All photography provided by Cecilia Cristolovean
I started doing yoga in 2000, just before I left school. It wasn’t an immediate love; I thought it was a little weird and found the flows hard to follow, but I liked the physical release and mental freedom I experienced post class…and I just kept going
my yoga story
I had practiced yoga for over 10 years before I took my RYT 200 hour course under the guidance of Jacqueline Chiodo in Costa Rica in 2012, and followed with a further 300 hour training in Bali in 2016. I have been teaching full time in London since 2012, until the 2020 pandemic when I started taking the classes online.
Coming out the other side of drama school, reluctantly having to do jobs unrelated to acting led to the idea of turning a now devoted yoga practice into teaching. In a world of uncertainty where we have no control over what life is going to throw at us, yoga has quietly given me the tools to get through so many different and difficult episodes in my life. It has also helped prevent injuries. I am extremely active; I run, bike and lift weights most days, and I know my yoga practice has helped keep me physically safe as well as mentally. In my public classes I teach a strong, dynamic flow with lots of arm balances and options to explore. That said, I always include many variations to make things either easier or more intense so everyone feels welcome in the practice, be it beginner or seasoned yogi. With my private clients I adapt to each student and very often teach a much calmer Hatha practice than the fiery public classes. Whilst I teach a primarily physical flow, it is the mental benefits the students respond to far more than the physical (asana) element. My aim in classes is to allow students to focus so much on their breath and flow that afterwards the mind is clearer to focus on the day (and life) ahead.
In every class, be it strong and fiery or soft and mellow, the breath is the most important part and where I lead from.
I am a strong advocate for safe alignment in yoga and continually update my training and studies with courses to back that up, but I also firmly believe every single body is different and should be treated as such. Our idiosyncrasies in our bodies and character are what provide our identities: it is not a case of one shoe fits all.
“Yoga does not transform the way we see things, it transforms the person who sees”