I am a registered Senior Yoga Teacher with the Yoga Alliance Professionals, recognised as the highest standard of yoga accreditation in the UK. I am also a qualified yoga therapist.

MY STORY:

Yoga Ocean was born after my husband passed away from cancer. He and I ran our business, Yogacare, together for eight years. During which I taught yoga to thousands of people from the age of 2 to 92. I specialize in yoga therapy and work extensively with victims and survivors of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, people with physical or learning disabilities, chronic illness and mental health groups.

When my husband passed I wanted to channel my grief into something positive, so I asked myself:

“What do I do with this grief? This energy? …”

I tried many different activities outside of yoga; However, I eventually discovered surfing and it swept me away, both literally and figuratively. Surfing became my release and it helped me through those difficult times. It resonated with me, much in the same way as when I first found yoga.

Unfortunately, I was totally rubbish at surfing!

Fortunately, that didn’t matter.

What I wanted to learn was, not so much how to surf, but how to be. There were many times when surfing that I felt inept, foolish, anxious or scared, or just downright rubbish! I didn’t care: I persevered because I love the sense of liberation that surfing provides. It is easy to feel shackled by grief or anxiety but I felt braver and more able to face everyday challenges from my experiences in the sea.

I realized that you have to have strength in the storm.

I meet a lot of people through my yoga teaching and see that we all have our burdens, physically, mentally or emotionally. I admire the people I meet through the yoga and yoga therapy classes and the bravery they show everyday. I found that being a beginner in surfing and the inevitable humility that comes from learning something new, helped me become a better yoga teacher: for we are all beginners in some way, and we are always learning how to live better…

It is my hope that my experiences as a yoga teacher and therapist, combined with what I have learned from the sea and facing my own personal fears, may be of benefit to you.

“You are not a drop in the ocean, but the entire ocean in one drop”

– Rumi

QUALIFICATIONS & EXPERIENCE

 I have been teaching yoga full time since 2007. My qualifications include:

• Mindfulness Now Teacher Training 2020
• Restorative Yoga Training, Yoga International, 2020
• Yoga Therapy Diploma, Yoga Therapy Ireland, 2016
  
• Yoga for Pregnancy, Yoga Therapy Ireland, 2011
• Diploma in Diet and Nutrition, Oxford College, 2011
• Advanced Yoga (500 hour) Yoga Vidya Gurukul, India, 2010.
• Anatomy / Physiology and Holistic massage, ITEC, 2009
• Introduction to Ayurveda, Yoga Vidya Gurukul, India, 2007.
• Yoga Teacher Training (200 hour), Yoga Vidya Gurukul, Nasik, India. 2007

I strive for continuous professional development and have undertaken workshops and training with many respected yogis and teachers, including:

Drs. Brown and Gerbarg: Breath Body Mind Workshop
Brian Cooper: Yoga Adjustments
Michael Gannon: Ashtanga yoga
David Sye: Yoga Beats
Swami Satyasangananda Saraswati: Exploring the Chakras
Maya Finnes: Kundalini yoga
Uma Dinsmore Tuli: Feminine yoga

I have also undertaken Zen meditation / mindfulness training sessions with Ryoshin Paul Haller Roshi.

I am currently studying for an MSc in Psychology to better understand the benefits of yoga and mediation and their links to mental health.

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