Yoga

Based in Sardinia and the UK, Melanie holds workshops, residentials and local classes. Her own practise has been most inspired by Diane Long, a student of Vanda Scaravelli (author of Awakening the Spine). Melanie qualified as a British Wheel of Yoga teacher in Norwich in 2003. She graduated as a school teacher, working with special needs children, in the UK in 1995, and as a music therapist in South Africa, in 1988. Melanie has been practising yoga for over 30 years. Her background in Yoga and Psychology, coupled with her sensitive approach to the individual needs of her students, has helped her create her own unique way of teaching, which has been warmly appreciated by students from around the world..

About the Yoga
My sister introduced me to yoga in South Africa, as a teenager. Enjoying the way it made me feel, I realised how intimately entwined my state of mind was, with my posture and breathing habits. Every time I returned to yoga, it felt like coming home. I knew I had to begin again, and as the poet Rumi wrote, 'Let yourself be drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love'.

I began to teach, observing what was going on in people's bodies, and working hands on as much as possible with each student. My approach to yoga brings more awareness to the natural rhythms of breathing and of the spine, and to grounding the body with gravity. By listening inwardly to tension in the body, and the activity of the mind, the body spontaneously releases and realigns itself. The mind quietens, leading to a different way of being, and greater sensitivity to the experience of each moment. I encourage practise with attentive curiosity, so that you gradually teach yourself what is best for your body, making your practise your own.

It's a journey of discovery: playful, creative and connected to the rhythms of nature. The retreat and approach of all waves, and the breath wave. The freedom with which animals move instinctively. The way in which a flower unfolds into the space around it. How a tree grounds itself deeply into the earth. The enjoyment we feel when that wholeness and freedom of movement is felt in our own bodies..'

- Melanie