Why do Lunchtime Yoga?
Did you know that the average office worker spends 4-9 hours seated every single day? That means a whopping 67 full sedentary days a year.
Between commuting on trains and buses, sitting at a desk and crashing out after work, it all adds up to an immense amount of time stuck in a position that promotes poor circulation, stress-inducing posture – especially when its damaging effects are compounded by poor-quality office furniture.
So why not break up the day? Get moving, take a break from the screen, and clock out like you mean it with a lunchtime yoga class.
Our Lunchtime Yoga Classes
We have a huge variety of lunchtime yoga classes. Depending on the day, you may find yourself in an ab-busting Pilates class, a soulful Dynamic Flow yoga class, or even a grounding meditation session. Whatever it is, it’s bound to help you shake out the morning and get ready to take on the rest of the day.
Meet our Lunchtime Yoga Class Teachers!
At Yogarise London, we are lucky to have some of the best Lunchtime Yoga classes in London. Read on to find out more about each of our fantastic lunchtime yoga class teachers!
Carrianne Hayden
Carrianne is a life enthusiast with a passion for movement, mental positivity and self love. Her teaching style is motivational, inquisitive and inclusive. Carrianne believes every body is a body bursting with potential and possibilities and uses a non traditional approach to yoga to help her students tap into theirs. With 500+ hours of training and 7 years of consistent teaching in varied environments under her belt, Carrianne aims to makes the student feel supported yet challenged, focussed without over thinking and above all else enough as they already are. Expect a feel good, dynamic, layered flow class building in momentum and fluidity.
Annie Nicoll
Annie is a full time yoga and Pilates instructor born in Scotland, and now based in South East London. Having trained all her life as a professional dancer she moves in a very fluid way and loves sequencing her classes to be seamless and fun. Dance was always her passion in life, but the hustle and bustle of London life and constant auditioning got the better of her and she turned to yoga for some solace and safety.
Having planned to move to the USA to spend three months training as a contemporary dancer, Annie’s dreams were crushed when she was denied access due to some visa issues. Sitting in border control, inconsolable Annie started doing yoga. It was at this moment she realised how important this practice was to her and hasn’t looked back since.
She trained in Vinyasa and Hatha in Bali, before coming home and training in Mat Pilates – which she believed was boring at the time. It has since transformed her practice and outlook massively. Now a staunch lover of Pilates, Yoga, and the incredible benefits they both have on the body and the mind, Annie loves challenging her students and allowing them to find their inner strength as well as control and fluidity in the studio. She absolutely loves being able to share her passion for both of these practices and hopes you can leave her class feeling strong, energised and unstoppable.
Annie teaches in Peckham
Rishin Paonaskar
Rishin grew up in India and although yoga was taught at his school, he didn’t take it up until several years later to recuperate from a cycling injury. In 2012 he left a career in banking to start his own food business and also completed his 200 hour Yoga Alliance training. He has since trained as a myofascial body worker with senior Forrest Yoga teachers Jambo Truong and Brian Campbell, with Judith Hanson Lasater and as a yoga sports coach with the Institute of Yoga Sport Science. Rishin’s Dynamic Vinyasa Flow Yoga classes are challenging but accessible, while his Flow + Restore sessions are a chance to completely relax and reset. Come along to sweat, laugh and play in Rishin’s vinyasa, or enjoy a simple flow (to stretch and strengthen) followed by a delicious restorative sequence, designed to soothe the nervous system.
David Ramcharran
David’s first memory of yoga was when his father did a headstand and he clambered next to him in his diaper trying to imitate him. For many years, he practiced with his father who has never attended any studio classes and has had a steady daily self-practice to this day. In 2012, he was introduced to dharma yoga which is based on a system of classical Hatha-Raja Yoga which is a devotional practice emphasising good health, a clear mind and a kind heart.
David went on to complete his first teacher training at the Sivananda Ashram in Kerala, South India and then travelled to New York where he completed his 500-hour advanced teacher training in dharma yoga with the legendary Sri Dharma Mittra. The year 2015 was a defining one for David, when he left he left his job in the city to focus on teaching yoga and helping others find the amazing benefits of having a regular yoga practice. David has since completed several trainings in yoga, pranayama and meditation to further develop his practice and improve his knowledge of how the body works.
He is also a bodyworker and a certified advanced Thai massage therapist. David has recently completed his 800 hour dharma yoga training which encompasses very advanced yoga asana, psychic development and yoga nidra, as well as yin yoga and the elements training. David has racked up nearly 1000 hours of yoga and well-being training. He personally believes that yoga is beneficial for all, no matter how old you are and that the only limitations are the ones we set for ourselves.
