Thank you for visiting my page. I am a Yoga Alliance UK registered Senior Yoga teacher, Yoga Therapist, Ayurveda Practitioner and Ayurveda Educator. I have been teaching Yoga classes, workshops, 1-1 sessions and retreats for 14 years.
I was first introduced to Yoga by my mother who was training with the British Wheel of Yoga nearly 38 years ago. Since then Yoga has remained a big part of my life. As a young woman with a rebel heart, after University I went on travels across the globe. These were outer journeys driven by an inner spiritual search. I spent time in Japan, India, Italy and later in Costa Rica, Bahamas, Canada and the USA in personal growth work, trainings, and Yoga and meditation practice.
On my return to the UK, after learning for some years with masters of Hatha Yoga in London, I went to Bahamas to take my 200hr Yoga teacher training with the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta organisation. This training was such a powerfully transforming and healing experience for me that I felt compelled to go back to the ashram in Bahamas. I wanted to learn and experience more and so I lived in the ashram for some years as a member of staff. I had intended to stay only a few months but the opportunity to live alongside senior teachers, to work closely with them, and to immerse into a Yoga lifestyle was not only teaching me more than I could have wished for but was also showing me the best side of myself. This just left me longing for more.
My Yoga therapy training introduced me to Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy, and life on the ashram was very much influenced by the teachings of Ayurveda. We were exposed regularly to workshops and lectures by leading figures in the world of Ayurveda. And so I came, during these years in the Sivananda organisation, to recognise what a powerful package Ayurveda and Yoga are, supporting optimum well-being in body, mind and spirit.
Five years later, after taking more teacher trainings including an Advanced Yoga Teacher training, Yoga for the Heart and Cancer training, Pregnancy Yoga training in Bahamas and Canada, and a Structural Yoga Therapy Training in New York, I left the ashram. During those years, I had also travelled to places around the world to immerse in spiritual practice and personal development programmes. In the ashram I had been teaching specialist residential programmes including Yoga for Pain Relief, Yoga for Stress Reduction, Yoga for Back Pain, Yoga for Joint Pain, Yoga for Mind and Emotions. The experience had been enriching and empowering on all levels of being. I felt so excited to come back and start sharing all this here in the UK.
Since my return, I have committed to a Yoga and Ayurveda life and it is my honour to share all this learning in my classes, workshops and retreats. I have recently completed an Ayurveda Practitioner training, and I continue to study with masters of Hatha Yoga. I believe these further trainings deepen my own understanding and experience of Yoga and Ayurveda, which helps me personally but I hope also helps me professionally to keep my teaching alive and continually evolving for the greater benefit of all who come to class.
It is this training and experience of Yoga that informs the classical style of Hatha Yoga I prefer to teach in class, an approach which is aware of the role of postures as a means to build equilibrium in body and mind, preparing us for the subtler breathing and meditation practices.
I also teach more recently a dynamic style of Hatha Yoga, with a focus on the energetics of Yoga postures and their capacity to induce transformation in our state of mind as well as our physical bodies. This dynamic style is ideal for those who have some Yoga experience and would like to move a little more deeply into practice.
In addition, you will find on my teaching schedule and in retreat programmes, Yin and Restorative Yoga styles, as well as a Gentle Yoga style.
My training in Ayurveda influences all my classes, informing me how to adapt the classes according to the environment, climate and season, and - in 1-1 sessions - according to age and constitutional type.
In addition to teaching Yoga workshops, classes, 1-1s and retreats, I teach Meditation Courses and Ayurveda Living (Lifestyle and Nutrition) Courses.
Please drop me a line any time (private message me) to enquire about any classes, workshops, private Yoga and/or Ayurveda, or retreats. Or write with any of your Yoga and Ayurveda related questions. I’m only too happy to answer as best I can or to point you in the direction where you might find the answers you look for.
With love and best wishes
Sara Palmer (Shama)
