My story

I'm British, and I've been living in Tokyo since 1997. I opened Setagaya Yoga Studio nine years ago, not because I had it all figured out, but because I wanted to create the kind of space I'd wished existed when I first started yoga. Somewhere warm, honest, and completely free of judgement.

I teach Hatha yoga for strength, mobility, and steadiness. I also lift weights, do CrossFit, and practice handstands. I believe in a body that is strong and capable and also knows how to rest. In my experience those two things don't compete. They complete each other.

The work that consolidated my practice and changed everything for me was Yoga Nidra.

Five years ago, during teacher training, I was guided into a Yoga Nidra practice. I had no particular expectations. What happened was that within a few weeks I had started painting for the first time in my adult life. Then writing poetry. Whole parts of me that had been dormant, maybe just buried under the weight of doing, quietly came back online.

I didn't want to keep it to myself. I've been practicing Yoga Nidra ever since, and teaching it too, because what happened to me is not unusual. It happens when the body finally gets the rest it has been asking for.

The practice I offer is rooted in the yogic tradition of conscious rest. Not sleep exactly, not meditation exactly, but something that goes deeper than either. Yoga Nidra allows your body rests at a cellular level. Your nervous system remembers it's safe. And sometimes, like it did for me, something creative and unexpected comes through.

I've built a full online Yoga Nidra library for women who can't get to Tokyo, including a sleep collection specifically designed for the middle of the night wake up that so many women in perimenopause and beyond know only too well.

On making you feel welcome

The first yoga class I ever attended, I was asked to leave for getting a fit of giggles trying to balance in tree pose.

It took me a while to go back. I'm glad I did, but I've never forgotten how that felt. Being new to something, not knowing if your body will cooperate, not knowing how you'll be received. It's vulnerable.

When you come to class with me, I promise you won't be asked to leave for laughing. In fact, I'll probably join in. I teach with compassion and a lot of directness. I'll meet you where you are, encourage you to go a little further, and I'll never push you somewhere you don't want to go.

I have over 700 hours of teacher training and more than 6,000 hours of teaching experience. I teach in English and Japanese. But honestly, what matters more than any of that is that I've sat with enough women to know we are more capable than we think, and more in need of rest than we admit.

Move gently. Rest deeply. Come home to yourself.

Want to start? The free rest practice is a good place to begin. Link below.

https://www.setagayayogastudio.com/free-guided-relaxation-audio