Teacher Bio
Background in Yoga & Healing
Background in Yoga & Healing
“There is only one truth. There are many paths”.
Swami Satchidananda.
I have been a dedicated and devoted Yoga practitioner since 1995. I began practicing Hatha Yoga but then I discovered Ashtanga, since 1998 I have dedicated myself to the practice of Ashtanga yoga. During this time I have learnt a great deal, upon the mat is where I learn, through pain and pleasure, the practice is my greatest Teacher. It was actually my mother who took me to my first Yoga class at fifteen and I then became very interested. Yoga then came in out of my life until I reached my early twenties.
I have been a Teacher now since 1999 and through my students I continually grow. I love Teaching, it is an honor, a service and it continually inspires and humbles me every time I share Ashtanga Yoga.
I think Ashtanga Yoga is very humbling both in practice and teaching. It is pure, innocent beauty, the poetry of life itself, unconditional love
I am truly devoted to it. I am mostly self-taught, having not had a regular teacher on a weekly basis. I practice traditionally 6 days per week. I have travelled far and wide to study and therefore have spent longer periods of time studying with some of the most world-renowned teachers. On my return I assimilate what was taught and slowly put it into practice through practice. Being self taught has meant that I have had to make my own inquiries and discoveries and remain committed and patient with the process of Yoga. It is from here, the truth of my own personal experience, that I am able to connect to my students. The devotion and dedication to my daily practice is the foundation of my teaching philosophy.
"Sa tu dirgha-kala-nairantarya-satkarasevito drdha-bhumih."
This practice is firmly grounded when it is performed for a long time without interruption and with zeal.
The Yoga- Sutras of Patanjali 1.14 (Translated by Barbara Stoler Miller)
In 2006 I spent 3 months with my family in Mysore, India, where I spent this time studying with my Teachers, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his daughter Saraswati and his Grandson Sharath. I am now committed to returning there yearly to continue my study. I have also practiced under Guruji on 3 of his world tours.
In May 2007 I spent 7 weeks in America I received a 200 hour teaching certificate from Richard Freeman, after studying with him on his Teachers’ intensive. I will continue my studies with these Teachers, who are my inspiration and continue to show me the way of Yoga through their teaching and devotion upon this path. I am a fully qualified, insured and registered Yoga Teacher, having also completed a 200 hour Yoga Alliance Teacher training certificate with Brian Cooper and also a BSY diploma. Over the last few years, in order to develop further I have spent much time with some of the worlds’ finest and respected Yoga Teachers, my main influence and inspiration has been Richard Freeman. I have also practiced under the guidance of John Scott and Alex Medin.
I will never stop learning as a Teacher and as a student. Each Teacher that I have studied with has given me new insights into different areas of the practice, learning about alignment, anatomy, adjusting, teaching, chanting, Yoga and Buddhist philosophies, history and sanskrit. I have been so lucky to have gained such a rich and diverse level of knowledge from my Teachers. I certainly do embrace all these areas of study in my own practice and teaching style.
| In 2005 I was priviledged to be asked by highly respected yoga teacher Brian Cooper, to be photographed and featured in the now best selling yoga book “Art of Adjusting” which can be found here at the The Yoga Shop. This has now become the bestselling teaching aid for adjusting students and is aimed at the teacher/advanced student market. |
My aim as a Teacher is to teach you the discipline of this practice, in a sacred and traditional way. To learn compassion for yourself and all others. For you to learn to understand your body and it's many patterns. For you to learn to listen.
I am not here to fool you that it is a quick fix or for you to believe that you will escape all life’s troubles and pain.
‘Yoga is a life long practice, it is not a linear path, it is a winding staircase that we go up and down. We often meet obstacles along the way that we feel hinders our journey and then we can find ourselves on the same step for longer than we could have ever imagined. With time, we can learn patience and allow the next step to come to us. Often, the temptation to get to the top as quickly as we can is so great that we skip steps and miss the beauty of the staircase. The staircase cannot be claimed or denied, it exists for all to climb. But only few truly walk it." Shelley Osman
As a Teacher, upon my journey, through my experiences so far, I am merely a guide. I will be sensitive to your experience and will not judge you. I will not always be able to tell you what you want to hear or give you what you want, but I will help you with what I feel you need helping with.
