Our Teachers
We are committed to broadening the diversity of yoga teachers to reflect the community we serve and welcome Global Majority teachers, disabled and LGBTQ+ teachers to apply to become part of our teaching community. We also run a teacher training programme for Global Majority yoga students to become teachers. If you are interested pls contact info@theyogaforlifeproject.co.uk
AMANDA WRIGHT
Amanda came to yoga in 2001 after being involved in a serious motorbike accident, she had been suffering from whiplash, a brain injury and other side effects for 2 years. Her first yoga class was an amazing experience and helped ease her injuries and has been practicing yoga ever since. When she asked about yoga teacher training her teacher suggested she did her ITEC Massage Diploma first which she did and passed, so she then continued onto do her teacher training.
Amanda is authorised to teach through and is registered with Yoga Alliance. She did a 200-hour Yoga Alliance teacher training in 2004 and a 300 hour in 2005 both with Yoga Arts, although it was not until a Yoga teacher training with Sarah Powers in 2006 that Amanda felt ready to teach. Amanda is an enthusiastic and devoted yoga practitioner and an experienced and qualified teacher.
She loves to teach bringing a lightness to her classes, making them an enjoyable but learned experience. Her study is ongoing, she partakes in at least one residential Yoga or Meditation retreat a year and continues to further her own knowledge and study of yoga with teachers of various traditions as well as having a self-practice. Amanda is drawn to teachers that have trained in Psychology, as well as in Yoga and Buddhism.
Amanda is training to become a mentor for Sarah and Ty Powers Insight Yoga Institute which including doing the Hoffman Process in November 2019 and having mentoring sessions with her teachers.
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​Amanda taught a gentle yoga class as a volunteer for 10 years at INUF a community based mental health charity based in Stratford. Teaching people with various mental health issues including drug psychosis, anxiety and OCD. The class allowed people to explore coming into their bodies through movement and the breath.
AMY DICKSON
Amy Dickson is a yoga teacher specialising in Yoga for Back Care. Amy has scoliosis and underwent spinal surgery as a teenager. She originally turned to yoga to manage the chronic pain associated with the condition. In additional to the physical benefits, she found that her daily practice had a profound effect on her emotional wellbeing and her acceptance of her body and her condition. She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and has been studying Yoga for Back Care with her mentor Adelene Cheong for over 10 years. Amy completed her teacher training with the prestigious Yoga Campus (Yoga Alliance and International Yoga Network.) She holds additional certification in Restorative yoga (Relax and Restore Teacher Training Level 1), Yoga for Scoliosis (Yoga for Scoliosis Fundamentals for Teachers) and Teaching Yoga and Mindfulness for Children (Special Yoga, Yoga Alliance, British Wheel of Yoga.) In addition to Yoga for Backcare, she also teaches Hatha Yoga, Gentle Flow, Restorative Yoga and Yoga for Children. Amy’s teaching draws on movement modalities beyond yoga and is based in a somatic approach, taking her students into their bodies and inviting them to explore asana organically in a way that is appropriate to them. In this way she supports her students in a fostering of body and postural awareness that extends beyond the yoga mat, to support them in their day to day lives.
ANNA ROOTES
Anna is a creative and soulful yoga teacher. She is passionate about working with the therapeutic and healing powers of yoga and draws on Mindfulness and her background as an Art Psychotherapist to encourage students to release mental and physical tension, feel present and grounded. Anna has worked in the NHS and Community settings for the past 10 years as a Psychotherapist, Mindfulness Teacher and Community artist. She has extensive experience working with both children and adults supporting both acute and complex mental health issues. Most recently her work has been with young offenders in custodial settings. She believes that through creating a safe space for learning and exploration and meeting ourselves where we are, we can experience meaningful and powerful shifts in mind, body and spirit, on and off the yoga mat.
Anna’s background as an artist informs her yoga teaching and you can expect creative and attuned sequences. Anna’s practice is all about encouraging students to bring and work with all parts of themselves, the parts that feel easier and more spacious as well as those that perhaps feel more uncomfortable and stuck. Anna uses the platform of yoga to help people, herself included, reconnect back to their bodies, to the ability to play, express and so heal.
CHANTELL DOUGLAS
As a yoga teacher, psychologist and in her daily life, Chantell likes to operate from a place of compassion. Since finding yoga over 10 years ago, she was drawn to develop a deeper understanding and to teach. She completed her first teacher training in mindful hatha yoga in 2015 (a practice that incorporated yoga and mindfulness-based stress reduction techniques). She has completed further training in mindfulness-based approaches and meditation, vinyasa yoga, transformational yoga, and yoga for children in India, the UK and other parts of the world.
