No doubt your students say this all the time but I just wanted to say it was a pleasure having you as a tutor. Your knowledge, honest feedback and support made the course feel like a welcoming hug and I am so looking forward to spreading the joy of restorative yoga. I hope our paths cross again in the future.
Sarah
(Restorative Yoga Training)I would say that I have noticed the work has helped me to practise being still more often. This has helped me to practise being with myself and to observe how I am feeling instead of rushing along and being distracted. I have noticed some shifts in my mental resistance to how I am feeling – I have been able to let go of resistance more and allow feelings to be there, pass by and release. I have found I am able to let go of tension in my body more easily too.
I have learned to be more aware of how my body feels and what I need at any given time. Paying attention to small details as part of the restorative yoga has allowed me to practise making choices for myself according to how I feel or what I need in each moment. I have learned to be in silence more easily and to embrace that more readily. Thank you again…
R
(Restorative Yoga, 6-session Restore and Re-set Programme)Areas I have seen the most development in personally are balance, flexibility, relaxation, more focus during meditation, more confidence, a greater feeling of love and peace, much greater knowledge of breathing (pranayama), chakras, the Eight Limbs and Sanskrit terms (but also much more to learn too!)
Olga
(Yoga)Carol has an amazing talent for bringing the philosophy from the classic texts into her teaching. She does so with such simplicity and by truly walking her talk. She is deeply caring and her own embodiment of both satya (truthfulness) and ahimsa (non-violence) is clearly evident.
Louise
(Yoga)My awareness in postures has improved massively – not only being able to feel when a posture is ‘correct’ but also spinal alignment and energy flow. Concentration has improved and my understanding of what yoga is and the part it has to play in my life has changed very much for the better.
Tania
(Yoga)Thanks so very much for sharing the practice of yoga nidra. It’s been a really wonderful technique for me — both to get more sleep throughout the winter :), as well as to encourage connection with my many emotional layers without conscious over-ride.
Viv
(Yoga)I worked with Carol during my teacher training on a 2-1 basis with a friend. We had monthly sessions and these were an enormous benefit as I learnt not only from Carol in her guidance and teaching of me, but also my friend. I was keen to access 1-1 style teaching as I had a strong practice but knew I had specific challenges such as tight hips and shoulders and wanted to focus on these areas. I also thought it would be beneficial to have 1-1 teaching to help me develop as a yoga teacher.
When we started working together, Carol took me right back to the basics which helped me enormously to understand what I needed to concentrate on whilst practicing to open up particular parts of the body. My yoga asana came on leaps and bounds through practicing the specific asana sequences Carol suggested. Carol also stripped the core postures back to basics and I started practicing them as if they were new asana and I found that I opened up and developed strength and flexibility where I had struggled before. I also found the teaching style helped in my own teaching and I reflect back on the 2-1 sessions when lesson planning and finding solutions when working with students.
Prior to my sessions with a Carol I had been quite competitive with myself and had not been so kind to my body. Carol’s approach helped me see this and enabled me to practice yoga asana in a different way where I was kinder and more gentle with myself. This helped not only my own journey with yoga but has also helped me in my approach to teaching.
Vicki
(Yoga)I started 1 to 1 sessions with Carol to support my own yoga teacher training and to learn more about my own practice. I particularly liked Carol’s calm and peaceful approach but also her knowledge, understanding and explanations. It helped me understand particular asanas better, what was happening anatomically, how my body should be aligned and how my muscles should be working. Carol was fantastic at challenging me when appropriate but also advising when to take a step back, for example, if I could get my body into a pose without any trouble as I am naturally quite flexible, but my muscles weren’t supporting me properly. It has certainly enabled me to practice with more awareness, stability and strength, and in a way that is right for my body type.
Hannah
(Yoga)You have inspired me to learn more throughout my life, even if it’s a slow process!
Kim
(Yoga)I’ll admit that while one-to-one yoga sounded brilliant, I was actually nervous before my session with Carol.
What I soon realised, though, with Carol working through the poses alongside me, was that there was something very encouraging about having all that attention, and the little tweaks she made to what I was doing – “may I move your elbow a little?” – made a real difference. I felt, with some of the poses in particular, that I was finally doing them right.
And then Carol helped me get into the poses for the restorative yoga. They felt a bit strange at first – and it sort of felt like cheating having all the supports – but once I relaxed into them, they were incredible. The support meant I wasn’t straining to keep in one position, and Carol had supported my arms and legs so that I could stop worrying whether I was doing it right or not. She describes the relaxation as a ‘quietening of the senses’ – or pratyhara – in which you’re calm and relaxed, but still engaged and aware. And it was amazing. I could have stayed there for hours, and could practically feel all those tight knots in my neck and shoulders breathing little sighs of relief at being able to relax properly.
Pippa
(Yoga)When I first booked a sports massage with Carol I felt quite sceptical and nervous as I had bilateral carpal tunnel syndrome for many years with no improvements from others or from surgery.
She was considerate to my concerns and started very gently which enabled me to relax. Over a number of months I have seen a significant improvement. I do not have to wear my wrist straps as often and have more confidence that the carpal tunnel will not be so disabling.
I also suffered with neck pain through desk and computer work and whiplash through a car accident. Carol’s massage has also improved these issues together with showing me small exercises I can do at home in between her visits.
Carol has also worked with my 11-year-old autistic daughter who finds it difficult to express her emotional self. This creates stress both mentally and physically for her. Carol has now given her two massages which relaxed her so much that she now looks forward to seeing her and can identify which parts of her body are carrying tension. She can now verbalise these areas which she previously did not understand were affecting her. My daughter has learnt this way of relaxation and body maintenance at an early age, and will hopefully avoid the more common, unhealthy relaxants such as regular medication in later life.
Julie
(Sports Massage)When I first visited Carol, I had recently begun a half-marathon training programme and was struggling with pain at the side of my right knee. I had experienced this during triathlon training some years previously, and had managed to overcome it with regular sports massage, so I was hoping that Carol would be able to help in a similar way.
At my first appointment, I was struck by Carol’s holistic approach – she spent time considering all aspects of my posture and the way I sit and stand during the working day, and how this may impact on my running style. This continued throughout the sessions, and Carol provided advice and guidance on numerous stretches and physical awareness exercises that I could fit into daily life very easily. In particular, focusing on not crossing my right leg over my left when sitting at work, relaxing my knees when standing straight and keeping my hips square when running felt like a huge improvement and my core felt almost instantly stronger.
Following the five-month period, I was able to complete my race with no significant knee pain and I have continued to monitor the way I sit and stand during the day to avoid further problems. Carol’s whole-person approach has helped me to be able to run comfortably in the longer term, rather than the short-term ‘fix’ that I had received previously, and I would happily recommend her services.