Your Teachers
Lydia's interest in Yoga began when she was 18 whilst travelling in India. She began classes at Manchester University in 1991. She trained with Jeanne Maslen and Tricia Booth and qualified in 1997. Lydia became a Senior Level 3 teacher in 2015. She is a mentor for trainee teachers, an IYUK assessor and is an active member of the Professional Development and the Therapy Committee.
"After my first class with Marion Kilburn at University I was hooked. I felt so wonderful after class that I decided I wanted to feel like this all the time. The more I practiced the more the transformational nature of the subject unravelled. I feel very fortunate to have spent my life sharing Iyengar Yoga with others."
Lydia Holmes
Edgar has taught Iyengar Yoga continuously since 1997. In his student years he stayed in India for over 18 months and since then has frequently returned to study yoga at the Iyengar Institute in Pune.
Edgar is an IY UK assessor and qualified trainee's mentor. He is also Chair of the Avon Iyengar Yoga Group and works in the IY UK Professional Development Committee. Edgar is a beekeeper and also a bicycle enthusiast.
"Since I was a student in Manchester yoga has become as important to me as food or sleep. Yoga practise keeps me healthy in body and mind, I can't imagine life without it"
Edgar Stringer
Carole started Iyengar Yoga 30 years ago with Marion Kilburn in Manchester. Relocating to South Wales after the birth of her first baby, Carole qualified as teacher in 2005. She has taught classes in a variety of settings, including schools, health clubs and adult education centres. In 2010 Carole studied with the Iyengars in India and is now a Level 2 teacher.
"I am thankful to all those who have guided my yogic journey. In my own practice, yoga offers me a place where I can explore the universe inside of me. The opportunity to share Iyengar Yoga through teaching is both a privilege and an honour."
Carole Heritage
Gillian has a senior role in the environment sector and having been a keen ballet dancer earlier in her life, sought a new way to enhance her physical and mental wellbeing. She started practising Iyengar Yoga with Lydia over 20 years ago and it has become a big part of her life. When her young nieces joined in with her practice she realised how much she enjoyed showing and practising with them, so she decided to become an Iyengar Yoga teacher. She trained in Bristol with Sheila Haswell, Lydia and Edgar and qualified in 2020.
“I am looking forward to sharing something I love with you and hope it will revitalise you too.”
Gillian Pratt
Georgina began Iyengar Yoga in 2006. She remembers arriving at her first class flustered (and a little late!) having just left two young children with Granny. Ever since then, she has been a student of Edgar and Lydia’s and yoga has been a constant companion throughout her busy family life. She qualified in 2017 and now teaches yoga in Bath. In 2019 George attended a month long course at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in India, where she studied with Prashant and Abhijata Iyengar.
“ I love teaching people yoga and sharing the gifts that yoga brings, especially those of body alignment, connectivity and sensitivity”
Georgina Healy
Debbie first discovered yoga over 20 years ago and soon became a regular at the Yogawest studio in Bristol. She was running her own publishing company and working all hours, so really came to value the head-clearing and feeling of revitalisation that yoga gave her. Over the years she has been fortunate to study with senior teachers from the Iyengar world both in the UK and in India, in regular classes, workshops and yoga intensives. She trained with Sheila Haswell, Edgar and Lydia in Bristol and qualified in 2019.
"Teaching yoga is a gift. It allows me to share the benefits of Iyengar yoga with students of all levels of fitness and flexibility, but also prompts me to delve more deeply into my own practice. The journey is unending!"
Debbie Rivers-Moore
MeiLin started Iyengar classes with Lydia in 2001 when she was working in the NHS and training in occupational therapy. Mentored and trained by Lydia and Edgar, she qualified to teach Iyengar Yoga in 2023 and feels grateful to be able to continue her yoga journey as she welcomes and guides students on theirs, particularly those who may feel physical activity is not for them.
​“Whilst my career path has changed direction and family life has evolved, yoga has remained an integral and dynamic part of my life, sustaining and supportive to so many aspects of my health. Yoga has offered me so much and I hope to enable others to benefit too.”
MeiLin Longuet Layton
I found my way back to yoga through a GP recommendation over 20 years ago and have been on an exploration ever since. Through a career in architecture, motherhood and life’s tribulations, yoga has always been a solace and a place to retreat. I finally settled on a more focused practice of Iyengar yoga 8 years ago, finding an affinity with its precision and methodical approach and parallels in its philosophy teachings with Buddhism. Soon after moving from London in 2018, I began my mentoring and teacher training with Lydia and Edgar, qualifying in July 2023 as a Level 1 teacher.
"I am very much looking forward to teaching and sharing what I have learnt in the lovely studio at Corsham and hope you will join me in continuing my journey and yours."
Dinesha Dinsmore