Yoga life journey

First as play, then as refuge: and now a way of life.

YOGA LIFE JOURNEY

I don’t remember a time when yoga wasn’t quietly present in my life.
At six years old, I was flipping through my mum’s Yoga for Health book from the 70s, fascinated by the shapes, the strange stillness, the breath.

Back then, yoga felt like play but also intriguing, and I was also wondering at that time if this reality was all some kind of dream; curious.

Through my teens and twenties I came back to yoga when life grew turbulent. Emotional upheavals, eating disorders and the chaos of a messy home life often
left me struggling to find ground. Yoga always gave me a place to land. It offered refuge, a way to stay connected to my body even when my mind felt scattered and heavy.

By my thirties my yoga practice had become a regular rhythm, more woven into my life. Yoga was no longer just a pastime: first it was play, later a refuge and now it has become a way of living.

An important turning point came when I stayed at Anahata Yoga Retreat in Golden Bay. For nine months, I lived both within the native bush and wide open skies on top of a crystal mountain.
Daily practices included bhakti yoga (mantra), karma yoga (selfless action), havan fire ceremonies and kirtan. Meditating was already a daily practice before arriving here to live in rhythm with the land. Life was simple shaped by community and the shared heartbeat of daily practice in nature. Yoga was not just something we did; it was the way we lived. The rhythm of ashram life offered a deep contrast to city living.
When I returned to urban life, I felt the dissonance; the constant noise was intense, the urgency and overstimulation that many of us have become numb to and take for granted was surprising.

This reaffirmed something vital: our nervous systems, bodies and spirit need quietness, movement, space and to be in nature to truly thrive. Yoga is the way to help us navigate the intensity of city living.

I’ve trained in Hatha, Vinyasa, Yin, Yoga Nidra, Breath and Restorative practices, and taught over 1,000 hours in Wellington studios. My teaching blends movement and breath with somatic awareness to help people feel stronger, clearer and more at ease in their bodies.

At the heart of it all is a simple truth: yoga isn’t about performing, it’s about listening. It’s about remembering the clarity, vitality and calm already within us.

I have taken a 200-hour RYT training with Avene Kelly of Golden Flow Yoga (Hatha, Yin, and Ashtanga) and a 120-hour training in Yoga Nidra, Breath and Restorative Yoga with Swami Karma Karuna.

Kundalini Yoga has also been a significant influence; I’m drawn to the use of kriya, mudra, mantra and breath to generate energetic clarity and vitality.

I teach regular classes across Wellington.

I currently offer Yoga Nidra Journeys every second month in Wellington. These sessions are a restorative, gentle reset of the nervous system.
Yoga Nidra encourages a release of held emotional, mental and physical tensions and allows space for healing, creativity and renewal.