about
a little snippet into who I am
my mission
My mission is to create a safe, compassionate space where you are invited to reconnect with your body, your breath, and your inner wisdom. I aim to offer practices that honour your unique experience, encouraging self-awareness, agency, and compassion.
my approach
What does it mean to be a Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher?
Being trauma-informed means honouring the complexity of the human experience and recognising that every body holds a unique story and past experiences. It’s about creating a space that encourages you to have agency over your bodily autonomy, nervous system regulation, and the power of choice, inviting you to discern what feels safe and right in each moment.
In my classes, this looks like:
Offering choices instead of commands. Empowering you to move in ways that feel right for you.
Using invitational language so your practice is always your own.
Focusing on helping your nervous system regulate through breath and movement.
Encouraging you to show up without expectation, competition, or judgment.
This trauma-informed approach embraces all emotional realities with compassion, curiosity, and kindness. It creates a safe, non-judgmental environment where embodiment practices become tools to reconnect, find presence, and express your authentic self.
My approach moves away from performance-based ideas of yoga and towards practices that help you become more embodied, creating space to feel, explore, and reconnect with yourself. The focus is never on achieving a pose or following a strict sequence. Instead, you're invited to explore how your practice feels, to listen inwardly, move intuitively, and meet yourself with compassion.
I offer a range of practices, including Hatha, Restorative, Yin, Yoga Nidra, and Somatic movement — all taught through a trauma-informed and embodiment-based lens.
At the heart of my teaching is a deep respect for yoga’s roots and philosophy. I gently weave this wisdom into each practice, honouring yoga’s origins as a journey of self-inquiry and inner connection. As the Bhagavad Gita teaches, “Yoga is the journey of the self, through the self, to the self”, a reminder that yoga is ultimately about exploring and understanding who we truly are beyond the physical.
What is Embodied yoga?
All yoga can be embodied - it’s about how we practice.
Embodied invites you to listen to your body, move intuitively, and honour your needs without judgment or pressure. This approach fosters connection, presence, and self-awareness across all yoga styles.
Embodiment means being fully present in your body, seeing it not as something to fix, but as a source of wisdom.
“The human body is not an instrument to be used, but a realm of one's being to be experienced, explored, enriched and, thereby, educated.” - Thomas Hanna, founder of Clinical Somatic Education
In embodied yoga practices, you are invited to:
Pay attention to how each movement feels in your body.
Move intuitively, responding to what your body needs in the moment.
Experience yourself in the present moment, rather than striving for an ‘ideal’ future self.
Trust the sensations your body provides.
Trust that your body will guide you where you need to go.
Fosters a deeper connection between mind and body, supporting healing and presence.
The practice honours where you are right now, without judgment or pressure.
Practice with presence, not pressure
my values
what i stand for
Exploration
For me, exploration is the core of our yoga practice. The playful exploration of our bodies is how we get to know ourselves without pressure or judgment, leading to self-discovery, self-acceptance and ultimately to self-love.
Compassion
Compassion is at the heart of everything I offer. Encouraging compassion toward yourself, your body, your emotions, and your journey — this space invites gentleness. You're encouraged to meet yourself exactly as you are, with kindness and care.
Connection
Yoga comes from the Sanskrit word meaning “union” or “to join together.” It reminds us that we are deeply connected to our bodies, our breath, and to each other. My offerings help you reconnect with yourself through embodied practice, fostering self-understanding and presence. From this foundation, we cultivate a compassionate connection with others, deepening our sense of belonging and shared humanity.
Rest
In a world that’s always rushing, there’s something powerful about pressing pause, slowing down and finding stillness. My offerings provide unconditional permission to rest. Letting go of feeling lazy whenever we truly gift ourselves rest and understanding the importance of a calm, regulated nervous system. Only in the pause, in the non-doing, in the quiet can we listen inwardly.
get to know me
My relationship with yoga:
My yoga journey first began as a way to manage my anxiety. While I enjoyed moving my body through the physical practice, what truly drew me in was yoga’s ability to bring calm and create space for my mind to rest. Over time, I began to notice subtle yet profound changes, not just in how I felt day-to-day or after my physical yoga practice, but in how I treated myself.
One of the biggest shifts was letting go of the belief that I needed to “fix” or “change” myself. Instead, yoga taught me to honour my body, embrace who I am, and hold space for all of my emotions. I still experience anxiety, but it no longer controls me. The tools I’ve learned over years of practising, teaching, and studying yoga and nervous system regulation help me return to a place of safety with kindness and compassion. There is no quick fix, and some days are easier than others, but my practice has become a steady, loving anchor in my life. I don’t claim to have it all ‘figured out’ and I am continuously learning, but I am passionate about sharing the practices and wisdom I’ve gained to help you feel more empowered and find a deep sense of compassion and self-love that you deserve!
My teaching journey:
After many years of personal practice, I completed my 200-hour yoga teacher training. At first, I had no intention of teaching, I simply wanted to dive deeper into the philosophy and wisdom of yoga. But as the year-long training unfolded, I began to find my voice, and with it, a desire to share this empowering practice with others.
Following my certification, I began offering in-person classes, creating nurturing spaces where others could reconnect with their bodies. I also continued to expand my knowledge through further training focused on how yoga can support mental health and nervous system regulation in a trauma-informed way.
In addition to teaching in-person, I now share these empowering practices through my online studio, a slow, intentional space to pause and reset. As part of my online studio, you’ll find gentle Hatha, Yin, Restorative, Yoga Nidra, Somatics, and Nervous System support practices designed to help you reconnect with your body and inner wisdom. This is your sanctuary to rest, honour yourself, and feel empowered, just as you are.
I hope that through my offerings, whether you join me in-person or online, you’ll find space to soften, to be exactly as you are, and to remember that you are already whole.
Qualifications
200hr Hatha & Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training (Rachel Tidman & Kelly-Rhian Harris)
50hr Trauma-Informed Yoga Teacher Training (Jennine Talento & Brooke Alexander)
70hr Somatic Yoga Teacher Training (Yoga MariSol)
50hr Restorative Yoga (Joanne Silver & Keely Garfield)
30hr Yoga Nidra + 7hr Script Writing (Melanie Cooper)
40hr Yin Yoga (Melanie Cooper)
Reiki Level 1 & 2 practitioner
kind words from kind souls