Your Yoga With Leah

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Your Yoga With Leah

Yoga Teacher and Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist I'm a Yoga Teacher and a Senior Cognitive Behavioural Therapist.

As a CBT Therapist I specialise in post-traumatic stress disorder and trauma based anxiety and depression difficulties. My approach to yoga includes interweaving my knowledge, theory and experience in psychology with yoga practices and philosophy. I offer 1:1 yoga, class for mixed abilities and corporate yoga classes in workplaces in Surrey, London and surrounding areas.

05/12/2025

New bolster and blanket have arrived from

I am looking forward to using these more to assist my yoga practices, meditation and yin yoga ✨

30/11/2025

Such a beautiful and much needed day on a yoga retreat, feeling held by and 🧘🏻‍♀️

27/07/2025

Yoga and forest bathing with Xenia at .yoga

It was so nice to appreciate nature and learn so much about it. It’s opened my eyes to really notice on my next walk.

There’s so many hidden treasures. I was surprised today to discover that the leaves of the Western Red Cedar tree, when crushed, smells like pineapple!

My most favorite part was lying on a fallen tree and just observing nature. A mindful and still moment 🧘🏻‍♀️

This experience has definitely connected with all 5 of my Koshas ☺️

What fills your cup and energises you?

06/03/2025

Yoga can be a powerful space for creating and nurturing hope. One breath, one movement, one moment at a time.

🧘🏻‍♀️Here are five ways we can instil hope in a yoga practice:

✨ Highlight Strength & Resilience – Showing up is an act of strength. Holding a pose, grounding into breath or noticing small shifts can reinforce resilience.

✨Reflect on the Body’s Capacity to Adapt – After traumatic experiences, the body can feel like a place of struggle. Noticing it’s adaptability in movement can gradually rebuild trust.

✨Close With Words of Encouragement – Ending class with a mantra, affirmation or gratitude practice can reinforce a sense of hope.

✨Honour the Present While Welcoming Possibility – Encouraging individuals to meet themselves where they are and without judgment allows growth to happen at its own pace.

✨Nurture Stability Through Consistency – A regular and predictable yoga practice can offer a sense of steadiness, reminding individuals that healing can unfold over time.

Hope doesn’t always come in big, life-changing moments. Sometimes, it’s in the smallest shifts.

📌 Save this post as a reminder & share in the comments: What gives you a sense of hope in your practice?

02/03/2025

As yoga teachers, we can support individuals to feel more empowered in their practice.

Offering choice and agency in class can be meaningful for those on a healing journey.

Here are some ways to create this space:

✨Encourage Modifications: Reinforce that all variations are valid and individuals can choose what feels best for their body.

✨Allow Choice in Gaze (Drishti): Not everyone feels comfortable closing their eyes. Offer alternatives like a soft gaze or focusing on a fixed point.

✨Encourage Self-Pacing: Normalise pausing or slowing down at any time to honour individual needs.

✨Bring awareness to grounding: Encourage noticing the connection between their body and the mat, feel the stability of their hands and feet in poses or engage in grounding breath work. Bringing awareness to these sensations can help facilitate a sense of control and presence in their practice.

✨Give Permission to Opt Out: Acknowledge that individuals can skip poses, breath work or practices that don’t feel right for them, without explanation or pressure.

By reinforcing choice and autonomy, yoga can become a practice that supports both the body and the nervous system.

💬 Yoga teachers—how do you create a sense of control in your classes? Let’s share in the comments!

📌 Save this post as a reminder to create trauma-informed spaces.

👀 Have you seen my previous posts about creating a sense of safety, calm and social connectedness in yoga?

Follow for yoga psychology content and for psychology content 👩🏻

26/02/2025

Don’t underestimate the power of silent connection…

Ever left a yoga class feeling lighter, more grounded or simply less alone—even without speaking to anyone?

Social connection isn’t just about words. In group yoga, something powerful happens beneath the surface.

Read on to discover how yoga can provide the space for social connection which can be part of an important process of healing following traumatic experiences:

✨Shared presence and co-regulation

Practicing yoga in a group naturally encourages co-regulation—the nervous system’s ability to feel safe through shared rhythmic experiences (like breathing or movement). Being in a room with others, moving and breathing together, can create a deep sense of connection.

