since leaving university with a degree in English i’ve sought this connection through the medium of theatre, as a writer and live performer. as an actor this moment can arise between actors as well as between actor and audience, where some eternal part of yourself would recognise that eternal part in the other, and there, liberated, those eternal parts could play together. for me, that’s what makes live performance sacred and exhilarating. I’ve got a masters in writing for performance from Goldsmiths, and a diploma from studying with M. Philippe Gaulier in Paris, where we studied performance through the pure game of connection. and just so you know, i obtained notoriety in Paris as the only person ever to graduate from clown school unable to do a handstand.

Throughout my life I enjoyed taking Yoga classes, despite never being particularly athletic, thin or supple, or as people often say ‘despite not being very good at it.’ always i would leave class feeling lighter, taller, calmer, somehow more grounded, but never questioned further what that was beyond just the pleasure of moving my body. it was only in 2018 when i began a class in Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga that everything changed. the system of Ashtanga Vinyasa is a dynamic and meditative form of yoga, where yogis perform the same sequence of postures, adhering to a strict breath count, six days a week. it is a practice inspired by the ‘Yoga Sutras’ a text written by Patanjali sometime around the second century BCE which strongly adheres to traditional practices such as pranayama, mantra and drishti, which to me felt instantly authentic. there are many rigours to this practice, including practicing every day really, really early in the morning, not practicing on days of the full moon etc, but for me the discipline and sanctity of the practice became my life force and it is still my daily practice today.

for me the practice is traditional and sacred, so you will experience a focus on breath, listening to the body and quietening the mind, rather than how far you can stretch your hamstrings. that said, exploring the body’s limits and encountering challenge is an important part of the yogi’s journey towards transcending the mind. our minds are programmed to run away from difficulty and towards pleasure: by placing ourselves in the path of difficulty during asana practice we train the mind; through the fire of practice we can purifiy our neural response pathways, and move away from remembered, fear-based behaviours and towards peace.

you can expect a warm welcome to my class; i firmly believe that yoga is for every person, of every faith, in every body; my classes are inclusive of all body types and shapes and colours. i hope you will never feel intimidated by impressive looking poses in my class, the work of asana practice is not for you to perform asana, but rather to allow the asana to work on you.