Finding Yoga

Jade Stott, Yoga Teacher. I first discovered yoga one winter back in Canada. I love nature (I’ll revisit this below), summers were spent out in the wilds and winters spent mostly skiing the local mountain. I loved it! I had a rewarding job working for a wonderful team of veterinarians in our town. After a few years in this job, I noticed after having spent many earlier years working outdoors in a physical career of the equestrian world that my fitness was changing and adapting to my less physical job in the veterinary clinic. I wanted to keep up with my friends on the ski slopes but felt my fitness and confidence was leaving me behind. Action was needed but I didn’t feel comfortable in a gym which impacted me not trying group classes such as yoga etc. Every time I tried running I came home hips & back hurting (oh yeah, but also there was bears & cougar and lack of motivation). Something additional was needed and you guessed it, yoga! My first yoga practice started at home with the charismatic Bryan Kest 90’s Power Yoga videos… The spark was lit but I remained shy of the gym & group classes for a while until…

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Bam! I had a horse riding accident in 2012. So that was my right side of my body, namely hips, pelvis, back & lungs amongst others stuff. Serious but not too serious, it takes time to heal, it's a marathon not a sprint. On completion of rehab my physios emphasised the importance of keeping up fitness for healing & wellbeing, they suggested I looked into the physical practice of yoga more but attend in-person classes with a teacher to guide my body. Impulsively I signed up for a free hot yoga class at the downtown Hot26n2 (aka Bikram) studio. It felt crazy, 35 people in one hot room, I didn't know what to do, the teacher spoke loud & fast and I was so sweaty but I LOVED it! At first I joined class twice weekly, but soon came an Olympic themed yoga challenge to see how many days you could attend a in a row, 30 (Bronze), 60 (Sliver) or 90 (Gold) days of hot yoga. Hooked & guess which I went for! My yoga teachers helped me to learn how to strengthen my body through asana. Later that year I was standing on my mat feeling better balanced, looking into the studio mirror to see how well my body was healing and becoming stronger through the help of my regular yoga practice. Yoga and breathwork are not panaceas but they can play a fantastic role when seeking to improve overall fitness and in addition and because it’s all linked, I have found yoga helps improve stress, digestion, anxiety & sleep.

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I relocated back to the UK and yoga never stopped! I chose Bristol because I wanted to be close to Hot26 yoga but there's so much more yoga on the menu in this city. After years of dedicated & varied yoga practice, mainly Ashtanga-Vinyasa, Bikram & Ghosh but also Power & Yin, and experiencing first-hand the healing power of yoga & conscious breath, I went on to study and gain my first Vinyasa teaching qualification through Lucas Rockwood at his excellent Yoga Teachers College studios over in Barcelona in 2017-2018.

Through personal understanding and witnessing positive experiences in others, it is my absolute passion to teach and continuously learn how yoga & breath affects our bodies, our mind and wellness goals.

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So coming back to loving nature. The natural world has an effective influence on my practice & teaching. It is important to me for yoga to feel accessible and natural to the individual body and mind, nothing forced and allowing time to evolve. Nature is a constant inspiration by how it moves and breathes, from the agility of a mountain lion leaping from a tree to the magnetic pull of the ocean. Like our natural world adapting with our changing seasons, simply & functionally, I want our movements, breath and mind to feel the freedom to explore and evolve, simply and functionally too.

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Let’s breathe, have fun & stay bendy!