Karen McGrath is a registered teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals.

This accreditation demonstrates excellent standards as set by

Yoga Alliance Professionals.

I thought long and hard about what to call my teaching practice.

Your Yoga has been specifically named because I firmly believe that despite all the great gurus and teachers out there, your body is the best teacher you can have. There are so many diverse perceptions of what yoga is, it's not possible to have just one right way to reap all the benefits. The emphasis in any Your Yoga session is for you to take from it, what you need and what you want. It doesn’t matter what your neighbour is doing, it doesn’t matter if you do more or less, however, it does matter that you enjoy a Your Yoga moment. This will be the class mantra, ‘Your Yoga Moment’ and everything taught in the session will focus on this. Your enjoyment. Your ability. Your state of mind. Your intention. Your practice. 

I was lucky to have found yoga life 10 years ago and long may it continue.

Many websites and facebook pages highlight how teachers have experienced training with international gurus in far away exotic places and whilst I too have been fortunate to have enjoyed the delights of yoga workshops and practice in Bali, Spain and Greece (all yogis should get to visithttp://www.silverislandyoga.com at least once in their sattvic lifetime) I did my teacher training closer to home, in the delightful village of Dunkerton, near Bath.

My course was delivered by Universal Yoga and accredited with Yoga Alliance Professionals. It was based on the Sivananda lineage which involved immersing myself in ashram style living, with plenty of karma yoga amongst the group and weekends filled with a delight of vegetarian feasts (thanks to Nick for all that chopping and tossing). The course content deepened my knowledge, increased my understanding and aroused my curiosity for all that Yoga has to offer. Since completing mt TTA I have continued to expand my training with further CPD sessions, workshops and retreats, together with plenty of reading and playtime on my mat!

In addition to aspiring to gain the insight and perseptive as my course teachers, Charlotta Martinus and Rebekah Abhaya, since embarking on my yoga journey I have also been inspired by many local teachers who I think are worth a mention. So although they are teaching here in Cardiff and not India, for me they have all been motivating gurus - Mark Veysey (whom I cannot thank enough for bringing yoga to me and me to yoga and for teaching me headstand) Claire Tredgett (the most tender yoga class I have ever experienced - ALL pregnant ladies should book with Claire) Ray Hassan (all power to Ray for showing me how humbleness improves my practice) Aaron Cousins (his hotpod classes are better than wine, chocolate and even shopping - honest! and finely Hayley Mai (ok, she isn't a Cardiff teacher and she is teaching in India but she still deserves a mention of thanks, especlally from my shoulders for her unique style of using oils and balms to help with my alignment).

If you're are still reading this far, I would like to take this opportunity to mention Simon Haas and his book - the Book of Dharma, making enlightened choices. This was, for me, one of the best books I have ever read in my quest to learn about yoga, beyond my yoga mat. It has helped to make my life simpler and less stressful and has introduced an element of stillness I never thought would happen in my crazy existence. I would highly recommend this, hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Finally, I hope to see you in a Your Yoga class soon.

Om Shanti 

Karen x