“This grand show is eternal. It is always sunrise somewhere; the dew is never all dried at once; a shower is forever falling; vapour is ever rising. Eternal sunrise, eternal sunset, eternal dawn and gloaming, on sea and continents and islands, each in its turn, as the round earth rolls.”
I completed my first 200 hour teacher training with Yogrishi Vishvketu at the Ananda Prakash ashram in Rishikesh, India. I later received my 500 hour qualification from Shiva Yoga Peeth (both Yoga Alliance registered schools), and have since taken further courses and trainings in various styles of yoga practice, including Acro, Yin, Ashtanga Vinyasa, Iyengar and Akhanda. My approach to practice draws from each of these, along with inspiration that I have taken from Tai Chi, Qi Gong, dance and dynamic meditation techniques.
I taught yoga residentially at The Temple of the Way of Light (a traditional plant medicine healing centre) in Peru, and also at Pilgrim’s Hospice in the UK, along with providing massage therapy. In these environments I worked with people suffering deeply from stress, anxiety, grief, depression, and trauma. From that work, and my own life experiences, I know the tremendous benefits that a yoga and meditation practice can bring to such conditions. I opened my own studio in London in April 2019, and in May 2020 I began training in Gabor Mate’s Compassionate Inquiry; a psychotherapeutic approach that examines early childhood experiences and adaptations, and their impact on how we present ourselves to the world and contribute to pathologies in later life.
I am a student of ShantiMayi, Sri Hansraj Maharajji and the Sacha Lineage. The teachings of these eminent masters have enriched my life beyond words, and I am eternally and inexpressibly grateful for their generous wisdom.
I have undertaken numerous meditation retreats including Vipassana (in the style of S.N. Goenka), Mindfulness, Mantra and Tibetan Buddhism (at the Tushita meditation centre in Dharamsala, India - the home of His Holiness The Dalai Lama).
I am a certified Ayurvedic massage practitioner, trained at the Himalayan Therapeutic Studio in Dharamkot, India. I believe that the body holds our deepest secrets, and thus the benefits of bodywork in conjuncton with a yoga practice are plentiful and profound. I have been amazed by my work with David Berceli’s Tension & Trauma Releasing Exercises (TRE) and hope to train for certification in the technique.
If you are interested in some recommended reading, a few books that have touched my heart, blown my mind and/or expanded my horizons are:
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahamsa Yogananda
The Tibetan Book of Living and Dying by Sogyal Rinpoche
The Cosmic Serpent: DNA and the Origins of Knowledge by Dr. Jeremy Narby
You Are the Placebo: Making Your Mind Matter by Dr Joe Dispenza
The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind, and Body in the Healing of Trauma by Bessel Van der Kolk
The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley
When the Body Says No: The Cost of Hidden Stress by Gabor Maté
The Snow Leopard by Peter Matthiessen.
The Prophet by Khalil Gibran
A Path With Heart by Jack Kornfield
The Radiance Sutras by Lorin Roche
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett