Inform us a bit about your self…
Whats up! I’m Rachel. Yoga Instructor 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 I’m additionally Mummy to Flo and Ted who’re 4 and 1 years outdated, so very a lot within the thick of it proper now with childcare and instructing, however can’t say I’d have it another approach!
What does a typical day appear to be for you?
I’m often up fairly early, round 5am, to offer myself a little bit of time earlier than the youngsters get up to floor myself by practising or planning lessons for the day forward. I discover that with being a working mother or father, preparation is vital, and helps handle my stress ranges all through the day. So, whereas I get the youngsters up and prepared for the day, I’ll put together a giant smoothie to take with me on the go, and often a light-weight packed lunch too. (My dosha may be very pitta, so ‘hanger’ is an actual problem for me!) On a mean day I’ll be instructing a bunch class within the morning then maybe seeing a personal shopper. I’ll attempt to match a power exercise in on the health club, and often have some admin to do for upcoming workshops or retreats that I’m operating with my enterprise accomplice whom I began The Wellness Philosophy with. Then to choose up the youngsters.
My evenings are typically spent both instructing, supporting the Yogamatters on-line neighborhood, or having dinner with my household after which placing my ft up. An excellent guide in mattress by 9pm is often 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 bear in mind a particular light-bulb second, solely the sense of realizing 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 great thing about the Sanskrit language (the language by which 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 may very well be seen as being on two reverse ends of the yoga spectrum, and on this approach truly steadiness one another superbly in my expertise. I’ve all the time been a really movement-oriented particular person, and as a younger instructor I beloved the fluid grace of a well-crafted Vinyasa class. However as I’ve grown older, I recognize the necessity to steadiness motion with stillness and relaxation. And as I’ve grown as a instructor, I additionally recognize subtly and nuance in my follow, which is one thing that I discovered within the Restorative type, below the professional steering 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 solution 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 lessons 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 usually 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. Respect every little thing.’
What’s arising for you in 2025?
In 2025 I’ll be internet hosting a week-long yoga & wellness retreat in Portugal in Might, 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 will be discovered on www.thewellnessphilosophy.co.uk
Discover out extra about Rachel:
Web site: https://thewellnessphilosophy.co.uk/
Instagram: @rachelskipperyoga