Chantell is also a clinical psychologist and has worked in the NHS for over 10 years. Chantell has specialist training in the vast range of emotional challenges that come up as a part of life. She is passionate about the psychological benefits of yoga and aims to incorporate these into her classes, believing it offers tools that we can bring into our daily lives to promote wellbeing. She hopes to make yoga and mindfulness more accessible for all. Chantell has taught yoga and offers a weekly mindfulness session to NHS staff. Yoga is huge part of her own self-care too.
In her classes, Chantell will guide you through a breath led flow, with poses, breath work, mindfulness, meditation and psychology ideas specifically to support wellbeing. Encouraging us to be with our experiences, as they are, whatever they are. Guided by her gentle and heart-centred approach, she aims to create nurturing and inclusive spaces for self-exploration, strengthening and self-care - on and off the mat.
CLAIRE WHALLEY
Claire has been practising yoga for 30 years and trained as a Yoga Alliance accredited teacher at Yoga Campus. Her classes serve as an inspiration and support for life. With an interest in the therapeutic qualities of yoga, she has done a number of additional accredited trainings including yoga for palliative care, for digestive health, for anxiety, for emotional trauma & eating disorders, for insomnia, for post-natal recovery, the peri menopause and the menopause, working with cancer and Yoga4Health College of Medicine accredited training, teaching yoga in the NHS. She has done over 500 hours of training.
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She taught group yoga and mindfulness classes at one of London’s oldest yoga studios, Yoga Place and the Life Centre in Islington and community classes in Oxford House in Bethnal Green and currently teaches in Finsbury Park and at the West Reservoir, Stoke Newington https://www.better.org.uk/leisure-centre/london/hackney/west-reservoir-centre/timetable
She also works one-to-one with a range of students with conditions including Long Covid, ME, stress, anxiety, cardiovascular, chronic back pain, cancer, the menopause, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, and uses the therapeutic benefits of yoga for people at the end of life and in palliative care.
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Her teaching is based in the hatha yoga tradition but she also incorporates into her classes other yoga teachings she has found inspiring. Her restorative yoga is especially designed to relieve stress and anxiety. The poses go deep and leave the student feeling relaxed and revitalized. She runs intensive therapeutic retreats in this country and abroad. She has trained with world renowned teachers including Jessica Magnin, Sianna Sherman, Rod Stryker, Graham Burns, Suzanne Lahusen, Max Strom, J Brown, Doug Keller, Lisa Kaley Isley, Uma Dunsmore Tuli, Lisa Sanfilippo, Tarik Dervish, Charlotta Martinus and Jude Murray. She also has a Teen Yoga teaching qualification.
Claire has been instrumental in setting up the fully funded Revival Teacher Training Programme for 18-30 year old Black and Asian students so they can take the health benefits of yoga back into their communities.
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She is passionate about bringing the mental & physical health benefits of yoga to a wider and more diverse community and supporting the work of the NHS with yoga.
DANA KEEGAN
My name is Dana Keegan and I have been practicing yoga for over 15 years, and I began teaching in 2012, and currently hold E-RYT 200, RYT 500 and YACEP certifications. I've been in recovery since 1995, I hold space for Y12SR (Yoga and 12 Step Recovery), and have learned through my own practice and experience how powerful yoga can be to create a HAPPY, JOYFUL and FREE way to be.
I believe how we show up in our lives creates a ripple effect in the world around us, and I am excited to share JOYFUL ENERGY YOGA to help you achieve deeper levels of serenity, peace and JOY in your physical, emotional and spiritual bodies! With much love and gratitude, I hope to meet you on your mat soon!
EMMA MALTBY
Emma is a qualified yoga teacher and yoga 12 step recovery leader based in Italy. She has been offering classes online with TYFLP from the start; until now specifically aimed at the LGBTQ+ community and beginners building strength.
On her own addiction recovery journey with a 12step program, she has found the combination of yoga and a meeting a source of great comfort, healing and fellowship: time to listen and share; followed by time to release whatever has come up using movement and breath. A physical, mental and spiritual practice of deepening awareness and embodying the programme.
She offers this class to anyone dealing with addiction or those affected by the addiction of others. All levels of experience in yoga and / or recovery welcome.
FIZZ YASIN
Fizz is a Specialist Yoga Teacher registered with Yoga Alliance UK, a Registered Associate Nutritionist and a Podcast Host of the 'Find Your Fizz' Podcast. She has been teaching across public and healthcare settings, to a variety of people for 3+ years now.
