About Minimum Yoga
I have over 2000 hours of teaching experience and over 500 hours of training in both the practice and the teaching of yoga, anatomy applied to yoga postures, and meditation. I created Minimum Yoga in 2014 to provide an informed service of yoga and meditation classes. In 2019 I added Thai massage to the Minimum Yoga offer. I like to teach practitioners of any age, shape, and background, providing a safe space for everyone to stay curious about their bodies and hopefully discover more about themselves. I have been resident teacher in many yoga studios and gyms in London including Yogaloom, Fitness First, Yogahome, Virgin Active, Yoganest, and many more. Every year I teach a regular retreat in Corfu, Greece. When not on the mat, I mentor university postgraduates, promote neuroscience research papers, and continue studying and training in the contemplative arts.
The power of the minimal: continuous change through practice
Practice is central to the Minimum Yoga's approach. As a physical practice, yoga builds a healthier and stronger body, increases our strength and flexibility, stimulates the circulatory and immune systems and opens up knots and areas of tension. At the same time, and without fail, it steadies our minds, enhances our focus, and pacifies our emotional states providing us with insights to enlighten our everyday life.
My training and teaching
I attended my first yoga class in 2005 but didn't establish a daily practice until several years later. In 2014 I gained the initial 200-hour Yoga Alliance-certified Teacher Diploma, after completing a year-long course of study with a yoga school in London (Yoga London). Eventually, I trained with two senior Ashtanga teachers: Maty Ezraty and David Swenson. I was blessed to have the unique opportunity to study with Maty on two courses before her premature passing. Her approach deeply influenced my teaching and will always hold a special place in my heart.
I practised with Maty Ezraty in Goa, India, in 2015 (at Purple Valley Ashtanga Yoga) and completed a 25hrs teacher training with her in Paris in 2016 (at Yoga Colibri studio). I completed the Ashtanga Teacher Training with David Swenson in Paris (at Ashtanga Yoga Paris) in 2017. In 2018, I completed a month-long intensive with Matthew Sweeney in Rishikesh, India. Since 2018 I was inspired to broaden my yoga horizons by the teachings of Carrie Owerko and I have been investigating somatics, biomechanics, neuroscience and evolutionary biology. All of these have expanded and continue to expand my understanding of the yoga practice. In 2022 I studied with David Keil on his Advanced Teacher Training and had the opportunity to practise with him on his visit to the UK. Other teachers I gain ongoing inspiration from include: David Garrigues, Doug Keller, Susanne Lahusen, Simon Borg-Olivier, Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor.
I completed a Meditation training with the Yoga Healing Foundation at London's Yoga Campus and I offer tools and techniques for mental decluttering.
I completed an MA in Cultural Studies, I have studied Western philosophy and culture production extensively, and continue to study many different philosophical traditions from all corners of the globe. My 2006 MA dissertation Music, Difference, and the Unpresentable: Sounds of Vision and Devotion focused on the role of sound and the auditory in our perception of reality and beyond. This type of inquiry continues to inform my meditation practice to this day.
In May 2019 I qualified in Thai Massage with Kira Balaskas at The School of Thai Yoga Massage in London and I now offer treatments. In December 2019 I travelled to Thailand to refine my theory and practice of Thai Massage by attending several courses, including one on Reusi Datton at Wat Po Thai Traditional Medicine School in Bangkok, as well as other courses in Chiang Mai.
Through yoga – which we translate as ‘union’ – I found not only an avenue of wellbeing and physical/mental invigoration, but also one of insight and awareness, on all fronts. It is part of my journey to share these insights with others through teaching, so that they may be inspired to identify and target their own concerns and goals, whether it’s a more agile body, general fitness, or releasing stress and anxiety.
The classes I teach
In the dynamic classes I guide practitioners through breath-synchronised movements, following a step-by-step approach, allowing the body to open gradually through what I call 'minimal shifts' and somatic explorations, and progressing into more complex segments before returning to stillness.
Ashtanga is a dynamic form of yoga that tones and strengthens the body by carefully combining each breath with movement in the vinyasa. All my classes are influenced in one way or another by the Ashtanga framework. For more details on my approach to this practice please read my article The framework of Ashtanga Vinyasa for Minimum Yoga. The Primary Series is a set sequence of postures beginning with the Surya Namaskara (the Sun Salutations). I facilitate a mindful and slower Ashtanga experience, remaining fully committed to the potential of this more traditional of the hatha yoga practices.
In the meditation sessions I work with techniques from different contemplative traditions, such as breath awareness exercises, body scans, seated sound observations and more. I provide quotes and references to works that you can explore in more depth in your own time if you so wish. Combining my meditation training at the Yoga Healing Foundation with ongoing research into, and practice of, several philosophical traditions from both the East and the West, I deliver a meditation session that is simple, practical, and above all experiential.