FAQ

“Her anatomical knowledge is absolutely incredible. I can now practise safely and progress again.”

I’d maintained a home Ashtanga practice for nearly 15 years, but perimenopause brought injury after injury – all ligament and tendon related. When I dislocated my kneecap and tore my meniscus simply tying my shoes, my world changed. Despite physical therapy, my knee was so unstable that every practice attempt ended in re-injury. Standard asana modifications weren’t enough.

I was hesitant about working virtually – could anyone really address my injury and assess my practice without hands-on adjustments? Catherine’s keen insight immediately surprised and delighted me. Her anatomical knowledge is absolutely incredible. She knew exactly what kind of injury I had and how to address it – something no other yoga instructor had been able to do. She taught me to engage muscle to create stability and modify in completely new ways.

What amazed me most was Catherine’s ability to virtually observe my practice and give minute, subtle cues for posture, safety, engagement, and stability. I can now practice safely and cautiously progress in the asanas we work on together.

In all my searching, Catherine was the only Ashtanga teacher I found who uniquely addresses the physical changes a woman’s body goes through during menopause and how that affects practice. Her approach to yoga is lifelong, life-learning: patience, perspective, practice, and self-learning without striving – both physically and mentally/emotionally. It isn’t loss, it’s change.

“Within a couple of months, the pain subsided – I have my life back!”

I was unlucky to have a vertical impact from a pothole I hit on my motorbike. It left me with no movement without excruciating pain in my lower back, which also radiated into my legs as sciatica. An MRI showed that I had a chronic condition of the spondololytic spondylolistheses and foraminal narrowing and nerve roots impingement. Simply put, the acute pain was due to misalignment of my spine and the impact forced the disc to protrude, resulting in more compression. My only option from what I was told was injections and surgery to fuse the vertebrae, Catherine suggested yoga therapy instead. So I gave it a try.

Catherine helped me understand how to move safely during my daily life, set up my workplace (I am an artist/sculptor), lift things, and set myself up for sleep without pain. I became aware of my old movement patterns, which added to my chronic pain. We adjusted them, so I move more freely again. I developed a new understanding of my body and a deeper awareness of its responses. I learnt which movement to avoid initially until I got better.

Catherine gave me daily homework. With gentle yoga exercises, incredibly the pain started to subdue, and I was able to build up strength and mobility to support my lower back. Catherine developed a program for me, which I practise now whenever I feel my back could benefit from it.

She also worked with me on reducing my stress, as with the above diagnosis, I was scared of not being able to live my active life anymore. So she added relaxing exercises, Yoga Nidra and breathing exercises to calm my mind and relax my body have been of great use as tools to keep the rest of myself supported.

Within a couple of months, the pain subdued, and today, I can ride my motorbike for hours and go snowboarding and kiteboarding again. It feels incredible having my life back. I now know my body better, I am aware of the signs triggered by stress or extended sitting before it’s too severe… plus now thankfully I have tools to take care of it!

I trust Catherine 100%, she is so knowledgeable, and I felt totally comfortable and safe with her.”

“My practice is now stronger, more precise, and I can do things I never imagined before.”

I first met Catherine while attending her «Yoga for strength & balance» class. I immediately loved the energy and the rhythm of the class: it was intense, yet very fun, we had time to work on challenging asanas and Catherine’s explanations and tips were amazingly useful. So very quickly I started to take private lessons with her.

I have been taking 2 to 3 privates a week with Catherine for the past 8 months now. In this short period of time, I have learnt all kind of arm balances and became very comfortable with inversions. She also taught me handstand until I could hold it straight for 30seconds. Alongside these, she helped me improve my flexibility a lot: I can do the split and my back bends are much better and she made me build a lot of strength as we worked on advanced inversions/arm balances transitions.

Catherine has a solid Ashtanga background. Ashtanga is such an intense practice I cautiously stayed away from it for years… but, Catherine’s asana level and her mindset made me want to give it a go. So I asked her to introduce me to the World of Ashtanga and I loved it! Since then she has been guiding me through my ashtanga practice as well. Her insight, experience and knowledge just make it way easier for me to progress. I am now practising daily in a mysore style environment.
Catherine tips are gold: always very precise, it’s like she knows all the tricks. I guess through 20 years of daily self practice and teaching, she has seen it all!

The bonus of having such an experience teacher, is that she will know what and how to modify your practice if you have an injury, and what to do to improve your condition. I had chronic migraines when doing any back bends or lifting my head back, but these are completely gone now. I thought drop backs were not in the domain of the possible for me due to my neck… but it is absolutely not an issue anymore!

Practising with Catherine has completely changed my Yoga practice. It is now much more advanced, much more precise and the more intense the asana practice, the deeper is my internal journey. So she has changed my life completely. Well, Ashtanga did, but that’s on her!

I couldn’t recommend her more, she is a gift. She is fun, energetic, and she sees more in you than you will ever do. If you practice with her, you will do in a few months things you never even dreamed of, and your body will feel light, strong and pain free again. Every one who gets to practise with her is fortunate.”