Marcela de León Pérez

Marcela de León Pérez

Marcela de LeónMarcela has been regularly practising Yoga since 2006, but it was until 2015 when she got pregnant for the first time that her true yoga journey began as she discovered the wonderful benefits that it brought to her body and mind in preparation for childbirth. After the unexpected and very premature birth of her first child in 2016 and the life changing and beautifully positive experience of giving birth, she felt compelled to support and accompany other women throughout their pregnancy journeys and to prepare for positive and empowering births, however these happen.

She changed her career from working in sustainability and environment, retrained as a Doula with Michel Odent in Liliana Lammers in Barcelona (2017) and completed Sally Parke’s Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training in Edinburgh (2017). Since then, she has completed the Red Tent Doulas training (2017) and Red Tent Radical Educators training (2021) with Nicola Goodall, the British Wheel of Yoga Pregnancy & Postnatal Yoga trainings with Judy Cameron (2018 to 2019) as well as a 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training at Meadowlark Yoga in Edinburgh (2018).

In 2021, Marcela was fortunate to study with Janet Balaskas at the Active Birth Centre, becoming one of the very few teachers in Scotland who teach Active Birth Workshops and have actually been certified by her. Shortly after completing the Active Birth Training, Marcela was accepted in the YogaBirth training cohort, a huge privilege as she had been wanting to do this training for many years and particularly as this coincided with her being pregnant with her third child. As she had anticipated, this training was a life changing experience and she is deeply grateful for the opportunity to study with such knowledgeable teachers and mentors, as well as learning from her fellow students.

She has been registered with the Federation of Antenatal Educators since 2017 and is dedicated to continuing her professional development and to the ongoing process of learning. She attends courses, workshops and training regularly to deepen her own personal practice and expand her knowledge and skills to best support her students.

She is proud of her Mexican origin and heritage, and incorporates elements such as the use of rebozo and the importance of the 40 days of postnatal rest (La Cuarentena) into her teachings and her work as a Doula.

She is passionate about supporting women during the rite of passage that it is to be pregnant and become mothers. Marcela is grateful and deeply humbled to have studied with such wonderful Yoga teachers along the way, Judy Cameron, Sarah Hatcher and Helen Gillespie in particular. To this day, she continues exploring her Yoga practice as a way of daily living and self discovery; honouring the strength, focus, serenity and clarity that this beautiful millennial practice brings to her body and mind. She is an eternal Yoga student and considers this to be a lifetime practice.

Marcela is blessed with being the mother of three children, one born at hospital in Germany and two born at home in Edinburgh supported by her community midwives; each birth equally beautiful and powerful, each of them different and unique.

Marcela is based in Edinburgh, where she has taught in various Yoga studios and now runs her own Pregnancy and Postnatal Yoga classes, Active Birth workshops in the south of the city, and works as a Birth and Postnatal Doula supporting many families in the beautiful and life changing experience that it is to become parents.

Alana Gardener

Alana Gardener

Alana GardenerAlana’s interest in yoga first began 6 years ago whilst she was training to become a midwife, finding that classes let her focus on the present during a busy time in her life. In her training, she found particular interest in exercise and yoga in pregnancy, basing her dissertation on the effect exercise can have on maternal physical and mental wellbeing. Having found YogaBirth in 2016 as the only RCM accredited yoga teacher training course, she aspired to qualify as a YogaBirth teacher to give women a space to pause, to listen to their body, have quality time for themselves all whilst encompassing birth preparation in yoga tailored for the pregnant body.

She is currently offering classes in Oxford – please have a look at her page to book. She would love to see you at her classes for some time dedicated to movement, to breathe, and to a cup of tea together to finish it off!

Claire Whitman

Claire Whitman

Claire Whitman discovered yoga in 1994 when pregnant with her first child, she attended yoga classes with Lolly Stirk for all three of her pregnancies and had very positive natural births, one at Queen Charlotte’s and then two wonderful home births. Empowered by the knowledge and strength she gained, she felt compelled to help other women through their pregnancy journey, and retrained with Janet Balaskas to become an Active Birth pregnancy yoga teacher, qualifying in 2003. Further Teacher training in Postnatal Yoga with Lolly Stirk & YogaBirth, Well Woman Yoga Therapy with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli & Yogacampus, ‘ What Lies Beneath’ and continuous Scaravelli inspired work with John Stirk, her main teacher. She also trained as a doula with Michel Odent and Liliana Lammers. More recently Claire completed the 300 hour Intelligent Yoga Teacher Training, with Catherine Annis, Pete Blackaby, Gary Carter & Tanya Love.

Claire teaches Pregnacy yoga, Postnatal Yoga, Birth Preparation & Recovery Workshops and also Hatha/ Scaravelli inspired general classes for all. She is particularly fascinated with how the body ages, and passionate in helping all her students feel strong, supple and move with ease at any age and stage. Her classes invite an exploration of the body, encourage a deep awareness and understanding, and focus on breath and movement to gently release tension and find space within, to gain more strength and knowledge of oneself. Her pregnancy & Postnatal classes inspire confidence in the body’s own ability, our innate intelligence within, and help women prepare & recover from birth.

During the pandemic like other teachers she began teaching online, and recognising a huge need for extra support for women through pregnancy, birth & beyond she Co- Founded MotherTime, an online community for all Mothers.

Tracy Awere

Tracy Awere

My name is Tracy, founder of Sankofa Pregnancy Yoga, and I have been working with pregnant women since 2014. It was my own pregnancy and the birth of my son in 2009 that sparked my passion for birthwork and I am both a hypnobirthing teacher and pregnancy yoga teacher.

​I am proud to have studied and gained my pregnancy yoga qualification with YogaBirth whose teacher training is accredited and endorsed by the Royal College of Midwives.

YogaBirth is unique in that the classes combine yoga with birth education and many of the postures and movements are also physiological labour and birth positions. The breathing patterns taught in class also easily turn into the natural breath of labour and birth.

I have practised Hatha and Scaravelli-inspired yoga for many years and enjoy combining breath with mindful movement to both calm the mind and build awareness within the body.

I’ve found this to be especially valuable for pregnant women as their bodies change from week to week and this approach helps them to adjust to their new physical and emotional states.

My aim through my teaching is to empower mums-to-be on their unique birth journeys by providing the information and tools they need to feel, believe, and understand the wisdom and strength of their bodies.

Vicky Bryant-Funnell

Vicky Bryant-Funnell

Vicky Bryant-FunnellVicky has always had an interest in yoga, but only started practising after she become pregnant with her third child. Since then, she has practised yoga on and off, but her interest really grew when the practice of yoga greatly helped her recover from illness and surgery.

As a midwife, Vicky realised that the pregnant people she works with could greatly benefit from yoga. In order to deepen her own knowledge Vicky sought a pregnancy focussed teacher training course.

Vicky has trained with Yogabirth and has had the benefit of learning from the positive, knowledgeable and expert Yogabirth teachers. She also studies yoga inspired by the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli, and attends workshops and classes from some of the country’s leading Scaravelli inspired yoga teachers. Both Yogabirth and Scaravelli inspired yoga lend themselves beautifully to develop the intelligence and wisdom of the body, and attending classes will support and prepare you for this momentous time in your life.

Vicky teaches her classes at the Clifton Grange Studio, Clifton, PR4 0XL
Please contact Vicky by email for more information.