Lovely to meet you

Hello and welcome to my first ever time trying to write a blog post! My name is Nia and I am a Cardiff based yoga teacher.

The wellness industry and yoga can often appear intimidating. That feels like a very strange thing to say especially as a yoga teacher who would love to welcome you to a class. I don’t say this to put you off, I don’t believe it should be this way or that it has to be.
I also say this as someone who knows how anxiety can stop us from doing things. I struggled to use buses for years because I felt I was being an inconvenience when I pressed the button for my stop. It made me feel like I was getting in the way or taking up too much of everyone else’s time.

I never want someone to feel that way when they come into one of my classes. It’s hard to eliminate entirely but that’s why I wanted to start this blog. I wanted to create a resource for anyone interested in yoga or thinking about attending a class or starting a regular practice to have so there is somewhere they can go to ask all the questions they’re afraid they should already know the answer to. I may not have the answers but you can definitely ask.

I love to run classes that allow students meet their nervous system where it needs to be, classes that can restore and allow you to rest and classes that can challenge and connect you with your body. If any of that resonates with you, great. If it doesn’t or you’re not sure what I mean by any of it, that’s also absolutely fine!
It can take some experimenting and trial and error to find the teacher or class that works for you. Not being sure is where most people start, I know it’s where I did. I signed up for all the advanced classes I could and fell out of nearly every single pose I tried. I kept doing this for weeks till I realised the effects yoga had on me were more than physical.
It started with something very small. I have always hated being late. If I even considered the thought there may be traffic I would leave with enough time to arrive an hour ahead of the earliest I told myself I’d be there.
And then one day I accidentally arrived on time. Not late, just when I said I’d be there.
What was so shocking to me, was that until I got there I hadn’t even noticed I was running on time. For once, it hadn’t occurred to me to double check my route, triple check the weather forecast and then pack suncream and an umbrella anyway. I had just turned up as myself. It was a small but wonderful moment. Where I didn’t feel like I had to shrink my needs or diminish my time to make it work better for other people.

After that I started noticing more things like finding it easier to say no if I didn’t want to do something, enjoying my own company and spending less time in class berating myself for having flat feet and no balance.

This is what yoga and my practice means to me, it’s the gradual peace and acceptance that crept in so slowly I almost didn’t notice it.

But it is so hard to put that into a single sentence for a website or a bio or social media. It is so hard to give a true impression of what you and your class might actually be like. That is why I feel it is so important to say that not every teacher and every class will work for you. And that is okay. You might have to try a few to find what does. You may think a teacher sounds perfect and then hate their class. That’s okay. It’s not because you are “bad” at yoga. You may not enjoy my class (you also may).
I cannot tell you which classes to try and which classes will work for you because it will be personal to you.

My classes vary in style and theme but I always aim to be informative and accommodating and give you the room to meet your body, mind and nervous system wherever they are.
This is because I believe yoga is and should be for everyone.

Nia x

If you’re interested in staying updated, feel free to sign up below. If you’d like to ask me a question, send me an email. I’m always happy to chat. If you’d like to know exactly what to expect in a session of mine before attending, let me know. I can talk you through anything from what we may cover in class to where to put your things when you arrive. Whatever works for you.