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The Community Yoga Project is a not-for-profit organisation which makes yoga and it's many benefits accessible to everyone in our community in North Devon.
Our dream is to see yoga being taught in our local schools, hospitals, nursing homes, offices, community groups .... everywhere!
We have a fantastic community of local yoga teachers who are trained in a variety of styles and specialisms. We unite these teachers with students, organise sessions and secure funding to help us deliver subsidised and fully funded placements where it benefits members of our community most.
May 2022
Back for our second season in Ilfracombe!
Join our resident yogis Tori and Tia for a weekly dose of outdoor yoga at Ilfracombe Football Club. Kick off at 9am on Sunday 1st May and running every week until September.
March 2022
We are now delighted to be offering one to one sessions especially for young people. Yoga is a valuable tool in a world which can often leave us anxious and overwhelmed. If you know a young person who could benefit from yoga-inspired techniques to help manage stress, anxiety, depression or lethargy please get in touch.
Active Devon's More Movement Conference 2021
On Tuesday 21st September we thoroughly enjoyed providing 'movement breaks' throughout the day for delegates at the More Movement conference hosted by Active Devon. We offered short sessions of Wake Up Yoga, Relaxation, Breathwork, Seated Yoga, Barre-inspired yoga and laughter yoga, we hope everyone enjoyed it as much as we did!
Teacher Training @ Our Lady's Catholic Primary School, Barnstaple
We were delighted to deliver two sessions for OLCP, the first an upbeat yoga session for staff wellbeing, and the second a fun-filled training in kids yoga and how to incorporate yoga into the classroom. The staff were fantastically positive and it was declared by one teacher as "the best inset training we've ever done". Thank you for inviting us, your students are lucky to have such caring, imaginative and dedicated teachers.
Yoga at Southmead Primary School Field
Thanks to the 50 amazing yogis who came along! Yes we got wet, yes we got cold but we had a good time! Thanks for coming!
Tai Chi at Crow Point
It was great to hear the feedback from this session, we had cranky knees and shoulders that all felt the benefit of an hour of chi on the beach! Thanks to everyone that came along!
The Benefits of Yoga
The benefits of regular yoga practise are endless. Here are just a few things yoga can help to improve:
Strength
Flexibility
Balance
Coordination
Focus / Concentration
Mood / Hormonal Imbalance
Sleep
Relaxation
Stress / Anger Management
Happiness
Injury Recovery
Mobility
Body Awareness
Teach with the CYP
We'd love for more local qualified yoga teachers to join our team and share yoga throughout our community! If you are looking for regular and dependable teaching opportunities in the local area please get in touch and let us know your style and any specialisms you have, we'd love to get you on board with The CYP!
We are a not-for-profit Community Interest Company reliant on fundraising, successful funding bids, donations and a whole heap of passion! All funds raised are directly invested in the community through the provision of yoga classes. We pay our teachers per session delivered and operate on a non-existent budget. If you believe in the benefits of yoga and would like to help our teachers reach more students across the county please consider donating to The Community Yoga Project, please click on the DONATE button below.
Meet the Team
Annie: I love yoga because it's never boring (I get bored easily!), it can be whatever you need it to be and you don't need to look a certain way or be a certain type of person to have a go at it. Whenever I practise yoga I remember why I love it so much and whenever I share it with other people - young or not-so-young - they feel better in their bodies, minds and moods.
Hannah: I've loved yoga since stumbling across it in the gym 20 years ago....it certainly beat doing a Spin class! I've practised various styles over the years, from Ashtanga and Bikram to Laughter, Aerial and beyond and have come to the conclusion that It's All Goooood! I love sharing yoga with children and young people but honestly I'll try and convert anyone I can!
Local Teachers & Friends of The CYP
We're a pretty friendly bunch! Check out these lovely local teachers who all support The CYP and share their own unique brand of yoga all over North Devon.
Alexandra Giffoni
Alex is the founder of Breathing Yoga and The Yoga Barn, one of the first purpose-built yoga, meditation and holistic therapies centres in North Devon, from where she shares weekly yoga and meditation sessions, workshops and retreats. Her style of teaching is holistic, eclectic and always inclusive.
