Yoga Now Teachers

Lucy Brownhall

I began yoga classes at the Edinburgh Iyengar Yoga Centre in 1986 to help with back issues (I have a scoliosis). I immediately felt the physical benefit but the mental clarity and sense of peace it gave me encouraged me to find out more. Yoga brings balance to my life and continues to reward my efforts. It is a lifelong journey of enquiry and discovery. I enjoy teaching yoga since it enables me to share this process with others. I first qualified as a teacher in 2002 and have the Junior Intermediate Level 2 certificate since 2014.

Katie Rutherford

I was lucky enough to find my first Iyengar yoga class in the late seventies while a student in the north-east of England and was very quickly convinced that this was something I should integrate fully into my life. I first qualified as a teacher in 1987 and gained level 2 of the Senior Intermediate certificate in 2015 and have been an examiner for the IYA(UK) since 2006. I now teach full time and visit India every year to further my studies. Yoga is endlessly interesting and a dear companion and guide through all the ups and downs of life. As well as making me stronger and more confident, yoga makes me more at peace with who I am.

Izabela Byziak

I first discovered yoga as a student in 2005, although since childhood my favourite pose was Padmasana (Lotus Pose), not to mention Sarvangasana (Shoulder Stand)… As a devoted practitioner I found out that being just a student it’s not enough for me! So in 2009 I started my first teacher training (280 hours), then the next one (160 hours) and finally in 2015 I completed the 3-years Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training in Krakow Poland with Konrad Kocot. I am also a qualified Massage Therapist.

I practice Iyengar yoga for it’s precise movement, focused on alignment; it is a deep, conscious practice! My way to teach yoga is to awake awareness and consciousness in every single part of the body, with deep connection with the breath and mind through practice with joy and fun in the same moment.

Cynthia Colt

Cynthia started practicing yoga in her early-twenties; having explored many different forms she was instinctively drawn to Iyengar Yoga because of its focus on precise alignment, and the particular care taken by teachers to ensure that practitioners work strongly without injury. It also complemented her developing interest in holistic massage therapy, as she transitioned from her “first career” as a window cleaner!

In 2009 Cynthia spent 6 months in India studying with some of Sri BKS Iyengar’s most senior teachers, including Rajiv and Swati Chanchani. She qualified as an Iyengar Yoga Introductory Teacher in 2016.

Fascinated by structural alignment and anatomy, Cynthia is currently completing a post-graduate diploma in Anatomical Science, and seeks to integrate this understanding into her classes.

Al Reid

Al came to Iyengar Yoga in his early thirties after more than a decade of skiing, climbing, mountaineering and white water rafting all over the world, much of this time he earned his way as a guide and instructor. Inevitably, this lifestyle led to numerous injuries, fractures and chronic structural imbalances that physical therapies alone could not heal.

Having hobbled into his first Iyengar Yoga class, he became hooked on the alignment, precision and depth of focus that this method supports. Often, the reasons why we start yoga are not the reasons why we continue, and Al soon started to appreciate not only a new found openness in his body, but a transformative mental approach to chronic injury and its management.

In 2009 Al spent 6 months in India studying with some of Sri BKS Iyengar’s most senior teachers, including Rajiv and Swati Chanchani, and Usha Devi. In 2016 he completed nearly 250 hours of training over 2 years to become an Iyengar Yoga Introductory Teacher.

Whilst yoga was a tradition practiced by, written about, and predominately developed for men, in recent years more and more women have been taking it up, and it is now predominantly perceived as a feminine practice in the west. Al would be delighted to welcome more male yoga practitioners to his classes.