Do you want to improve your mental and physical health? Come and join me, and do something good for your body and mind. All live community Yoga classes are donation-based. Your donation is so appreciated, and helps teach and make more classes!
Online community classes and workshops
✓ Specialised classes for full-time desk jockeys
✓ Connect with a community of like minded individuals
✓ Ask me questions directly in real time
✓ Steadily improve your Yoga technique and knowledge
✓ Improve your balance, strength and flexibility
✓ Reduce cardiovascular disease by reducing inflammation
✓ Improve lower back pain by medium to large amounts
✓ Improve your posture and shoulder strength
✓ Improve your mental health
✓ Reduce stress
“I have tried quite a few yoga teachers in the past and have struggled to find an environment that really worked for me, but Maria really hits the spot. Her classes are very inclusive - she offers modifications for poses without implying that one of them was the 'proper' way of doing it so you feel like you've had a great class whatever your ability. The classes are also a nice balance of the physical and the mindful / thoughtful and I appreciate Maria's insights into the origins of the practice. All in all, HIGHLY recommended”
— Stephanie Foxley
“Maria's classes are among my favourite that I have ever tried. She always finds the perfect balance of exercise and relaxation. Each class is accompanied by own playlists that really help the flow going!”
— Lisa Stephanides
“Maria's yoga classes are so easy to follow, very gentle practice for body and mind. Very calming and great for working out from home. Perfect to relief from neck/back pain. Thanks Maria!”
— Camilla Cacciari
“Great classes. Always relaxing but it feels like a great work out. Really helps if you work at a desk all week & Maria is an attentive teacher who really listens to what the class needs.”
— Lois Shearing
“Almost all the participants felt relaxed and rejuvenated. Many have learnt mindfulness, felt peaceful and bliss. It was a wonderful experience doing it, we loved it and hope for more sessions like this.”
— Participant feedback from the Department of Psychology at the SSS Shasun Jain College for Women in Chennai, University of Madras, India, where I was a guest speaker and teacher in March 2021
“Great classes. Always relaxing but it feels like a great work out. Really helps if you work at a desk all week & Maria is an attentive teacher who really listens to what the class needs.”
— Lois Shearling
Why practice yoga with me?
peace
My classes are designed to meet your mind in it’s busy, active state, and through yogic techniques, slowly switch on the parasympathetic nervous system over the duration of the class. The timetable is super simple to avoid stress and headaches - every Monday, 6:25-7:30pm GMT on Zoom. I’m there every single week, and I never mess around with the day or time.
individuality
Have you ever been to a yoga or fitness class and felt like you couldn’t keep up and things weren’t accessible to you? Nearly everyone needs to modify their yoga practice, as we all have different natural abilities, and many of us have past or ongoing injuries or pain points that we need to account for. I break the poses down to make them really accessible to suit your unique being. This ethos is close to my heart as I modify my own practice to accommodate for issues caused by Spina Bifida, a neural tube defect I was born with.
wellness
The science backs up the benefits of a regular yoga practice, for body and mind. I only teach poses that can be practiced safely over the course of a lifetime. Although yoga can sometimes feel challenging to me, it has helped so much with my physical body, reducing back pain and helping me feel more 'well' - stemming from a childhood filled with physio appointments and daily exercises. Yoga also unexpectedly impacted my emotional body - I would leave class feeling calmer, peaceful and positive.
community
Are you feeling tired, lonely and disconnected from others? Our community comes together to chat and catch up before/after class. The wellbeing of the community is my upmost priority, which is why classes are donation based. I trust you to pay what you are able for the value the class provides. I know that if you’ve lost income due to Covid, yoga can be the thing that keeps you going through tough times.
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About me
I began my yoga practice in 2012 as a way to manage pain and physical limitations from a neural tube birth defect. I went on to practice Sivananda yoga and Vipassana meditation in Kerala, India. In 2016 I embarked on Vinyasa flow teacher training at Yoga London, to help bring peace and wellness into the lives of others and pass on the lineage of Yoga which has helped me so much.
I’ve been teaching Vinyasa Flow Yoga professionally since the start of 2017 after graduating from Yoga London, in Camden and in Bristol. I teach yoga in a way that is sustainable and safe to practice over a long amount of time, breaking poses down from simply sitting, to the full extension of the pose. There is so much ableism and focus on aesthetic in modern yoga, that is simply not helpful or sustainable over our lifetimes. In The Yoga Sutra’s of Patanjali Sutra 2.46 states that asana is a steady, comfortable posture. This means our yoga practice should keep us build wellness so that we can sit in comfort for meditation. Being able to put your feet behind your head doesn’t exactly help with this (though some full extensions of poses can be metaphors to help us break through mental barriers around what we believe to be possible). What is is important is that we are making time to switch on the rest and digest mode in the body, and keeping our mind and body well.