✨Unity and belonging

Breathing together (even without verbal communication) fosters a sense of unity and belonging. Synchronised breath work can be powerful for social connection.

✨Community

Being in a supportive and compassionate group space reduces feelings of isolation—knowing others are also present in their own journey can be reassuring, even in silence.

✨Mirroring and non-verbal connection

Seeing others engage in the same movement patterns can reinforce a sense of safety and belonging, activating mirror neurons and strengthening feelings of attunement.

✨Honouring shared presence

Ending class with Namaste, a shared mantra or a collective hand over the heart serves as a gentle acknowledgment of our shared experience. This can encourage mutual respect, unity and a sense of interconnectedness, reminding each person that they are seen, valued and part of a greater whole.

Yoga teachers - is there anything else that you do to create social connectedness in your classes?

📌 Save this for a reminder on trauma-informed teaching.

🔎 Follow for upcoming posts about creating a sense of control and hope in the context of recovery after trauma.

👀 have you seen my previous posts about creating a sense of safety and calm in yoga?

Follow for yoga psychology content and for psychology content

21/02/2025

You never know what someone has been through…

Yoga can be a deeply personal and even a vulnerable experience. As teachers, we hold space for individuals who may be using yoga as part of their healing journey in a group class—without knowing their full story.

So how can we create a calm and supportive environment for everyone, including those who have experienced trauma?

Here are 5 Ideas: ⬇️

✨Encourage a Calm & Uncluttered Space – A messy or chaotic environment can be overstimulating. Keeping the space tidy (shoes, bags, props neatly arranged) fosters a sense of ease.

✨Set an Intention for the Practice – Invite individuals to set a personal intention, offering a focus on calm, grounding or self-compassion.

✨Offer Adjustable Postures & Breathwork – Encourage modification of movements and breathwork to what feels calm and soothing for them—rather than feeling like they have to follow cues.

✨Maintain a Calm & Compassionate Presence – Your energy matters! A steady, grounded presence can help individuals to feel more at ease.

✨Normalise Up & Down-Regulation of Nervous System – Breathwork or movement may activate the sympathetic nervous system. Gently explaining this reduces fear and builds trust. Balance it by highlighting parasympathetic practices too.

💬 Yoga teachers—what do you do to create a calm environment? Let’s share and support each other!

📌 Save this for a reminder on trauma-informed teaching! 💙

🔎Check my last post for ways to create safety in yoga.

Follow for upcoming posts about creating a sense of connection, control and hope in the context of recovery after trauma.

Further posts related to this can be found on

18/02/2025

Not every person in your yoga class is just there for fitness, some may be there to heal.

Trauma can make it hard to feel safe in the body. As yoga teachers, we have the opportunity to create an environment where people feel secure, seen and in control of their practice.

Here’s how ⬇️

💁🏻‍♀️ Seek permission with physical adjustments: Don’t assume touch is welcome. Ask for consent before offering adjustments and consider verbal cues to guide this first.

💬 Use Invitational Language : Instead of commands (“Do this”), offer suggestions (“You’re welcome to try…”). This reduces pressure and supports agency.

🧘🏻‍♀️ Regulate Your Own Nervous System: Your energy sets the tone. A calm, grounded presence can help people feel at ease.

🙂 Create a Judgment-Free Space: Let people move at their own pace. Healing isn’t about “perfect” poses—it’s about feeling safe in their body.

🧎🏻‍♀️Encourage and normalise alternative postures, rest and stillness: Some poses may feel vulnerable (like deep backbends or supine positions). Offer modifications or seated options.

When yoga feels safe, it can help people reconnect with themselves in a way that feels empowering and supportive.

❔Yoga teachers what do you do to make your classes feel safe? Let’s share ideas in the comments.

📌 Save this post as a reminder in how you can create a safe environment for others.

Follow for an upcoming series of posts which are related to the five principles of recovery after trauma. Further posts related to this can be found on

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Guildford

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+447362744087

Website

https://directory.yogaallianceprofessionals.org/united-kingdom/woking/yoga-teacher/leah-fung

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