Inform us a bit about your self…
Hi there! I’m Rachel. Yoga Trainer of 10 years, specialising in Vinyasa and Restorative practices, graduate of SOAS College with an MA within the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation, and co-founder of The Wellness Philosophy. I’m additionally Mummy to Flo and Ted who’re 4 and 1 years outdated, so very a lot within the thick of it proper now with childcare and instructing, however can’t say I’d have it some other method!
What does a typical day seem like for you?
I’m normally up fairly early, round 5am, to provide myself a little bit of time earlier than the children get up to floor myself by working towards or planning courses for the day forward. I discover that with being a working mother or father, preparation is essential, and helps handle my stress ranges all through the day. So, whereas I get the children up and prepared for the day, I’ll put together a giant smoothie to take with me on the go, and normally a lightweight packed lunch too. (My dosha could be very pitta, so ‘hanger’ is an actual difficulty for me!) On a mean day I’ll be instructing a gaggle class within the morning then maybe seeing a personal shopper. I’ll attempt to match a power exercise in on the health club, and normally have some admin to do for upcoming workshops or retreats that I’m operating with my enterprise associate whom I began The Wellness Philosophy with. Then to select up the children.
My evenings are usually spent both instructing, supporting the Yogamatters on-line neighborhood, or having dinner with my household after which placing my ft up. A very good e book in mattress by 9pm is normally how I finish the evening!
How did your yoga journey start and what impressed you to turn into a yoga instructor?
I made a decision to do my preliminary 200hr instructor coaching again in 2013 on the age of 23, after travelling round Australia as soon as I’d accomplished my BA diploma in Movie Research. I don’t keep in mind a selected light-bulb second, solely the sense of figuring out a 9-5 workplace job wasn’t for me, feeling a bit disillusioned, and intuitively looking for out one thing extra. I skilled firstly with a deeply educated Vinyasa yoga instructor, Claire Missingham, who instilled a precision and self-discipline into my follow, in addition to a love for intelligently crafted and artistic sequencing and music! Claire additionally launched me to the fantastic thing about the Sanskrit language (the language wherein many yoga texts are written), which I then studied in additional depth at SOAS throughout my MA and past.
What impressed you to concentrate on your follow?
Vinyasa and Restorative yoga practices could possibly be seen as being on two reverse ends of the yoga spectrum, and on this method really steadiness one another fantastically in my expertise. I’ve all the time been a really movement-oriented particular person, and as a younger instructor I cherished the fluid grace of a well-crafted Vinyasa class. However as I’ve grown older, I admire the necessity to steadiness motion with stillness and relaxation. And as I’ve grown as a instructor, I additionally admire subtly and nuance in my follow, which is one thing that I discovered within the Restorative model, beneath the knowledgeable steerage of my instructor, Anna Ashby. A quote involves thoughts that I’ve been reflecting on lately from the Tibetan Buddhist, Sakyong Mipham, which says that ‘the physique advantages from motion and the thoughts advantages from stillness.’ It is a reminder to me that I need to honour the necessity to each transfer and discover stillness as a approach to domesticate wholeness.
How have you ever seen yoga profit your college students?
Neighborhood and connection might be the largest profit that I see. And I solely really recognised this as soon as going again to in-person courses after COVID. Folks coming collectively on the similar time every week to consciously breathe and collectively transfer their our bodies is a robust antidote to the detachment and indifference that we are able to encounter so typically in trendy city environments. The softer, extra open expressions on individuals’s faces as they end follow, and the pleasant conversations that quietly buzz on the finish of sophistication is a valuable reminder to me that the yoga is most profound when you step off of the mat. In order that’s an enormous profit I’d say!
What’s your favourite quote or life motto?
There are such a lot of! However one which involves thoughts is ‘Count on nothing. Recognize the whole lot.’
What’s developing for you in 2025?
In 2025 I’ll be internet hosting a week-long yoga & wellness retreat in Portugal in Could, operating bi-monthly Reiki & Restore workshops in east London, and have some thrilling plans to launch a web based yoga library! All particulars for my workshops and upcoming retreat may be discovered on www.thewellnessphilosophy.co.uk
Discover out extra about Rachel:
Web site: https://thewellnessphilosophy.co.uk/
Instagram: @rachelskipperyoga
