About Ailsa
I’m Ailsa and I have been teaching yoga since 2017 and practising since 2008. I love sharing my practice with students and I am passionate about sharing the mental and physical benefits of yoga to as many people as possible. For me, yoga is not simply a physical movement of the body; it is a form of moving meditation, a tool for stress relief and a practice to help you manage your mind. Yoga has brought me greater clarity with my thoughts, greater meaning to my life and a greater appreciation and understanding of life. It gives me great joy to share these benefits!
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I tried yoga for the first time in 2008 at the now closed Ashtanga Yoga Edinburgh when I was studying at Edinburgh University. I knew I would love it before I tried it. The level 2 class (so not quite beginners but very close) was intense and I remember being unable to hold downward facing dog for very long but I loved it and I felt amazing afterwards. At the beginning it was very much about getting an all over work out for my body and it was only several years later that I began to fully notice the benefits to my overall wellbeing.



In 2013, I volunteered at the Suryalila Retreat Centre in the south of Spain (check out their Om Dome, it is a jaw-dropping setting for yoga) and I built the foundations of my yoga knowledge and fully cemented by belief that yoga can have a positive impact on anyone's life! I returned to Suryalila in October 2017 to train to become a yoga teacher with the Frog Lotus International 200 hour Yoga Alliance Yoga Teacher Training Certification course.
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I am based in Bristol in the United Kingdom and I teach several public classes. You can find my timetable on the Yoga Classes & Events page and you can book your next class with me via the Book Online page. I also have a YouTube channel where you can practise with me in the comfort of your own home.
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Other than yoga, I am passionate about everything to do with sustainability and environmentally-friendly living. I have always been interested in nature; from a young age growing plants from seed and all the way through to adulthood via a degree in Ecological Sciences. After university, I worked in marketing for the RSPB (an incredible and inspiring environmental charity), for a sustainability consultancy and for a scientific publisher. It is my lifelong belief that we should all be championing sustainability and ethical issues and I feel like this goes hand in hand with the teachings of yoga. Keep an eye on my blog as I love to write about ways we can live a bit more ethically as well as issues such as the cultural appropriation of yoga, feminism, yogic philosophy, plastic free living and mindfulness.
Training
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October 2017 | Frog Lotus International 200 hour Yoga Alliance Yoga Teacher Training Certification (www.froglotusyogainternational.com)
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November 2018 | Jillian Pransky 27 hour Restorative Yoga Teacher Training (www.jillianpransky.com)
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December 2018 | Alicia Waters and Gilda Goharian Advanced Practice Week, Creative Sequencing and Pranayama (www.aliciawatersyoga.com)
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April - May 2019 | Alicia Waters, The Meditation Space (www.aliciawatersyoga.com)
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February 2020 | iRest ® 31 hour Level 1 Yoga Nidra Training with James Reeves (https://www.irest.org/)
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