welcome

Hello! If you are seeing this message, then you have signed up to my roaming newsletter entitled: yoga / soma / space where I will be sharing, from time to time, musings on yoga and somatics, health and wellness, inspirations, my teaching schedule, special classes and events, and more.

A little about me: I'm Marlie, Certified Yoga Instructor (200 hour Hatha Teacher Training recognised by the Yoga Alliance, eight month intensive, 2011-12) with 12+ years yoga teaching experience across Canada and the United Kingdom, including Hot Yoga, Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Yin, Restorative, Vinyasa Yin, Yang to Yin, Care Home, and Children’s Yoga style classes.

/\ PAST /\

I began my yoga journey in the late nineties, studying and practicing in person with renowned Iyengar yoga instructor Burt Peeters, alongside episodes of Lilias, Yoga and You (PBS), all fuelled by an interest in sixties counterculture, art, music, and alternative health. 

After I completed my initial training, I took part in the Karma Yoga program at Hollyhock - Cortes Island Retreat and Learning Centre, located in the remote wilderness of British Columbia in Canada. This was a life-changing experience where I found myself immersed in community, selfless service, wellness, yoga and meditation retreats for a number of months (and where I had the honour of making Gabor Maté his first raw vegan dessert...he loved it!).

I’ve continued to expand my studies and deepen my practice globally with many workshops and additional trainings over the years with Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health, Hollyhock, Tamalpa Institute, Indaba Yoga and the Iyengar Yoga Institute in London. I would like to thank and give gratitude to my many yoga teachers and inspirations over the years.

I’m interested in yoga being inclusive and accessible to everyone, and I love to teach and practice in non-commercialised settings (i.e. church halls, gyms, community centres, rooftops, meadows, you name it!)

\/ PRESENT \/

I offer a compassionate approach to exploring traditional yoga postures and incorporate elements of somatics, movement, sensory awareness, guided meditation and breath work in my teaching and classes, to help prompt your intuitive self-guidance to expanding your individual practice.

Every day's another dawning to learn and try something new: I welcome you to find union, transformation and personal freedom in your practice.

But enough about me!

From the solar eclipse to solar storms and aurora borealis, the universe is truly painting with light recently! Let this time of change and wonder help you find your unique lightness of being to help fuel your inner energy and fire (agni).

I’m here for you this month of May to help guide you through your practice:

\ MAY 2024 SCHEDULE /

/\ FUTURE /\

I’m excited to announce that I will be launching Summer Soma Sessions, a weekly virtual livestream online opportunity for us to practice together! The Summer Soma Sessions will begin in early June and end the last week of August 2024.

These open, all level classes incorporate traditional yoga asanas (postures) with somatic movement that I continue to explore in my in-person classes, personal practice and ongoing study with Tamalpa Institute.

In these classes you can expect to:

• Explore and experience your yoga practice from within (somatics)

• Coordinate breath with movement (elements of vinyasa flow yoga)

• Slow down and calm the breath through rest and relaxation techniques

• Stimulate your sensory awareness through yoga asana practice, mindful movements and breath work

• Have fun and learn more about yourself through your yoga practice

These are donation-based classes, with a sliding scale depending on your budget (ideally between £5-£10 per class). A portion of the proceeds from these classes will be donated to a no-kill animal rescue shelter each month.

The sessions will take place via FreeConference, a no-data sharing free video conferencing platform similar to Zoom (you’ll just need to make a free account with your name, email and password).

Then, simply make your donation of choice in good time before each class by selecting the ‘Friends and Family’ option via Paypal to <[email protected]> and I can send you the link to the class and admit you into the virtual session.

I’ll be sharing more details, including dates and times, for these sessions in the next newsletter in a few weeks. If you’d like to get in touch before then, feel free to send me an email or I’ll see you soon in class.

Can’t wait to see you there!

/ Marlie /