I’m an experienced trainer/facilitator, and a qualified yoga teacher, mindfulness and nature-based practice guide. I teach in the workplace and for the NHS, charities and community groups as well as public classes, in parks and outdoor settings, indoors and online. I specialise in stress relief, mindful awareness and strengthening our connection with ourselves, each other and the wider natural world.
My own journey: It was during a period of stress in my life that I realised for myself the deep and lasting benefits of yoga. Understanding more about how yoga works on the body, mind and nervous system helped me become more connected with my own body and calm my mind.
From there I was inspired to train as a yoga teacher through researching its effectiveness for stress and anxiety relief and for alleviating trauma. I trained and qualified as a teacher with Yoga Campus in London after practising yoga for 25 years.
Having worked for many years with refugees in the Middle East, I now work with refugee and migrant organizations as well as frontline staff and managers in stressful situations, providing trauma-informed yoga and stress relief classes for staff, volunteers and/or clients.
I love to deliver yoga, mindfulness and nature connection in outdoor community settings, especially, multiplying the benefits through being in nature.
I have delivered yoga to residents in NHS mental health units and also bring my specialist knowledge to yoga studios and online teaching.
I draw on the Buddhist tradition of mindfulness in all my teaching and teach on yoga and mindfulness retreats with the London Buddhist Centre.
Specialist trainings include yoga for stress and anxiety relief, restorative yoga and breathing, chair yoga, and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR).
I’m passionate about making yoga inclusive so that everyone can feel comfortable - from those experiencing mental health issues to busy working parents, older people and carers.
I have a professional background in training and facilitation, have worked as a journalist, in international aid and in community development and regeneration in East London.
I’m a people-person, warm, friendly and curious about everyone and everything, with a wealth of life experience behind my teaching. I love learning and haven’t look back since discovering how much more there is to yoga than physical exercise.
“Your care for our clients’ well being and your compassion shines through and you always manage to bring a light touch, a sense of fun to our weekly sessions”
- Mitchell Osbourne, Occupational Therapist, NHS
Participatory Training, Facilitation and Events
Building on my extensive previous experience in participatory training, facilitation services and event design, I also offer workshops and away days to support organizations and communities to learn, vision and plan together.
I specialise in large group enquiry methods and also action learning sets and in this strand of my work I integrate embodied practices with group work and creative tools for sharing collective intelligence.
Clients have included University of Oxford, Department for International Development, Department of Economics and The Refugees Studies Centre, Save the Children (UK) , The Department of Works and Pensions, Friends of the Earth, Oxford City Council Energy and Climate Change team, architects practices and legal firms, as well as grassroots organisations such as climate change networks and farmers markets,
Gratitude to the yoga teachers and facilitators I have learnt so much from:
Isabell Britsch
Norman Blair
Danayutta
Judith Lasater
Maitrisara
Di Bligh
Partners:
The Yoga for Life Project
The Peaceful Way, with Farah Dibah
Brockwell Park Community Greenhouses
Spitalfields City Farm
With warm thanks to Pasco of Pasco Photography and Gig Funding for his fabulous yoga photos.
Training and qualifications
*Yoga Campus qualified teacher (Yoga Alliance 200 hrs) with 320 hours core study followed by various specialist trainings, including yoga for anxiety, stress and depression. My dissertation focused on yoga for stress, anxiety and trauma relief.
Trauma-Sensitive Yoga Foundation Workshop (3 days) with The Yoga Clinic covering core concepts and applications of David Emerson's highly regarded intervention for Complex Trauma - ‘Trauma Centre Trauma Sensitive Yoga’ (TCTSY) for yoga teachers and clinicians
Yoga for Anxiety with Dr Lisa Kaley Isley, Yoga Campus, 1 day
‘Healing Traumatic Stress: Helping Mind, Brain and Body to Let Go of the Past’. 2 day seminar with Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, London.
Restorative Yoga and Pranayama with Judith Lasater, Yoga Campus, 5 days
Chair Yoga with Dina Cohen, 0.5 day
Adjustments, Norman Blair and Melanie Cooper, I day
Current First Aid Certificate and DBS check
Accredited Action Learning Set facilitator
Large Group Participatory Methods including Open Space, World Cafe, Appreciative Inquiry
Post graduate Certificate in Journalism, London College of Printing
TEFL from International House London
BA degree, English Literature, University of Cambridge