She teaches Vinyasa Flow, Chair Based, Yoga for Cancer, Adaptive Yoga, Yoga for Cardiac Conditions, Yoga for Sleep Recovery and Insomnia, Ayurvedic Yoga, Yoga for Mental Health and Kids Yoga. She also teaches transformational mindfulness and meditation practices.
Fizz was born with a rare form of congenital heart disease, which meant she had numerous heart surgeries growing up. In her early teens, she was encouraged to try yoga as a coping mechanism living with this chronic condition. She was told by her cardiologist that she had to find a way to learn to breathe and support her heart. She discovered Yoga was not only a rehabilitation tool for her heart, but also after a childhood of heart surgeries, she found it helped her scoliosis. Yoga has helped her deal with the pain. Essentially, yoga helped her rediscover her self-worth and self-love again and Ayurveda (the sister science to yoga) became her way of life allowing her to rediscover the meaning of life again.
By integrating body, breath, movement, and meditative awareness, she promotes awareness of the interdependency of all these aspects in personal health and wellbeing.
Fizz's classes are a powerful combination that forms a deeper journey within.
HIMARSHA VENKATSAMY
Himarsha has a colourful and diverse background that has allowed her to pull from different fields and culminate in an integrative holistic approach. Her many years of study in Physiotherapy has given her a strong foundation and knowledge of the body and internal systems. Working in Government and Public Hospitals had allowed her to support diverse communities and people from all walks of life.
Soon after completing her BSc Physiotherapy degree in South Africa she was scouted and travelled to India to pursue a career as a professional Model and Actress in Bollywood. She lived in Mumbai for 10 years having a successful career whilst trying to overcome the stresses and strains of the entertainment industry and battling the negative impact it had on her own mental health. She learned more about her own health and well-being through Yoga which has been the tool that she has used to treat the insomnia and manage the anxiety which she had suffered with for many years.
Himarsha practiced for 5 years before she qualified as a yoga teacher completing her YTC 200 hour in India. She headed to Hong Kong for 2 years where her interest in Buddhist meditation and mindfulness practice was sparked. She finally put roots down in the United Kingdom where she is currently working within the NHS providing community based physical rehabilitation therapy to service users while teaching Yoga within the NHS as well as in the private sector.
She has championed Mental Health initiatives and is trained as a Mental Health First Aider. She believes that Yoga should be accessible to all and believes in its value for physical and mental health and well- being. She feels that through knowledge of our bodies and minds we can be empowered to heal ourselves.
JACKIE HAYFIELD
Jackie has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. She is a CNHC registered Yoga Therapist, Meditation Teacher, and Assistant Tutor on the Real Yoga Post Graduate Yoga Therapy Course.
She has a particular interest in supporting those with Chronic conditions, including Cancer, MS, and Fibromyalgia. She has worked with people with Fibromyalgia for many years in small therapeutic groups as well as 1to1 yoga therapy. She provides yoga classes through a local branch of the MS Society, and to those with cancer and their carers through the Wessex Cancer Trust. During the summer months she offers outdoor yoga classes in the award-winning Knoll Gardens.
Jackie lives in Ringwood on the edge of the New Forest, where she also offers small group yoga classes, meditation courses, and 1to1 yoga therapy.
She is a cancer survivor who loves life, walking, nature, and gardening.
JULIA CAIRD
Julia has been practicing yoga and meditation for over a decade and has been teaching yoga for 5 years, after training with her teacher Norman Blair in 2015 (300 hours). She went on to complete further training with Yoga Campus, qualifying as an Accredited Yoga Therapist in 2020 (550 hours), supervised by Lisa Kayley-Isley. She currently works part time in the NHS as a Highly Specialist Speech & Language Therapist, and the rest of the time teaches yoga. She is particularly interested in the therapeutic application of yoga for reducing suffering and pain and increasing wellbeing, purpose and peace in life. She runs Yoga Therapy Groups for women to support womb and hormonal health called 'Wild Wombs'. She teaches open-level, accessible yoga in studios in East London, and has been teaching Yoga weekly in a school in Newham to children with Special Needs for 4 years. Julia teaches gentle, soothing yoga to allow the body to process life, calm the nervous system, and support deep rest. Her teaching does not separate the mind from the body, providing tools to work with both. She has found yoga very healing in her own personal journey, and this provides her with passion to share these practices.
LYNNE GRAY
Lynne has been practicing yoga for more than 20 years. After a trip to India two years ago, she decided to train as a yoga teacher and is currently finishing her 16 month training at Yoga Campus.
