Ener-G Yoga with Helen in Ross-on-Wye
ABOUT
I first began teaching yoga in 2016, and am now based in Ross-on-Wye. My intention as a Yoga Teacher is to help others listen to their inner selves, find the courage to step out of their comfort zone, and become more healthy and whole in every way.
Since 2002, I have regularly practiced yoga. Having the chance to share all that I’ve learned along the way with my students is my absolute passion. I love what I do and that shines through in abundance.
I started off from humble beginnings learning yoga at home from a DVD when I was 14, so when people turn up at my classes and say they have never been to a class before but have practised yoga at home for many years with the use of one, I always say there is absolutely nothing wrong with that! Throughout everything else that I've ever done, I've always maintained my yoga practice. Without it, I just don't feel quite right.
Fast forward to 2014, I finally went to my first actual yoga class in a studio and started investigating which types yoga appealed to me. They were Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, and Yin Yoga - the two types that I now both teach and practice. They compliment each other perfectly, think yin and yang.
I was working as a senior procurement assistant, a job I loved within a busy, fast-paced construction company in Liverpool in 2015, before I jumped off the deep end and left it to train at an India based Yoga Alliance accredited 200 Hour Ashtanga Vinyasa course. My study of philosophy, anatomy, and personal practice began way before this landmark change of direction all the way to the current day. Yoga is a never ending journey and you can never know, do, experience, or learn everything. It is just too big and deep! But this is what makes it amazing, the more you can do and know, the more that opens up to you.
I taught Ashtanga Vinyasa from January 2016 onwards, from hot yoga and the Ashtanga Primary Series, to corporate yoga, pregnancy yoga, and armchair yoga. Right before I had my daughter, I was teaching up to 15 classes a week.
After she was born, I relocated from Liverpool back to my home town of Ross-on-Wye, where I have been teaching since 2019. I don't think I'd have the energy or time for 15 classes a week now around a little person!
In November 2021, I embarked on a 50 Hour Yin Yoga course with the legendary Bernie Clark. This was so that I could offer my students the other type of yoga that I practice with the same confidence that I do vinyasa. Whilst many solely practice Yin Yoga, many have loved having the opportunity to practice both as I do, and realise how very wonderfully they go together.
I studied sound healing in 2023 under a CMA (Complimentary Medical Association) accredited course, and continue to study advanced philosophy, anatomy, breathing techniques, and meditation in Yoga Alliance accredited courses. However, these formal trainings are not a drop in the ocean for time I have spent independently reading, studying, and contemplating everything from ancient scriptures to quantum physics. Nor the hours I've spent practising the many branches of yoga daily, year in, year out, because theory is very useful to know which direction you're headed, but useless without practice.
Yoga is not just something I teach, it is something I live. Which is exactly the context in which it should be taught and practised. Most people come to Yoga because they want to get fitter or to develop a stronger core, or be more healthy, whole, and balanced, or heal an injury or prevent them happening. Maybe they want to release anxiety and stress, soothe the nervous system, or to sleep better. Which is fine, for most of us, the physical body or stress release is the doorway to Yoga, including me at 14 years old.
But through the practice of Yoga, the real magic of it increasingly becomes apparent. It's not just about health, strength, and flexibility. Yoga is far more than fancy gymnastics too - it is a science and philosophy of the mind and life. This is something I infuse into all of my classes, weaving in the spiritual teachings that underpin Yoga, as well as science and anatomy. My new blog gives me even more chance to say so much more and reinforce the messages I share in person. This means that my classes are as authentic a representation and experience of what Yoga is about as I can make them.
Yes, Yoga sculpts, tones, strengthens, balances, mobilises, purifies, relaxes, and heals the body. That's the whole point of the physical branch of Yoga that we have come to know as Yoga in the west. But, this is necessary preparation on the journey that actually is Yoga towards mental stillness and calm, towards resting in our own awareness. So that whatever winds, storms, and fires are burning all around us, on the inside, we are centred and calm. If the body is a distraction, our mind cannot rest. Yoga views the body not as an obstacle to peace, but the vehicle for it, so we start with the body and allow the practice to change us from the inside out. And change us it will.
Yoga makes us physically strong and resilient, but it also makes us mentally strong and resilient. And yet flexible enough in body to bend and not break, and indeed flexible enough mentally to flow with life and not resist it by clinging to our expectations and attachments.
I didn't choose to be a Yoga Teacher either time I started, maybe I'll write a blog on that one day. Sometimes you've just got to flow with where life is taking you. But despite being a hesitant and resistant teacher, it has been the best thing that ever happened to me. Twice. Both with significant resistance on my part.
It allows me the opportunity to dedicate my whole life to practising, sharing, and continually learning Yoga. We are all forever students, and the further along this path we go, the more we realise this. I get to share in your journey, but you also share in mine. We are all just walking each other home along this path of life, and the community and connection that we create in classes is something I never take for granted. This is what Yoga teaches us to do, to enjoy the journey, to connect to ourselves, each other, and to be present for it, whatever our life situation.
I am grateful every day to hear of the life changing impact that I am blessed to have in so many people's lives. From providing the most magical, spacious, and blissful hour of calm into your manic crazy weeks, to sharing in success stories of how Yoga has helped you heal and overcome physical barriers that were affecting your lives before, to helping navigate through intensely emotional times, or simply just providing inspiration to live better and love yourself - I am often one of the first to hear it all and offer a hug, joke, high five, or just a shared moment of connection with you. This is a gift in itself.
We should do what we're passionate about, and share our passions. My greatest passion is Yoga, and not just the physical branch - all of it. Practice and philosophy. Through this knowledge and experience, I hope to help people feel at home within their own bodies, to feel strong, light, relaxed, joyful, and energised. I seek to share the teachings of Yoga to inspire others down the long path of discovery that yoga provides on the journey towards freedom and peace. Freedom in your own body, and even more so, freedom from the endless narrative of your mind. Cultivating the ability to abide in a state of equanimity and calm whatever is happening to you. And importantly, I wish to contribute towards creating a more loving, and caring world. The butterfly effect is real.
Yoga teaches you to be present in the moment. I hope that my students experience the joy that this practice gives to me. I teach local and online Zoom yoga across Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday. Whether you want to move your body, become more healthy, learn to let go, release stress, or be more present, Yoga can help. Get in touch with me if you’re new to yoga or want to find out more.