites and hardworking Hedonists to step back, relax and re connect with themselves. To help them feel happier from the inside.
Through the practices of Yin and Restorative Yoga, I’ve found clients have been able to slow down and reconnect to themselves on both a physical and mental level.
By becoming more self-aware they reduce feelings of stress and overwhelm, so abundant in hectic city living. They become able to take back control of their lives.
I strongly believe yoga is for every BODY and every age. Physical strength and flexibility can come from slow movements, just as much as energetic ones. Through these slower practices we’re able to find not only a place of calm within but also happiness. Instead of searching for happiness outside of ourselves we realise we are its creator.
I also incorporate mindfulness into my classes to increase awareness within the practice which you can take out into everday life.
Through my own experience of yoga I’ve found the capacity to heal the body and spirit can also arise as I’ve listened to my body growing older. I truly believe my practice supported my full recovery from cancer.
‘This is where I am today’ – that’s all I have to say as I get on my mat each day. I listen to my body at that moment and take its lead. That’s all you need to say to yourself too…
Why not get in touch for a free consultation to see if I can help you find a happier you?
If you live in London and are interested in finding a place of calm away from your hectic life, maybe even find a bit more happiness , then please do drop me a line for a free consultation… [email protected]
If you want to know more about the styles Yin and Restorative Yoga there are details at the foot of the page.
I’ve studied with amazing teachers such as Sarah Powers, Judith Hanson Lasater, Julie Martin, Norman Blair, Uma Dinsmore – Tuli and Beta Lisboa who all have their own individual and wonderful styles. I’m a certified Insight Yoga teacher and Rest and Renew Restorative Yoga Teacher.
I’m also a Yoga Alliance 200 hours certified Meditation Teacher and regularly practice, teach and explore Mindfulness.
Looking forward to meeting you…
If you’re interested in hearing them, here are my thoughts on today’s ‘Yoga’:
I’ve dabbled in yoga for years – ever since I found a library book of my mum’s in my late teens, which had black and white photos of a woman in a very unfetching leotard. 🙂 I remember my mum going to some classes but she never came back enlightened….
I took classes in local gyms for years thinking they were a good way to get toned and flexible. I had no idea of the real reason for practicing yoga.
Not until I decided to do my teacher training in Jan 2013 did I come to understand it. I took the Teacher Training not to become teacher, but to learn more about it for myself. That feeling has changed over the past few years as I’ve come to realise the benefits of a regular practice and seeing how it helps me even in everyday life and so can help others.
There’s so much talk of Yoga around at present and it’s all frankly rather overwhelming. I generally try and ignore the marketing images of young toned bodies in extreme yoga poses and focus on what’s possible for the more common and ‘real’ bodies we possess.
I’m not surprised many people get put off from attempting Yoga, thinking that it’s all about being flexible and having the capacity to get into particular poses. This is a mistaken belief.
Let me be clear, every BODY is unique in form, structure and composition. Some bodies have long bones, some have short…these immediately dictate to what extent the body can move…add in the history of muscle, tendon and ligament restriction caused by every day work / movement / lifestyle ….no one ought to expect that they should be able to do a hand stand, stand on their head or even touch their toes!
The ‘act ‘ of an Asana ( pose) is to connect with the breath, to connect and listen to what your body is saying it is happy to do. With regular practice, maybe, just maybe, you will be able to get into extreme poses but that’s not the goal. The goal is to enjoy the journey – a cliché I know but it’s true.
Yoga isn’t just about the Asanas either, but about changing your attitude to life…being kinder to yourself and others…being aware of your actions and the effects they have on others.
As I’ve aged and my illness limited my mobility, my body has changed dramatically and I’ve learnt that it doesn’t matter what I used to be able to do or what I ‘should’ be capable of…what I can do today is simply that …what I can do today. I don’t always find it easy to accept, but then I’m only human.
Yin Yoga
Yin yoga is a practice that offers exploration into self-discovery and reconnection to the body and spirit by the witnessing and accepting of emotions and physical sensations that may arise.
By also cultivating the practice of mindfulness and self –awareness, (allowing naturally arising thoughts, physical and emotional feelings to come and go without judgement and with kindness) is the essence of Yin yoga. Practice will aid the control of daily habitual and emotional reactivity.
Yin yoga maintains physical suppleness by increasing joint mobility and by nourishing connective tissues, the movement of which can be lost through injury, lack of movement or ageing. It improves the body’s circulation, respiratory system and ability for natural detoxification.
This ground based practice, uses long-held postures to open joints whilst stretching and stimulating the deep connective tissues which carry nerves and fluids throughout or bodies.
A complimentary practice to yang (energetic) styles of yoga, Yin is a quiet, grounded, meditative practice. It is ideally balanced to the yang state of the modern psyche; to be achieving, assertive, fast paced, energetic, which can ultimately lead to physical and mental fatigue.
Poses are supported with blankets / props if required, to aid relaxation and opening. The ‘stillness’ has physical benefits and allows the mind to tune-in with deeper awareness to the subtle shifts and physical sensations.
A quiet practice deriving from Chinese medicine and Taoism theories, it has parallels with Indian yoga traditions. Its aim is to create a free-flow of energy (‘Chi’ or, in Indian yoga tradition, ‘Prana’) through the body preventing stagnation, a possible cause of illness.
The practice is tailored to the individual student at any level.
I guide students to fully engage in their present experience, with focus on physical awareness and the breath. Meditation and breathing techniques are used to guide movements, aid release and sustain stillness.
There’s no need for struggle, only to release and let go to where the body naturally wants to lead.
My classes are carefully structured around an anatomical theme, linking postures to give each class a natural and rhythmic flow of energy. I explain the structure and benefit of each posture to enable the student to notice subtle changes in their practice and so develop their own physical understanding and self-awareness.
Restorative Yoga
“Restorative Yoga is the use of props to support the body in positions of comfort and ease to facilitate relaxation”
Judith Hanson Lasater, the leading teacher in the field of Restorative Yoga.
Restorative Yoga teaches us how to let go; how to fully relax our bodies and create more space in life.
We think if we’re busy then our lives must have meaning, but if we create space true life can arise. Busy-ness tends to mask our human fear of life without meaning. We need to give ourselves time to reconnect with ourselves and so with others.
Physically slowing down creates calmness and we feel more in control of our lives. Our autonomic nervous system accommodates the constant environmental and life stress surrounding us. We become accustomed to the noise, activity, demands but our nervous system is keeping us in a heightened state of awareness, in survival mode, which can lead to illness and chronic health issues.
We need to have time to switch off. Restorative Yoga creates a personal space within which to fully relax.
Restorative Yoga is a ground based practice, using many props to create a position of extreme comfort, so that the body can let go, followed by the calming of the mind. Poses are held for long periods of time, sometimes up to 20 mins. It’s an opening, not a stretching practice, as stimulation to the nervous system is reduced.
Restorative Yoga is a complimentary practice to Asana practice as well as being supportive of overall health and feeling of wellbeing.