Clarissa Ord was working as an IT consultant until 2005 and during this period she found Bikram Yoga. After her first class, she felt 100% better, the stresses of the world literally seemed to be washed away. After around two years of practising (10 hours a week), she knew that she was now far more interested in Yoga, Anatomy, Physiology and the pursuit of a long, happy and healthy life than she was in IT, so she made the decision to quit her job and flew to Los Angeles to train with Bikram Choudhury.
Clarissa graduated from Bikram’s teacher training in 2005 and she has continued to diversify, training in different Yoga disciplines from Gentle Hatha, Anusara, Vinyasa Flow, Moksha, Restorative, Dynamic, Pregnancy, Yoga Trapeze, Gravity Yoga and Yin Yoga.
Armed with her experience of teaching and working in many yoga studios worldwide, a clear idea formed of what Clarissa would like to offer to her students.
Clarissa's philosophy is to offer a wide range of different Yoga classes, both hot and unheated, that all complement each other well.
Yoga is a very individual discipline, despite being in a class setting, and so each student has different needs and goals. With a regular practise you will start to feel significant changes to both your physical fitness and body shape as well as your mental state. Yoga is the antidote to everything modern life throws at us.
Some of the teachers that have influenced Clarissa’s journey teaching yoga are Bikram Choudhury, Kristin Campbell, Ted Grand, Jessica Robertson, Jason Crandell, Shiva Rea, David Keil, Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, Michelle Berrange, Lucas Rockwood and all the amazing teachers I have the pleasure of working, teaching and practising with - namaste!
Tips:
1. Don't diet: fast. Every few months or so I go on a fast for a few days. Depending on my work schedule, this may be a juice fast, where I make some lovely fruit and veg smoothies to have throughout the day, or a cleansing fast, where I drink only a concoction of hot water, maple syrup (the unsweetened kind) and cayenne pepper. Each of these ingredients serves a different purpose in keeping your energy levels up whilst fasting. The reason I fast instead of diet, is that fasting gives your entire digestive system a break, as well as giving your organs a chance to 'catch up' and properly remove all the toxins in your system. Aside from making me feel fantastic afterwards, I usually lose a few pounds in the process. The best bit is that it means I can pretty much eat whatever I want the rest of the time.
2. Take an interest in your body. Sooner or later, one way or another, the physical lump of matter that is your body will become the focus of your life. This could either be through the onset of age, illness and pain that needs addressing, or you could take an interest now and think about what your body feels like to live in and how you can improve it. I'm not advocating dedicating your life to physical exercise, but it is certainly true that time spent taking care of yourself now is converted into time spent pain free when you are older (and increasing your lifespan in the process). You wouldn't consider buying a car and then never servicing it, but that is what most people do with their bodies: they wait until something breaks down before doing anything about it.
Clarissa Ord's Qualifications
2005 – Bikram Teacher Training – 800hrs
2008 – Moksha Teacher Training – 200hrs
2011 – Pregnancy Training with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli
2012 – Jason Crandell 5-day immersion + teacher-development programme
2013 – Shiva Rea – The Vinyasa Wave: Fluid Power – Flow Arts Summer Teacher Training
2015 – Norman Blair – Yin Yoga Intensive 5 day
2019 – Anusara Teacher Training - 200hrs
2020 – Lucas Rockwood - Gravity Yoga
2021 – Lucas Rockwood - Breath Coach
2021 – Lucas Rockwood - Yoga Trapeze
