LIT Yoga's influences

I started practicing hatha yoga in 2011. I enjoyed it, but had to stop when I was very seriously injured later that year. I took it up again in 2012 to regain flexibility but had to stop again due to ongoing injury issues, and spent the next few years doing Pilates, practicing yoga at home or at the gym, enjoying it but not focusing on it. It was always there in the background.

Finally secure in my lower back, I returned to the mat in late 2016 and, a few months after starting at a lunchtime vinyasa flow, I felt my confidence and interest building; something clicked, and I realised that I wanted to teach.

I am lucky enough to have had a number of amazing teachers, all of whom have helped me on my path. Read on to find out more about my influences as a yogi.

Doug keller

Doug is an incredibly engaging teacher with a wealth of knowledge about anatomy and philosophy, who teaches incredible nidra and always looks at the latest research to see what he can glean. His work is rooted in safe, science-based knowledge and I have reaped the benefits of this, implementing his teachings into my own practice and in how I teach others. He embodies what I want out of the people teaching me - knowledge, boundaries, enthusiasm and kindness. I attend his workshops every year.

Caroline Mays

From practicing yin and yoga nidra with Caroline, I learnt how to create atmosphere in a space, how to use my voice to create a calming aura, how to work with the body to find stillness and how to lose oneself in the liminal spaces of nidra and the intensity of yin, all qualities my students treasure today! A fantastic experience as both student and would-be teacher.

Dianne bondy, Amber karnes

I work to spread inclusion and body positivity in yoga thanks in no small part to the influence of Dianne Bondy and Amber Karnes, who run Yoga For All, as well as their own teaching practice. Their work’s really important, but the UK needs to build its own movement of practice: Yoga For All is so important.

Sarah Vaughan

I formerly practiced Ashtanga (led and mysore-style) under senior Yoga Alliance teacher Sarah Vaughan at The Yoga Hutch. Sarah was a big influence on me; she’s an extremely developmental teacher with a wealth of experience in hatha and ashtanga. She taught me a great deal during my time with her, and I took that work and extrapolated it to make Ashtanga postures accessible for all bodies.

Tammy walker

Tammy was my first teacher (of vinyasa flow and yin) when I started taking classes after resolving my back issues. Her fun, energetic style of teaching flicked that switch in me to want to teach, so she’s definitely to blame for where I am today, and showed me I wasn’t just stuck on practicing hatha.