Teachers
Sandra
Heider (Forrest &
Jivamukti)
Peter
Wilkins (Ashtanga)
Christina Masingell (Forrest)
Mark Stevens (Sivananda
& Jivamukti)
Helen
Manning (Hatha & Pilates)
Luz
Verkiel (Hatha)
Sarah
White (Hatha)
Anita
Barker (Pilates)
Sandra Heider - Founder of
Equilibrium
Sandra
Heider, MA, MA, grew up in Germany, but left her home country when she was
19 to study in Edinburgh (1998). It was there when she started practising yoga
with her first Ashtanga
Yoga teachers Brian Cooper and Nawajyoti. Although she
moved to England in 2002, she went back to Brian to do her teacher training
(200 hour diploma with Yoga Alliance) in Edinburgh and Scoraig (2005 and
2006,
http://www.unionyoga.co.uk/training/tt-home.html ). In April
2007 under the guidance of David Life and Sharon Gannon she qualified as a Jivamukti teacher in New York. In June 2007 Sandra finished her month long
intensive teacher training with Ana Forrest - becoming a Forrest Associate.
In February 2009 she certified as a Forrest Yoga Teacher. Since then she has
completed her Forrest mentorship programme with Heidi Sormaz in New Haven
(CT) and assisted Ana Forrest at workshops (Peterborough and London 2009) as
well as at a 5 day teacher training (Berlin 2009). She also currently
studies with the Cambridge Body Psychotherapy Centre to gain more insight
into how the body, mind, spirit and emotions
are connected - in fact are one.
Love and gratitude
go to all her teachers and in particular Ana Forrest, Colleen Millen, Heidi Sormaz,
Yogeswari, Sharon Gannon and David Life who are a true inspiration for her
teaching, her practice and her life.
For Sandra yoga is about finding stillness in
the body and also in the mind. It is that ever lasting happiness and peace we
can only find when we are truly present - in the moment. When we reach this
stillness we can see the interconnectedness of all beings, all harming and
violence stops and we feel in harmony and love with our surroundings. Real peace
and happiness can only come from within. Joy and bliss will come out of
this changed state of consciousness.
Peter Wilkins
Peter has a rich background in martial arts. He started Tang Soo Do - a Korean
Martial Art - in 1973. He took his black belt in 1979 when he started teaching -
eventually becoming a 6th Dan and a chief instructor for Bedford, Northampton
and Cambridge. When he stopped teaching, he was looking for some physical
activity and discovered Ashtanga yoga in 2004. He completed his intense teacher
training with Brian Cooper in Southern France in June 2008. He now teaches
Ashtanga yoga at the centre, drawing from his teacher training, his past
teaching experiences in martial art and most importantly from his own daily
practice.
Christina Masingill
Christina Masingill is American, originally from Virginia.
She has lived in London for 8 years with her British husband. After 13 years
of teaching children, she now teaches yoga. Christina began practising yoga in
1999, replacing her already active lifestyle of dance and sports. When she came
across Ana Forrest she knew she wanted to teach Forrest Yoga! Forrest
Yoga has brought deep fulfilment, freedom, strength and constant growth to her
life. She is a Forrest Associate certified through UK Yoga Alliance and
empowers others to discover and grow their own freedom, power and
self-expression igniting their passion for life!
Mark Stevens,
www.sivanandayogastudio.co.uk/
Mark owns his own yoga studio in Little Downham, Ely, where he
offers regular classes Monday to Friday.
Mark started practising yoga in 1986. The Sivananda Tradition has
provided the main focus for his practice. He undertook Teacher Training in
Kerala Southern India in 2003 and Advanced Teacher Training in the Himalayas in
2007. He continues to study within the Tradition. In May 2009 he also certified
as a Jivamukti teacher under the guidance of Sharon Gannon and David Life. He is
one of the very few Jivamukti teachers outside London and we are pleased to have
him in the centre teaching on a Saturday morning!
The Iyengar, Ashtanga and Vini Yoga traditions are also part of
Mark's background and inform his style of teaching.
Helen Manning
"Learning Yoga will often feel as though you are learning something you always
knew how to do…..the joy and refreshment of a deep, full breath in combination
with the exhilaration of a deep, strong stretch is rejuvenating”.
