background & interests

My first experience of yoga was in a church hall with a neighbour up the road I knew as Margaret but in this incense filled space she was majestically enrobed in orange and suddenly called Sidi Mani! It wasn’t a light bulb moment but I remember my interest being piqued by the strange shapes we’d move our bodies into and left feeling floaty and giggly. I dipped in and out of different styles in my twenties in full exploratory mode. I distinctly remember cutting some shapes in a tiny box room at uni that helped get me through the stress of producing my final year thesis.

By the end of my twenties I was in a seemingly sought after job in the film industry which felt like a dead end to me. What began as a sabbatical to visit an ashram turned in to me quitting my job from a Keralan beach deciding to immerse myself in yoga and wandering for a while.

I’ve been teaching and studying yoga ever since, raising two boys and navigating various moves and changes. As well as my family, I’ve focused my energies on mothers, kids and teens for the last few years. I have been told by business coaches along the way to find my niche and specialise. But I don’t see the point in not sharing the benefits of yoga further than the average studio.

Being a passionate supporter of women’s wellbeing, I have also had the incredible privilege to work as a birth doula which informs and shapes my work with mothers. And also gets me a bit fired up and protective! To my mind, mothers are to be revered and adored for the manifold ways they are stretched and challenged in order to keep the show on the road. Doulaing has also taught me not to underestimate the power of non judgmental support, active listening and JUST BEING KIND.

My work with children and young people keeps me on my toes and is frequently hilarious and inspiring. Just being around their curiosity and enthusiasm, their lack of mask us dreary adults seem keen to don is infectious. I’m sure we can agree that growing up can become the perfect storm of challenges; when everything can feel magnified emotionally and we’re still figuring out how to manage ourselves yet are arguably more receptive to new ideas and experiences. I get excited about the possibility that instilling a positive wellbeing framework can have at this age that will hopefully support over a life time.

Finally, even before I trained as a yoga teacher I was intrigued my a leaflet I picked up from the Prison Phoenix Trust which resonated deeply. Almost 15 years later I have taught in several prisons in the South West. For raw inspiration and clarification of the potential power of yoga and meditation to transform, I can’t recommend the PPT’s Prisoner’s Guide to Meditation including letters from inmates enough.

I am passionately determined to dismantle the boutiquey image of yoga and instead make it a down to earth offering; simplified and adapted to suit the individual and setting. It’s a very personal, deep experience for me where images and words don’t really do it justice so I like to get on and let the yoga do its thing and hopefully leave people with that kind of felt experience for themselves.

Thanks for listening!