About Yoga, About Claire
What is Yoga?
The most popular classical yoga texts define yoga as ‘restraining the fluctuations of the mind’ (Yoga Sutras, Patanjali), and ‘skill in action’ (Bhagavad Gita). It is primarily a practice of observation, awareness or mindfulness. By fine tuning our ability to observe the working of our own bodies and minds we are able to build resilience in the face of life’s physical and emotional challenges. We learn to explore and integrate opposites (e.g. control and surrender, effort and ease, ambition and restraint) so that we can more readily connect to our stable centre and find a state of equilibrium.
If yoga is a mindfulness practice you may wonder why there is such an emphasis on asana (physical postures) in modern yoga. The mindful movement and conscious breathing of the physical practice serves to bring all our senses into the present moment and disrupts the patterns of the chattering mind . By becoming more ‘embodied’ we learn to regulate our holistic wellbeing more skillfully. The physical practice gives us strength, mobility and stamina but also creates the clarity and focus to live a more vibrant life. It’s also fabulous fun!
My approach
There are many yoga methodologies and practices some of them more devotional, some more physical. I focus on the physical practice, incorporating themes from the wider yoga tradition. There are also many styles of physical practice, from the more slow and precise to the more dynamic and intuitive. I like to integrate both approaches. Some of the time we might flow from posture to posture in a dance with our conscious breath. Some of the time we will slow it down and explore a single pose or family of poses in more depth. I always have a class plan but I take my cue from you! By watching your practice I adapt my teaching to the needs of the group.
My classes are often physically demanding (growth comes from expanding your comfort zone after all!) but delivered with encouragement, kindness and humour and with modifications for all kinds of experience, fitness and body type. I believe that advancement in yoga comes from doing simple things with increasing levels of skill rather than complex things for the sake of novelty… but I also think occasionally we just need to try something a little bit more wild and challenging!
Please see individual class descriptions for more details on class content, styles and levels.
A bit more about me... Yoga changed my life!
I was drawn to practising yoga around 20 years ago, primarily as an antidote to anxiety. The impact of the yoga practice was extraordinary; a liberation of body, mind and spirit that transformed my life in a way that I passionately wanted to share with others.
Over the twenty year I have been practising yoga I have explored many approaches: Bikram (hot), Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow, Iyengar, Yin & Nidra. All of them have been valuable experiences and I combine all of these approaches into my teaching.
I graduated my first 18 month teacher training in 2011 with Triyoga in London. Not long after that I left my long marketing career and my hectic London life for a four year yoga-inspired journey that would take me to Crete, Thailand, India, Bali, Singapore and China.
I have been teaching in the UK now for ten years and have never stopped being inspired by the difference the yoga practice makes to the life of my students. That inspires me to continually seek to improve my teaching skills. Two years ago I completed my 500 hour Senior Teacher Training with Jason Crandell I also moved from Yorkshire to Coalbrookdale with my partner James. We are working on our long-term dream to set up a specialist centre for mindfulness and yoga practice. Meanwhile I joyfully teach in various locations around Telford.
My teaching style is inclusive and light-hearted but also demanding. I believe we are all capable of far more than we think and I aim to create a safe space for us to explore limitations and move beyond them. I think that the ‘divine is in the detail’ so I give lots of cues to help with activation and alignment to guide you towards developing a skilful yoga practice that you can maintain for life.
Certificates
