A little more about Amy!

Hey all,

We hope you are keeping well this week! Today we wanted to properly introduce you to our newest instructor Amy C - we initially asked her to join the team for a few weeks before Easter for her energising morning yoga, but we had such amazing feedback that she has now become a regular fixture on our schedule!

You can join Amy's yoga through the regular Zoom link on Thursday mornings at 8am. You can follow her on Spotify to access some of the playlists she has created for the classes, or use the button below for the latest one!

A bit about me

I started yoga over 15 years ago joining a class with my mum in our local public hall. I fell in love with it immediately and haven't stopped since! The physical practice as well as the philosophical teachings of Yoga completely transformed my life. Yoga helped me through some difficult times (and still does!) and I had a strong desire to share that with others in the hope that it would help them too. I since have taken many Teacher Trainings, my favourite being in India for my 500Hrs.

I've always been fascinated by the human mind and body so I studied Psychology at Uni and am constantly finding myself on related courses and workshops! I also have a corporate job and understand the stress and pressures of the corporate world so am very keen to share the tools which have helped me with others who may have experienced the same.

My favourite thing to do in my spare time is to spend it with friends and family - I get the majority of my energy from them! I also love a lot of other forms of exercise but do it mainly for my mental health (plus I'm very appreciative of good tunes, I think it makes it easier) which is why I'm so grateful I was introduced to SMASH!

What to expect from my classes

My classes will involve flows of movement working on mind-body strength and flexibility. The flows will be different each week to explore new poses whilst also returning to some familiar postures, allowing us to get develop our existing practice. I am alignment focussed in my teaching to ensure that we practice safely, however, it is important to remember that every body is different and that all poses look and feel differently for everyone. It is really easy to get caught up in the way the postures look on others but the most important thing is that they feel good in your own body.

Every day and at different times of the day, our bodies feel different so there will always be various options provided during the class so we can adapt our practice to how our body feels at the time. There is never pressure to have your camera on and you are welcome to use the time and space to move in whatever way your body is calling for. Even if you come on your mat to spend it with your breath in child’s pose, that time to connect and be present with your breath and body is still incredibly beneficial. 

While of course we will do a lot of stretching in class to improve our flexibility and range of motion, my classes also have a real focus on strength. This is so our joints remain protected and our muscles have good enough tension to help us with our movement. There will also be a balance of static and more dynamic postures, each serving their own purpose. Being still in poses with the breath is incredibly difficult but building on this in the class allows us to transfer this skill to our daily lives, bringing more presence and a sense of calm. Dynamic postures allow us to synchronise our breath with our movements, bringing a focus for the mind, away from the chatter it sometimes brings. As a result, Yoga is amazing for our mental health.

Getting on your mat

I've been practising Yoga for over 15 years and I always wobble or fall out of poses, my body physically can’t get into some postures (and never will) because of how it is built, some days I feel weaker than other days, sometimes I feel totally disconnected with my body and some days I feel completely stiff and do not want to stretch! 

I’m sharing this in case anyone feels similar and it’s preventing you from giving a class a try. You don’t have to be flexible and you don’t have to be physically strong to do Yoga, it just so happens that the practice helps improve both of those. Even when it is the last thing I want to do at the time, I never regret getting on my mat after I've done it. 

I've absolutely loved teaching with the SMASH team so far, you are an incredible community and I'm looking forward to getting to know you more and hopefully meeting in real life soon - I hear there are some exciting plans on the horizon!

If anyone has any questions or is unsure about something, please get in touch I am always happy to help! Welcome to drop me a DM at @amychilveryoga or send me an email amychilveryoga@gmail.com.

Amy x