I still remember my first yoga class back in 1993. After graduating from Physiotherapy in 1990, I had worked intensively to save up for my big overseas adventure; my first 
destination was India!
Back then I did a lot of running and cycling and I was a bit of a gym junkie, always out daily for my cardio fix. I loved to stretch, but really knew little about yoga.
Whilst in India, I by chance met a fellow backpacker who was being taught yoga by an American Iyengar teacher who was teaching for a small donation in a sheltered forest at the far end of Mcleod Ganj village.
Class started at 5.45am, we had no mats, just grass between our toes and the sweet smell of earth beneath us. I remember vividly the feeling of all my senses being saturated with nature as we moved through rhythmic sun salutations feeling the sun rise and stream through the canopy of the trees, and sensing the vibration of birdsong through the space. Here we were, a group of six travellers, all together sharing this space. We were ‘exercising’, but somehow this felt so complete, as everyone’s breath and body slowly awoke to the new day ahead it was more a slow dance with nature.
Over three weeks, our class of six – four Kiwis, one Israeli and an American teacher – grew to the size of 30, the word having spread to other backpackers! The joy spread and we had a network of friends from all over the world learning yoga together under the canopy of the trees.
I later travelled on to the UK to work in both the public (hospitals) and private sector as a physiotherapist. I worked in the United Kingdom for 12 years, my work varying vastly from hospital based work with multi traumas and rehabilitation of patients following joint and spinal surgery, to working in chronic pain clinics. My private practice work was specialised, predominately in artistic sport working as a physio for the shows Cats, Starlight Express, Saturday Night Fever, Grease, Phantom of the Opera and The Millennium Dome Show.
I did my first yoga teacher training course through the Sivananda School of Yoga. These teachings really resonated with me. Sivananda was a doctor who combined western medical knowledge with the science of yoga. Yoga has a multitude of therapeutic benefits and more and more research is validating this. I was fortunate to learn more about yoga therapy through the Yoga Research Foundation and the Himalayan Institute.
I gradually started integrating yoga practices in my work as a physiotherapist. My personal practice deepened and was guided by Sivananda teachings and Godfrey Devereux (before he became famous for teaching yoga to Madonna!).
Yoga has given me so much over the years. It’s got me through a difficult time when I lost my dad to cancer, and helped ease my grieving process. It’s led me to discover alternative medical models other than just western, and inspired me to go on to do a Diploma of Acupuncture at the Renshu College of Chinese Medicine. Western science has given me a solid foundation on which I’ve built my knowledge, and eastern therapies have deepened my understanding of the body as a whole.
Through my yoga practice I also reconnected with my joy of dancing and it eventually led me back to dance. In 2000, I took a year out of physio practice and trained full time at the Laban School of Contemporary Dance in London. It was here that I started integrating contemporary movement, experiential anatomy, yoga, Pilates and mind-body practices of self healing.
My journey into yoga as a student and as a teacher has opened up an immense dimension of mind-body medicine. I tapped into this more on my own journey into healing when I was recovering from severe spinal trauma and injury leading to a near death experience in 2005.
I was the patient this time! No longer able to rely on a physical asana practice, I immersed myself in the deeper practices of yoga. My focus was on pranayama (breath techniques), dharana (concentration), dhyana (meditation) and yoga nidra (conscious rest). Gradually over time I worked with modified asana practice and layer upon layer I have healed.
If I can impart what I’ve learnt through my own journey of self healing to others I know I’ve done my job, because deeper healing really starts with self. Health encompasses balance on all levels – physical, mental and connection to spirit. Spiritus is the Latin word for breath and this primary rhythm of life has vast therapeutic benefits.
In 2007 I did further training, completing a Diploma of Hatha Yoga and Philosophy at Dharma Yoga in Melbourne and later set up Positive Integrated Physiotherapy. I teach open classes and do one on one therapy based treatments as well as physio consultations at Dharma.
In 2011 I was a Lululemon Ambassador and I continue to support the Lululemon community’s consciousness of yoga.
I continue to develop my yoga practice and am currently training through Shiva Rae and Twee Merrigan in prana flow.