Etta has been deeply interested in the healing power of movement since she was a child. Coming from a dance background, she started teaching and choregraphing dance from the age of 18, and was then drawn to yoga. Etta spent several years in India and Sri Lanka deepening her training in yoga and meditation.
She has taught in and around London for 15 years. She co-founded Kickstep Wellbeing, an organisation aimed at spreading knowledge of wellbeing to children and adults in London.
Etta is inspired by the work of Vanda Scaravelli, Peter Blackaby and Gary Carter.
Etta was introduced to Yoga birth while pregnant with her first child, when she attended pregnancy yoga classes with Lolly Stirk. The classes had a profoundly positive effect on how she experienced her pregnancy and birth. So much so, Etta returned to Lolly’s classes when pregnant with her second child. Having had two beautifully supported birth experiences, so ignited a passion to do this work herself and to help support women and families through this transformational time of their lives.
Kamila was introduced to yoga as a teenager, developing a great passion for balancing mind and body.
Kamila was introduced to YogaBirth classes during her first pregnancy. Having experienced two completely different kind of labours, of which her second daughter was born at home, she decided to train as a YogaBirth teacher.
She decided she would like to inspire women to achieve the type of birth they choose and want to achieve, regardless whether the birth of the baby is at home, birthing centre or in hospital. Kamila qualified and was accredit as YogaBirth teacher in 2013.
Kamila also enjoys her involvement with mums postnatally. She is qualified as a post-natal teacher, Developmental Baby massage teacher, post-natal Therapist and Children’s Yoga teacher.
Kamila teaches specialized classes including hypo-breathing in South London, Petts Wood and Sevenoaks. She offers group and 1-1 private classes, tailored to individuals.
In 1980, newly pregnant, Shayla went to classes with Janet Balaskas and was inspired by the great experiences she had there, to train as an Active Birth teacher. The classes helped her get through a long and difficult labour, and to become the first woman to give birth squatting in Harrow Rd Hospital! She started off in north London in 1984, over 25 years ago, teaching in a private centre and a local authority family centre. Since then she has taught Pregnancy Yoga, Mother & Baby classes, incl Baby Massage & Birth Preparation Courses for couples. She also taught for many years in Cork, Ireland and now in Co. Kerry. In Cork, she started a Stretch and Relax class for mothers – a space away from family, just for her, with yoga, massage, relaxation and supportive conversation, which the women loved.
She has been with YogaBirth since it’s foundation. She has worked as a psychotherapist, massage therapist and rebirther and group facilitator for transformational workshops. She has some training in Birthing from Within, and Calm Birth. She is a Biodynamic Craniosacral Therapist, working with all ages from newborn to elderly. This can be very helpful in pregnancy and for newborn babies. She has trained in Castellino Prenatal & Birth Therapy, which helps to resolve imprints from our earliest experiences. This can be done with mothers and fathers in pregnancy, to help heal any difficult early issues, and postnatally, with their baby, if the birth was difficult or there are issues with feeding, attachment. She trained in Somatic Experiencing, Peter Levine’s approach to resolving trauma, and as a Shamanic practitioner. Her new centre in Kerry is a beautiful space, with mountains all around, where people feel welcome and the ambience fosters relaxation and rest.
Yvonne Moore is a founder member of the Active Birth Movement (1981) and co-founder of the Active Birth Teacher Training Course (1986) of which she was a Director from 1990 until 1997. Yvonne was instrumental in organising the London Birthright’s Rally (1982), the two Active Birth Conferences at Wembley (1982 &1983) and the International Water Birth Conference (1995). In 1989 she was appointed a trustee of the Primal Health Research Association by Dr. Michel Odent, Head of Research.
Yvonne is a co-founder of ‘YogaBirth’, established in 2000. She has lectured and held workshops for midwives and other health professionals both in England and abroad. Her efforts in the early ‘80’s, together with her co-founders, were the catalyst for dramatic improvements to the way birth is seen and approached today. Far from stream-lining women to have a ‘natural’ birth, Yvonne empowers women to make their own decisions using yoga, meditation and childbirth education so that they become an active participant in their labour and birth process. Her passion and love for her job is evident in the thousands of women whose birthing experiences she has helped to enhance and enlighten for over 35 years. She continues to teach weekly pre and postnatal classes in North London, along with birth preparation courses.
Yvonne is also an Inner Re-Patterning Practitioner which is a mindfulness, energy psychology based approach to creating health and well-being which is particularly beneficial to the expectant mother by unblocking preconceived fear about labour and birth.
