About Nancy

I've been practicing yoga since my teens, where I immediately noticed the calming effect of integrating yoga into my life. I've been hooked ever since and now, 30 years or so later, with teen children of my own, it's more important to me than ever before. Yoga is my bedrock, it creates a beautiful sense of tranquility, even during the toughest of times and I couldn't be without it.

Training and Background

I trained as a Rajadhiraja yoga instructor with the Himalayan Yoga Institute, studying under Ganga Devi and am indebted to her for her amazing breadth of experience, and beautiful teaching style. I am delighted to be able to offer this beautiful practice here in Shrewsbury.

While not teaching yoga, I am a professional wildlife gardener, with a background in ecology and environmental science. I am really passionate about this beautiful Earth and am ever in awe at both the science and practice of how it all fits together into a coherent, integrated and interconnected whole.

For me, both yoga and gardening are practices for experiencing this interconnective nature of the world and this is what it's all about here at Yoga Connects.

My Approach

Rajadhiraja Yoga

I am trained in the Rajadhiraja yoga tradition, which draws together traditional and less known, classic yoga poses, along with breathwork and meditation. With this blend of exercises, you'll experience a class that is specifically focused on settling the emotional and nervous system, balancing hormones and bringing the body's subtle energy system into balance, with renewed vitality. These practices help to create a clear foundation for you, from which you can find inner peace and a connection to your wise inner Self.

Somatic Mindfulness

In somatic mindfulness, we tune in to the patterns of sensation and tension in our body, that we naturally build up as we go through our lives. By holding these sensations with warmth and compassion, they're able to loosen their grip on us and we emerge restored and refreshed. I am a qualified coach for somatic mindfulness enquiry and blend these practices into my yoga sessions, offering a chance for you to really deepen the sense of calm you can experience during your time in class and beyond.

Nature Focus

Science is increasingly catching up with how aligning with the flow of the seasons brings our whole system in to balance. In the Spring, yoga can be fresh and uplifting, in Summer it can be a celebration of vibrancy, full of energy and vitality, while in Autumn and Winter it can be more inward focused and nurturing. I love to bring a bit of the outdoors in to the yoga studio and where possible to bring the yoga studio outside, to allow the flow of your yoga class to follow the energies of the natural world.