Matt Ryan
I started yoga about nine years ago after a friend suggested I try it to help me chill out! I never thought for one minute after my very first class that this amazing practice would completely change my life for the better- both mentally and physically.
The flow of Ashtanga combined with focused ujjayi breathing helped me to become more focused and grounded within myself.
I have now practiced yoga for nine years and taught for the last seven, although based in Manchester now — I have also taught in both India and Europe as well as hosting retreats in the UK.
It feels like an honour to be able to pass on what I have learnt to anyone who is interested. My time on the mat has taught me everything from humility to having a sense of humour. I have also learnt that there are no short cuts in yoga — you can read all the books in Waterstones (there's plenty - I've bought most of them!) but at the end of the day my realisation is that there is no substitute for time spent on the mat.
Your yoga practice can be just sitting on the mat and breathing — in fact breathing is the only part of the practice that is compulsory in my classes — how much physical yoga you do is entirely up to you.
I study annually with Guruji Sri K Pattabhis Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy in Mysore, and I continue my yoga studies in the UK with Hamish Hendry at Astanga London. I am also currently working on the advanced B of the Ashtanga system having already completed the first 3 sequences.
Gena Darwent
I have been practising Ashtanga yoga for eight years, and teaching since November 2006.
I started my Ashtanga practice under Mike Nevitt’s tuition in March 1998. I remember that after the first lesson my legs gave way on the steps going out!
The first few months were tough because I was accustomed to striving for goals, and I would set myself goals of flexibility rather than of deepening into the practice as a whole. As this changed, I began to appreciate yoga for the pleasure of the session itself as well as for the wonderful feeling it gave me afterwards: a feeling of calm, poise, strength and energy that would last for days; I have also felt a kind of bliss at points in my practice.
Yoga is now an integral part of my life. In good times it keeps me fit, slim, toned and energetic, with a positive frame of mind, and in bad times it does all of the same but gives me comfort and confidence as well.
After training with Mike Nevitt, I began practising weekly Ashtanga with Rod Watson in 2000, along with my own self-practice, attended day workshops with John Scott and trained under Rob Leadley in York for one year in 2005-2006.
Lisa Jones
I have been a professional dancer for the last 14 years, though my love for dance started way before. Dance and movement are my passions. I've been teaching movement based classes for 17 years.
I first came to yoga seriously 12 years ago. At that time I was studying in the Iyengar tradition, which I found extremely beneficial as the physical therapeutic aspect of Iyengar is second to none. Being a dancer I always had some form of injury, and my yoga practice became a support and eventually an intrinsic part of my dance training. To this day I believe the knowledge of alignment and body awareness I gained from this has been invaluable and is something that I try to pass on in my teaching. I also trained as a massage therapist and reflexologist which had a huge impact on my life. This is where I started to understand the meaning of holistic health. The fact that everything is connected and how one tiny element has an affect on the whole. Again, invaluable information that is interwoven into my teaching..
I graduated from The Yoga Academy in 2006 with a Teacher Training Diploma in Hatha Yoga. This course enabled me to explore my yoga far more deeply than I had ever done before. I started to really express and form the core essence of what Yoga is to me. . . Freedom, and this again is reflected in my teaching. Freedom of mind and body, moving and flowing in unison with the breath.
Yoga has helped me to cultivate a more loving and respectful relationship with myself, the world and the people around me. It gives me an opportunity to stop, to listen, to watch and to breathe. . . the most basic things in life that get lost in the fast paced world in which we live.
Rachel Cook
I first encountered yoga on a backpacking trip to India in 1994; since then I have made yoga an essential part my everyday life. During this time I have gained an understanding of Iyengar, Sivanander and Ashtanga. I am passionate about how yoga can bring positivity to daily life and as a mum of two, I have found that it provides the energy I need to keep up with my children's whirlwind existence and unwind at the end of another hectic day.
My training with Calm For Kids has enabled me to successfully teach children's yoga and the 200-hour teacher training course which I completed with Brian Cooper (Yoga Alliance) in July 2007 has given me a greater appreciation of each asana and the benefits they bring to a person's physical and emotional well being. At the same time, I have been working extensively with Matt Ryan to develop the Primary Series asanas in detail. With Matt and Brian's continual guidance the yoga journey I begun over a decade ago is being realised in the classes I teach with Yoga Manchester.
Tara Copp-Barton
I have been practising Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga for 10 years. My practice brings me moments of great peace and clarity in the crazy world we live in. Over time I have also seen my body change and I can now do things I never thought possible. My understanding of the human body has also been deepened by various massage courses I have studied on my holistic journey.
I have been teaching children's yoga (2.5 years – 18 years) for the past three years and have found the experience to be deeply rewarding if sometimes challenging! I am excited by the opportunity of furthering my working with adults and sharing the knowledge I have gathered over the past years.
- Trained in Sports, Swedish, Peer and Pregnancy Massage
- Certified Teacher for Yoga Bugs
- Certified Teacher Yoga'd Up
- Certified Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance