About us
Michelle King
BA ITEC APNT
Michelle King is the co-founder of AdventureYogi. She began this way of life when she spent her winters in the Italian and French Alps, and her summers in Sardinia, working in the tourism industry managing chalets in Chamonix and villas in Sardinia. She then moved to Japan to pursue her passion of snowboarding in the Japanese Alps and this is where her interest in natural health, healing and yoga began.
The education she gained in Japan inspired her to return to England to study massage, nutrition and yoga. She is now trained in Holistic massage, Sports massage, Indian head massage, Thai foot massage and Natural Face lift massage. She specialises in Sports and Deep Tissue massage and works from home in Brighton with private clients.
She has practised yoga since she was 18 years old and qualified as a Sivananda Yoga Teacher in 2009. She continued her studies with Laura Gilmore in Bristol because Michelle felt that Sivananda gave her the key to developing a spiritual practice however she required more depth in western methodology of teaching. She is currently teaching yoga in Brighton and is building up her teaching experience with further teacher training courses and will begin teaching on AdventueYogi retreats soon. On the holidays she is on hand to guide you to the right mountain or whichever watersports is a curiosity or passion for you and in the down time will help relax and recharge you with her wonderful healing hands.
Claire Hamilton
BSc MBAcC
Claire Hamilton, co-founder of Adventure Yogi Holidays started her love of travel and interest of health in India. After finishing her Psychology degree in 1999 she studied diet, yoga & massage in the Himalayas, which turned out to be the first step towards a career in complementary medicine. Inspired by the Eastern philosophy of health, she went on to spend 3 years studying Acupuncture. Since completing her training she has spent the last 7 years combining all her skills by practicing Acupuncture at The Berkeley Centre in Bristol and at The Westover in London. She is now embarking on her Yoga Teacher training with The Life Centre in London. She feels that this will be life changing experience and invaluable additional knowledge to share with her patients. And one day she hopes to teach on AdventureYogi retreats!
She is passionate about the importance of vitality & balance to improve one’s enjoyment of life; not to mention her love of adventure, exploring the world & seeing different horizons. Claire will be on hand to give rebalancing Acupuncture sessions and most importantly will be cooking up fantastic, health fortifying food.
Yoga Teachers
Laura Gilmore
Laura Gilmore has practiced yoga for 20 years now- since her teens. Laura has taught since 2001 and is qualified by Yoga Alliance (Ashtanga/ Hatha yoga), Birthlight (Pregnancy Yoga), Sitaram partnership (Postnatal/ children yoga) and has done further training through the Life centre (Ayurveda). From her very first class she felt the opportunity to “come home” to her body and otherwise busy mind! This sense of bringing an inner spaciousness and ease is what she hopes to share with her students.
Laura has journeyed across a range of yoga traditions with many of the world’s most experienced and respected teachers- she has studied Iyengar, Hatha and Ashtanga yoga in both the UK and in India. She continues to attend retreats and workshops regularly but also knows that ultimately this is a personal practice- she encourages students to find their innate wisdom to become their own life guide and teacher. She is able to bring the teachings of yoga alive and she can also guide experienced practitioners. Laura integrates meditation, simple breath-practices and yogic principles into her retreats. She teaches with a warmth & humour that brings many students back year after year.
Annabel Jones
Annabel has been teaching in many of the health clubs and centres in Bristol for 8 years. She started originally as a dancer, then progressed to fitness and then finally found myself in yoga and pilates. In 2005 she went to New York and trained with The Laughing Lotus in Vinyasa Flow Yoga, this was a 200hr Yoga Alliance credited course. Vinyasa is a very strong, dynamic, flowing style, it includes all the elements of a full yogic practise but also requires a degree of physical strength.
