We caught up with yoga teacher Lindsey Porter to hear about her experiences and practices.
Join Lindsey for a special class on Chair Yoga, find out more and sign up here: https://www.yogamatters.com/pages/community-yoga-classes-2023
Tell us a bit about yourself…
I’ve had many experiences and accumulated a wide variety of skills in my 50 years and I’m still at the starting line of exploring and learning new and more things. I’m ok with this! Supporting community energises me and I enjoy delivering projects such as leading a Scottish Parliamentary Reception on Yoga, Mental Health & Wellbeing. I Tutor for the Yoga Scotland Foundation yoga course and published my debut book, Whirlpools, yoga and the balance of life in 2018. You can often find me these days co-hosting, workshops, retreats and funded sessions with other wellbeing practitioners across Scotland and sometimes further afield.
What does a typical day look like for you?
My typical day involves getting both children out to school, one with special needs, going for a quick 10min nap before doing my morning routines, usually consisting of somatic based yoga movements and Transcendental meditation.
Then leading a yoga based wellbeing workshop for a charity, group or social enterprise somewhere in Scotland. If time allows a quick cold water dip in a loch enroute and back for school finishing time. Followed by an evening of juggling kids in out of school activities, running a yoga class or dreaming up some new collaborative workshop ideas or studying of some kind!
How did your yoga journey begin and what inspired you to become a yoga teacher?
Yoga reached me in my workplace, offered at lunchtime to staff, in the middle of my busy and stressful career as global project manager in financial services in my late 20s. It was about 10 years after my initial yoga teacher training in India 2006, which I did at the time as a break between moving countries with work, that I felt the calling to dedicate more time and energy in sharing this passion, connecting and giving back to the local community.
What inspired you to specialize in your practice?
Being able to share yoga movement in a way that people can receive is so valuable. Seeing my grandma for a number of years (she lived to 101!) in a dementia care home inspired me to share more chair based movement in my local area including care homes, for carers and people with mental health challenges.
I bring a fusion of yoga inspired techniques learnt over the decades to the practice along with a light heartedness that helps people connect and feel connected.
Chair based movement can look simple but still engage the mind, body and breath whole heartedly.
How have you seen yoga benefit your students?
I see it in the flicker of recognition in their eyes and body language. This can be a moment of content, the joy of a movement or the shared giggle of connection.
What is your favorite quote or life motto?
It is as it is.
I came across this in some recent Buddhist readings and it makes so much sense, as a way to come into the present moment and help the journey towards acceptance.
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