Our approach
The success of yoga does not lie in the ability to perform postures but in how it positively changes the way we live our lives and our relationships —TKV Desikachar
My approach to yoga practice and its origins
I teach yoga in the tradition of TKV Desikachar (1938-2016), and his father Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989).
In this tradition, the tools of yoga, sequences of mindful movement integrated with breath techniques, seated breathing, visualisation, meditation and ayurvedic principles are adapted to the particular needs and unique circumstances of each individual, adapting the sequences to suit someone’s starting point and to move progressively in stages to realise their potential.
Over time, some benefits of yoga practice can be a more relaxed body, breathing can become more spacious, the mind becomes less dull or agitated and there can even be a rediscovery of joy. Yoga is not a flight from life but a way to become more present to our lives as they are, and not get lost in dreams of how we might prefer them to be.
About Ann-Marie
When I went for my first yoga class in 1990 with John Rogers in Dublin, I was very pleasantly surprised by how relaxed my body felt afterwards, my breathing was easier, my mind calmer and I felt free of anxieties that had been stressing me before the class. The effect was, of course, temporary but it was an inspirational starting point to a long and rewarding relationship with yoga and regular practice thereafter.
Training
Ann-Marie has completed seven years of yoga training, two with Yoga Therapy Ireland and five in the tradition of Desikachar. She has trained in this yoga tradition with Hanne Gillespie in Dublin and Ranju Roy and Dave Charlton in the UK and Dublin. After seven years of training she has received certification from the British Council for Yoga Therapy, the Yoga Alliance, the Association of Yoga Studies, the British Wheel of Yoga, and Sadhana Mala.
Continuing training
Part of being a yoga teacher means engaging in continuous professional development (CPD) each year. During my CPD, I have enjoyed workshops with Philip Xerri, Tom Mukunda Stiles and, more recently, with Lina Franco, a long time student of the teacher Peter Hersnack, author of The Living Breath.
Yoga is a holistic approach, and practitioners are encouraged to consider all aspects of life as part of the yoga process. Nutrition and therapeutics are aspects that Ann-Marie is particularly interested in. She has completed a year of study in London with the Institute of Optimum Nutrition, run by Patrick Holford, and is also a graduate of the four-year course at the Irish School of Homeopathy. She has been teaching yoga to groups since 2004 and providing yoga therapy and one to one teaching since 2015.
