About Penny, the Yogini
A Yogini, not just a Yoga Teacher
Have you ever taken a walk through the woods with someone so at ease with their surroundings that the birds fly down and rest on their shoulder? Penny is this much in harmony with nature and this atmosphere permeates the classes. Once a bird spent most of the class perched up above the students, just watching. After an hour it flew down and settled calmly on the window ledge nearest to Penny, as if asking to be let out. A student opened another window and Penny gently wrapped her hands around the tranquil bird, carried it to the open window then reached out and opened her hands. The little bird remained there for a while as if unwilling to leave. It then turned to look at Penny, as if saying thank-you, unfolded its wings and slowly rose up into the air.
This is the atmosphere around Penny who is a Yogini, one who does not just do Yoga poses but one who lives according to Yoga Teachings.
Penny loves Yoga and loves teaching it
One of the top UK Assessors described Penny's class as "the best I have ever seen" and many students and other Yoga Teachers say she is the best teacher they have ever had.
Traditionally one would become a Yoga Teacher only if selected by your own Teacher and told you were ready. Penny is one of those now rare Teachers and is also qualified to teach Yoga in India, the USA and the UK. Penny first qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga Teacher and was immediately asked to join the Council of the Wheel. She declined choosing instead to study much farther. As a Traditional Yoga and Yoga Alliance RYT 500e Penny is qualified to teach other Yoga Teachers how to teach Advanced Yoga.
Penny's studies have covered many Yogas with special interest in Kriya Yoga and the teachings amongst others of Iyengar, Desikachar and favourite Selvarajan Yesudian. In the last 10 years she has studied and practised with three great Yogis, two also fully-qualified doctors, Uma Krishnamurthy (granddaughter of the great J Krishnamurthi) who focuses on the Philosophy, Spirituality, Yoga Therapy mainly the mental and emotional effects, and Sanskrit, and, to complement Uma, Sri Krishna Bhushan an expert in the physiological effects of Pranayama and Self-study.
Penny worked in a Psychiatric Hospital from 1978 until her three children were born. Then she worked for Birmingham University with the President of the World Psychiatric Association on research for the World Health Authority. She believes this understanding of psychology is what makes her deep relaxations so releasing and effective and enables her to relate Yoga philosophy to everyday life and to explain to people how they can themselves counter the negative effects of stress, feel happier, more secure and more confident.
About Yoga Alliance:
Yoga Alliance is the national education and support organization for Yoga in the USA. Founded in 1999, it now represents over 35,000 Yoga instructors and 2,000 Yoga schools. YA works in the public interest to ensure that there is a thorough understanding of the benefits of Yoga, that the teachers of Yoga value its history and traditions and that the public can be confident of the quality and consistency of instruction.
About Traditional Yoga
Requiring the study of 27 different Yogas and thorough understanding of and experience of Pranayama and Sat Kriya this gives a teacher in-depth knowledge and covers healing practices, understanding of the universe and how it works including astronomy.
Traditional Yoga demands of the Teacher the greatest self-discipline, service, expertise, energy and fitness so that Yoga can be taught at the highest level.
Penny leads Yoga sessions in Herefordshire and Gloucestershire