My Yoga Journey
As a Yoga Teacher, I want to inspire people to practice Yoga, to see for themselves the benefits it can bring to our lives.
Completing my most recent Teacher Training at Yard Yoga, I reflected back on my journey through yoga and I chuckled to myself at the memories as I squeezed my mat into my tiny room at Uni, hotel rooms when away with work, rolled it out on beaches, in jungles, in parks and debated what to sacrifice from my suitcase when squeezing my mat in instead.
So here are my fond memories from My Yoga Journey.
It was 2002, I lived in London and had a professional job in the city, working long hours whilst also studying for my Chartered Accountancy exams. I was 20 and having moved to London for the first time, burning the candle at both ends. I had a gym membership and used to go to the gym after work to pound the treadmill and lift weights at 9pm. Occasionally I went to a class at the gym. One day I dropped into a class called Power Yoga. The lights were low, we laid down on our mats, and then this thumping dance music started… Power Yoga to dance music. I was hooked.
I still remember those classes, and in those early days finishing a class and feeling like I’d used parts of my body I’d never used before and instead of just focusing on strength and cardio in the gym, exploring flexibility for the first time. It felt good, like I was benefiting my body rather than punishing it in the gym.
After a year in London, I returned to Uni to finish my degree. I was at Loughborough Uni, world renowned as a university for sports. Back then there weren’t any yoga classes on campus, so I’d roll my mat out between my desk and bed and get in 20 mins of yoga before breakfast.
After Uni I was back in London, and I started to explore the various styles of yoga. But yoga was really just about the body. About building strength, keeping toned, and looking good! In those early years I didn’t think about the mental and emotional benefits.
Soon after returning to London, my work offered me a 3 month secondment to Tokyo. I was thrilled. I had to fit my life into two suitcases. In went the mat and out came multiple pairs of shoes…
It was also a pivotal moment in my yoga journey as I bought a book to take with me; A Journey Into Power Yoga by Baron Baptise. My plan was each week to pick one section of the book, e.g. forward folds, or balancing, and practice it every morning of that week. Then by the end of the 3 months I’d know all the postures inside out. It worked. I gained knowledge and had explored how each of the postures felt in my body, and how my body adapted over time.
It started my long journey of self practice. Taking yoga from being a class I attended once or twice a week to a daily morning practice. I would crawl out of bed, roll out my mat and by the time I got off it about 20 or 30 mins later I was ready for the day. That frequent short practice completely changed my outlook on yoga. Doing a little and often was having a huge impact and I started to really see the mental benefits too. I felt calm and centred and energised when I got off the mat.
I love self practice. Creating sequences and choosing what works in my body at that moment. And you can do it anywhere. My friends don’t bat an eye lid when I roll out my yoga mat before breakfast on a girls weekend away.
Taking my mat when I’ve travelled has led to fantastic experiences; practicing yoga deep in the Amazon jungle, doing yoga on the beach in LA, spending a mad day at the Tokyo International Yoga festival doing yoga in a room with hundreds of people.
But I also know the importance of great teachers. And here are some of those who influenced me on my journey:
I discovered Shiva Rae through her Fluid Power DVD back in 2008. This was another game changer, discovering fluid movement in yoga.
I also found Yoga Download in 2015, as a way to shake up my self-practice when I couldn’t get to a class. Back then it was mainly US and Canadian teachers. With hundreds of teachers and thousands of classes it was my go to. A couple of the teachers that really influenced my own practice and how I teach now, were Jackie Mahrou and Kylie Larson.
Another key influence in my yoga journey was when I moved to Brighton in 2009. I discovered Hot Yoga at Yoga Haven. There were many great teachers there, including Niki Harman who was a founder of the studio. Yoga Haven was the studio that got me back into a regular practice in a studio environment to top up my self-practice. I loved the Hot Yoga experience so much, that I decided to do their Yoga Teacher Training 200hr programme which I completed in January 2010.
I then set out on the first phase of my yoga teaching journey, teaching two classes a week for 6 months. Life then got in the way, and I put my yoga teaching on hold for a short time whilst I was setting up another business. That short time lasted 12 years!
The final key influence in my yoga journey was when I moved to the Ashdown Forest and found Yard Yoga studio. Two key teachers there; Sarah Campbell-Lloyd and Sarah Alice Lee, both greatly inspired me with their teaching. And when I had the opportunity to let go of the business that had taken me away from my yoga teaching 12 years ago, I signed up for Yard Yoga’s Teacher Training in 2022.
My yoga journey is now in it’s next exciting phase as I get to focus on teaching yoga and hopefully inspiring others to fall in love with yoga and to make it part of their lives.