Aimee
Hill
Aimee discovered yoga at the age of 14 and undertook her training in Byron Bay when she was 21. Her love for yoga sees her regularly attending workshops across the country and her carefully considered hatha flow and yin style classes held in and around Barnstaple are testament to her passion for all things yoga. Aimee is also a very talented masseuse.
Felicity Cornish
Felicity is a mother of 4, massage therapist and yoga teacher at Hands To Heart Yoga & Massage, "I feel very honoured and humble to be able to share the true essence of yoga with others, helping them to experience the benefit themselves. It really can be life changing. Age or ability is no barrier, yoga really is for EVERY body.
Tiff
Mackenzie-Shapland
Founder of Croyde Yoga, Tiff has a wonderfully naturally teaching style which stems from her own love of the practise and her passion for continued study of yoga. Tiff's popular classes run weekly in Georgham, Braunton and Croyde and her style is relaxed and fun yet also dynamic and energising. Alongside regular classes Tiff also teaches pregnancy yoga and mum and baby sessions.
Simone Harding
Simone is a British Wheel of Yoga trained teacher (500hrs) with 15 years experience. She has taught antenatal yoga, Active Birth and Hatha before finding her natural home with yoga and mindfulness as therapy. Her approach to yoga is an exploration of interoceptive cues, compassionate self care and cultivating resilience. Simone is a psychology graduate, PT, and massage therapist and is currently studying an MSc Nutrition to specialise in public health nutrition.
Pip
Fresch
Western Wellbeing founder Pip has been in love with yoga for over 20 years, "It's a combination of the mental peace, the grounding, the clarity of thought and the freedom to move without stiffness or pain that makes it such an essential part of my life. As a teacher I love seeing the positive changes yoga makes to my students lives. One student in his 70s said he could put his trousers on without sitting down for the first time in years after only a few classes! I'm so grateful to be a part of this project that may just change people's lives.
Heather Robertson
Heather has been teaching yoga for 20 years and has developed her style from an external approach to a more integrated practise, based on her studies in Craniosacral Therapy. Through her relaxed, fun and informative sessions which are tailored to each individual Heather helps her students to personalise their practise, deepening their understanding of and connection to their bodies, and ultimately becoming empowered through their own wellbeing.
Gemma
Peppiatt
For Gemma yoga is not exclusively for bendy gymnastic people but rather 'for everyone, of any age, ability or condition'. Gemma is a qualified yoga therapist and a specialist pregnancy yoga teacher and offers one to one yoga sessions to help people work with
physical, emotional and mental conditions. Gemma offers a weekly gentle hatha class in Ilfracombe and, with her husband Dan, runs teacher trainings and workshops throughout the UK.
Louise Pounds
Louise teaches weekly Hatha flow and relaxation classes in Braunton and Barnstaple. After a lifetime of loving yoga and reaping the benefits herself she undertook training with The British Wheel of Yoga and now loves sharing her passion with others and passing on the benefits of regular and mindful yoga practise.
Imogen Rose
Imogen is the founder of Lunari Yoga & Treatments at the Lunari Yoga Centre, based on a serene smallholding in North Devon. Imogen teaches vibrant and dynamic Vinyasa yoga based within the intelligent Ashtanga tradition encompassing other potent yogic techniques to shed the layers and move with grace in union with your truest form.
Dan Peppiatt
Founder of 'Yoga Like Water' a groundbreaking new teacher training course, Dan divides his time between his home in North Devon and teaching across the country. His endless fascination with undoing everything we think we know about yoga, the mind and the body leads him to dive deeply into all aspects of movement, the mind, body and soul and encourgaes students of his 'style of no style' to find their own unique expression based on their personal experience.
Steve Shackleton
Steve is a multi-talented therapist and teacher whose passion for understanding the body has led him along a varied exploration of both movement and healing practises. His background in martial arts, tai chi and chi kung were the basis for his further study in reiki and massage at first, progressing then to the vast subject of applied kinesiology, muscle testing, bowen technique, nutritional medicine and bio mechanics.
Rosie Godfrey
Rosie is Laughter Yoga teacher at The Laughter Well. "It's a real privilege and joy to create a safe space for people to explore and share Unconditional Laughter with Pranayama breathing for the benefit of the body, mind and spirit - reconnecting with ourselves and each other on a fundamental level. Together we change the world; one smile, one laugh, one breath at a time." Rosie is also UK Ambassador for the Pushing for Peace Project, promoting Tai-Chi based Peace Games.
