Durham Yoga Group

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Durham Yoga Group

The Durham Yoga Group meets once a month to run a workshop for anyone practicing Yoga in the Durham area. The group is non profit making.

We invite along teachers from around the region and aim to give those who attend a new experience of Yoga that they might not get in a weekly class. Durham Yoga Group is run by four local Yoga teachers (Jacqueline Stevenson, Noel Sharpe, Judith Gibbons and Leigh Johnson) who organise the regular meetings and source the teachers. The topics are decided by the teachers themselves and are varied and

often surprising! All of those taking the sessions are qualified teachers. Once a year we run a free session for members and make a donation to a local charity.

29/04/2026

The next session with Durham Yoga Group at Belmont Parish Hall is at 10am to Midday on Saturday 16th May with Tara Sellars.

Tara is an experienced teacher devoted to movement and wellbeing, with roots in yoga and a deep focus on somatics. Trained with the British Wheel of Yoga and a certified Gentle Somatic Yoga® practitioner, she shares her work through regular classes, workshops and retreats in the UK & Italy. Her approach blends yoga, somatic movement, breath, and functional movement to support longevity, vitality, and ease in every day life.

For the first half of this workshop, you will be guided through a somatic movement journey, supported by the ground, allowing you to gently let go of the outside world and arrive fully into your body.
In the second half, we will transition towards standing—exploring uprightness as a foundation for everyday life. Through exploratory movement, we will cultivate stability, resilience, and longevity, inviting greater awareness, curiosity, and connection within the body.
A yoga brick/block is required for the session.

18/04/2026

17 people gathered this morning for April’s DYG session. Our teacher, Sam, had valiantly braved an unexpected spring of her own (she had a leak in her house!) to lead a fabulous spring session, the aim of which was to reduce some of the high energy ‘busyness’ which can accompany the new season. The first part of the session included lots of movements to stretch and open first the upper, then the lower body. From there we came via Downward Facing Dog to some standing poses, including Tree pose. Back to seated on our mats, we enjoyed a novel version of Nadi Shodhana, which created a sense of calm and centring. After some stretching on our backs (making banana shapes) we had a 15 minute relaxation, where we were invited to enjoy a carpet of bluebells on a beautiful spring day. It was a session full of spring smiles. Thanks so much, Sam. 🙏

10/04/2026

Durham Yoga Group are looking forward to welcoming you to Samantha Coe's workshop at 10am on Saturday 18th April 2026 at Belmont Parish Hall

Theme for this session - Sequences from her personal tool kits for Spring!

Samantha holds regular yoga classes in Newcastle and Northumberland and has for many years organised and run yoga and wellness retreats in the region.

Her teaching style, combined with personalised variations, allows you to practice yoga in a way that works best for you. Her wish is for everyone to be free in body, mind and spirit. She has taught yoga since 2008, and for her yoga is a health and wellbeing toolbox to meet you exactly where you are and transport you to the bigger picture, to a settled place of peace and ease. She encourages you to embrace all that you are and to be open to endless possibilities.

Samantha has been a University Lecturer and is a yoga teacher for Children with special and complex needs, she is a Director of Newcastle Piano Festival and a community music organisation.

22/03/2026

Val began with a meridian warm-up which got everyone feeling more ‘alive’ before guiding us through some warm ups for the feet; the feet being a vital part of the practice to feel the pull of gravity V the opposing lifting force. We then enjoyed various movements and poses such as Warrior which targeted the fascia, leaving us feeling looser and more open. We also practised 3D breathing. The opening movements and pranayama led up to a final ‘contortionist’ pose which felt surprisingly good due to all the prep work we’d done. A final relaxation encouraged us to go deep inside ourselves to find the bit of us others don’t see. It was deeply relaxing and restorative. Thanks Val, for leaving us all feeling blissful ahead of an afternoon of beautiful spring sunshine.q

14/03/2026

Our next get together at Belmont Parish Hall is Saturday 21st March 10am to midday with the lovely Val Thorman.

Val is a retired physiotherapist who has been teaching yoga for 33 years. Since her teacher training days through to the present, she has been influenced by John Stirk and others who share a similar approach to yoga and movement.

In recent years, Val has developed a growing interest in the role of fascia in our movements, and her Saturday session will include some whole-body movements that explore this concept. Underpinning the practice is our relationship with the gravitational pull of the Earth and its equal and opposite force, which provides lift—helping to open joint spaces and creating a sense of freedom and ease in the body, provided the structure is in good alignment.

Val hopes to explore and expand on these ideas through the medium of yoga during the session on Saturday.

The theme of the class is:
“Meeting Earth and Sky Simultaneously.”