In 2010 she completed her British Wheel of Yoga training. This took her practise to a much quieter deeper place and has changed her teaching. She is now a blend of the two. She still enjoys the class to flow but she also leaves time to go deep into the postures. She tries to keep her participants as engaged in the full experience of each posture as possible so that they can explore their body and their breath and find some inner calmness in that precious time. She loves teaching groups and is adept at altering postures for different needs and assisting those who wish to move deeper.
Tammy Jones
Tammy is a +500-hr Yoga Alliance certified teacher and therapist. She has practiced yoga since she was 14 years old, her training and experience allows her to combine traditional Indian Yoga styles with a contemporary western approach to authentically help guide others to find their own love for, and benefits from Yoga.Tammy has trained internationally with the likes of Shiva Rea, Jivamukti, Richard Freeman and Edward Clarke. She teaches a wide range of people, from cage fighters to pregnant ladies and the over-50′s.
As a Vinyasa Flow teacher, Tammy’s style is spontaneous, light-hearted and adapts to meet the energies and needs of the group. Music is a prominent feature of the class and her sequences flow with rhythm and beat. Classes can be dynamic and uplifting yet always move towards inner stillness.
“Yoga is an integral part of me and I strive to continually learn. I teach from the heart and only from personal experience. It is an honour to share this ancient art-form with others.”
Katharine Lawrence
Katharine teaches Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga in Ipswich and around…The dynamic practice of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga uncurls on the mat as a moving meditation allowing you the time to just be with the breath in a totally absorbing way and for the mind to calm of the everyday chatter. For her this is the most cohesive and powerful form of yoga, not just on a physical level but the way that it transpires into the everyday.
She is influenced and dedicated to my teachers John & Lucy Scott who has taught her Ashtanga Yoga in it’s pure form, with the correct method and count, as learnt from their Guru Sri K Pattabhi Jois (Guruji). She has also completed John & Lucy’s 200 hour Teacher Training Course recognised by Yoga Alliance, and is therefore qualified to teach Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. In addition to this she has spent a month in Mysore in 2008, the home of Ashtanga studying under the guidance of Sharath and Saraswati the teaching family of Guruji. Study with Sharath at Purple Valley in Goa 2009 and more recently with John Scott for a week again at Purple Valley. She has worked with Manju Jois and also completed David Swensons 40 hour Teacher Training programme.
Davina Wellesley
Davina’s yoga experience began 14 years ago when a serious back injury she sustained riding during her teenage years, healed through her practise. Yoga became a passion, and when travelling to India in 2000 Davina studied Ayurveda and Yoga and spent time in an Ashram, living and breathing Yoga. Returning to England the following year she began a 4 year in-depth teacher training with the British Wheel of Yoga, qualifying in as a Hatha Yoga Instructor in 2006. Davina then gained teachers qualifications in Yin Yoga, with both Sarah Powers and Paul Grilley, and Scaravelli inspired yoga with Sandra Sabatini. Davina’s incorporates an understanding of Yoga in its classical context from India, with Yoga and its place in modern society today, and having been into a variety of sports all her life is able to connect yoga and sports effectively.
Tara Walsh
Tara is a qualified Iyengar teacher and has been teaching since 2005. She has trained in India as well as the UK, working with a variety of senior teachers as well as Geeta Iyengar herself. Before she became a yoga teacher Tara was involved in the performance arts, founding a collaborative theatre company in Bristol, making pieces for stage and alternative venues. She brings joy and warmth into her teaching, and a deep desire to help people come into a more harmonious relationship with their bodies and minds. She is passionate about health and well-being, and creates a supportive and safe space for people to relax, release and practice.
Amrita
Amrita is originally from Zimbabwe and has been practicing yoga for 12 years. Initially she trained as a hatha yoga teacher with Yoga Vidya, while living in Cologne, Germany. In 2005 she met her teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life (co-founders of the Jivamukti Yoga Method) and in 2008 she completed the Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training in New York. She then went on to complete her apprenticeship with Jivamukti Yoga London in 2009. She is now an 800 hour certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher. Amrita also trained for many years in ballet and contemporary dance, and is currently training in massage and group therapy. She lives and teaches in Brighton.
