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I first discovered Yoga in 1999 after starting a new secondary school teaching job that was incredibly stressful and involved an equally stressful drive across London.  The class was an Iyengar class and I’d often arrive home from work feeling too tired to go the class but pushed myself to make it. After a few weeks I soon discovered that the tiredness and headaches I often had at the end of the day had disappeared by the time I got home from the class and I felt reenergised. 

 

I’m not super flexible and previously didn’t do much exercise other than swimming so many yoga postures have not come easily to me. However, through practice things improve and I believe strongly that yoga can benefit everyone, regardless of their physical background. After regular yoga practice I began to feel many positive changes, not only in terms of strength and flexibility but also general wellbeing.

 

Over the years I have come to realise that yoga is not just about what you do on your mat (and that you don’t even need a mat to do yoga) but it’s about how it makes you feel and about how we respond to the world in which we live. I also realise how important the breath is and how yoga and breath awareness can help us deal with challenging everyday situations.

 

It was after attending Baby Yoga sessions with my son and being unable to find sessions for toddlers and children that I decided to begin my yoga teacher training journey. Initially with a BWY Foundation course and then moving on to train to teach yoga to children, mums and babies, teenagers and then onto adult yoga teacher training.​

 

I qualified as a Hatha Yoga Teacher in 2017 from Yoga Campus where I studied for 18 months on their 200 hour Teacher Training Diploma The training with a range of teachers including Sarah Litton, Catriona Brokenshire & Liz Lark gave me a full grounding in all aspects of yoga as well as encouraging my own personal teaching style.

 

Since the beginning of 2020 I have been studying with Charlotte Watts who incorporates elements of Somatics into her teaching.  I have completed the Yoga & Somatics for Health and Recovery course and am currently completing the Somatics for Yoga Teachers course. I also used the lockdown period to complete a Yoga Nidra course with Jenny Wadsten & Melanie Cooper and a Trauma Sensitive training for yoga teachers with Trauma Therapy Manchester. I have continued training in trauma and in October 2022 became an accredited Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher following a 100 hour training course with Trauma Therapy Manchester.

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I am also fully qualified to teach Yoga to Children and Teens having trained with the Special Yoga Centre and Teen Yoga and have been teaching classes to children and teenagers for over ten years. As a part-time secondary school teacher I am well aware of the stresses facing students (and staff) and frequently bring yoga and mindfulness techniques into my lessons as well as running Chill Skills sessions in schools.

 

Other sessions for teens and children include:

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• Regular sessions for the Connections Bus Project/Histon & Impington Parish Council

• Family Yoga sessions

• Sessions for Year 11 at Impington Village College for exam preparation

•  Sessions at Hills Road Sixth Form College as part of Wellbeing weeks. 

• Sessions for youth groups and Girlguiding organisation

• Sessions at a local unit for young people (aged 13-18) with mental health difficulties.

 

Current teaching

 

I have been teaching adult Yoga classes in and around Cambridge since 2017, mainly at Histon & Impington Recreation Ground and for Impington Village College Adult Education department. Many classes continue to run online  - the advantages of this being you can join wherever you are and you don't have to make the journey home afterwards!

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Qualifications

 

I am fully insured, have full DBS clearance and up-to-date First Aid & Safeguarding certificates.

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Special Yoga Centre –Teaching Yoga to Children (Special Yoga, Jo Manuel) –2008

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Early Years Yoga (Yoga Campus, Uma Dinsmore-Tuli) - 2009

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Teen Yoga & Mindfulness (TeenYoga, Charlotta Martinus) – 2015

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Special Yoga Centre – Special Yoga for Children with Dyslexia & Dyspraxia (Special Yoga, Jo Manuel) – 2015

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Yoga Campus Teacher Training Diploma – 200 hour – 2017

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Relax & Renew Level 1 (Judith Hanson Lasater, Restorative Yoga) – 2017

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Exploring the Technology of Yoga for Optimal Well-being (Yoga Campus, Dr Alv Kumar ) – 2019

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Yoga & Somatics for Health & Recovery: Moving Beyond Stress, Trauma, Burnout, Anxiety, Fatigue and Post-Illness through Embodied Awareness (Charlotte Watts) – 2020

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8 week course in Mindfulness for Life - Simply Mindfulness 2020

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Yoga Nidra (The Shala & Yoga Treat, Melanie Cooper & Jennie Wadsten) – 2020

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TISUK Return to School Training - Trauma Informed Schools 2020

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Trauma Sensitive Yoga Training - Trauma Therapy Manchester - 2020

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Somatics for Yoga Teachers – Charlotte Watts - Ongoing

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Accredited Trauma Informed Yoga Teacher - Trauma Therapy Manchester (2022)

 

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