She qualified as a State Registered Nurse on leaving school and worked as a nurse in both Scotland and the USA. Lynne then retrained and spent many years working in the City of London in senior roles in Marketing and Communications before moving to the Alzheimer’s Society. Lynne has always been interested in health and wellbeing and has managed stress throughout her life with a combination of exercise and yoga.
Lynne is passionate about using Yoga to transform our lives; to bring more balance and to focus on what is important to bring more meaning to our lives.
LAURA COX
Laura practiced yoga intermittently during her teens and early twenties, before developing a dedicated practice in her late twenties. Laura qualified as a yoga teacher with Yogacampus almost ten years ago. An eternal student, Laura regularly attends teacher training intensives, fostering her particular interest in vinyasa, meditation and yoga nidra. Laura follows the ISHTA tradition, with a daily meditation practice.
Yoga has helped Laura to navigate times of ill health, related to body image, along with pre and post natal anxiety. Ultimately yoga has supported Laura in finding acceptance and peace. Laura is also a landscape architect and she strongly advocates the benefits of access to the natural environment on health and wellbeing.
LAUREN DUTTON
Lauren has a special interest in yoga for psychological wellbeing and respiratory health. She first came to the practice over 15 years ago but it wasn’t until later when the breakdown of a long-term and unhealthy relationship left her feeling lost, anxious and with self-esteem at rock bottom that she realised yoga is so much more than a form of exercise. To her surprise she found relief in breath-work and meditation practices, experiencing the profound power of breath and mindful awareness, to regulate the nervous system and positively shift internal state. She found these practices were the key not just to healing her losses, but of relieving the anxiety, sense of fear and self-criticism which had troubled her throughout life.
These transformative effects inspired her to learn how and why the practices work within the body and mind and to train to teach yoga and breath-work. She loves to share what she considers to be essential life tools for managing life’s challenges, teaching therapeutic breathing, meditation, yin yoga and mindful movement, one to one and in workshops, courses and small group classes. Her approach is heart led and creative, but supported by the latest scientific research.
She is trained in Vinyasa Yoga and Yin Yoga and has completed further training in Yoga Therapy and Mindfulness for Anxiety and Yoga Therapy of Breathing and Breath Assessments with The Minded Institute. She has also studied breath-work and pranayama to support a range of health conditions including, stress and anxiety, long COVID, asthma and sleep problems.
LEAH BARNETT
Leah has been teaching yoga for over 15 years, since qualifying with the ‘Inner Yoga Trust’ in 2002. She then specialised in teaching children with special needs after taking the ‘Yoga for the Special Child’ training. More recently Leah trained in the Krishnamacharya tradition qualifying as an advanced BWY yoga teacher and now works mainly on a one to one basis with adults affected by chronic illness including ME/chronic & post viral fatigue, fibromyalgia, cancer etc. She worked for Ourmala for many years providing a yoga service to refugees and asylum seekers. Leah also teaches regular retreats for those with ME/chronic fatigue and other chronic health issues.
Her teaching style is very student centered with the focus being on breath and feeling into the sensory experience of movement and stillness. She has an interest in somatics, authentic movement and feldenkrais weaving these appraches into her teaching. Her classes are very inclusive and deeply restorative. Leah also teaches teaher training courses for Yoga Campus focussing on teaching those with stress, burn-out & fatigue conditions.
Prior to qualifying as a yoga teacher, Leah was a human rights lawyer working in the fields of asylum and human rights and delivered training for new recruits on relevant law and procedure.
LELLY ALDWORTH
Lelly grew up around her mum practicing yoga so it felt like a normal householder thing to do.
She has been teaching yoga for 20yrs and practicing for many more. Initially training in India at the Sivanada ashram in Kerala she then went on to explore trainings in Godfrey Devereux’s Dynamic Yoga & Sarah Powers’ Yin Yang yoga. Currently studying AcuYin Yoga with Jo Phee & Adaptive yoga with Matthew Sanford as well as Somatic movements to upgrade the ways we use our nervous system.
Lelly lives & teaches in Spain where she has led local classes and retreats for the past 15yrs. She has taught yoga & meditation at a 12 step Rehab for Addiction and now teaches classes & 1:1’s online. She is interested in the intersectionality between yoga , nutrition, hormones, mental health, diversity, trauma & natures rhythms.
Her passion in her yoga practice & teaching changes over time; often we teach what we need to learn. Currently it is how embodiment, occupancy , presence & deepening our listening skills can help us keep it real, intuitive, congruent & kind so that it serves us off the mat as we step into the messy yet mysterious business of being human!
