Hello... I'm Becca
Greetings from Hastings!
I love this town. I wasn't born here, but as soon as I landed here it felt like I'd finally found my home. I feel so very lucky to live and teach by the sea.
I first discovered yoga nearly twenty years ago whilst on tour as a young actor. It was something I could easily do in hotel rooms! I slowly fell in love with the feeling that connecting with my breath and body gave me; it was the same feeling of 'presence', and of 'coming home' that I felt as a performer.
Needing a break from crowded London life I took off on my travels, first stop India, where my eyes were opened to the greater picture of what yoga was (and a whole lot else besides!). By the time I found myself living in Outback Australia several years later, I knew I wanted to learn to teach. My back, however, had other ideas.
I'd suffered varying degrees of lower back pain on and off since I was twelve, but this time it 'went', leaving me barely able to sit or stand comfortably for any length of time. I was told yoga was 'bad' for my back by one chiropractor, and it seemed my dreams of teaching were on hold.
Fortunately, that was just one dude's opinion. With the help of an osteopath I regained my practise and just a few months later returned to India to complete my Level One 200-hour Teacher Training Qualification at RYS-accredited Vinyasa Yoga School in Rishikesh. My back and I both made it through, though I learned I must be conscious of practising safely.
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This led me to discover Pilates as I sought to strengthen my core, protect my back and facilitate the continuation of my yoga practise and teaching. I enrolled at Chris Hocking's Pilates Body Awareness in London and spent two years under her tutelage. Chris is a highly experienced practitioner with impressive anatomical knowledge who encouraged me to deepen my own awareness, and so I gained my BTEC Level Three in Anatomy, Physiology and Pathology at the School of Natural Therapies.
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The advantages to practising both yoga and Pilates simultaneously became suddenly apparent: I felt released from the fear of 'doing my back in'. I started to develop a combined programme which married the strengthening benefits of Pilates exercises (many of which are very close to the Iyengar Yoga practise) to the soulful mind-body connection that yoga brings, leaving you standing taller both physically and mentally: this is Straight Up Yoga, and it's for you all.
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In 2019 I furthered my specialised training, becoming a registered Yoga For Healthy Lower Backs teacher (www.yogaforbacks.co.uk). YHLB is an evidence-based programme developed by highly experienced Iyengar Yoga and British Wheel of Yoga teachers, scientifically proven to reduce back pain and help people help themselves to a happier, healthier back and overall long-term wellbeing.
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I now teach the YHLB programme, along with a Straight Up Yoga Basics course designed for complete yoga newbies and cynics alike! I also teach several weekly drop-in classes, here in my home town of Hastings.
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Happy Yoga!
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Becca x