me
‘I’m not a teacher, only a fellow traveller of whom you asked the way. I pointed ahead – ahead of myself as well as you.’
George Bernard Shaw
I never understood why my mother named me Corrina Ananda, until I found ashtanga yoga. Ananda is sanskrit for bliss, it was a name that growing up, felt alien and strange but today feels like a perfect fit. I left London when I was 2 years old. I lived in Trinidad, Iran, Abu-Dhabi, Bahrain and Barbados. Each summer, my parents took my siblings and I travelling during the 2 months of the school holidays; Asia, Africa, America, Australasia….. we filled passports rapidly. Consequently, I enjoy meeting and connecting with people from all walks of life, cultures, religions and backgrounds. Another likely consequence is that my adult life has been very rooted in London, where from a young age I raised two boys (now young men), born at home, raised on yoga, vegan food and LOVE. I discovered yoga in the year 2000, it was a gift that took root and continues to grow informing my Self, my life and my relationships. Like many, my path in life is to walk the line of both belonging and feeling ‘othered’: I am a woman of both black and white heritage, my orientation towards love is not gender defined and I don’t conform to binaries. In the field of authentic yoga there is an inclusive space beyond identification, it is here that I meet my essence and I invite you to meet yours.
my practiCe
Having completed the Primary, Intermediate and Advanced A sequences I am unravelling Advanced B. I received level II authorisation to teach the Ashtanga Yoga method by Sharath Jois in Mysore India and I am dedicated to sharing the Ashtanga Yoga practice in the tradition of the Jois family; my approach is inclusive and evolutionary. I love movement and optimal living, I am intrigued by the connections between the physical, psychological and emotional body and how to affect our organism as a whole. My personal study revolves around different movement systems (calisthenics, gymnastics, functional movement, mobility and strength training), psychotherapy and ancient yogic texts. Whilst I prioritise safe, functional movement in asana, my experience is that if a yoga practice is to be illuminating and transformative, it requires discipline and a container. As we knock up against the container we see our habitual psycho-emotional responses and with daily practise we start to know ourselves, our thought patterns and common reactions become available for us to work through and change. As a facilitator of this practice it means I must walk the line between keeping the yoga system as pure as possible whilst being mindful to adapt or modify for accessibility and safety of the individual. The Ashtanga Yoga is a self-practise system, taught one on one in a group setting, it is taught in a quiet space allowing for personal connection and reverence to the sacred and the divine. I am grateful to all the teachers who lit the path for me, I am forever a student and it is an honour for me to share this deeply transformative practice with you.
Qualifications: Masters degree in the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation (SOAS, London): Post Grad. Cert. Foundation in Psychotherapy and Counselling (Regents University, London): Mobility Specialist (FRC).