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I have studied Classical ballet for 18 years. At the end of my training I was an assistant ballet teacher in many classes, teaching students from 2 1/2 years to Elementary level. My professional training is in Psychology. I worked as an Assistant and Research Psychologist for 5 years. It was this combination of dance and psychology training that led me to become interested in Dance Movement and Psychotherapy. I completed a foundation course in this area approximately 8 years ago.
Due to a whiplash injury and stress from my Psychology job I started practising yoga in November 1997. I will never forget that feeling after my very first class. It was as though the world had been literally lifted off my shoulders and for the first time in a very long time I had a real sense of who I was. Within a year I trained as a Sivananda teacher and have since continued to learn about the many different aspects and styles of yoga through self practice and attending workshops and teachers training programmes. While living in Sydney I had the opportunity to attend many workshops and complete another teachers training course.
The style of yoga I teach could be described as a Vinyasa Hatha Yoga. I focus very much on the flow of the breath and the flow of that breath as an initiator for the movement. As a result of my dancing and movement therapy training I became aware of how inextricably the mind and body are linked. As a result I try to encourage a real softness in the body throughout the practice. My classes focus on chanting, pranayama, asanas and relaxation. I encourage a continuous flow from one asana to the next linked by the breath and usually draw on some aspects of yoga philosophy during the physical practice of yoga. I have many different teachers I look to for inspiration - Vanda Scaravelli, Shiva Rea, Sharon and David from Jivamukti Yoga, Swami Sivananda, Desikachar and BKS Iyengar.
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