Lelly habla español !
LOREN JENKINS
I found and tried Yoga in my twenties, a time that I was more interested in partying, martial arts and making money. My thirties saw me with many ongoing commercial projects, traveling the world and trying to juggle these trappings with a young family. When life went into reverse, I hit rock bottom losing everything (nearly).
Little did I know at the time that this was to be a blessing in disguise, looking to find balance I tried Yoga again, although some may say that this time it found me.
In my forties, my interest grew as I started to understand how the many facets of Yoga could help me physically, physiologically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually to deal with life's little and big 'opportunities' to learn and grow.
I am open to explore all aspects, underpinned by Hatha Yoga from a physical perspective and as my fifties unfold, I have a deepening and developing interest and modest understanding of Raja Yoga and the teachings of Buddha, Patanjali and T.Krishnamacharya, all of which lead to my child like wonder at, Yoga being the absolute science.
I know from personal experience that Yoga can help us to overcome life’s obstacles, on all levels, to benefit individuals and communities alike. I also know that with a little regular practise we can learn, grow and thrive positively…
I am grateful for the encouragement to explore teaching by one of my early teachers. I am pleased and ever grateful to have trained with YogaCampus and their renowned teaching alumni. I am happy and grateful for the continued support and opportunity to learn, share and teach in Portugal. I am greatly humbled and respectful of the Yoga Traditions, Lineage and sacrifice of the Guru’s and my ongoing learning with Traditional Yoga of India.
I look forward to sharing what I continue to learn with you to the best of my ability
LOUISE DENINGTON
Louise has been a student of yoga for 15 years. It was while living in lndia (2012 - 2016) though, that she felt a really strong connection to yoga and its roots and developed a regular practice. Louise studied mainly under the guidance of Deepika Mehta. They met after she'd suffered a broken kneecap and torn quadricep tendon in a crash. As yoga had played a huge role in Deepika's own recovery from a rock-climbing accident, she was able to give Louise hope and a sense of power in her own healing. She taught the traditional Ashtanga method, and her love for this method took Louise to Mysore to study with Sharath Jois at KPJAYI (K. Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute). In 2016, she went on to do her Yoga Teacher Training with Heather Elton in Goa and is certified by Yoga Alliance. Since being back in London Louise has been teaching part time and also assisted Heather Elton with her London Teacher Training Courses in 2016 and 2017. Her vinyasa flow classes draw from Ashtanga techniques. Until January 2020 her full-time work was in Interior Design, however her focus has now come back to yoga and its therapeutic benefits.
Louise is part way through specialist training to be able to teach yoga to people with cancer, run by Yoga Campus and certified by Yoga Alliance UK, which will complete in May 2020. This in-depth training from Jude Murray, Richard Harding, and Sue Skelton, is an exploration of how yoga can positively impact the physical effects of cancer and its treatment, and also how to address the energetic, mental, emotional, and spiritual components of a cancer diagnosis. The course is extremely inspiring, and Louise feels encouraged, motivated, and determined to use these learnings to help people living with cancer, and also other long-term and life-limiting conditions.
For Louise, yoga is not just about the physical asana practice, but more a way of life and a method to live and interact with the environment, people around you, and yourself, with more compassion, integrity, and awareness. Yoga is a practice of introspection that cultivates a deep mind body connection, and in turn helps us regulate our nervous systems. It’s these aspects of yoga that Louise feels are truly beneficial, especially for people living hectic lives in cities like London. She is also an advocate for mental health awareness and has seen how yoga can play a large role in improving mental health and reducing symptoms of stress, anxiety, and even conditions such as PTSD.
Louise has found yoga and its teachings transformative both on and off the mat and hopes to share this with others.
MANDY NORMAN
I always loved how yoga made me feel and was curious to understand why. So, in October 2016, after seven years of practise, I completed my Yoga Foundation Course with the British Wheel of Yoga and in 2018 started my 200hr Teacher training course with Dru.
Dru is a therapeutic and accessible form of yoga, focussed on spinal health and core stability, using soft flowing movements and affirmations, all synchronised with the breath.
In January 2021 I was due to take my final teaching exam but was unable to do so due to Long-Covid. After two and a half years I made a full recovery, gaining my teaching qualification in the summer of 2023 and becoming a certified Calm and Relaxation coach in March 2024.
Long-Covid was my biggest teacher. It made me truly experience and understand the magic of yoga. The importance of self-awareness and mindfulness, visualisations when my body said ‘no’, the power of the breath, stillness and just ‘being’. Yoga helped me to feel safe in my own body and allowed me to build movement gradually and with confidence.
