My yoga journey…
A friend took me along to my first yoga class in 1987 – the year I moved to New York City aged 17 to study. I spent the next ten years exploring various yoga styles and trying out different teachers.
I completed my Bachelor of Science at New York University in my mid twenties and then decided to train as a yoga teacher. My first teacher training was with the Himalayan Institute of Yoga Science and Philosophy in 1998. I started student teaching in NYC shortly after. Life events then brought me to Edinburgh where I lived for five years and taught yoga via adult education at Leith Academy. In 2002 I moved to Rugby. Here, I continued with my self practice and teaching friends. I took some time out from teaching when I had my daughters in 2004 and 2007 but was keen to resume teaching shortly after. At the time my Ken Marriott gym membership included unlimited creche. This provided me with time for my self practice and time to teach. I started covering classes and then was asked to bring yoga onto the timetable. I taught there for a few years before deciding to hire private venues to try and recreate a more conducive atmosphere than what I could achieve in noisy gyms. I feel privileged to have some students who have been attending class with me that entire time – over 10 years now! I continued prioritising motherhood but also trying to build my reputation, one class at a time.
In 2010-12 I trained with Birthlight in perinatal yoga. I taught 8 years of pregnancy yoga in Rugby, helping women to feel more informed and empowered to have the labour and birth they wished for. I enjoyed great satisfaction from helping women to increase their confidence in their body’s ability to give birth, to enjoy their pregnancy and to give birth the way they want to. Having women come back to my classes for subsequent births has been a real privilege.
In 2016 I completed my Yoga for Healthy Lower Backs (YHLB) teacher training and became the first yoga teacher in Rugby qualified to offer this gentle, effective, evidence-based yoga for people with chronic or recurring low back pain. By 2019 I had taught ten YHLB courses. It’s wonderful to see the transformative effect of this unique course.
I love how Hatha Yoga is so adaptable to all kinds of need. The yoga postures (asanas) keep us physically strong and the breathing practices (pranayama), sound practices (mantra) and guided relaxation (often in the form of Yoga Nidra) are calming for the mind. The overall effect is for both body and mind and has kept me unrolling my own mat for over 30 years.
Covid changed things for everyone. Our venues closed suddenly and unexpectedly in March 2020. Within 48 hours I’d read up on Zoom and began teaching online, never having done that before. I was grateful to maintain some semblance of our yoga community and of keeping up our practice which was so important for our mental health. I learned some new skills and created a yoga video library on Vimeo recording over 160 classes. I then taught hybrid style classes, both online and in person simultaneously when venues reopened. Then the third lockdown came and I was obliged to turn elsewhere for employment to support my family. I was grateful to obtain employment full time as an exams officer whilst still teaching part time. I gained more skills and enjoyed many aspects of the role, however by October 2022 I decided to try and find a more sustainable balance between employment and self employment. At the start of 2023, I am pleased to resume more teaching once again and re-connect with so many former students. Teaching brings me immense joy and satisfaction. I love sharing how Hatha Yoga can help people of all ages, all levels of fitness, to find more comfort and ease in themselves, physically, mentally and emotionally.
I currently teach Hatha Yoga adults age 16+ in 4 levels: Gentle/Chair, Beginner, Mixed Level and Improvers. I have achieved 200hr teacher certification with The Himalayan institute, was registered as a 200hr teacher with Yoga Alliance UK. I’m a registered YHLB teacher. You can read more about the Arthritis Research UK study behind this yoga here: www.yogaforbacks.org. I qualified in antenatal and postnatal teaching with Birthlight UK. I did additional courses on yoga for labour and birth and pelvic health CPDs. I’m an early member of RAYS, the Rugby Area Yoga Society. I am insured through Balens. I continue to incorporate all my training into my teaching.
It is with gratitude that I acknowledge my teachers, from whom, more than 20 years on, I am still learning. You will find a wealth of information on their websites. I won’t aim to reproduce it here. Dharma Mittra is still teaching and traveling the world training yoga teachers after 50 years dedicated to yoga. Dharma is known for his famous poster of 908 poses. Carol and Charles Crenshaw of the Himalayan Institute have over 60 years of teaching between them. Along with Sandra Anderson, Mary and Rolf Sovik and Pandit Rajmani Tigunait (all students of Swami Rama) who initiated me into this tradition with my own mantra. And to Swami Rama who founded the Himalayan Institute in 1969 I give my thanks.
