I am blessed to be running Yoga with Saira. I don’t consider what I do to be a job; it is my passion, and I love every day that I am working with yoga. My journey with yoga, meditation, mindfulness, and healing therapies began many years ago. Together, they have helped me completely transform my life in ways I could never have imagined.

I wanted to share my own healing journey with you. It’s important that you know I am not just ‘teaching’ from a textbook or a course that I’ve taken; I have truly lived a healing journey and experienced just how transformative it can be when we make the decision to work on ourselves. A healing process takes lifetimes; there is no end. We are not searching to be ‘healed’ but searching for ‘healing’. Being aware of every step and facing each joy and each challenge is an opportunity to learn more about ourselves and every inch of dark shadow and light within us.

When I was young, I struggled with depression, anxiety, and stress and had no access to tools that might have helped me deal with it. I discovered yoga in my teens, but the classes were purely physical exercise, and without the spiritual aspect, yoga did nothing to help me. I battled with addictions for many years and found myself in emotionally abusive relationships. My relationships left me with three beautiful children but depleted and spiritually lost. All those years, I had no idea how to extricate myself from what sometimes felt like a desperate situation.

Ending up on my own with three very young children in my early thirties, life got really difficult. The children and I faced homelessness on more than one occasion. I was broke, unhappy, and often felt very alone. However bad things got, there was always an inner voice that told me to keep going; there had to be a better way than this. I found real determination and strength to try to pull myself out of the darkness I was in, knowing deep down that life didn’t have to be so hard.

I started to work hard on my inner self. I found a great yoga teacher who taught me more about the philosophy and spirituality of the practice. I learned meditation and mindfulness from books and the internet. I studied courses in Reiki, aromatherapy, and other therapies. I saw a counsellor once a week and went on healing weekends and retreats, fully committing to my practice. There was no other option for me than to throw myself into facing and then changing myself, knowing that if I did, I could change my life.

I’ve now been working with holistic therapies since 2004, running yoga retreats since 2011, and teaching yoga classes in Dorset since 2013. Life really did heal for me and my family. We live in a beautiful, quiet location in pretty Dorset Village. I sit in my garden every day and feel gratitude for the peace we found after many years of drama and chaos. My retreats have won awards for their excellence and for the joy they bring to the guests who arrive with us. Clients and yogis come back week after week to enjoy the healing energy that comes into all of the work I do.

I love my work and, most importantly, I love sharing the gifts of yoga and healing with others, knowing that they can bring true and lasting change and healing into people’s lives. When I teach yoga or work with holistic therapy, I am working from the heart. I have true, authentic belief and trust in the healing strength that comes when we make the decision to work on ourselves spiritually.

Life can transform for you too. We just have to find that determination not to let things drag us down. It can take a long time; for me, it took many, many years, but the journey can be incredible. A journey of wisdom, healing, strength, and listening to that deep inner voice encouraging you to keep on. My belief in yoga, meditation, and therapies as a way to stay centred and balanced has led me to the spiritual path I am now on, which I hope to share with you. It would be lovely to meet you and help you find a little piece of peace during our retreats, workshops, classes, and also on the therapy couch.