During my recovery I was introduced to the Yoga For Life Project. My weekly class was a time for connection with other long-haulers and a safe space to chat and feel nurtured. A place where we all felt held and heard. This is something I hope to bring to my teaching too.
In my other life I design children’s books, and before yoga, I also taught cycling for six years to people with physical and learning disabilities.
My teaching style is fun, gentle and accessible for everybody.
MARLÈNE HIESTAND
Marlène has always loved sport and felt a connection between exercise and wellbeing. That in all likelihood is why she studied physiotherapy. She worked in the orthopedic and cardio-vascular fields too but her main field was always the neurologic one. She treated patients with Parkinson, MS, Stroke and other diseases, until she decided to travel to Latin America in 2019.
She has been practicing yoga and meditation privately since she was a teenager, but during her aforementioned journey the universe brought her to train as a yoga teacher herself. During this training she learned a lot about the classical Hatha yoga as well as the "Kankueb" yoga of the Mayas and the human body. This is when she noticed the parallels between yoga and physiotherapy.
Using both fields, i.e. yoga and physiotherapy, she would like to teach people how to reduce their symptoms and to feel more comfortable in their bodies through movement, breathing, relaxation, body awareness and self-care.
Marlène believes that on some levels yoga goes deeper than physiotherapy but with her knowledge, experience and qualification in physiotherapy, she is well able to adapt yoga to any situation. Her passion is to help others discover this additional path to wellness and comfort in their bodies with adapted exercises in respect of their illness or complaints.
NANCY STEVENSON
I am a member of the Independent Yoga Network and teach a mix of Hatha, Integral Yoga and Gentle Yoga I have practiced yoga for 23 years and have extensive and varied experiences of teaching yoga, body conditioning, circuits and weights in Colleges, Community Centres and for the NHS . I provide classes that cater for people of all ages, fitness levels and with varied flexibilities and have experience of teaching people with cancer and chronic health conditions.
NAOMI MIDDLETON
Naomi started practicing yoga and mindfulness in 2012 when she was part-way through a doctorate. She credits yoga for helping her to stay grounded and healthy during that stressful period! Naomi works as a Clinical Psychologist & Yoga Teacher. She works part-time teaching yoga and part-time in the NHS in gastroenterology and pelvic floor health. She has over 10 years experience in mental health and over 5 years teaching Yoga.
Naomi is trained in vinyasa, yin, pre and post natal and restorative yoga. She specialises in teaching mindfulness based classes that support mental health. Her classes focus on bringing gentle awareness to the mind and body. Mindfulness helps people to be an observer of their experience, which can have huge benefits for emotional and physical health. Naomi is passionate about the application of yoga for supporting psychological health, particularly in the context of physical illness.
As a Clinical Psychologist, Naomi has specialised in supporting psychological health for people with chronic and long-term physical illness. She has experience with depression, anxiety, stress management, eating behaviour, body image, IBS, pelvic floor problems, incontinence, kidney disease, skin disorders and chronic pain conditions.
Yoga has taught Naomi to reconnect to her body, to trust in its wisdom and be guided by it in her daily life. She recently had a daughter and believes that her yoga & mindfulness practice kept her grounded during pregnancy, birth and now supports her as she navigates the constantly changing role of being a mother.
NANCY PIEPER
Nancy B. Pieper, RYT200 completed her Certification as a Y12SR space holder in 2020. Nancy and her husband live in Brookville, Indiana. As a Clinical Social Worker and Clinical Addictions Counselor in a rural healthcare setting, Nancy has a passion for bringing yoga to all in recovery. In addition to bringing yoga into her clinical practice, Nancy holds space at 1Voice in Aurora, Indiana, a grassroots nonprofit organization dedicated to providing education, peer support services, and a safe and supportive recovery community in Southeastern Indiana.
NATHALIA/NARAYANI
Narayani has been teaching yoga for almost 20 years. Her approach focuses on helping students find ease in their bodies, peace in their minds and inner strength, authenticity and contentment in their lives.
Narayani came to yoga therapy after injuries and a back herniation left her wondering if her yoga days were over. Since that time, she has taught around the world including in countries recovering from war or conflict and in which anxiety, stress and trauma are common. She deeply understands the challenges life can bring.
