I’ve been practising yoga asana for 18 years (not counting the Christie Brinkley shoulder stands I copied from a library book when I was a tween) and teaching for eight.
I do not practise or teach in a defined yoga “method” or “tradition”.
I am continuously reading, studying and thinking yoga, whilst living, working and parenting as a householder in daily life.
I seek to develop wisdom through hatha yoga asana and mindfulness practices. Combined with study into women’s health, psychology and ecology. And through reflecting on my parenting!
I seek to apply what I find beneficial, to myself, others and the planet, with love. That’s my yoga.
What got me here?
My practice is heavily influenced by the Krishnamacharya lineage.
1997 was my first yoga class in Iyengar yoga.
Soon after, I established a home based Iyengar practice.
Teaching myself from a book.
I discovered the sustaining power of just turning up on my mat.
I began a journey of growing awareness into body and mind.
In 1999 I received instruction and a blessing from a revered Brahmin Scholar of Sanskrit (Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi India) who said “you must share throughout the Western world your understanding of how to approach life and daily living”. Who me? “Yes! … you already have what so many people in the West come here searching for … you can show them …”.
EEEEEK! that is so much bigger than I realised at the time! A story for another day… but the seed that led to my being a yoga teacher.
Until 2009 I intensively studied either Iyengar, Ashtanga Vinyasa or Sivananda yoga, in NZ, Australia, the UK and India.
I adapted my Iyengar practice for two pregnancies.
I created a postpartum programme based on the instinctual movement patterns I learned from my babies.
Living at the Vendanta Dhanwantari Ashram in Kerala, in early 2000, I studied Aryuveda, an holistic health science that is valuable in informing individually tailored yoga practices .
Since 2001 I have – whenever I’m able – been attending yoga intensives with my teacher Donna Farhi. In 2005, one of these five day intensives exploring “moving from within” marked a significant turning point in my yoga practice and approach.
I have undertaken formal study with the International Yoga Teachers’ Association NZ, and am certified to teach children through Radiant Child Yoga (a Kundalini Yoga based programme).
You can read more about why I teach here.
I am in a continuous journey of open minded and open hearted discovery …