About me:

My mother initially sparked my interest in yoga as a child and I started practicing regularly myself in 1990. I'm a qualified and insured Yoga for Health Foundation Yoga Teacher (2004), teaching general hatha yoga classes. In addition I'm a qualified and insured Birthlight Perinatal Yoga Teacher (2007), teaching yoga to women for the pregnancy, birth and post-natal period. As an experienced e-HR & training consultant, I'm also a Graduate Member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel & Development with a specialisation in Learning & Development. Since the birth of my daughter in 2007, I enjoy part time HR consultancy, teaching yoga and being a mum.

About the yoga I teach:

As a member of The Association of Independent Yoga Practitioners, I teach yoga inspired by the work of Vanda Scaravelli which works with the natural patterns of movement of the body, (particularly the spine) and its relationship with gravity and the breath. Scaravelli taught ways of bringing more awareness to what is happening inside us as we practice, which encourages the body to unravel into yoga positions from within rather than having to be pushed or pulled into them from without. The journey to a posture is as significant as the posture itself. There is always a modification or level appropriate to the body. If, for example, you wish to flex the spine, this can be achieved in many ways and simply mimicking the teacher or make a ‘nice looking shape' isn't as meaningful as a more individually useful practice to bring about a positive change in your mind, body or breathing.

Each class starts with a relaxation to avoid bringing tension into your practice. The Asanas (yoga postures) exercise every part of the body taking the spine safely through a full range of movement (forward bending, back bending, side bending and twisting) and can be adapted to suit each student. Posture work can be done from standing, kneeling, sitting, supine, side lying, prone and from inverted positions. Breath work might be just awareness of the breath or a more formalised Pranayama practice. Proper movement and breathing allow one to take up a comfortable position in order to concentrate and meditate. Each class finishes with Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation or 'Yoga Sleep') to bring mind, breath and body together resulting in a feeling of wholeness.

What yoga can help with:

Yoga is a useful tool for health and wholeness and is suitable for all ages and abilities. Yoga uses gentle postures, breathing exercises, relaxation techniques and meditation to help restore body/mind balance and promote natural healing and it empowers you to look after your own health. Yoga is not a religion - people of all religions and no religion practice yoga.

Yoga cultivates body/mind integration and can improve flexibility, strength, breathing, balance, co ordination, concentration and relaxation and help to manage pain and fatigue. Yoga is useful throughout all the stages of life and can also promote positive health for pregnancy and childbirth, mothers and babies, children, women and men, and to support everyone from athletes to the elderly.  All the different challenges that we are faced with ‘on the mat' such as the limitations of our body and mind, are a perfect metaphor for how we deal with things ‘off the mat', thus making yoga a highly relevant and useful tool for life.

Pregnancy Yoga:

Yoga is one of the best forms of exercise during pregnancy; a gentle, safe means of keeping toned and supple without strain, of keeping aches and pains at bay and energy flowing, of relaxing mind and body, and preparing for the physical demands of birth - and motherhood itself. There is practical support to prepare for labour but most of all the emphasis is on preventive care and laying the best possible foundation in the transition to parenthood. Each birth is unique and special attention is given to each new mother, whether she is having her first baby or she is a busy mother already.

You will learn techniques to relax, re-energise, centre yourself and connect with your baby. You will be able to do both breathing exercises and physical movements to relieve discomfort, move safely and position both yourself and your baby optimally. All yoga postures and breathing exercises are adapted / designed for pregnancy from classical hatha yoga. Pregnancy Yoga is gentle and safe for all women, whether new to Yoga or with years of practice.

Postnatal/Baby Yoga:

Baby Yoga facilitates the mutual enjoyment of parents and babies and creative play between them.

For the mother; you will learn how to safely exercise and relax with your baby postnatally, to recover from pregnancy and birth and cope with the demands of early parenthood. Gentle postnatal exercises gradually help you regain physical strength, tone the muscles, enjoy deep relaxation and develop close bonds with your baby. Postnatal yoga can address common complaints such as; weak pelvic floor, instability of pelvic joints, lower back pain, neck and shoulder pain, split abdominal muscles. The classes use yoga breathing practices to involve deep muscles and restore core-strength or even create it anew. Principles of postnatal recovery (core-realignment, pelvic joint stabilisation and decompression of the spine), are addressed by means of gentle isotonic stretches using deep abdominal breathing and some bandhas.

For the mother and her baby; you will learn ‘relaxed holds', ‘swings, dips and lifts', ‘hip sequences', moves for strength and balance, moves for ‘tummy time' and how to put songs and movements together. The course also covers movements that facilitate the transitions to sitting, crawling, standing and walking, using yoga principles such as non violence, quiet observation, detachment, respect and compassion. The teaching of joint relaxation between parent and baby is given special importance as a way to help parents release tension and to allow babies experience relaxed parents.