Claire Scanlan

My love affair with yoga began 15 years ago when I was living in Australia and I have been practicing to varying degrees since this time. I have practised a number of different styles of yoga from Iyengar to Hatha, Ashtanga to Yin, Vinyasa Flow to so-called hot yoga and many others in between!

Whilst living and working as a Clinical Psychologist in London, yoga became increasingly important to me as a way of destressing both my body and mind and allowing me to connect with myself, be present and focused on the here-and-now as opposed to the million and one other things that were going on, or that I ‘should’ be doing. Over time I realised that I wanted this way of feeling and being to be the rule and not the exception, and so I decided to ‘quit life’ as I knew it and actually start living my life in a way that felt more true to myself and how I wanted my life and daily existence to be. So I left my job, flat and life as I knew it behind and I set off on an unplanned adventure to find or create this new way of living that I was seeking. The only thing that I knew was that I wanted to do my Yoga Teacher Training, in India, so that was my first stop…!

I am beyond proud to say that I completed my 200-hour teacher training in Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, pranayama (breath work) and meditation whilst in India and spent the following five months studying, learning, travelling and soaking up all the delights that India has to offer. Since leaving India, I spent time in Bali, where amongst other things I assisted on a Yoga Teacher Training course before moving onto Europe where I spent several months working at various retreat centres in Portugal and Spain, teaching yoga and cooking delicious, healthy vegetarian food!

Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga is primarily focused on synchronising breath with movement. This can be practised in varying ways ranging from very slow, mindful and meditative movements which help to open the body and bring about a sense of relaxation and calmness to the mind; to a more dynamic practice which is more focused on strengthening and energising the body.