Teacher Details

My Classes

My yoga classes draw upon my training and experience to help people discover and develop their own personal practice. Influenced by a holistic approach to yoga, as passed down through Patanjali's Yoga Sutras, I focus on the development of conscious breath awareness (pranayama) to integrate asana (posture) practice with a mindful understanding of yoga in daily life. Saying this, having fun and feeling relaxed are an important part of each class and I aim to leave students with positivity and energy to take through into the rest of their day.

My Hatha Yoga classes are well rounded classes suitable for all levels and include an asana practice to increase flexibility and muscle tone and pranayama and meditation to enhance balance and emotional stability. My Dynamic Day morning classes are Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow influenced and are suitable for people who have practised yoga previously who want to work on their suppleness and mental focus.

Qualifications

I trained as a yoga teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga and Sivananda Vedanta School of Yoga in India. I have post qualification teacher training in yoga therapy for stress and anxiety management with the Lifeforce Yoga Institute in the USA and am a level 1 Lifeforce Yoga Practitioner. I have a specialist interest in clinical applications of yoga, for chronic stress related conditions and for mental wellbeing.

Yoga: my family tradition

Yoga has been an integral part of my life since I was a child. Yoga - a way of life - was passed down to me through my mother, a yoga teacher herself, from her Indian father. As I grew older I began to explore other approaches, including Siddha Yoga and Vipassana meditation. I was first taught meditation practice at an ashram in Ganeshpuri, India when I was 10 and as a teenager I found yoga created a place of constant calm and sanctuary within myself that I could turn to in the busy rush of London life.

In my twenties I began working at the North West London Psychotherapy Centre (NWLPC) and began to develop a further awareness of the role that yoga can play in our overall mental and emotional wellbeing. I found that a regular practice could bring a sense of integration and wholeness to one's life. Particularly inspired by the teachings of BKS Iyengar, I began to develop a daily practice to help build and support emotional wellbeing.

Having worked in healthcare for over ten years, I have studied Positive Psychology at Harvard, Mindfulness Meditation at Brown University in the USA and have a postgraduate degree in Human Ecology from The Centre for Human Ecology, UK. I am now developing my work and professional training with yoga as a tool for stress and pain management. For more information see www.northdevonyoga.co.uk