Healing
From a very young age I was a very sensitive child. I had the ability to see and hear Spirit people I was not scared by this, but being so young, I suppose it was not encouraged or understood. So, throughout my childhood and teens I often closed my mind to this gift, though I guess at the back of my mind it was still there.
Whilst at junior school I became interested in clairvoyance and matters of Spirituality and ways of healing. My first school project, when I was only eleven, was on ‘Psychic Phenomena’.
At 16 years of age in the café (Heathers, in Hoddesdon) that I waitressed in, an unusual incident occurred. A lady, that for some reason I did not see in the café, had told my fellow waitress, to tell me that I was a healer! Quite alarmed and slightly embarrassed I just ran out of the café to find her. Before I even got to the woman, she turned around with a smile upon her soft face. She was in her late forties and looked completely normal!
She took hold of my hands and said “Don’t be afraid, you have a gift to heal, go seek guidance at a Spiritualist Church”. I attended Spiritual church meetings, Spiritual workshops and here I learnt how to use my gift to heal and not to be afraid of any clairvoyant experiences that I had. At this time, I was very young and maybe not ready to take on the responsibility of healing. I always felt this strong pull to heal others yet other aspects of life kept distracting me from my true purpose. I remember being 12 and my mother commenting on how my hands would get hot around her, especially when she went through an agonizing time with back problems.
In my late teens and early twenties I had many experiences, receiving messages from those that had passed over. It was clear to me that I now needed to develop this in order to benefit others.
In 2001 I was introduced to and took Reiki level 1. This form of healing, from its traditional roots created stability and progression for my healing abilities. As my intuition became stronger I progressed to level 2 and within a year, due to my natural healing abilities I was advised by a respected Reiki master to study for my Masters certification. This I received in February 04 from Master Helen Leathers.
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©Ashtangahealing 2007 Shelley Osman all rights reserved | Designed by Debs
From a very young age I was a very sensitive child. I had the ability to see and hear Spirit people I was not scared by this, but being so young, I suppose it was not encouraged or understood. So, throughout my childhood and teens I often closed my mind to this gift, though I guess at the back of my mind it was still there.
Whilst at junior school I became interested in clairvoyance and matters of Spirituality and ways of healing. My first school project, when I was only eleven, was on ‘Psychic Phenomena’.
At 16 years of age in the café (Heathers, in Hoddesdon) that I waitressed in, an unusual incident occurred. A lady, that for some reason I did not see in the café, had told my fellow waitress, to tell me that I was a healer! Quite alarmed and slightly embarrassed I just ran out of the café to find her. Before I even got to the woman, she turned around with a smile upon her soft face. She was in her late forties and looked completely normal! She took hold of my hands and said “Don’t be afraid, you have a gift to heal, go seek guidance at a Spiritualist Church”. I attended Spiritual church meetings, Spiritual workshops and here I learnt how to use my gift to heal and not to be afraid of any clairvoyant experiences that I had. At this time, I was very young and maybe not ready to take on the responsibility of healing. I always felt this strong pull to heal others yet other aspects of life kept distracting me from my true purpose. I remember being 12 and my mother commenting on how my hands would get hot around her, especially when she went through an agonizing time with back problems.
In my late teens and early twenties I had many experiences, receiving messages from those that had passed over. It was clear to me that I now needed to develop this in order to benefit others.
In 2001 I was introduced to and took Reiki level 1. This form of healing, from its traditional roots created stability and progression for my healing abilities. As my intuition became stronger I progressed to level 2 and within a year, due to my natural healing abilities I was advised by a respected Reiki master to study for my Masters certification. This I received in February 04 from Master Helen Leathers.