Narayani’s teaching is rooted in Integral Yoga, a holistic approach including hatha, breathwork, meditation, chanting and an approach to life, health and wellbeing. Her teaching brings Yoga into daily life and the world we live in. Respecting different faiths, Narayani has taught students with devout religious beliefs. She brings to her teaching additional training and practice from other Yoga traditions incorporating elements to best serve her students. Narayani’s additional studies have included yoga for stress, PTSD and other forms of trauma, emotional eating, back pain, dysfunctional breathing, trauma release exercises and mindfulness meditation. Interested in how we live in relationship with others and the world, she is also qualified as a Principle-based Partner Yoga Teacher, a Mindfulness meditation teacher and health coach. She teaches group and one to one classes including online. She has taught students with a wide range of emotional and physical health concerns.
As a yoga therapist Narayani is certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists (C-IAYT) and has over 800 hours of training. She has been blessed to learn with Nalanie Chellaram, Swamis Ramananda, Asokananda and Divyananda Ma, direct students of Swami Satchidananda. She has been fortunate to train additionally with Doug Keller, Lisa Kaley Isley, Uma Dunsmore Tuli, Heather Mason, Ben Emerson, Judith Hanson Lasater, Elysabeth Williamson, and many other great teachers.
NATALIE REID
With a solid yoga practice since 2011 and desire to work in education, Natalie trained and set up Natty Little Yogis – a yoga practice specialising in yoga for children and teens to address the pressures faced by our young people.
As a 200hr qualified yoga teacher and specialist Children’s and Teen Yoga teacher, fully qualified with the Special Yoga Foundation and the Teen Yoga Foundation, she has been fortunate enough to share Yoga and Mindfulness with children and young people at nurseries, schools and sixth form colleges, as well as local youth and adult community groups.
A parent of two children, Natalie understands the benefits of a yoga and mindfulness practice from an early age; improved concentration and communication, confident self expression and increased physical and mental wellbeing.
With the current academic and social pressures on our young, it is important to support their mental, emotional and physical wellbeing. By promoting inclusion through Yoga, in sport and pastoral care, we can arm them with the tools to become the best they can be.
Natalie is passionate about sharing yoga in order to reach those pockets of communities who cannot readily access it.
PALLAVI B. DODIA
Pallavi, is a Specialist Physiotherapist working privately and for the NHS and also an International Yoga practitioner. Since 2008, she has worked as a physiotherapist & yoga teacher in a number of prestigious health and well-being institutes in UK, India, USA and curated Yoga retreats in various exotic destinations. She worked on covid wards during the pandemic and continues to treat covid patients with breathwork and integrated practices. She also works extensively with musculoskeletal condition patients, including whiplash injuries, arthritis and occupational health conditions including neck and back pain.
She studied Himalayan YogA Vedantic tradition in India and specialises in Physical and Yoga therapy, Cardiovascular rehabilitation, Occupational health, Anatomy, Hatha Yoga, Kriya Yoga, Meditation and Chanting.
RHYANNE HALL
Rhyanne specialises in teaching Yoga Therapy for Breast Cancer and Yoga for Insomnia/improving sleep.
Rhyanne is a qualified Yoga Therapist, trained with The Minded Institute in London. She has been teaching yoga for almost 10 years accross West-Essex and Hertfordshire.
Rhyanne was originally drawn to the healing power of movement in 2008 during her undergraduate degree in Contemporary Dance where she studied therapeutic movement and its effect on emotion. Rhyanne travelled to Estonia to work with a group of girls in what was described as a reformatory boarding school. Many of the young people there had been exposed to past traumatic events in some cases severe life changing experiences and as a result many faced mental health challenges. Rhyanne worked alongside a dance and movement therapist to lead daily movement, dance and breathwork as a way for these young people to express emotion, to forge safety amongst their peers and to ground themselves when triggered.
It was an experience that has shaped the direction of Rhyanne's work as she continued with her degree, later qualifying as a Yoga Teacher and then Yoga Therapist.
Rhyanne offers Yoga Therapy to support both mental and physical wellbeing. Her classes are compassion-led and collaborative. She works with a whole-person approach acknowledging the wider physical, mental, emotional and spiritual needs of the individual. Her group classes are invitational and allow each student the space to create a yoga practice unique to them. Sessions may include: Movement, breathwork, meditation, relaxation practices, crystal singing bowls.
SALLY RAMSDEN
It was during a period of stress in her life that Sally realised the deep and lasting benefits of yoga. Understanding more about how yoga works on the body, mind and nervous system helped her become more connected with her own body and calmed her mind. From there she was inspired to train as a yoga teacher through researching its effectiveness for stress and anxiety relief and for alleviating trauma. After practicing yoga for 25 years, Sally trained and qualified as a teacher with Yoga Campus in London.
