Looking back over my life it is not difficult to see how I got to where I am. My father being a doctor, my mother strongly intuitive and spiritual and my younger sister severely epileptic all contributed to me developing a strong caring streak. My toys were always in hospital, and teddies had multiple surgical scars (I became very competent at sewing…). I followed my older sister into medicine, but moved into preclinical medicine, working in Pathology, Physiology and finally Anatomy, where I found my true strength as a teacher.
I came to yoga nearly twenty years ago because of multiple joint problems and was looking for a gentle form of exercise, this being all that I then though yoga was. I found though that I was often called upon in class to verify or explain various claims concerning the benefits of practice. When viewed through the eyes of evidence-based science, opinions about these benefits range from the eminently sensible to the completely wacky. The latter are passed from well-meaning teachers to students where a teacher’s own training in, and understanding of, yoga-relevant anatomy, physiology and medical conditions is inadequate. I feel that my main contribution to yoga now is to remedy this state of affairs as much as possible; when one peels away the layers of inaccuracy and misinterpretation, what is left is indeed “a pearl without price”.
I have been involved with BWY in many capacities over the years and was therefore delighted to be asked to design a new A&P module for the Wheel as part of the revised Diploma course. I am really looking forward to sharing my unique combination of medical/scientific and yoga experience and views with Congress, and trust that I shall be able to continue to contribute appropriately in future.