Ulle
Jonsson
Ulle is a student of "YLW - Yoga Like Water". Ulle likes to be in a place where it challenges her mindset to grow as a person and how to involve this in our day to day lives, to be able to love yourself in a balanced and healthy way. So as a yoga teacher she is intrigued by the mental state of the mind, to discover the deeper layers of a practise beyond just the physical. She has a mischievous side and likes to approach her asana class with a big dose of fun to balance out the hard work!
Karen Vogelin
Karen has been a massage therapist for 10 years and runs Littlebirds Therapy Centre in Ilfracombe. Karen discovered the gong five years ago. After a powerful, life-changing gong bath she decided she needed to share the sounds of the gong with others and so spent a year training. The gong is a powerful healing tool which can have an effect on the mind, body and soul. It is hard to describe a gong bath as everyone has a different experience so it's something you need to experience for yourself!
Anne
Robbins
Anne is a Kundalini Yoga teacher, healer and shiatsu practitioner. Kundalini Yoga balances the glandular system and strengthens the nervous system so you feel more vibrant and alive. Anne currently teaches in Taddiport and Bude.
Anne heals through Sat Nam Rasayan, a healing tradition of Kundalini Yoga. The healer comes into a deep stillness and releases resistances that cause emotional or physical dis-ease in the patient. Shiatsu uses touch, pressure and stretching to adjust the body and balance the energy flow. Both therapies are deeply relaxing and can alleviate stress and maintain health and wellbeing.
Marcela Almond
Marcela is the founder of Seagrass Wellness, a wellness centre in Braunton. "Our aim is to lead our community to better health by optimising the way you move, think and function. We believe that everything you need to live a full and healthy life you already have, we will give you the tools to access it and thrive. We want to ensure that you are given the knowledge, support and resources to live a life of optimum health and movement function. We offer a collection of classes, treatments and education with a cohesive approach to wellbeing, to help you to achieve your goals and be your best."
Lauren Meade
Founder of 'The Happy Soul Yoga Co.' Lauren's love for yoga stemmed from her 17 years of dance and movement training. When she first discovered yoga she instantly found a synergy with the self-awareness, expression of movement, use of the breath and alignment techniques. Since then she uses yoga practise as a form of expression and improving spiritual and body awareness. Her classes are focussed on the individual, improving physical and mental performance, whilst providing space to tune in and switch off the outside world.
Sue Gandy
Sue has been a student of yoga for about 15 years; "I enjoyed deepening my understanding of this amazing lifestyle practise as a student of the Yoga Like Water Teacher Training. I feel Yoga provides us with an energy balance and wellbeing benefit for everyone and anyone who practises and gives us a fundamental grounding to manage our sometimes hectic and often demanding lives. All I have to offer is a facilitation for others to share this energy and essence, to enable people to enjoy the benefit of connection of mind, body and breath, and to feel the amazing benefit of this movement. The practise I offer is Hatha based yoga combined with flow, focus themes and meditation and relaxation.
Naomi Chunilal
Naomi Chunilal is the founder of YogaDevon which offers Hatha, Vinyasa and Restorative / Yin yoga classes / workshops and mindfulness and meditation sessions in and around Barnstaple. She is a British Wheel of Yoga teacher with over 25 years of practise experience, a complementary therapist and author of 'A Mindful Mother: A Practical and Spiritual Guide to Pregnancy, Childbirth and Beyond' (published by Watkins, 2015) "My teaching aim is to inspire and support you to use yoga and meditation to open up the flow of mindfulness, wellbeing and inner peace in your life"
Elly Whittaker
Elly is founder of Swell Yoga who run a series of incredible yoga, surf and wellbeing retreats and experiences in Devon. Elly also teaches regular yoga sessions (currently online), including Energising Hatha, Moon Style Hatha and Relaxing Yoga Nidra Meditation. You can stay up to date on her beautiful Insta page.
Contact Us
We'd love to hear from you! Drop us a line, give us a call or fill in the form below...
Hannah@
Annie@
M: 07850540440
© 2016