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Having worked for many years with refugees in the Middle East, Sally now works with refugee and migrant organisations as well as frontline staff and managers in stressful situations, providing trauma-informed yoga and stress relief classes for staff, volunteers and/or clients. Sally has delivered yoga to residents in NHS mental health units and also brings her specialist knowledge to yoga studios offering a variety of workshops for the general public.
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Sally loves to deliver yoga and mindfulness in community settings, including community centres and in community gardens and parks, reaching a more diverse community and multiplying the benefits of yoga through being outdoors and in nature. She set up an organisation called Natural Connection to pursue this strand of her work.
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Specialist trainings include yoga for stress and anxiety relief, restorative yoga and breathing, chair yoga, adjusting people and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction, MBSR. She's passionate about making yoga inclusive so that everyone can enjoy its many benefits from those experiencing mental health issues to older people and carers.
SARAH REED
Sarah is a wife and mother who has been practicing yoga for about 20 years. She has more recently been sharing her love of yoga through teaching. When she isn’t practicing or teaching yoga, she enjoys cooking, running and playing with her 3 rescue dogs.
SOPHIA BOURNE
Sophia’s movement and meditation practice brings her into deeper relationship with her physical and emotional body - it has been her primary tool to cultivate self-compassion, bodily-awareness, and deep rest, over the last 7 years, through her recovery of eating disorders and PTSD. She believes practice can provide an opportunity to listen and respond to the needs of our internal worlds, and the ways they may want to move.
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She has completed additional training in Trauma-Informed Yoga and Movement, Body-Listening, Restorative Yoga and Mindfulness-Meditation and is committed to holding an accessible and inclusive space to practice in - one where *all* bodies feel welcome, safe, and celebrated in. Her classes are a space to come, and be, exactly as you are.
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With a background in Social Anthropology, Sophia is passionate about community care - softening the boundary between self-and-other and self-and-environment is at the core of her teaching. Her practices are always informed by natures rhythms and cycles, letting this guide the theme, intention, or energy. She believes that through moving in synchronicity with the natural world, we can better navigate the needs of our bodies. Her non-dogmatic approach blends mindfulness-meditation, slow somatic flows and yin postures to create contemplative, holistic sequences.
SUE SKELTON
Sue qualified as a nurse in 1983 and for the last 13 years she has been working as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Oncology and Palliative Care, in the NHS and more latterly Hospice.
Sue has been practicing yoga for over 20 years, teaching for 3. She continues to work in Community Palliative Care but also works with a small Hampshire Charity for Young Women living with and beyond Cancer. Sue is passionate about the therapeutic benefits yoga can give to these women both while they are going through their treatment and afterwards too. She works with them both in class situations and in 1-2-1 sessions, tailoring the practice to their needs, giving a very person- centred holistic approach, which complements their conventional treatment. Sue has also set up classes for older adults, improving their physical and emotional wellbeing, enabling them to live better for longer.
Sue teaches various styles of yoga and is also training to be a Yoga Therapist, she uses the lessons she has learned during this training in her classes to enhance the holistic benefits. Sue is excited to support The Yoga for Life Project bringing yoga to all areas of the community.
VALENTINE AMMEUX
Valentine discovered the benefits of a regular yoga and meditation practice a few years ago, unravelling patterns of nervous tension in the mind/body system as well as cultivating kindness and self-observation.
In 2019, she graduated as a yoga instructor in Cali, Colombia. Her technique is derived from both traditional hatha yoga and Mayan meditation in movement. Easing in with gentle movements, the nervous system gradually releases unnecessary tension, inviting the body to reorganise internally with each posture while visualisations and consciousness exercises help focus and calm the mind. She is interested in bringing the calming benefits of yoga to body and mind relieving stress, anxiety, depression, insomnia and a lack of connection with the body.
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JNANA DEV (VUAN DAVIS - OTOIN)
Vaun Found himself drawn to the practice of yoga after a dance injury lead him to discover alternative ways of healing through expression. From a very early age Vaun was intrigued by the spiritual practice of homeostasis through union of the body, spirit and mind. Vaun became captivated by his discoveries and the complex yet intuitive depths of the practice. Vaun is an avid practitioner of various disciplines of Yoga such as Sahaja yoga, jivamukti, Ashtanga, Sivananda, Power Yoga and Bhakti. Vaun is a Level 2 Reiki Practitioner with a level 3 qualification in teaching yoga and has a 200 Hour Sivananda Practitioner certification, where he qualified in India.