Behind the scenes with our teachers, By Katie Gordon

A photograph of a mug with ‘hello written on the side in French.

Welcome to our new blog. Our first piece is about the intentions behind the studio, and some stories about our teachers that might surprise you!

When I lived in London, I spent a lot of time going to classes where there was pretty much only one body type. I’ve been to many classes where the teachers were more keen to get you to do a handstand than listen to your own body’s signals. Now, I’m not going to lecture anyone. Doing movement to get fitter or to lose weight is fine, as is challenging yourself. But, at Every Body Studio, we want to encourage people to connect – both with their bodies and with other people. I really don’t care how long your hamstrings are, or whether you can do upward dog, and sometimes it surprises me that there are teachers out there that still think this stuff is super important. 

But, This week alone, I’ve seen a social media post about how many calories you can burn in a hot yoga class, heard a story about a teacher who included headstands in a beginners yoga class, and talked to a client who was too nervous to go to a class because she felt she didn’t fit in. So, it’s still very much out there. The idea that you are too anything to practice Yoga, or any other form of movement, is completely made up – marketing messages perpetuate these ideas and studios who post images of complex asana performed by one kind of body are not helping.

We just want people to move their bodies in a way that works for them – and we absolutely don’t care what you look like doing it. Whether you like barre, yoga, Pilates, running, the gym, dancing or a combination of all of the above it doesn’t matter. If you choose to come to Every Body Studio, that’s a bonus.

However, the real reason why people like coming here are the teachers. And not just because of their classes. Hannah used to work as an actor, and has sung the national anthem at the 2012 Olympics in the Athletes Village (as part of a performance, not just on a whim). Sarah Leyla has a DPhil in Literature and languages, dances Bachata and once competed in an indoor tour de France. Emj runs Body Politic, a hip hop dance company who also do kids classes. Becky runs Jigsaw Arts, a kids performing arts school and is a Disney super fan. Sara Santos is an ex gymnast who now works in the NHS and worked on ambulances in the Red Cross in Portugal before moving to the UK.  

Kamila is studying for a Phd in management science at the Saïd Business school, Lily is an artist, and grew up with lots of animals including pigs in her garden. Najia is a curator and artist, and used to podium dance for The Artful Dodger on occasion. Katie McNeil, as well as being an admin genius, has four chickens and is planning on adding goats, guineafowl, guinea pigs and maybe some other things beginning with g to her collection.  Grace is mid-way through training to be a physiotherapist, and used to live on a co-op in Berkeley. Sarah Walsh is a mental health practitioner who has taken families sheep herding, rock climbing, kayaking and out milking cows. And last but not least, Venetia lives in Brighton and once did a bungee jump by accident. 

So these are no ordinary people – they bring their creative pursuits to their teaching, and their training to holding space. They are kind and generous, and each add something unique to class, informed by their work and personal experiences. We all care about compassionate and inclusive teaching in our classes, and offer options so that each person can adapt to what their own body needs.

What you want from a class might change from day to day or with the time or season – so you can choose the pace and intensity you want to set. We love to see people taking time out in child’s pose or another alternative, or adapting a pose to what suits their body. No one gets called out for resting here!

I hope you’ve enjoyed a peek behind the scenes, and let us know if there’s anything else you’d like to see a blog on.