Vitality Food Cooks
Anna
Anna has been cooking in various guises for twelve years, ditching an unpromising career in TV production for the lure of the kitchen in 1999. She spent a term at The Grange Cookery school and emerged as Student of the year. She recently took time off to have 2 children but food is never far from her mind! Sticking to the philosophy that jumping in at the deep end can only be a good thing means that she has had a diverse range of culinary experience but has concentrated on private catering, cooking for weekends away and weeks abroad as well as a rich mixture of festivals, christenings and retreats.
Living in Bristol means she is surrounded by excellent greengrocers, Asian supermarkets and the farmers market, all of which play a big role in the style of her cooking. Seasonality is hugely important but shouldn’t be limited to locality – who can resist the ruby red seeds of a pomegranate in winter or the glowing flesh of a mango to lift the spirits in February? Vegetarian food is so far removed from the cliché of mung beans and farty lentils that the exclusion of meat seems an afterthought – who needs it when you have the freshness of Thai flavours, the rich complexity of Indian curries or the total simplicity of Italian ingredients? Anna believes all good food starts with being just a bit greedy…
Tatu
Tatu grew up surrounded by healthy food and alternative healing, her mother being somewhat of a kitchen wonder as well as a believer in healing without medical drugs. She has embraced this and is currently in her last year of studies at the College of Naturopathic Medicine in London specialising in Naturopathic Nutrition and is looking to further her studies and skills in other complementary fields.
A life of nomadic traveling, cultural immersion and first hand experiences with some very off-the-beaten-track lifestyles she has created a style of cooking that takes from all her culinary exposures and has come out colourful, flavourful and, surprisingly, rather uncooked for a chef. Raw food features heavily in her repertoire especially in the warmer months when salads rule the world of alfresco lunches. Conscious of the nutritional qualities of each and every ingredient she combines foods that are specific to healing themes as well as full of texture, temperature and taste. She may even tell you some tales of her time as a safari guide over a cup of peppermint tea in the kitchen…
Bee
Bee has been catering on and off for 10 years and exploring food and its relationship to health, seasonality and social harmony for much much longer. With a special interest in accommodating difficult dietary requirements while serving nourishing, tasty food Bee has cooked for many groups of people, usually using vegan or vegetarian ingredients.
Always happy to share knowledge and recipes, Bee enjoys the way food can bring together a group in close harmony and add pleasure to an event through the warmth and comfort it provides. Always experimenting Bee is particularly keen on working with ingredients that are locally and seasonally sourced, which can present its own challenges in terms of creativity. Creating new recipes, reworking tried and tested favourites and collecting food knowledge from friends and beyond make cookery a fresh and constantly surprising joy.
Kate (coming soon next year:)
Kate’s passion for good, healthy food started in her early teens, inspired by her family who all enjoy cooking and growing their vegetables. At 18, Kate began her career by training at the Ballymaloe Cookery School in Ireland; A place dedicated to nurturing the practice of using fresh local produce by encouraging the trainee chefs to pick the herbs and vegetables needed for the day from the kitchen garden and collect fresh fish from the local port. Over the last 16 years Kate has gained experience in a range of catering environments: from her first job as a pastry chef in a French restaurant in the west end of London, Kate’s worked in the dining rooms of company directors in the City of London, with teams of chefs for event catering at large functions and for last 7 years as a head chef in private homes.
This depth of experience has enabled Kate to recently start her own company, Kate Waters Fine Food, supplying tailored, creative meals and catering for small events in people’s homes. Realising that food intolerances or food related health issues are affecting an increasing number of people’s lives (including her own) Kate has begun incorporating these concerns into her style of cooking and menu planning. Kate is currently studying for her nutritional therapy diploma at the College of Naturopathic Medicine, which has a huge emphasis on healing with whole foods. She will graduate from this course in 2014
