I first discovered yoga as a teenager of around 14 -15 by finding Richard Hittleman’s book “Yoga for Health” in my local library. I was inspired by this [as I had been quite gymnastic as a child!] and taught myself many of the postures as well as taking on some of the dietary & lifestyle advice – lured by the promise of improved physique and well-being no doubt! This interest waned as I went into my later teens but I still practised some of the asanas from time to time.
I came back to yoga when my children were young in my late 20’s, initially signing up to a course as a way to give me a small window of time to myself as a busy mum.
I found an inspiring Indian yoga teacher – Savita Burke – and found that weekly classes with her felt like a lifeline and a spiritually nourishing experience. I really valued the extended period of relaxation and imagery exercises this teacher included in her sessions as they helped me with anxiety and the effects of sleep deprivation.
10 years later life had moved on and I found another yoga teacher called Jo Johnson, who taught mindfulness-based yoga. These classes transformed the way I felt in my body; I was more present and experienced life in an enhanced way. Around this time I also started a daily meditation practice after attending a workshop on Eknath Easwaren’s passage meditation.
Another 10 years later I was drawn to study yoga more deeply and completed a British Wheel of Yoga [BWY] Foundation course with Janet Bond in Newhaven, Sussex. I was then hooked and went on to do the BWY teaching diploma, qualifying in 2014. I have taught regularly since 2013, at least one class a week, although there have been times when I have taught up to 4 classes a week.
In 2004 I qualified as an occupational therapist and have now been a mental health professional for 20 years. Over this time I have worked with people who have all kinds of mental distress and have learnt many strategies and tools that can help people to return to balance. It has been interesting that since I have worked in this field, techniques that I first encountered in yoga classes and seemed a bit alternative [eg: relaxation, imagery exercises, breathing practices, mindful meditation], have now become part of the mainstream knowledge base within mental health and psychology.
In recent years I have worked with people who have emotional instability and personality difficulties and I have learnt a lot about the role of repressed emotions and unmet childhood needs in causing physical and mental disorders. What I have learnt in my professional life and in my outside interest in yoga / health / healing are all part of the same thing. I think that I can use everything I have learnt in both fields to continue to help people move towards a happier, healthier version of themselves and reduce suffering.
I have been lucky to have the opportunity to teach yoga within many of my work roles, to patients of the services I was working in at the time. This has ranged from secure psychiatric units [male and female], a prison for men, and community mental health patients who attend a group treatment service. I’ve also taught sessions for staff in my work settings. I have completed a post-graduate course in Trauma-sensitive Yoga which supported me in this work.
Learning meditation when I was at the start of my career as a mental health professional was another lifeline for me. I was very stressed at work a lot of the time and learning meditation not only introduced me to the content of my thoughts, focussing my attention on the spiritual passages [in the technique I had learnt] gave me a strategy to give my mind a break from the repetitive thinking patterns. It also familiarised me with many different spiritual texts & poets eg: The Bhaghavad Gita; the Dhammapada; Lao Tzu; Kabir; Rumi and I felt I was connecting to a long line of spiritual beings.
More recently, my additional trainings in mindfulness have taught me a different and far more compassionate relationship with my body. Rather than wanting it to conform to certain yogic aesthetics and feel annoyed with it for not being thin or flexible enough, I have gradually learnt to tune in and listen to the messages my body is giving me and be guided to do what feels nourishing and helpful on any given day. This is a work in progress!
2014 – 500hr Yoga Teaching Diploma [British Wheel of Yoga]
2013 – 16hr Trauma-sensitive Yoga Teaching Certificate [Fine Balance Yoga]
2016 – Adapted Mindfulness-based Interventions [Sussex Mindfulness Centre]
2020 – 80hr Elemental Prana Vinyasa [Aditya Yoga School]
2022 – MBCT Teacher Training Course [Sussex Mindfulness Centre]
I am currently studying for a 1000hr Yoga Therapy Qualification with Viniyoga® Singapore – an affiliate of the KHYF. My teacher for this course is Dr Kausthubha Desikachar; son of TKV Desikachar and grandson of Krishnamacharya. My mentor whilst training is Sarah Ryan [Dorchester].
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