My name is Emma Taylor and I am a certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher. I founded and ran the Essence of Yoga studio in Sydney, Australia for 10 years before moving to Stroud in 2017. Although originally from the UK, I spent 16 years in Australia. It has been a challenging year, transplanting my family half way across the world and leaving everything I knew behind - my mentor, friends, students, studio and of course a beautiful country. And yet through this process of letting go I have discovered an inner strength I never knew I had. The teachings of yoga suggest that our suffering arises from attachment. When I felt fearful of the big change, it became clear this was the reason why I had to embark on the journey into the unknown. True freedom arises when we learn to let go and trust in the flow of life. Furthermore, we must have the courage to find the inner guide and teacher rather than rely on anyone or anything externally. I believe the last 12 months have been valuable lessons in this.
My love for yoga began in early 2000 during my travels through India with my husband. We spent time living and studying at a yoga ashram and I remember experiencing a deep sense of familiarity on day one, as if I had returned home. I knew that I had found the path to navigate myself and the world. Two years later I completed a Hatha Yoga teacher training course and later furthered my studies by undertaking pregnancy and postnatal yoga teacher training.
By 2006 I had been suffering from intense back pain for several years following an accident. No treatment or yoga seem to work and the medical world recommended that I learn to live with the pain. It was at this point that I met Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher Glenn Ceresoli and his wife Margaret Ceresoli. This encounter was transformational for my practice, teaching, personal and spiritual life. I began intensive work with Glenn using the Iyengar methodology and after 4 months the pain was gone. I felt strongly that I must share this incredible work with others. I completed his level 1 and 2 International Iyengar Teacher Training, qualified as an Iyengar Yoga Teacher and over the following decade continued mentorship with Margaret.
Whilst main main focus has been Iyengar Yoga, I am also a qualified Thai Yoga Massage Therapist and have studied a course in Ayurvedic Lifestyle to complement and enrich my yoga practice and teaching. I currently divide my time between teaching, on going Yoga studies and practice, looking after my two young children, Rumi and Lila and discovering the beauty and nature of the Cotswolds.
I am dedicated to the path of yoga as a means of developing strength, flexibility and balance (in our bodies and our lives), deepening self knowledge and awareness and returning to a state of inner peace and spiritual well-being. My classes provide students with the opportunity to explore the essence of yoga in an authentic, practical and supportive environment.
Iyengar Yoga is a deeply researched system and the focus on alignment, sequencing , progression and use of props has allowed people of varying ages, levels of health and fitness to enjoy the benefits of a sustain yoga practice.
Emma Taylor
Essence Of Yoga
Group, Corporate and Private Yoga
(m) 07375 119937
www.essenceofyoga.co.uk
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