Interview with Rachel Hawes

The internet is amazing! I found Rachel after she found me, and left a comment on my post about Mark Whitwell. She is a really interesting woman – a yoga teacher, and one who was more or less born into it, with parents who practiced yoga.

Rachel has also suffered from ME since her late teens and has experience of using yoga as a therapeutic tool for managing and recuperating from chronic illness and injury. I find that, often, when we have faced challenges in our own lives and health, we have more compassion for the struggles of others. And that , ultimately, makes us better people and better teachers!

So, without further ado, here is the interview with Rachel:

You were lucky enough to have a yoga-practicing family. Have you had a consistent yoga practice since you were a child?

Both my parents practiced yoga from as long ago as I can remember.  I first practiced yoga alongside my mum when I was about 8 or 9 and yoga played a huge part in my life right through my teens.  I guess I kind of fell away from it at university where I did a lot of high impact aerobic type classes instead and discovered Pilates.

It wasn’t until I was working in corporate law in London a few years later that I felt I needed something more than gym classes and Pilates.  Something that went a little bit deeper.  That’s when I returned to yoga.

I guess yoga has just always been there in my life whether I’m practicing or not.

My dad actually trained to be a yoga teacher in his 50s.  I guess it was this inspiration that made me realise that despite various health issues (I have an upper thoracic congenital scoliosis which impacts on my shoulder girdle and my shoulder mobility) I could be a yoga teacher too!

Have you always studied and practiced in the tradition of TKV Desikachar?

Not always no.  When I returned to yoga in my 20s I practiced Astanga Vinyasa with a great guy called Nigel Jones up in North London.  He was the perfect Astanga teacher for me because he believed in modifying postures if necessary and with my scoliosis and shoulder issues this was very necessary for me.  Nigel ran Yoga Junction with Tara Fraser, and it was through her that I first began to explore the teachings of Desikachar.  I had come across his teachings before through my father but it was Tara who brought them alive for me and made me feel that this was the place I was meant to be.  I continued to practice with Tara until I moved away from North London in 2006.

Both my practice and my teaching has become quite eclectic however, especially since I have worked with Satyananda teacher Abhijeeta of Shiva Rooms and Uma Dinsmore-Tuli of Sitaram Partnership, who also teaches in the Satyananda tradition.  I’m a big fan of using a variation of the Satyananda practice of Yoga Nidra .

I think there are so many amazing things to learn from so many different branches of yoga that we need to keep open minded about our practice and flexible and flowing in our teaching. (I so agree with this! NF)

I see that you are also very interested in yoga for pregancy and for children. Is this a special passion of yours?

This came about by accident actually!  I moved to Surbiton in North Surrey in 2006.  Surbiton is one of those places people come to raise a family, just far enough out of London to not feel like London but only a 20 minute train ride away.  A lot of pregnant ladies turned up at my classes which was great but I just kept thinking that these ladies really needed a class of their own.  So I did my pregnancy yoga teacher training and started up what has proved to be a very successful Saturday morning class.  So popular in fact I’m just in the process of setting up a second class.

I have, however, despite not having children of my own, grown extremely passionate about both pregnancy and post natal yoga.  I don’t feel pregnant women are given enough respect, or time to rest during their pregnancies.  These ladies are through a huge transforming process which can be quite scary and so I try to provide a space where they can feel safe and positive about their pregnancies.

It’s great when the mums bring their babies along to postnatal yoga and you finally get to meet the bump in person!

What or whom inspires and informs your practice and teaching and why?

My biggest inspiration is, of course the work and writings of TKV Desikachar, but inspiration for both my teaching and my practice can come from anywhere.   My own yoga teacher, Sue Delf; my Pilates instructor, my boyfriend, my students, the beauty of the world around me.  There’s yoga just about everywhere if you’re willing to look for it!

Tell us a bit about your own practice: how often, how long…

I practice every morning around 7am.  It’s a great time to practice, the world is still quiet, the energies are starting to rise up from the ground and my boyfriend is usually at the gym!  I tend towards shorter practices these days, I find there is far more likelihood of maintaining a short practice than trying to push yourself to fit in 90 minutes every day!

I usually start with some chanting; it really wakes up the body and mind and I’ve stopped wondering what the neighbours think!  I follow this with asana, listening to my body’s needs each day.  I usually include some gentle sun salutations, some Warrior 1 sequencing for lengthening and working with the spine, some standing side bends or Triangle, and some seated or lying twists.  My main focus is always my spine; straightening and lengthening.

I follow with pranayama and meditation.  I’m still very much a baby beginner when it comes to meditation and more often than not I wander off into my own thoughts!  Practice, practice, practice!

On Sundays it has been known that I won’t get on my mat until 9am though – but I am always there.  I’ve learned that my day is much, much simpler if I take the time to practice in the mornings.

Of course my practice continues off the mat each day as I try to maintain that positive, peaceful feeling I left my mat with in my dealings with the outside world.  Which admittedly is not always easy!

What kind of a yoga teacher do you strive to be?

Well that’s a hard question to answer.  Ultimately I strive to be the teacher that my students need.  That they will learn from me and I will learn from them.  I strive to teach from my heart, to teach in the way that is true to me.  I hope I succeed!