Catherine Adams has over 30 years of Yoga experience. She is a British Wheel of Yoga and Yoga Alliance 200hr Registered Teacher.  She is a 2012 graduate of Yogacampus, which is widely recognised as one of the UK's leading teacher training courses.

She has studied with Tias Little and intensively with US based teacher, Yogarupa Rod Stryker, accumulating 300 hours of specialist training in Tantra, Prana, Energetics of Sequencing, Kundalini, the Koshas, Yoga Nidra and his unique training - The Four Desires - based on ancient philosophical tools to find meaning and purpose in life.

In 2016, she completed an 8 week Mindfulness Course with the Mindfulness Project in London. In 2017, Catherine qualified to teach Yoga and Mindfulness to Teens with Teen Yoga Founder, Charlotta Martinus.

She is currently studying for an MSc in Humanistic Psychotherapy at the world renowned, Metanoia Institute in London.

She is fully insured, is an Appointed Person in First Aid and holds an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate from the CRB.

Finding Yoga

I discovered Yoga in my 20's whilst living in Sydney in the early 1990's.  For three years I was living an exciting and fairly chaotic life - juggling several jobs whilst trying to raise production funding to make a documentary.  One day I noticed a flyer for Iyengar Yoga classes at my local community centre. I tried one out and over a period of time, I became hooked. I discovered the freedom and joy of moving my body, but more importantly, it wasn't long, before I realised that through mindful physical practice, I could also move my mind.  Yoga became a grounding force in my life and I knew that I had found something very special and long lasting.

Living Yoga

I did go on to secure production funding for my film and returned to the UK to go film school.  There followed a few turbulent and frustrating years trying to access the television industry, and then a shift into a career in Marketing within a large Advertsiing Agency and then the BBC. Throughout all this time, through all the ebbs and flows of life and the concurrent emotions - joy, disappointment, sadness, bliss, heartache, love - Yoga was the constant thing in my life and I found the discipline of the practice both comforting and essential.

After ten years of Iyengar practice at the Iyengar Institute in Maida Vale - which provided a deep appreciation of alignment principles, I started to explore other styles of Yoga and found the Vinyasa system of sequenced poses in a dynamic format freeing and creative and when integrated with longer holds, and breath work, very powerful.   For several years, this became my main self practice. 

After I had children I found the challenge of living Yoga 'off the mat' more testing - with less time and less control over my choices, I began to nurture a growing interest in yoga philosophy.  Through the practice of Svadhyaya (self enquiry), I began a dedicated practice of acquiring self-knowledge and understanding of my own Dharma (life’s purpose) which led in 2009 to training to teach.

Practicing Yoga calms the mind and gives us the mental space to make the best choices we can about what we do with our lives and how we live them.  We may not always be able to change our circumstances but Yoga teaches us that we can change our attitudes, our reactions and our judgements.  And, yes, there will always be time pressures and distractions to divert us from practice, but a little, often, can go along way.  Theodore Roosevelt, a yoga practitioner himself, had some wise words to offer on this, 'Do what you can, with what you have, when you can.'  

Teaching Yoga

My teaching is non dogmatic and reflects the styles of Yoga I have experienced over the years. I structure my classes around creative and imaginative sequences with integrated breathing practices (Pranayama) to heighten not just the physical effects of the practice but also the subtle energetic effects; moving energy or Prana in order to move the mind (Chitta).

Private sessions allow me to build up an intimate knowledge of an individual's practice and guide them with bespoke instruction and use of appropriate props.