My search for yoga started many years ago without much luck, I struggled to find a style of yoga or teacher who I connected with. In November 2016 I was invited to a Seasonal Yoga class being run by a newly qualified teacher, Laura Wills. By the end of the first class I was hooked! Finally I had found a style of yoga that I understood and could really connect with that talked about seasons, nature, meridians, energy, seasonal eating and a way of living! My search was over but my journey with yoga was only just beginning!
Within a few weeks of starting I realised that my lung capacity had increased and over the following year my body slowly started to change becoming stronger and more flexible and this was with attending just one class a week! At the start of my second year, I started attending a second seasonal vinyasa flow class run by Rebecca Wood. This class was stronger but I loved it! So my journey continued with my two inspirational and incredible yoga teachers. Monday morning would see me at Rebecca's class for a full on flow workout, and I would then attend Laura's class on a Wednesday evening for a slower flow, stretch out and meditation...the perfect combination!
During my life I have taught horse riding, sailing and IT and I love teaching, but since leaving my career in IT I hadn't taught anything. I was missing the incredible connection with people and fulfilment that teaching brings. In the summer of 2017 I started practicing daily at home and again found my yoga practice reaching a new level. During a holiday in Crete with friends, I found myself surrounded with friends and kids during my morning practice all wanting to join in and know more about yoga so I started teaching them and a seed was planted! Could I become a yoga teacher? What an absurd thought, or was it? I talked to Laura and Rebecca and they both thought I was ready, in fact Laura said she know I would become a yoga teacher during the very first class I attended with her! So I contacted Sue Woodd who runs the Seasonal Yoga Teacher Training program in the South of England and before I know I was enrolled on the course to start in March 2018!
The 12 months on the teacher training course was an incredibly transformative year in which I met some amazing people also attending the course. Not all wanted to teach yoga, some were doing the course to just deepen their own practice. Six months into the course we were encouraged to start teaching so I enlisted some of my fellow villagers to be my guinea pigs and I haven't looked back! I graduated in February 2019 and I'm gradually starting more and more classes. I love teaching yoga! I feel that I have finally found my dharma, my life purpose! I have now completed the advanced 300 hour teacher training in Seasonal Yoga which has upgraded my qualification to RYT 500.
I am not naturally flexible so the yoga I do and teach doesn't tie myself or my students up in knots! The style of yoga I teach is called Vinyasa Flow, where we move through postures slowly and mindfully. I also incorporate Qigong inspired energy movement in my sessions. This is the yoga that I find suits my body rather than a Hatha yoga class whereby practitioners will do one posture, followed by another posture working towards a peak posture. My yoga is simple and effective with emphasis on breath and movement.
A common response I get when I tell people what I do is "I'm not flexible enough to do yoga!"...what I say is "that's all the more reason to do yoga!". A gentle regular practice can make an incredible difference to our physical, metal, emotional and spiritual health...come along and give it a go!