As both a yoga teacher and a nurse I have spent the last 20 years helping people heal and renew – both physically and mentally. My yoga journey started in my early twenties, working as an intensive care nurse in London. Being active on my feet all day doing 12-hour shifts, I was no stranger to back pain, but a friend had seen a studio advertising hot yoga and asked me to join her. My first thought was “why does it have to be so hot in here?”. However, before the end of the class it was already clear how the heat was helping me loosen up. I could feel a detoxifying process. It made me feeI happier, stronger, and healthier.
I vividly remember being asked 16 years ago (by my now husband!) what my dream job would be. At the time I jokingly replied, “a yoga teacher!” - never actually believing it could really happen. But in 2018, at a studio by a beautiful beach in California, I made my dream reality. It is now a true joy to support yoga students with their practise and see the benefits of yoga come to life - body and mind.
Hot yoga has helped me through many of life’s challenges; it has helped me with anxiety and encouraged and supported me through making changes in many areas of my life for the better. I have developed a new love of stillness and meditation, I sleep better, and find I have more focus, self-discipline and patience with myself. Physically, I was amazed at how quickly my whole body just ‘woke up’ - my lower back pain had eased significantly and my whole spine felt so much stronger and more flexible.
Many people suffer from physical injuries and believe them to be barriers against practising yoga. However, teaching hot yoga with the medical experience and knowledge I have, I have developed a deeper understanding of how and why postures can be adapted or modified to suit different people’s needs. With a recurrent injury myself I know very well the physical importance of this and can safely say that this discovery has been so empowering and has helped build my confidence both within my practise and outside of the studio.
Hot yoga has changed my life so much for the better. I have transformed my body and can guide you in doing so too. It will help you find calm and you will find that what you learn in the studio will carry with you to the outside world. In the same way that it has been so rewarding as a nurse to care for patients and help them with their recovery, it is amazing to see and support our students with their yoga practise and help them on their journeys.