My name is Tracey and I am a children’s yoga teacher. I am a trained Primary School Teacher and a Nursery Nurse. I live in Crawley and I offer classes in and around Sussex and Surrey. I have over twenty years of experience of teaching yoga in schools, nurseries, playgroups, gyms as well as running courses for teenagers and adults. My role as a yoga teacher has varied over the last twenty years. I have taught yoga in schools and nurseries as an intervention teacher, an enrichment teacher as well as offering lunch time and after school classes.

When the pandemic arrived, I was unable to teach in schools in person. During this time, I offered two ‘Bedtime Yoga’ free classes on zoom to the community. These classes were very well received and supported children and their families to navigate this very unsettling time. The classes enabled the children to see their friends, providing them with a little normality and structure to the day. The classes were designed to support the nervous system and to find joy, peace and calm at the end of a busy day of home schooling. We even had the pets joining the classes when they would walk in front of the screen. This created a sense of fun and laughter that was much needed at this time.

The start of my yoga journey began in 1996 when I moved to Fishbourne, West Sussex. I moved to the area to start a Teacher Training degree at Chichester University. The first yoga class that I attended was in a little village hall at the end of the lane. I clearly remember the first class and the apprehension that I felt. I was new to the area and knew very little about yoga and what to expect. The class consisted of movement, breathe work, sound work, candle gazing meditation and relaxation.

All of which was new and I must admit a little bit strange. Now I can look back and think how lucky I was to have experienced yoga in its traditional essence. I left the class feeling calm, nourished and curious to learn more. I have a love of yoga and a deep interest in how yoga supports the body and mind creating a sense of wellbeing. I am still learning about the ancient practise of yoga, and I feel that I will always be a student. I am grateful to have found this practise, and I feel very fortunate to be able to share this gift with children.

When I graduated from university in 2000, I started my first teaching post at Maidenbower Infant School, Crawley. I wanted to combine my love of teaching children with my love of yoga. The perfect opportunity arose when I was at the Yoga Show in London, it was there that I met the founder of Yogabugs. In 2003, I trained to become a Children’s Yoga Teacher and I started to offer Yogabug classes as an afterschool club. I then started offering more classes in West Sussex. In 2015, I was asked if I would run some classes in the school day to give the children ‘something lovely’. I then started offering enrichment classes in the schools in the locality, they were funded by the school using Pupil Premium. The enrichment classes also provided intervention to support the children with an array of specific needs. The impact of the classes was monitored by the teachers and the results can be read in the Benefits of Yoga page.

I live in Crawley with my husband and my two lovely daughters. We have a cat, five hens and a tortoise called Winter who all feature in some of my stories. I love to travel, explore new places and learn about different cultures. I enjoy gardening and growing my own vegetables, taking great pleasure when I get to cook and eat home grown food. I also love to read, write and draw. I am passionate about yoga, ayurveda, and all things that will create homeostasis in the mind and body.

In 2020 one of the Yogabug parents nominated me for The High Sherriff Award of West Sussex. This was a lovely and a very unexpected surprise. I feel grateful to have been able to offer the ‘Bedtime Yoga’ to support to the children and the families but also to hear that I had made a difference at this time.

Words taken from The Award…. The High Sherriff of West Sussex Special Recognition Volunteer Award 2020. The certificate was given ‘as a public acknowledgement of exceptional kindness, compassion and practical assistance to those in need during this very challenging year’. The High Sherriff was charged by the Queen ‘to promote all that makes our communities strong, resilient and thriving places to live and your voluntary acts have ensured the wellbeing of those around you and deserve all the praise that my office and this Award can convey’.

‘As a teacher of yoga at the Brook School and Maidenbower Junior School, you have developed good relationships with many children and their families. In a voluntary capacity you reached out to these children during the lock-down period to offer some free bed-time yoga therapy to those that might have become anxious due to Covid. In doing so, you made their world feel a little normal again and these children and their families are deeply grateful.
I was invited to do a talk on Mental Health and the impact of yoga for ‘Go for Schools’ in the Crawley locality. This was a privilege to be invited to speak and share how yoga can support those struggling with mental health.