Yoga teachers

We have many different yoga teachers working here at Bodywise at different times of the week. Here you can read what they say about themselves and their approach to yoga.

New Kundalini teacher - Lila Cohen

I came to Kundalini yoga after many years of practising other forms of yoga (from Ashtanga to body of light). I immediately felt a deep resonance with it and recognised the profound healing possibilities that this particular Yoga had.

I come from a physical theatre and dance background and now work as a professional singer in the world of sacred sound but through Kundalini yoga I have discovered a beautiful, natural fusion of these two passions – movement and sacred music.

Practising this incredible form of yoga has given me the personal power, creativity and courage to heal at the deepest level and live a heart-centred life full of possibilities.

I am deeply inspired to pass on this ancient wisdom by offering a safe, healing and creatively alive space to all who wish to attain deep and lasting transformation.

Angelika Grohmann

www.yogabodyoflight.com

I like to show the main keys to how the physical body works and approach the body as an energy field through the breath, showing its lightness and transparency. I have been greatly inspired by Dona Holleman , who I have worked with for more than 10 years. I like to teach the flow of the postures as well as focusing on technique. My teaching comes simply from my own experience and from my heart. I have been teaching Yoga full time for twenty years in various countries. My first deep inspiration in yoga was BSK Iyengar and Geeta, where I learned about foundation, vigour and linear clarity. I lived in Buddhist communities for ten years and travelled through India many times , practising with various teachers. Currently I study with Swami Veda Bharati and the Himalayan tradition of Yoga, deepening my practice of Pranayama and meditation.

Sallyanne Wood

www.goldenyoga.co.uk

I discovered Yoga twelve years ago. Though initially not living in a very yielding or responsive body, I recognised something about the transformational potential of yoga and a rich practice naturally evolved. Initially my grounding was in the Iyengar Tradition, years later I enjoyed the flow and challenge of Ashtanga and was drawn to Yoga Therapy and meditation both for my own healing and in my work with people in all kinds of contexts. I have also drawn much inspiration from other mind, body and movement fields including Feldenkrais Method, Sensory Awareness, Focusing, Dance and subtle energy healing.

Somewhere within all this influence, knowledge and inspiration I have accessed a deep, inner guided and heart centred, healing practice and feel I can help others to access their own inner guru.

I have a broad range of experience having taught yoga to actors, dancers, inmates, school children, and teachers, people with multiple sclerosis and within companies. I was the Intermediate teacher at the Yoga Therapy Centre for six years. I run themed workshops alongside my weekly courses and have lead retreats both in this country and overseas.

Alan Parkinson

I've been practicing for 19 yrs. I attained my Introductory certificate in teaching Iyengar Yoga in 2002. I attained my Junior Intermediate Level 1 certificate in teaching Iyengar Yoga in 2008. I've been teaching for 7 yrs. I trained as a teacher at the Iyengar Institute, Maida Vale from 1999 to 2002; attaining levels 1 and 2 of the introductory course. My trainers were Sally Sullivan and Steve Richardson. I started practising yoga at Bodywise and still go to classes there as well as teaching there. At present I go to classes taught by Angelica Grohmann and Sophie Carrington, who are both very inspiring. Two of my main teachers were Padmavarsini and Vaccasin, who are both practising Buddhists as well as Iyengar teachers; this combination has been a great influence on me. I am also influenced by Christian Pisano and June Whitaker who run the Iyengar Institute in Nice and do many workshops and retreats. My own practice is very important to me and like Vaccasin encouraged me, I encourage others to some self practice.

Amanda Wray

I currently lead the ante and post natal yoga sessions. I have been practising yoga for 25 years, teaching for 20, and qualified as an Iyengar Yoga teacher in 1989 at the Maida Vale Institute. After teaching in prisons, schools and hospitals, I took my training into the field of pregnancy and then yoga for post-natal women. I now teach the ante-natal and post natal pregnancy classes at Bodywise.

Jacqui Brookes www.yogawithjacqui.co.uk

I became involved in yoga in Spain in 1988. Between 1996 and 1999 I trained in Iyengar yoga taught in Namibia, Southern Africa. Since then I have been teaching in London. I have recently completed the four year Aurolab teacher training with Sama Fabian. This integrative yoga incorporates all aspects of classical yoga and brings the spiritual into practice. We focus on individual Asanas, Vinyasa, structural alignment, refining mental and emotional patterns, relaxation and meditation. I also have six years experience in teaching yoga for children. I am inspired greatly by Donna Holleman, Orit Sen-Gupta and Angelika Grohmann.

Hopefully my teaching of the ancient, rich and healing science of Yoga will bring the ‘body of light’ to others, to release nature’s full expression of the body and mind, which lies within all of us. I seek to make my classes physically and mentally energising as well as giving each individual the freedom to explore and learn about their own bodies.

Laura Caro

I started my life in yoga 20 years ago with Sivananda school in Canada studying with Swami Vishnudevanada, a direct student of Sivananda, and became a teacher of this method in 1983. For the past ten years I have been practising Iyengar yoga and became a teacher in 1996. I am currently taking the Intermediate Iyengar yoga certificate level III. I have studied with Mr Iyengar and his daughter Geeta on different occasions; including at their institute in Poona, India. I take my inspiration for teaching from Mr Iyengar, Geeta, Mira Metha (Yoga the Iyengar Way), Christian Pisano, Penny Chaplin and Richard Ward. My classes are based on the Iyengar method.

Marco (Maitreyavira)

I have been practicing yoga for about 15 years and teaching since 1998. I am trained in the Iyengar school and a member of the Iyengar Yoga Teaching Association. My main teachers are Silvia Prescott, Richard Ward and Christian Pisano. I love yoga and try to communicate this in my classes. Yoga can teach you to work intelligently and creatively with your body and mind. Whatever your limitations or strengths might be, the benefits on a physical, organic and mental level can be very great. Through intelligent, patient practice, yoga can become like a very personal friend that, though challenging at times, one can always go to and dare I say, never let you down.

Nina Geyer

I have been practising yoga for eleven years and qualified as an introductory teacher in 2003. My main teachers are Silvia Prescott and Christian Pisano. I began my yoga practice at Bodywise, going to classes with Vaccasin and Maitreyavira who are both a source of inspiration and encouragement to me. I believe that yoga teaches you about your mind as much as it teaches you about your body. It is a well that gets deeper the more you immerse yourself in it, but in the end I always come back to Silvia’s favourite instruction; “Just do the pose!”

Sophie Carrington

I am a certified Iyengar yoga teacher qualified to teach Senior level 1. I have been a teacher for twelve years and practising for twenty. I attend classes at RMIYI Pune, India as often as I can. I came to yoga in my forties in very poor mental and physical shape, and although I really couldn’t do anything, something kept me coming back. The practice of yoga has helped me enormously. I would like to help others experience similar therapeutic benefits. Mr Iyengar has given us the gift of the work; I try to pass on my understanding of that work for the benefit of my pupils.