Danielle Phoenix

Yoga with Danielle

I am a certified Hatha yoga teacher trained in the Ashaya Yoga method, which is an alignment-based practice that is focused on 'heart-opening' and has its roots in Tantric philosophy. My main occupation is as a Practitioner Psychologist in the NHS and I am registered with the HCPC (Health Care Professions Council: PYL34365). The style of yoga that I practice thus integrates my therapeutic knowledge with yoga poses, whereby therapeutic themes are interwoven throughout the class and 'psychoeducation' is provided. Some of the therapeutic additions draw on trauma focused techniques, compassion focused therapy, inner child work, anxiety management, and much more.

The more therapeutic experience that I have gained, the more I have come to understand the essential role of the body in trauma, whereby unprocessed trauma is understood to be 'stored' in the body. I come from a trauma-informed perspective where I view many of the difficulties that individuals experience as having roots in trauma. This can be relational, physical, ancestral (epigenetics) and/or societal. We are constantly bombarded with messages that lead to 'not feeling good enough', which can arise from unrealistic comparisons and expectations that essentially cause chronic stress. The combined approach of 'yoga asana' and 'mind perspective' serves to reduce this.