I have been teaching Ashtanga Yoga (Primary Series) in Bournemouth & Poole since 2008. My yoga journey started in 2005 when, being very overweight and inflexible, I went to my first class looking for an escape from my extremely unhealthy music and DJ career. I found myself wanting to go again and again, not quite able to work out if I loved yoga or hated it. After a few more weeks of attending classes, I realised that I loved it and was going as often as possible.
Yoga is not about being bendy and being able to touch your toes, when I started I was very overweight and could hardly touch my knees. I started right from the beginning and had not done any form of yoga or exercise for nearly 15 years, so I know how daunting it is to be extremely out of shape.
In March 2006 I first studied with the late Shri K Pattabhi Jois and his grandson R. Sharath Jois when they visited the UK.
Soon after this I handed in my notice at work and decided to go to Mysore, where I first visited the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute and studied with Sharath Jois. Over the next couple of years I continued to venture to India to develop my practice and further my knowledge of yoga. Several visits later in 2008, I had the desire to deepen my understanding of Ashtanga Yoga and completed a teacher training course with Ajay Kumar in Mysore.
In 2008 I also began to study for a degree in Acupuncture and Chinese medicine, which has hugely facilitated my understanding of the anatomy of the body, complimenting my yoga teaching and my own practise.
After the next few years of teaching locally in Bournemouth and Poole I was pleased to open and be one of the directors of Yoga Room Bournemouth, in October 2011. This was a fantastic opportunity to share yoga and to bring an awareness of yoga to many new people in my local community. Within this time I was fortunate to work with Brian Cooper and Union Yoga assisting on three teacher training course’s, where I gained an insight to how yoga can really work and be shared with everyone.
In the last 10 years I have been lucky enough to visit India almost every year, furthering my knowledge of the remarkable health system of yoga. I’ve had the privilege of practising with Sharath at KPJAYI in Mysore, as well as other traditional and authoritative teachers in Mysore.
My approach to teaching yoga is very much how I learnt it myself, through years of self study and also using the knowledge I have acquired through studying with some of the best yoga teachers in the world. I pride myself on teaching authentic and traditional yoga the way I have continued to be taught in India, using no gimmicks and encouraging yoga for the mind and body.
In 2017 I was awarded the Senior Yoga Teacher certification by Yoga Alliance Professionals.
