My Story
The start of my yoga journey is common to many yogis in the western world: my initial interest in the physical practice of yoga sparked a desire to sink deeper into the ancient philosophical and spiritual world of yoga and, ultimately, led me along the path to teaching.
The beginning.
I first attended a yoga class in 2004 during my time as an undergraduate at the University of Leeds. After completing my degree in Biology, I pursued a career in wild cat conservation which resulted in me moving several times within the UK and travelling, fairly regularly, to far flung destinations. During this time I continued to dabble in yoga but it was in 2011, during the final year of my PhD at the University of Kent, that I developed a consistent yoga practice and fell in love with a particular style of yoga: vinyasa flow.
A fork in the road.
By 2015, after years of dedication and seriously hard work, I had established what I thought was my dream career in wild cat conservation. However, life doesn’t always go to plan and, for various work and personal reasons, I was approaching burn out. Knowing that something had to change, I decided to step away from conservation work for a while and, instead, took the opportunity to immerse myself more fully in yoga practice and philosophy by taking the plunge and signing up for my yoga teacher training. The training was extremely intense but a wonderful experience and I began teaching as soon as I got back to the UK early in 2016.
Growth.
I continue to seek opportunities to learn and grow, both as a student of yoga and as a teacher. I completed my Restorative Yoga Teacher Training in 2018, falling in love all over again with this gentle nurturing practice - the yin to vinyasa’s yang. And, I have taken many other trainings along the way too, delving into the fascinating world of human anatomy and exploring beautiful practices such as Mindful Self-Compassion. Everything I learn informs my own practices and, of course, my teaching.
My philosophy.
Whereas yoga was once predominantly about me moving my body, today it is much much more than that. It is about self-care. Care for my body by choosing physical practices that nourish, restore and build resilience and that respect what I need in a given moment, be it to move or to be still. And, care for my mind by building self-enquiry (and therefore self-knowledge), mindfulness and compassion into my practices both on and off the yoga mat.
I teach from the heart and encourage my students to find a practice that genuinely serves them both in body and mind.
If that sounds good to you, come and join me in class.
Namaste
Chloe x