I first came across yoga when I was in primary school and our PE teacher started offering lunchtime sessions.  Being a keen ballet dancer and gymnast I really enjoyed the style she taught which included handstands, headstands, crab and lotus positions - but also enjoying how relaxing as well as strenuous it felt, and the sense of calm the teacher conveyed to us busy kids!

With a change of school in my teens, and other interests and calls on my time, I didn’t really rediscover yoga again until my early twenties.  Then, working in London, I found an Ashtanga class I really enjoyed, again for its physicality, as a counter to a desk bound job.  I attended classes regularly for several years before switching to a very gentle ante-natal class when I was 30 and pregnant with our daughter.  I really enjoyed the calm, supportive environment and community (as well as the tea and chocolates biscuits!) and will always be grateful to my teacher for her advice about using breathing techniques whilst in labour.

With three small children and a move to Tunbridge Wells, I eventually found a little time for myself and discovered Pilates.  Looking for a flexible, enjoyable and healthy alternative to commuting to a desk job in London, In 2009 I trained as a Physicalmind Institute Mat & Standing Pilates teacher at Sandrine’s Pilates and started teaching my own classes the Toc H Hall, Little Mount Sion, close to my home.  I offered a range of classes including pre and postnatal Pilates as well as for both men and women of different ages and abilities.

I took a break from teaching my regular Pilates classes in 2014, instead standing for other local teachers when needed, so that I could concentrate on supporting my family and pursue other interests, including rediscovering yoga.  I attended a variety of classes, eventually undertaking a teacher training course at Yoga Tree of Life and qualifying as a yoga teacher in 2018.  I combined teaching occasionally as a stand in for Nicholas Barrett at Yoga Tree of Life and regular classes at the Boundes Studio in Bidborough with qualifying as a reflexologist - until the pandemic struck.

Now that restrictions have eased and our children will all have left home soon, I am looking forward to restarting teaching once again in the Toc H Hall on Monday and Friday mornings, with a view to eventually expanding what I offer.

tbc