“Connection is why we’re here; it is what gives purpose and meaning to our lives.” – Brené Brown.
Ok, so this is the bit where I’m supposed to tell you all about the qualifications I’ve got, the 20+ years of yoga and counselling experience, the world renowned teachers I’ve studied with, and the thousands of classes I’ve taught… but I’ll keep all that til the end because
I’d much rather tell you about what I do and why I do it!
I’m a yoga teacher, counsellor, mobility specialist, mum of 2, and self-confessed ‘people-person’. I have a weakness for dark chocolate and red wine, a penchant for kitchen dancing, and a burning desire to build community & create connection.
So how did I get here?
It was really my own struggle with Anorexia, Bulimia, and anxiety that led the way.
As a teen I struggled a lot with body image and low self-esteem. I believed that if I could just control my shape and weight that everything in life would fall into place.
I couldn’t….and it didn’t!
I needed to do a lot of work on myself, and doing that work made me really appreciate the importance of therapy and personal development. So much so that at the age of 24 I began training to become a counsellor.
For the next decade or so I worked full-time as a counsellor, travelled a bit, met my husband, and started a family. Then in 2007 my husbands job brought our little family over the water from England to Cork city.
I was excited at first – an adventure, a new country, a fresh start!
But pretty soon I started finding things tough.
– My lovely Mum passed away.
– I missed my friends.
– I missed my job.
– I started to feel the old familiar waves of anxiety and low mood returning and I wasn’t quite sure where to turn for help.
I began attending weekly yoga classes.
It was hard to slow down at first; to quiet my mind and catch my breath. Lying still for the ‘relaxation’ at the end of class sometimes felt like torture, and I often cried in Savasana.
But I knew that there was healing there for me.
I knew instinctively that slowing down and reconnecting to myself was what I needed most and so one day I signed up for a Yoga Teacher Training. The rest, as they say, is history.
You can’t heal yourself by addressing only your mind, and you can’t heal yourself by addressing only your body.
Everything is CONNECTED!
I believe that most people don’t feel safe because they are disconnected from their body and struggle to connect to a sense of spiritual or emotional wellbeing. That was certainly the case for me!
The word Yoga means “union” – of the mind, body, and spirit – and the practice of yoga serves as a really powerful bridge connecting our physical and mental wellbeing.
My personal style of yoga is all about mindful movement, slowing down, getting grounded, and paying attention. There’s no doubt that my yoga practice helps to keep my body strong, mobile, and pain-free, but it also calms my mind, centres me, and brings me a much-needed sense of connection… both to others and myself.
It can do the same for you!
My mission with YogaConnected is to create an online space that incorporates much of what I believe is healing.
- Yoga
- Mindful Movement
- Meditation
- Community
- Collaboration
- Connection