A little bit about me.......
I love yoga. I discovered yoga in my early 20s when a terrible attempt at snowboarding left me with an injured back - nothing serious, but enough to put me out of action for a few days every now and then, leaving me sore, bored and grumpy. I think at that time, yoga was a bit of a celebrity craze - Madonna got involved and she looked in pretty good shape. I'd also heard it helped with core strength and might help with the back issues, so off I went to my local class and was amazed, just after that first session, how much more comfortable I felt physically. But after a few weeks, it was the opportunity my practice offered to spend time being really present in the moment that really got me hooked. Like most of us, I have led a bit of a hectic life, children arrived and my job got more demanding and the opportunity to step on to the mat and away from it all has been really essential to my well-being, physically and mentally. As a teacher, I've found it really rewarding to share some of what I have learnt with others, either new to practice, or seasoned yogis and I love the instant feedback you get from a class when students walk out of the room feeling refreshed and ache-free! My teaching style is straightforward, plain English and I like to vinyasa - which means to link the postures in a flow. There's definitely time to spend exploring postures in the class though and I also like a nice long lie-down at the end.
Another key turning point for me was trying to return to fitness after my second son was born. I had a great female personal trainer who made a huge difference to my motivation, keeping sessions challenging and fun, but I knew of lots of other women who felt intimidated in a gym environment and by the young, and often male trainers that work in gyms. So I decided to do my own PT training and aim to replicate the experience I had with my PT - so whilst of course not exclusive to women and mums, I really enjoy training this group of people and like to do it in a relaxed environment, using body weight and simple equipment - because you can achieve a lot with that stuff!
Jude x