Helen has been practising Yoga,
under the kind and supportive instruction of a number of Yoga teachers, many of
whom are British Wheel of Yoga teachers, since 1995.
Helen is qualified as a teacher
in both Pilates and Yoga - matching both methods of movement with breath to that
instinctive urge we all have to stretch the body. She feels passionately that
the practices of Yoga and Pilates connect us back to the deep rooted instinct to
unwind, to refresh and re-balance the whole body with thoughtful movement and
breath. Imagine the end of a long car journey, the need to move, to breathe in
deeply and stretch off the journey – then we feel calmer, more relaxed,
rejuvenated.
Already working as a Pilates
Institute (London) Matwork instructor since 2004, Helen qualified as a Freestyle
Fitness Yoga instructor in 2006 – this subsequently ignited her interest in
deepening her own knowledge and teaching of the massive subject of Yoga. To
achieve this Helen embarked on the British Wheel of Yoga Teacher's Diploma
Course in September 2008. The British Wheel of Yoga is the largest Yoga
organisation in the country and is recognised by the Central Council for
Physical Recreation (CCPR) and Sport England as the national governing body for
Yoga in the UK.
"Be happy you know how to
practice. The practice will make you happy."
Eric Schiffman - Yoga, The Spirit and Practice of Moving Into Stillness
Luz Verkiel,
www.heartandsoulyoga.co.uk
Luz’ love of yoga started in 1997. She experienced first hand the power
that Yoga can entail.
Emotional and physical barriers can be over won by a daily yoga
practise. Being a mother of three helped Luz to relate her own views of
life and she hopes by giving the gift of Yoga to her children and others
that they themselves can handle life more creatively, as she does. Her
chance to become a teacher came when she moved to the USA in the year
2000. That is where she qualified with YogaFit, and got certified to
teach yoga in pregnancy. YogaFit is an organisation that works with
modifications in their postures. It focuses on where you are at that
particular moment, on how your body feels and on how you feel mentally.
She also recently took a course with CalmForKids, to teach yoga to
children. Yoga changed her live and her love for yoga is so deeply
integrated with whom she is that she would like to pass on her passion
for yoga to others.
Sarah White
Sarah was born in Peterborough district hospital on the 19 September
1980. Having completed her 3 year degree in Leeds in media,
communication and cultural studies, she went to Meribel, France to
become a chalet girl. It was here, her love of the mountains and desire
for an alternative lifestyle began. This led her to move to the ski
resort of Verbier in Switzerland where she created a successful domestic
services company. After 5 years, her path brought Sarah back to the UK,
where she spent a year working for Bauer Media.
During this time
Sarah suffered from intense bouts of anxiety and was directed to
Equilibrium, where her journey of self understanding, healing and
discovery began. This propelled her to want to teach and help others.
With a passion for yoga and a committed practice, she booked her flight
to Australia to experience the alternative lifestyle of Byron Bay. Here she embarked on a new life, gaining a keen interest in holistic
healing and qualifying in April 2009 as a certified teacher in Purna
Yoga. This form of yoga represents a holistic approach that creates a
safe and individual teaching style with emphasis on posture and
alignment.
Sarah is passionate about the yogic lifestyle and giving students the
opportunity to deepen their awareness and practice with integrity and
fun.
Through dedication,
openness and kindness to the self, the external and internal
transformation this ancient practice has to offer in our current busy
modern world continues to astound her as a student and as a teacher.
Anita Barker
When Anita couldn't stand the cut and thrust of the business world any
more, she retrained as an exercise teacher. She also took a nutrition
qualification at the University of East London because she thinks what
you eat and what you do go together. Then in 1999 she discovered
Pilates. A history of sports (netball, tennis, volleyball, and hockey)
had left her knees and back in less than perfect condition, and Pilates
has changed her body. She trained as an instructor with the Institute
of Pilates in London, and now works with people of all ages and ability
one-to-one, small groups in people's sitting rooms, classes in village
halls, the Parkinson's Disease Society, and Nene Valley Harriers
Juniors. What she finds amazing is the diverse range of people Pilates
exercises make a difference to, whether it's being able to lift an arm
above the head for the first time in ages, improved breathing ability,
or simply taking time to relax.
