Meet the teacher - Emily Perry
I first came to Yoga for the physical benefits; my Nan used to be a Yoga Teacher but she passed away when I was 6, and I was never really that interested in it at the time to ask questions to find out more. When I first went to University, I had a terrible time and spent a lot of time coming back home, so my Mum started taking me to her weekly class. The teacher put on a whisper to teach the class which always made me laugh, but I loved how I could see a difference in my mobility each time I went. I also realised I was becoming more confident in myself; Yoga helped me form a relationship with my body that I’d never experienced before.
I’d always been the quietest one in the room, sometimes feeling physically unable to speak, so I spent a lot of time ignoring my body and my own voice, to make myself feel smaller. I then ended up joining the Yoga Society at uni and the Yoga Teachers there encouraged me to take my 200hrs training. I never had the intention of teaching myself, instead just eager to find out more about the philosophy side of it. I taught a few cover classes after I’d qualified and on one occasion ended up teaching over 50 people (which I was completely unprepared for, but it ended up being one of my favourite classes I’ve ever taught!). I knew from that moment on that I’d found my ‘thing’ and I’ve been teaching ever since.
My background is in health psychology and my day job is working in the NHS in health improvement. I look at ways to improve people’s overall mental and physical health, which is exactly what I try to bring to my classes - movement that focuses on mobility and increasing our range of motion to reduce the chance of injury, supported by guided meditation, breath work and stress management techniques to support mental wellbeing.
You can’t really focus on your physical health without it influencing your mental health, and vice versa. A lot of people come to yoga, like myself, for the physical benefits, but then realise that the mental benefits are what keeps them coming back.
While my style has changed over the years, the aspect that remains constant throughout is that how you feel while doing the class is the most important part. We all have different bodies that move in different ways, so we’re all going to look slightly different. I’ll never come round and force you into a pose, I’ll never tell you how you should be looking. It’s how you feel and the way your body moves! I love to blend the East with the West and intertwine traditional yoga poses with health psychology. This is what I believe is the perfect balance for your body and your mind.
You deserve to feel rested, to feel nourished, to feel taken care of, and that’s exactly what my classes aim to do.
You’ll find me teaching:
Workshops that relate to stress, managing your mental health and building your resilience
Sundays - check the schedule for Emily’s next class