Discovering yoga as a student over 20 years ago, Kristina Lewis found it helped her through her struggles with anxiety and depression. From here, she decided to become a yoga teacher, training in women’s wellness yoga, hypno yoga for pregnancy and birth, and pospartum yoga. In addition, her trauma informed yoga training means she puts mental health at the forefront of all her yoga teaching. She is passionate about sharing her knowledge and practices with other women, allowing them to experience the potential for positive change and transformation through yoga. Here she talks to The Natural Parent Magazine about the inspiration behind Prana Therapy, her biggest breakthrough, and her dreams for the future.
The passion: What inspired you to set up your business?
I first found yoga whilst I was studying at university, over 20 years ago. Yoga helped me with my mental health and also allowed me to feel more at home and at ease within my body and myself at a time when I was struggling with anxiety and depression. I decided after graduating that I wanted to become a yoga teacher and trained on an in-depth course for three years. From there, I went on to train as a Women’s Wellness Yoga Therapist and now offer Hypno yoga for Pregnancy and Birth along with Postpartum Yoga. These trainings have been so supportive in my own life, my mental health, cyclic awareness and journey through motherhood. I love to share this knowledge and practices with others as I know how impactful yoga is and the potential for change and transformation that it holds.
The launch: How did you start out in the beginning?
I started out teaching in halls and studios around Edinburgh offering group classes for yoga and went on to specialise from there. I also trained as a massage and MFR therapist and this was my initiation into one-on-one work. I found that I really enjoyed the heightened level of connection and personalisation that I offer in a one-on-one session. I now offer mostly one-on-one yoga sessions as well as monthly group workshops.
The innovation: What was the biggest breakthrough for you with your business?
After training in trauma informed yoga I now put mental health at the forefront of the classes that I teach. My awareness of how our nervous system affects our state of mind and how we are able to tap into it with yoga practices to sooth and regulate ourselves is a great tool that I offer within my work. It is important to me to teach in a trauma informed way as I know from personal experience the impact that trauma can have on our embodied experience. As women, we go through massive changes and challenges and transformations within our lives which can include our fertility journey, becoming a mother, cyclic awareness and menopause. Often these huge internal shifts are undersupported and can feel lonely, confusing and stressful, especially if trauma is present. When I support a client to find their own personalised yoga practice, I see it making a difference in how they respond to challenges within their lives and their capacity to deal with the ups and downs of life and how they connect to others. It’s really amazing to witness and I always learn from every student I teach.
