Where is home?I feel so lucky to say Dublin.

Can you remember your first class ?

Vividly. It was 6:30am on a Monday morning in November 2011. I remember my brain didn’t even know how to send a signal to my legs to lift in Locust pose, so I just lay there face down! I came out of class thinking it was a bit weird and unpleasant, but then went back every day for a month.

What did you do before teacher training?

Before training I was working in a job I didn’t love. In 2015 my manger asked me what my dream job would be and I said teaching yoga. She grilled me on what the qualification would entail, and then arranged for me to take nine weeks’ unpaid leave to go to teacher training. I’ve since found a new role in the same company and have found a perfect balance between my day job and teaching yoga. 

Why did you stick with the practice?

What kept me coming back for the first few months was being able to see progress so quickly. Because every class was the same sequence of postures, it was easy to notice changes each day. Class by class, I could see that I was able to straighten a leg a little more, move a little further, and was constantly gaining a better understanding of the poses. Instant gratification!

Of course those changes slow down the longer you practise. What keeps me coming back now isn’t constant progression (unfortunately!) but the space in my body and the stillness in my mind during and after class.

When did you go to training?

In Spring 2016.

What is your favourite thing about teaching yoga?

When practicing, for the most part I’m in the present moment, but occasionally (I promise not often!) my mind will wander and I’ll think about going to Kaph after class, or draft work emails in my head. When teaching, it’s absolutely not possible to let your mind wander for even a split second. So teaching class is definitely the most sustained period of mindfulness I have ever experienced. It feels incredible to stay present and hold space for students to do their practise, and I find myself buzzing with energy when class is finished.

Favourite posture and why?

This changes every year or so. At the moment, I would say Standing Bow because I’m finally seeing some progress and managing to not fall out of every set. I’m really enjoying the sensations of compression and stretch in the posture, and the big flush of energy when it’s released. 

Bio

A homebird from Dublin, looking for every opportunity to be in the yoga bubble.