Omtropy

About Heather

Sivananda Teacher of Yoga - Diploma, Kerala, India;
Hatha Yoga - British School of Yoga Diploma;
Pilates Matwork Primary Series - The Mind Body Institute;
ChiBall Teacher - Monica Linford;
Reiki 1 and 2 - School of Holistic Therapies;
Life Coach (Distinction) - The Coaching Academy;
BTEC in Food Technology - The Polytechnic of The South Bank;
NVQ trainer and assessor - Royal Society of Arts;
Yoga Registered Teacher (YRT) and BYTA;
Advanced Instructor Level 3 Yoga Teacher - REPs
Diploma in Anatomy and Physiology;
First Aid - British Red Cross;
'The Journey' Intensive and Advanced Skills.

My first contact with yoga was in mid-1980s when suffering from hypertension, due to a thyroid imbalance. I decided to take the holistic approach of yoga over allopathic medication for symptom relief.

My first teacher was Barbara Currie, who was so positive and beaming with health that she inspired me to take the first steps on my journey. I was later ve

ry fortunate to come into contact with many inspirational teachers of Hatha, Iyengar, Sivananda, Satyananda and Astanga yoga. During the 1990s, I got more involved in the corporate world as a trainer and NVQ assessor of sales executives and sales managers for a German company. In between travelling the country to different company branches, I embarked on devouring and absorbing a kaleidoscope of self development courses and books. Unfortunately, although still practicing, yoga was put on the back burner for a while and I started to wear out physically and mentally with my adrenalin addiction as a consultant and gym junkie.

My practice

It was fate that on the eleventh day of the eleventh month of 1999, I walked away from a serious accident relatively unharmed. I took this as a 'wake up' call and re-assessed my purpose, to myself and others. I immersed myself in yoga through daily practice including meditation and detoxification of body and mind. A year later, I travelled to India and trained to become a yoga teacher to help myself recover and more importantly help others.

I believe that we are all searching for 'PEACE', to be content with who we are and the life we live. However, by looking outside ourselves we constantly try to fix ourselves and others to feed our egos and 'make everything alright'. Through Yoga sadhana (spiritual journey) we can sublimate this ego and aspire to this peace and eventually to complete 'Bliss'. Through yoga, I started my personal inner journey that allowed me to occasionally transcend Maya (illusion) and realise that the peace is within us all and universal .

As well as yoga, I teach Pilates and ChiBall and introduce some of these techniques into my yoga classes. These two disciplines help to develop coordination, postural alignment, effective breathing and core stability with flowing movement.

Having a background in nutrition and Reiki healing as well as being a qualified Life Coach, has allowed me to develop an intuitive approach and awareness of both the physical and emotional wellbeing of students. This enables me to tailor their practice and take a holistic view of the lifestyle, diet or other remedial action than may benefit them.

I teach in spas, health clubs, schools, for Local Authorites and at The Yoga Show at Olympia. I run my own classes, provide tuition for private and corporate clients and run Yoga Workshops and Retreats. I taught at the three International Yoga Festivals in Egypt and Jordan. I also run courses on stress management which I can tailor for individuals, corporate clients or students preparing for exams.