The Yoga
I teach Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow Yoga in London and on international yoga retreats and workshops, including Yoga Teacher Training in Goa. Ashtanga is taught in the Mysore tradition of Sri K Patabbhi Jois and Vinyasa Krama, or Hatha Flow, is an intelligent linking of poses rooted in classical yogic traditions that explores the physical, mental and subtle aspects of the practice. I consider Sri T Krishnamacharya to be the Grandfather of modern yoga and endeavor to teach all 8 limbs of ‘classical' Ashtanga in Patanjali's Yoga Sutras (200 B.C.). I'm a believer in the sacred power of yoga, the awakening of the Kundalini, and the transcendent path to Self-Realisation that Tantric mystics describe as a journey to the Divine through reverence and perfection of body, breath, mind and spirit.
Yoga philosophy is integrated with asana and breath to explore the inner/outer techniques of Vinyasa Yoga that transform the mind and body, accelerate personal growth and illuminate one's highest potential to find purpose and meaning in life. I aim to reveal the spiritual path underlying the practice and the technology to stabilize the mind, so we can shed the veils of Maya perpetuated by the ego, glimpse at our true nature and liberate ourselves from suffering. My approach is a deep physical and psychological practice that moves beyond a mere physical experience to make the spiritual yogic inquiry authentic and relevant to real life. The ultimate aim of yoga is love, liberation and freedom. Moksha.
The Practice
I began Hatha Yoga (BKS Iyengar) in 1986 and my yoga path has involved extensive studies with brilliant teachers from around the world, many who have had a profound influence of my unique style. I studied Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga intensively with Sri K Pattabhi Jois in Mysore and many of his senior students including John Scott, David Swenson, Matthew Sweeney and Rolf Naujokat. Nancy Gilgoff was my first Ashtanga teacher and I've attended many of her 'Adjustment Clinics' to learn how to safely assist people in the Primary and Intermediate Series. I completed a 200-level Yoga Teacher Training with Richard Freeman (2004) and a 200+ level training focusing on the traditional Krishnamacharya method of Asana, Pranayama and Kundalini Metaphysics with Sri BNS lyengar at the Patanajala Yoga Shala in Mysore (2008/09). On the Vinyasa Flow side of yoga, I completed the Tripsichore Yoga Theatre Teacher Training with Edward Clark (2002). David Life and Sharon Gannon (Jivamukti Studios) and Emil Wendel (Beyond the Asana) are also inspirational people and teachers. More recently, my yogic path led me back to the alignment principles of BKS Iyengar and take regular classes with Alaric Newcombe at the Iyengar Institute in London. In 2012, I did a month-long Iyengar training with Glenn Ceresoli in Goa. I’m also a student of Tibetan Yantra Yoga, a practice that is probably the closest form to classical Indian yoga that exists today. Throughout my yogic journey, I keep an open mind about the practice and try not to succumb to dogma.
I have studied various meditation techniques, including the Tibetan Tantric Vajrayana path with Dzongsar Jamyang Khyentse Rinpoche. I completed a 10-day silent Vipassana meditation retreat in Myanmar (Burma) in 2006 and Dhamma Dipa (Hereford, UK) in 2009. I am interested in all forms of non-dualism including Self-Inquiry, the direct path to liberation, based on the teachings of Ramana Maharishi and visited his ashram in Tiruvannamalai, India (2009). My spiritual path informs my teachings and has led me to sacred sites throughout India and the world. I'm a passionate traveller and my published writings and photography and can be found on this website.
I'm a certified member of Yoga Alliance at the highest level, E-RYT 500, and am certified at RYS-500 to offer Yoga Teacher Training.
