Hello my name is Joanne Appleby, I am a yoga teacher, and will be joining Noel teaching my own classes at Laxey Cottage Shincliffe. Please let me introduce myself:
My yoga journey began over 35 years ago, when I first discovered yoga as a teenager through a couple of well-loved books. Since then, yoga has been a constant presence in my life, evolving alongside my own experiences of movement, injury, motherhood and personal growth.
While living in Liverpool, I attended my first yoga classes and was introduced to meditation and its many benefits. In my early twenties I discovered Iyengar yoga and was immediately drawn to its strength, precision and focus on alignment. I trained through Margaret Austin’s rigorous Iyengar teacher training programme, developing a strong understanding of safe alignment, the thoughtful use of props and how to support students into postures with care.
A serious back injury, combined with pregnancy, changed my relationship with yoga and led me to seek a gentler, more compassionate approach. This is when I discovered Hatha yoga. I found its slower pace, emphasis on breath and more holistic approach better suited to my body, and it soon became central to my practice.
In 2017 I completed the British Wheel of Yoga Foundation Course, followed by the British Wheel of Yoga Teacher Diploma in 2020. Since then, I have continued to broaden my experience through Dru Yoga, Yin Yoga and Kundalini Yoga, and through further study of yogic philosophy and the history of yoga. While my teaching is grounded in Iyengar principles and shaped by Hatha yoga, it is influenced by a wide range of traditions.
I have around five years’ teaching experience, mainly in community settings, and I aim to create classes that are welcoming, inclusive and adaptable for all ages and abilities. Although I originally came to yoga for its physical benefits — strength, flexibility and balance — it is now an essential practice for grounding, resilience and wellbeing. My hope is that each class offers a safe, supportive space where students can move, breathe and reconnect, finding a practice that feels both nourishing and sustainable.
