BERWICK & BORDERS YOGA
Yoga and meditation in Berwick-upon-Tweed, the Scottish Borders and Northumberland
About Me.
I'd been practising yoga for around 15 years before deciding to take up yoga teacher training, and to be honest I don't think I would be the teacher I am today if I hadn't put in that time on my mat.
In a culture that tells us to rush, rush, rush, new yoga teachers often feel pressured to take the shortest teacher training possible. Sometimes that consists of just a few scant weeks. That not only does them and their students a huge disservice, but also yoga itself.
Because yoga is a rich guide for living better. You want the meat and fat too, not just the crumbs around the outside! Here I am, ten years later and not even close to knowing even the tip of the yogic iceberg of wisdom!
Yet even so, over the past thirty years yoga has gently guided and reshaped me. I'm happier, calmer and less reactive. That's the thing. Yoga is all about transformation, if you let it, and transformation takes time.​
Experience
As a yoga teacher, you never stop learning. With an ancient philosophy so vast there are always new avenues of enquiry to explore, rabbit holes to fall down! This is a small sample of my learning and experience over the years.
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​30-year personal practice in yoga and meditation
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10 years as a yoga teacher
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CYQ Level 3 500-hour Diploma in Teaching Yoga
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I've attended workshops and lectures by Leslie Kaminoff, Esther Ekhart, Gary Carter, Mimi Kuo-Deemer, Yongey Mingyur Rinpoche, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Swami Brahmavidananda Saraswati, Swamini Brahmaprajnananda Saraswati, Swami Santatmananda Uday Bhosale, Sumit Manav, Alistair Appleton and Ruper Spira
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I have studied Buddhism on the 3-year Nangi Shedra course through Kagyu Samye Ling Monastery & Tibetan Buddhist Centre
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Former trustee of Yoga Scotland, the governing body for yoga in Scotland
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Former editor of Yoga Scotland Magazine
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Have studied and am currently studying Embodied Philosophy courses on Healing Stress: A Buddhist & Psychoanalytic Approach to Working with Anxiety in Body, Mind & Spirit, Polyvagal Theory, Tracing Trauma and the Embodied Brain
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Devising and delivering an eight-week programme for the local council to help young, disadvantaged men manage anxiety and sleep, and access physical activity
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Co-Founder of Bab'yama Wellness Hub, a centre offering talking therapies, yoga and meditation
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Movement therapist with a spinal wellness centre
Further Info.
As a former sitcom writer, I work with a sense of fun. Life is tough, we need to laugh at it and ourselves!
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So if you're worried that yoga sounds like "serious business", stop. The Hindu sages and Buddhist masters understood the ridiculousness of human life.
Come along and share in the punchline.