We're all.looking forward to seeing you all on your mats. 🧘‍♀️✨

21/02/2026

Today we had a real treat. Twenty three of us enjoyed an uplifting yoga session taught by Steve Sanders, the deep diving, bricklaying, nature conservationist, yoga teacher from Cleveland. Steve concentrated his physical practice on balances and warming twists (just what was needed, considering the weather outside). Along the way we had a few philosophical anecdotes and even some poetry. Everyone left the hall with smiles on their faces. Thank you Steve. 🙏

07/02/2026

Our next session at Belmont Parish Hall is 10am to midday on Saturday 21st February, where we welcome Steve Sanders to share his practice with us all

A deep diving, dog walking, rock climbing, wildlife protecting, bricky from Teesside, who is looking to start your 26 with a revolution or two, something for everyone, easy to "interesting" !!!!

Steve is donating his teachering fee to the new Seal Rehabilitation Hospital at Redcar 🙏

18/01/2026

It was great to see such a well-attended first session of 2026 for DYG. Our teacher this week was Tracy McPhail, joining us from Stockton. Tracy started the session by encouraging us to set our San Kalpa (heartfelt intention) for the year. We held a ‘Treasure Chest’ mudra whilst reflecting on our intention for our mind, body and soul. After this intention setting, we practised some strengthening yoga sequences including down dog, high lunges and sphinx. We then stretched it out with pigeon pose. A short meditation followed as we listened to a reading of When I say Happy New Year by Donna Ashworth. This reminded us that we can expect to feel a range of emotions throughout the year, hoping of course that the majority are pleasant! The final part of the session saw us gather closer to Tracy to enjoy the nourishing vibrations of a sound bath. I’m sure I’m not the only one who drifted off and resurfaced feeling calmer and more centred. Thanks Tracy for this intention-setting practice; it was a fabulous way to kick off our schedule for the year!

08/01/2026

Happy New Year to all our lovely participants, we hope you have had a restful and rejuvenating break, and are looking forward to joining us again in 2026.

Our next session is on Saturday 17th January with Tracy McPhail, we hope you can make it 🙏

Tracy's journey began many years ago when she first started to go to Yoga classes with friends as a way of keeping fit and flexible. She found she not only benefitted from the physical practice, but the mental and spiritual side too.

Practising pranayama, mantra and meditation enabled her to develop an inner awareness and release any stress or tension in both her body and mind. This led her to completing a 250 hour Yoga Teacher Training course accredited by Yoga Alliance, as she wanted to delve deeper into this practice. This course specialised in Ayurvedic Yoga and the Healing Arts and she also completed her Reiki Level One within this training.

Tracy enjoys teaching Vinyasa Yoga and has undertaken additional training to specialise in teaching Yin Yoga and Chair Yoga too. She has completed further training in Sound Healing and Sound Therapy and also completed a Reiki Level Two training, allowing her to offer Reiki treatments at the Wellbeing Centre at Middleton Hall in Middleton St George.

Tracy teach weekly Yoga classes and host Yoga Retreats and Sound Baths across Teesside and North Yorkshire.

Yoga has revealed itself to be so much more than a physical practice and she look forward to sharing the benefits of Yoga with you.

This months class will be.

“Intentional Beginnings’:

Intention: To plant a conscious intention for the rest of the year - clarify values and align movement with purpose.

Focus: Slow Vinyasa flow with pause points for breath and reflection: flowing with intention to release tension and invite clarity. Involving heart-opening sequences, longer holds to help release stored stress in hamstrings/hips and mini-meditations between flows.

Closing: Sound Bath - immersing yourself in the soothing tones of a variety of instruments to help you turn inwards, clarify what you want and hold that intention without distraction.

17/12/2025

Feeling very thankful ❤️
A huge thank you to everyone who came along to Durham Yoga Group’s Christmas session with Samantha Lavery and kindly made a donation to St Cuthbert’s Hospice.
Together you raised £202.50 – thank you all so much for your generosity and support.
Wishing you a wonderful festive season ✨

13/12/2025

✨ A Huge Thank You ✨
A heartfelt thank you to Samantha Lavery of Simply Love Yoga for delivering such a wonderful seasonal Christmas yoga session. Samantha was joined by 29 festive yogis, who were gently guided through a beautifully calming and restorative experience.

The session began with breath awareness, followed by an autumnal qigong practice honouring the Metal element, before settling into stillness through our yoga asanas. This flowed into a deeply relaxing Savasana, followed by a balancing moving meditation to gently reawaken the body.

We then paused to enjoy light refreshments. Thank you to everyone who baked or donated nibbles. We then returned to the mat to finish with a soothing qigong organ-polishing relaxation and sound bath — a perfect close to a truly special session.

This donation-based event raised funds for St Cuthbert’s Hospice, and we are incredibly grateful to everyone who contributed so generously 💛

🧘‍♀️ Our next session takes place on Saturday 17th January 2026 — we look forward to seeing you all there.

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from everyone at Durham Yoga Group 🎄✨

Address

Belmont Parish Hall, Broomside Lane
Durham
DH12QR

Website

https://www.yoga-durham.co.uk/?page_id=272

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