Written by Elizabeth Wolf, Yoga teacher@elizgwolf
I am so excited to offer yoga classes this coming autumn at the APPI clinic in Hampstead. I will be teaching both Vinyasa Flow and Hatha yoga classes to ease our way into the weekend. In addition, I will also offer 1:1 yoga sessions by appointment which are my absolute joy. Let me tell you a little bit more about it to get you as excited as I am.
About me
I’m a writer: corporate and freelance. When you are in a knowledge profession there comes a time, hopefully, when you realise you may have left the rest of your body behind. If I didn’t take better care of mine it was going to fall apart. So, I dragged myself into my first yoga class at the 92nd Street Y in New York City and everything changed. I still write, but I can’t do it without yoga, and I can’t do yoga without writing. I’m a living, breathingmind/body connection. Once I was certified to teach, beyond my wildest dreams, I became someone who changed everything for countless clients up and down the island of Manhattan. For an entire decade I worked with people who, like me, sat for hours on end to work and then one day couldn’t figure out why their backs had fused together. I worked with clients in the world’s of finance (Goldman Sachs, Lehman), medicine (NYU, Weill Cornell), advertising (Arnold, Saatchi & Saatchi), arts (Bunny Mellon, Broadway), and hospitality (The Surrey Hotel).
About Yoga
Vinyasa yoga is generally one breath per movement to create a flow. We can go quickly, or we can take it slow. It all depends on our collective mood. The way I teach Vinyasa is less about speed and all about alignment. We’ll take our time to be sure we use our musculature properly to hold our bones in place to create just the right amount of space in our joints. In a Hatha practice we hold poses a bit longer, which magically drains our bodies of tension without us even realising it.
About you
The best thing about teaching yoga at APPI is the class size, with a maximum of six people in any one class. This allows me to do what I do best, pay attention to you. While I may have a class plan in mind, it will get adjusted based on the individual needs of the students, so you’ll never come to a class that makes you feel left out. If I do my job well, you’ll feel excited about coming to class and notice how good the practice makes you feel. You’ll become curious about the mechanics of more advanced poses without feeling intimidated by them or like you EVER need to achieve them to reap the full benefits of a continual yoga practice. Yoga is not a competitive sport. This isn’t to say you won’t feel challenged though, because I always like to sneak in a few tricky bits!
What you’ll also get is my experience; I’ve seen a lot over the years. If you lock your knees, always carry a bag on one shoulder or stick your chin out when you work at a computer, I’ll see it, and adjust you accordingly. Each student comes with a fresh set of unique issues and abilities and there is nothing I love more than solving that puzzle through yoga. PLUS, at APPI we’re surrounded by Physical Therapists, Pilates Instructors and masseurs, so there is no stone we will leave unturned.
I am really looking forward to seeing you on the mat; whether it’s to start your journey, re-ignite your practice, help you through an injury or get you back to your favourite sport.
Booking now open for Friday 1pm Vinyasa Flow and 2pm Hatha Yoga.