About Kate

Hi - I'm Kate Stannard, a Level 2 Iyengar Yoga teacher based in Penrith, Cumbria.  My passion is working with people to help them to achieve their life goals.  Whether it is to overcome aches and pains; improve physical performance; reach new levels of self-awareness; reduce stress levels; achieve a greater sense of health or just to feel happier with who you are, I believe that Iyengar Yoga will help you. We all live very busy lives with so many distractions and diversions, that we can end up feeling physically and mentally stressed or ill. Yoga is one of the most accessible and inclusive forms of exercise that activates the body, calms the mind and balances the physiology.

Iyengar Yoga has been a huge part of my life since I was 17, when I moved away to train in Contemporary Theatre Practice at The Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. During the 15 years that I studied and worked in the Theatre and Performance industry, I explored, studied and practised many different movement and somatic methods. However Iyengar Yoga was the fundamental practice I continued to engage with as a way of developing my physical and mental awareness and stability.

My journey as an Iyengar teacher started at the age of 26, when I decided I would like to commit to a 2-year Iyengar Yoga teacher training course with IYA as a way of deepening my knowledge and understanding of yoga beyond what I learnt in attending classes. As a lecturer at the RCS at the time, my experience then led to a collaboration in rewriting the movement training for BA(hons) performance students, creating a module called ‘Daily Practice’ in which first year performance students engaged in daily Iyengar classes as part of their degree programme. The success of this then led to a change in 2011 and I decided to change careers. I moved from working in the theatre industry to working full time in the health and fitness industry, as a personal trainer, fitness instructor and remedial massage therapist. In 2015, I moved home to The Lake District to continue in this line of work.  I regularly travel to India and abroad on Iyengar retreats as a way of developing both my personal and teaching practices.

It is a big step to decide to take up a new challenge and it can be daunting to get involved with a new environment, new people and learn new skills. My challenge is to support and work with you to ensure that you achieve your life goals in a nurturing, safe, calm, welcoming, and stimulating environment. It could change your life as it did mine.