marie page yoga
I first explored yoga in a workplace Iyengar class nearly 30 years ago. I was
not remotely flexible and remember having to use a virtual scaffold of blocks
and blankets to get into alignment for some postures. A recurring back injury (I
have multiple bulging disks in my thoracic and cervical spine as well as
significant degeneration – see the photo!) began troubling me several years ago
and forced me to give up the high impact sports that I had previously enjoyed.
An MRI scan showed my spine to look like that of a 70 year old and each day
began in pain and extreme stiffness. yoga-help-back-pain-problems I rediscovered
yoga after a brief foray into Pilates and gradually found that my pain eased as
my flexibility and core strength increased. Since I’ve been more in control of
the yoga I do (as a teacher I’m obviously writing my own lesson plans), I’ve
found my back has become incrementally better. All my classes are taught with an
awareness of back issues. They all incorporate plenty of stretches designed to
reduce back pain, and work to improve core strength. I will often plan a series
of classes specifically for lower, middle or upper back pain. If you’d like to
attend one just let me know! Always Teaching My obsession with yoga grew and I
began attending multiple classes each week and travelling to workshops and
retreats all over the world occasionally dragging my family with me (the photo
here that you will see if you are viewing the website on a computer rather than
a phone is of me and my son Alfie who is something of a calisthenics
specialist). I’ve taught in virtually every other aspect of my life. I have a
PGCE in adult education, have taught on University Masters courses (I’m a
digital marketing specialist in my non yoga life) and have delivered business
training in the UK and North America. Training to be a yoga teacher was
therefore a natural progression albeit somewhat unusual to take such a dramatic
career change in my 50s. Accreditation I have a 250 hour yoga teacher training
qualification with Yoga Alliance and am also a member of the British Wheel of
Yoga. I continue to hoover up whatever other yoga-related knowledge I can with
specialist workshops covering a range of aspects from accessible yoga teaching
to Ashtanga, Iyengar, Scaravelli-influenced approaches, somatic yoga,
transformational breath work and deep dive retreats where just occasionally I
attempt to simply “be” rather than striving always to learn. My teaching
reflects the main styles of yoga that have influenced me and most weeks I
incorporate some new posture or approach that I’ve discovered in a recent
workshop. I hold insurance with Covea – policy reference COBI3200184XB. My
classes are held in Henfield where I now live. My previous Rickmansworth classes
are now taught by Annette Henn.
