Our yoga practitioners and session leaders have expertise in a range of yoga styles and mind-body practices, as well as a background in working with people with various additional needs. They each bring their experience, personality and unique style to their work – read more about them below!
Founding Director & Yoga Teacher
My name is Ellie and I’m the founder of Umbrella Yoga CIC.
I am a yoga student and teacher (registered with Yoga Alliance), and have specific training in Yoga for Adults with Special Needs.
Alongside teaching yoga, I work in research in autism and related conditions, and I’m a tutor and supervisor for Psychology students. I have a PhD in Cognitive Science and I love joining the dots between research and practice. Yoga is fascinating, but it’s also kind of mysterious… for me, it’s the ultimate mind-body tool. I want to share it with all sorts of people – especially those who may not usually find themselves in a yoga studio.
If you want to get in touch about anything Umbrella Yoga-related, I’d love to hear from you.
Director & Yoga Teacher
Polly has practiced Hatha and Iyengar Yoga for more than 13 years, and recently gained her 200 hr Beginners Iyengar Yoga qualification with Yoga Campus.
Her interest in Yoga was sparked when she read about its healing qualities and as someone with an energy limiting chronic illness, she was drawn to attend Jane Craggs’ restorative Yoga workshop in Manchester, and the rest is history!
Polly believes strongly that Yoga is for every body and every mind, and wants to make the healing and restorative aspects of Yoga available for all to enjoy.
Polly joined the Board of Directors in July 2022.
Director & Yoga Teacher
Rachel is a lifelong lover of dance, yoga and movement, but it wasn’t until her own health issues prevented her in moving (the autoimmune condition of inflammatory arthritis), that she truly appreciated the interconnectedness between mental, physical and emotional wellbeing.
Her unique approach, inspired by many teachers before her, incorporates playfulness and exploration of movement, as well as traditional, tried and tested methods of yoga, with an emphasis on the therapeutic, healing benefits. She makes yoga accessible to all and has a unique approach that encourages and celebrates individuality. No “body” is the same and we all require different things at different times.
Using her wealth of knowledge and experience, she encourages people to connect with themselves through movement, helping them to learn to understand their own needs, provide for their own wellbeing and find their own inner resources and ability to heal.
Rachel has a way of holding space that feels safe, supportive and nurturing. She interweaves movement, breath and meditation to help her students find strength and ease in their bodies, peace and calm in their mind, connection to themselves and a sense joy.
Rachel joined the Board of Directors in July 2022.
You can find out more about Rachel from her own website: beintheflow.co.uk
Accounts Manage & Yoga Teacher
Hi, I’m Helen. I enjoy teaching yoga to people who would not normally come across it. I teach groups with learning difficulties and I taught in Armley Prison in Leeds before covid. I’ve also taught general classes in further education, sports centres and church halls. I like teaching beginners, as I love it when people realise the great benefits that yoga can bring.
I started practising yoga in 1990, and I trained in the Iyengar style under Lillian Biggs. I like the Iyengar approach as it makes yoga accessible to people with injuries and stiffness, and means everyone practices to the best of their ability. I’ve been teaching since 2003.
I also like gardening, baking cakes and walking.
My favourite yoga quote:
“Yoga adds years to your life and makes you feel cheerful all day.”
Alida Gulamhussein
I stumbled into yoga as a way to reconnect with my body and be more aware, noticing how it felt as I moved (sometimes clumsily!).
I wanted to learn more and dove into a 3-month Yoga course in India – where I learnt the physical and more internal aspects of Yoga, which really resonated with me.
I teach Yoga classes that are gentle, using an approach to creating a safe, brave and supportive space.
My Yoga classes are accessible to all, using variations that can be adapted for everyone, and using different movements. Within my teaching I like exploring ways of breathing alongside movements that are gentle, slow, and facilitate calmness and curiosity, with oneself. I encourage people to have self-compassion and approach the class with self-care and awareness, being able to have agency and choice about moving their body in that moment.
I love being able to support people to reconnect to their bodies in a way that feels safe, creating brave spaces for people to explore movement without judgement. Yoga is beautiful and always about choice in how we want to move and always within our own limits. Helping people to find that strength in themselves brings me joy!
Doula & Yoga Teacher
Hey I’m Virginia (also known as Gin!) and I’m a 500hr trained yoga teacher with specialist qualifications in pre and postnatal yoga. Alongside my teaching, I’m a Birth & Postnatal Doula and also Reiki practitioner. Off the mat I am a keen gardener, textile designer and animal lover.
I believe Yoga is for every-body. I initially came to yoga when I was having physical and mental difficulty with a childhood spinal injury. Yoga and its teachings have saved the day!
I teach many who are dealing with restricted movement and energy but are looking to age-well physically and mentally. Through breath work, strengthening & stretching my classes aim to balance, restore and relax the body and mind. I look forward to meeting you.
Yoga Teacher
I have lived a fairly nomadic life and I turned to Yoga in my teens to help me find some inner stability. I am a teacher by profession and a busy mum to 2 little ones. I decided to do my yoga teacher training as a self-care outlet when my husband was diagnosed with cancer in 2020. I am currently doing my 500-hour Senior Yoga Training as well as my accreditation in Trauma-Informed Yoga.
