Yoga with Babs

I got into yoga in 2008 …things weren’t going exactly well and a friend of mine at work said to me “Come to yoga with me this week, it might help you?”. I discovered I was pretty bendy. But also that I couldn’t stay with my own still/quiet self for a second. I always needed external something to fill my deep void. Back then I was working as a full-time graphic designer in children books publishing. During that first class, something caught my fleeting attention and at some point I started looking into teacher trainings. I basically knew nothing about yoga, really. I learnt a few poses in that class and based on that I though it’d be quite a cool thing to do, to teach yoga (poses).

I signed up for my first teacher training in 2012, with Yoga Professionals, in London. Then one day, I was browsing YogaGlo and found Tiffany Cruikshank. I remember thinking “I need to meet this woman!”. And I did. I went to a workshop in London in 2013 and after that I signed up for her 200hrs Yoga Medicine Teacher Training. With her, I also studied a few more things, in detail, like hip, shoulder, myofascia release, spine. All very cool. I was quickly becoming an anatomy nerd.

I also studied with Mimi Kuo-Deemer, Gary Carter, Mollie McCelland Morris, Naomi Absalom, Ana Muriel and attended many classes with many other teachers. And in a way they all have contributed in how I teach now. I’ve always paid attention to small details in life…and to get to this details, I believe one needs to slow down. And this is why my practice has slowed down a lot since I started in 2008. I’ve never practiced fast, really, but lately it’s a little like sloth speed. With lots of tiny details to pay attention to.

My practice and my classes are never quite the same. I cannot stick to same sequences day in and day out. I crave exploring how I can get in the same pose from a different place, in a different way. I enjoy a playful practice that has a combination of intelligent alignments, transitions, that is also fun and not too damn serious. Life can get serious enough. When yoga becomes too serious, I think it loses its magic. I don’t quite label the way I teach. But if you really need to put “my style” in a box, then a slow form of vinyasa with mobility work, will do the job …oh, and I LOOOVE music. Music is a big part of my classes. Making playlist is my favourite Monday morning hobby – with a weak and very milky (not cows milk cos I can’t stand it) coffee by my side.

I don’t know what’s in the pot next. After a class recently, a student told me “It’s been so interesting to see and be part of your journey. A few years ago you were a completely different teacher. I always wonder how you are going to surprise me next”. I loved that. As a teacher that strives to evolve and keeps refreshing herself, that is one of the best things I have ever been told.