Started my yoga journey in 2015 when I attended Yogalates classes, which combined the slower-paced Hatha style of yoga with pilates exercises focussing on core strengthening. This foray into what is now an indispensable part of my life was slow-burning. It took 4/5 years before fitness became habitual and I committed to weekly sessions of yoga as well as weight training, boxing and swimming. I undertook a 200 hour teacher training program with Bhakti Yogshala in 2021, during which I studied anatomy and alignment, asanas (physical postures), prānayāma (breathwork) and meditation. I continue to study the philosophy, methodology and cultural context of yoga: through social exchange and key texts including Hatha Yoga Pradipika, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, The Bhagavad Gīta and The Upanishads.
I have experience teaching vinyasa flow, hatha and yin yoga to children and young people in schools and holiday clubs. As a musician, I am particularly interested in Nāda Yoga and utilising music, sound and voice.
The full psycho-spiritual union yoga can bring about (yoga – sanskrit – lit. to unite, join together) is a lifelong goal, but there are more mundane, accessible rewards for putting the time and effort into a regular practise. Joint and fascial mobility, supple spine, strong stabilising muscles, better stamina, balance and coordination to name a few. In tandem, and more importantly, we become more openminded and openhearted and tap into a strength of willpower we never knew we had. Or tap into a reservoir of inner calm difficult to access when we are aching or numb with tension patterns in the body and are our nervous systems are disregulated. A little peace of mind goes a long way and, like reps of a bicep curl, the yoga session can be a training ground for accessing these qualities or states of mind and make it easier over time.
Lacking (or misappropriating) the rich religious and cultural context of yoga in India steeped in thousands of years of tradition, in the West it is often reduced to mere aerobic exercise which while has its benefit ignores the wealth of fruits and wisdoms! Doing yoga in an intentional, embodied way is a essential to get the real juice out of the practise. Yoga is not frivolous or a luxury. It promotes wellness and body-mind health on every level. The more we feel into the body, into our inner landscapes, the more we connect to deeper parts of ourselves; cultivating strength, gentleness, serenity, balance in our body, mind, emotions and in our lives. Way more than just a good workout! Further, the element of practising together creates sangha, community – an assembly with a shared focus is very powerful and can level-up the practise for everyone involved.
As an educator, I am a lifelong student and view teaching as a space of mutual learning. I am confident with guiding students through cueing, modification, refinement; how to breathe, push themselves further and know when to stop, find rhythm; with feeling into the body in stillness and flow, in the shapes of asanas, in activation and release. In addition to physical postures and sequences I incorporate guided meditation, chanting and prānayāma in my classes. I am attentive to injuries and trauma-informed.
I practise Bikram (hot yoga) and Tai Chi intermittently to supplement my practise with yang – the fiery dynamism of hot yoga – and the restorative yin nature of Chi Gong. The former builds strength and resilience through challenging systematised Hatha poses whilst the latter cultivates balance and awareness of the flow of chi (prāna), vital energy or life force. Through years of practise, I have become more embodied: more aware of the ebbs and flows of my nervous system, tension patterns in the body as well as thought patterns and limiting beliefs that show up during practise and broadly in life alike. My yoga journey has been one of body-awareness, self-love, empowerment and personal development and I love supporting others on their own path of growth.
For more about my experience as an educator see Teaching
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Music of Movement 