I have been practicing yoga for some years now and chose to take on the journey to learn to teach in 2014. Working as a Therapist in Brixton, London for over 4yrs I have always felt there was something more I could offer to the children, young people and women I worked with, knowing the change yoga had made in my own life I felt it would be a brilliant tool if I could offer it alongside my therapeutic work, after a number of years of contemplating what yoga school to work with, I finally decided to take some time to travel and see if I could find a guru and specific school that suited me.

I initially thought I would find this school in India, I spent a week learning with the Himalayan Iyengar Yoga Centre and thoroughly enjoyed this style of learning, but knew it wasn’t what I wanted to teach. I realised I wanted something that was more therapeutic based then alignment based as felt therapeutic yoga has to suit the individual par-taking and there is not one set way for all.

Eventually I chose to head to South East Asia and found myself in Bali, after taking one Yin Yoga class at the Yoga barn with Denise Payne I knew I had to train with this amazing teacher, a day later i was signed onto her teaching and one week later I was settled in Bali, studying with One Song Yoga, a journey I will never forget, I feel it was a dynamic individual style of teaching, leaving me qualified to work in Vinyasa, Restorative and Yin Yoga and basic Myo Fascial Release therapy.

 Yin Yoga

Yin yoga is the opposite to the yang style of yoga we mainly see in the west, yin yoga is a slow paced style of yoga, asanas are held for longer periods (2-5mins) and the poses mainly focus on the hips, spine or shoulders. The muscles are relaxed and not activated (no stretching) your breathing is calm and your mind is quiet, yin yoga can be seen as a meditative style of yoga practice.

Yin yoga poses apply moderate stress to the connective tissues, its main aim is to increase circulation in the joints and improve flexibility. Yin yoga works with the energy in our bodies and the asanas help to move the energy flow improving organ health and emotional well being.

Yin yoga was first founded in the USA in the late 1970’s further reading can be found here http://www.yinyoga.com/

Myo Fascial Release

Myo fascial release is used at the start of some of our yin classes as it allows the body to be receptive to the yin practice. Myofascial release is a soft tissue form of therapy and works with the skeletal muscle. The practice uses tennis balls to relax contracted muscles and improve blood circulation, stimulating the stretch in our muscles.