My approach
Embracing yoga & somatic movement
many threads...
have inspired and nourished me, enriching my experience and my teaching.
I came to yoga to build flexibility and to relieve pain and discomfort. For many years, I studied with Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga teachers. Over time, as I experienced and understood myself more fully, and asked more questions, I turned towards practices rooted in the sense that we are in and of nature, among many species and beings. As dynamic and living organisms and systems we are fluid, interconnected, always changing and unfolding.
I embraced practices grounded in embryology, developmental movement and open enquiry. These – and their teachers - excited a desire in me for deeper immersion and led me to train to teach.
pathways to somatics...
When I was introduced to Hanna Somatics, I (re)awakened connections and pathways within myself, and witnessed its profound impact in others. Lisa Petersen calls it ‘a practice of mindful movement… simple and accessible yet deep and transformative’. In Hanna Somatics, we cultivate our sensory awareness, experiencing ourselves afresh moment to moment as we move, so we come to recognise habits and patterns which may no longer serve us and to change them. We learn to be curious and to trust our body’s intelligence. The practice is empowering, enabling students to actively enhance their wellbeing and to integrate somatic movements in their everyday lives.
keep learning ...
I also draw on the Thinking Environment, a practice of open enquiry and generative attention originally conceived by Nancy Kline in which we offer people the space and support to listen to what truly matters to them, to recognise and let go of assumptions which might limit their thinking, and to generate powerful decisions and actions. This practice nurtures authenticity, courage and meaningful action.
I continue to learn with and from those with whom I practise, study and teach individually and in community. In particular, I am profoundly grateful to Lisa Petersen, Christine Howitt, Amy Matthews, Donna Farhi and Sophie Stephenson.