"I appreciate stretching and relaxing with my baby" |
More on Avril – background, training and other work
A lecturer and community educator, Avril went on a year long journey in 1988 to SE Asia and discovered an interest in Yoga after meeting with Dr. Swami Gitananda, otherwise known as Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri Guru Maharaj or Swamiji for short, at the 1989 World Yoga Congress, in India.
It was Swami Gitananda who inspired Avril to teach Yoga which incorporates working with body, mind and breath, when she returned to the International Centre for Yoga Education and Research in South India, 1990-91. This intense period of study where students eagerly greeted the sun’s arrival before dawn right through until very late evening every day was a turning point in her life, "turning her life upside down, inside out and back to front".
Dr. Swami Gitananda taught that “Yoga is a science, an art and a way of life”, which could be encompassed into everyday life so that “you can become better at whatever you do”. The Yoga Centre is attached to both the University and to the Post Graduate Research Hospital in Pondicherry, South India and offers students a thorough training in how the body, mind and breath works and how they affect one another.
It was Swamiji’s profound interest in the breath which captured Avril’s attention and she decided that she would like to take these teachings to the west and introduce them to others so that they too could learn to breathe properly. Several more trips and periods of study in India followed, eventually with her husband and young twins.
Training with the Yoga Biomedical Trust at the Yoga Therapy Centre in London provided Avril with further training to bring to her work.
Since that time Avril has taught Yoga, in a variety of settings:
weekly classes, both in the voluntary and private sectors
corporate work exploring stress management and the positive role of Yoga practices in the workplace
in schools, hospitals, individual work with clients
workshops on a variety of themes
six month Breath Gym courses
Yoga breath work with children who have asthma
Yoga courses for children with ADHD and dyspraxia.
Yoga retreats in Scotland, France and Yoga Holidays in the Caribbean
Avril teaches Yoga to all ages and abilities, within an age range from a few weeks old in Yoga for Baby classes to her eldest client to date, who is 96. She believes that everyone can benefit from Yoga and do what they can, when they can.
From the combined experience in Yoga, adult and community education, stress management and group work, as well as the ability to work with all ages, Avril offers programmes to experience working with body, mind and breath for anyone who wishes to embrace Yoga.
Avril teaches classes in Edinburgh, workshops, retreats, Breath Gym courses and holidays in different parts of the world for those who are interested to discover more.
Please Note: This photograph was taken by Avril in Pokhara, Nepal in 1989 when she stayed with this family. The baby shares the same birthday as Avril.