My group classes focus on both the holistic and physical aspects of Yoga, as Yoga is so much more than just ‘a good stretch’. I also love to integrate trauma-informed techniques to help regulate and calm the nervous system. My main goal in each class is for you to come out feeling more balanced and centred both mentally and physically.
I also have a keen interest in helping people for whom regular classes pose a barrier, be it due to health, emotional or social reasons. I have considerable experience working with students suffering from long COVID, cancer or chronic health conditions such as fibromyalgia and ME.
I firmly believe that yoga is for each and every soul, no matter how you look or how flexible you are. I work with my students to help them understand their own body’s needs, using props and modifications whenever needed.
You can find out more about my work at my website www.jivanyogawithmaryam.com or on Instagram @jivan_yoga_with_maryam
Yoga Teacher
I’m Alison and I‘ve been practising yoga for over 20 years and teaching since 2010. I love doing both. It is a privilege to teach and a humbling experience. I’m always learning from my students.
I teach both strong alignment-based postural practices and gentle and restorative forms of yoga and have particular training and experience in teaching adaptive yoga and yoga to support good mental health. I have taught in studios, workplaces, community centres, homes, hospitals and for charities/not-for-profits. Before relocating to Calderdale in 2021 I was a Director at Studio Kooks Yoga and Pilates at Beckenham Place Mansion, South London.
I endeavour to hold a practice space that is accessible, welcoming and supportive. We start from where we’re at and then we take it from there.
Alongside yoga I also love playing my flute, going for walks and having a nice cup of tea.
Yoga & Mindfulness Teacher
As I just turn 40 years old I finally realised that I’ve spent most of my life striving; For what I don’t know? Was it happiness, financial security, a life without worry or stress? I was sure if I could just race to the finish, I’d find peace, calm, happiness. I’d be happy when I passed my degree, got a job, earned enough to buy a house, moved to a bigger house, owned my own business.
Constant striving, racking up stress, left me exhausted and depressed. After 20 years of roller coasting low moods, exhausting highs and anxiety, I finally realised depression was trying to tell me to ‘STOP just STOP and BE HERE!’ I’ve missed some great moments trying to rush through life with the thoughts in my head miles away from my feet on the ground.
I’ve also blown some stressful situations way out of proportion by trusting the irrational thoughts in my head. I got to a very dark place, where it just had to stop, I realised that I had to make a change or risk not being around for much longer. Like most elements of my life I went full attack: yoga; mindfulness; running; medication; saying NO; to name a few.
I’m pleased to say they have all stuck and played their part in my recovery. Now it is my turn to create peace for others. I qualified as a Yoga teacher August 2020 and I have completed training to deliver an introduction to mindful based stress reduction. I want to blend theses two areas of wellbeing to bring peace to those struggling with their own stress and mental health. I just want to send out peaceful ripples!
Laura joined the Board of Directors in July 2022.
Sharon Casey
Hello, I’m Sharon, a Dru Yoga and Meditation Teacher. I have specialist qualifications in yoga for back care, stress, burnout and fatigue, and yoga nidra.
For a number of years I lived a very fast paced lifestyle, working in a corporate job, demanding long hours with stressful deadlines. Besides juggling family life, I would try to spend as much time in the gym doing back to back high impact classes, and workouts, in hope to combat the stress and anxieties of everyday living.
With a family history of auto-immune conditions I battled with fatigue, digestive issues, skin conditions, and numerous bouts of tonsillitis as a young teen, yet thought all this was normal until I hit burnout.
Being diagnosed with M.E/Chronic fatigue syndrome following a car accident a few years later, I spent many hours bedridden.
I decided at this point to try an holistic approach to living.
Through yoga, mindfulness, relaxation, directed breathing and nutrition I have been able to transform my health, and I feel passionate about sharing these techniques with others.
The body has the ability to heal itself, all the tools are there if we have the right guidance.
My hobbies are spending time in nature, wild swimming, foraging, spending time with my family and friends, and yoga!
Carole Roberts
I was first drawn to yoga when I was pregnant with my first child 20 years ago and carried on with baby yoga and have managed to continue with yoga in a variety of formats ever since.
I am currently the Community Manager at Huddersfield Mission, working on health inequalities with the Mission customers and out in Huddersfield . I started my working life in retail at Waterstones, ending up in management training. After my 2 children were born, I retrained as a Primary School Teacher. After a few years, I set up own social enterprise: Lovebread CIC: a commercial bread bakery and teaching workshop. I worked in volunteer management for over 5 years before moving to Huddersfield Mission last year.
The skills I can offer Umbrella are in CIC management and leadership, charity work and community development. I have strengths in training, staff and volunteer management. I love to look at things creatively and working alongside people to deliver the best outcomes.
Anna Riddell-Roberts
As a devotee of yoga and someone who has benefited from the classes that Umbrella Yoga has to offer, I was excited to become involved with their work as the Chair of the Board of Directors.
My day job is as an academic lawyer and managing editor of an international law journal, and I hope to use my experience of managing large scale funded projects, editorial boards and a quarterly publication to provide direction and support to the Board of Directors in fulfilling their important mission.
In my spare time I love wild swimming, walking, writing and making things and of course, yoga!
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