Leah Bush
Leah comes from a traditional Ashtanga background. Leah’s classes are underpinned by the 8 Limbs of yoga and philosophical teachings, intelligently built to provoke a place of healing, playful exploration and deep internal growth for all those who attend. Specialising in Vinyasa yoga, Rocket yoga and Inversions, Leah creates movement patterns which help her students grow to strengthen their bodies while simultaneously teaching mental endurance and discipline. She believes that yoga can be the catalyst for personal growth in every direction and allows one to step out of the drama of their life and away from the ordinary thinking mind. As the lines of the self, the body, the mind and everything in between become blurred, Leah creates a relaxed and safe environment to help you push when you need to push and feel self-assured enough to step back when appropriate.
Leah teaches in Peckham
Sophie Heatley
Sophie, after graduating from King’s College London with a BA in French with English, decided to do her Yoga Teacher Training and has never looked back. She sees the practice as a loyal friend who is always there for you, holding space without judgement or expectation. Sophie has over five years of teaching experience, working with multiple levels and styles, from Chair Yoga to Rocket, Vinyasa, and Yin. Those who practise with Sophie describe the sessions as thoughtful, empowering, creative, and always full of warmth and compassion.
Hannah Whittingham
Hannah, having put on ballet shoes at the age of two, has had a somewhat veering career path. After a teen-hood in the Royal Ballet, a History degree from Cambridge and a post-grad at the Royal Academy of Music, she spent a few years in the West End before becoming a writer, and briefly, a magician’s assistant. Yoga however has been her constant. Hannah trained in Ashtanga Vinyasa with Sri Shishadri in Mysore, Rocket and Mandala with TYP, then softened into Qigong with Sifu Matthew Cohen and Embodied Yoga Principles with Mark Walsh after a long period of anxiety. At the heart of her practice is finding stillness in movement and embracing the difference in everyone. She now runs Good Life Yoga School alongside Marcus Veda, and is the author of two yoga books – Greed Sex Intention, and How to Win at Yoga: finding your selfie (Penguin). When Hannah is not yoging, she produces documentaries, occasionally moonlights back as an actor, but mainly hangs with her dogs.
Hannah teaches in Peckham
Junior Valentine
Junior is a proud South London native – born and bred – with a background in performance. Since the age of six, he has developed a deep love for the arts and the discipline that it carries. Junior’s classes are fun energetic with a dash of sass, combine creative sequencing and a spirit of playfulness with a dose of inspiration to help deepen your practice with a hint of spirituality. He doesn’t take yoga too seriously; he believes you take what you want and need from the practice. Junior invites you to come and share in the joy, experience the authentic honesty with each other and like-minded energies. Junior teaches Ashtanga, Mandala & Shamanism Vinyasa, Rocket, & Forrest yoga. Junior works deeply with energy through Reiki and QI-gong, his thirst for knowledge is forever expanding. In his spare time catch him singing a tune, throwing some shapes or splits on the dance floor.
Junior teaches in Peckham
Felicity Wright
Felicity began her training in 2013 with The Yoga People where she studied Ashtanga Vinyasa Flow Yoga in the traditional Primary Series and Rocket. After a few years of teaching a dynamic style, she qualified as a Prenatal and Postnatal yoga instructor with Apple Yoga (Katy Appleton, London). She recently completed her Yin Yoga Training alongside Austin Ince (Shanti Power Yoga).
Felicity teaches a range of styles from the fast-paced dynamic and powerful through to a more introspective practice, which can cultivate grounding and stillness. She loves to teach Prenatal / Pregnancy Yoga and Postnatal Yoga, and to work with and support women as they navigate this incredible and life-changing journey.
Felicity has taught all over London, the UK and New Zealand, including teaching for some of London’s most reputable studios – The Shala, Yogarise, Yoga Mela, Yogasphere (Yoga at The Shard/Mayfair/Chelsea), Hotpod Yoga (Hackney/Brixton/Corporate classes), and Breeze Yoga.
Felicity teaches in Streatham
Becky Farbstein
Becky took her first yoga class at a local gym more than seventeen years ago and has been practising ever since. With no background in dance, gymnastics, or martial arts, Becky has always found dynamic yoga to be both challenging and rewarding. In Becky’s classes you can expect a strong and challenging vinyasa flow yoga sequence that fuses precise, anatomically-informed consideration of the physical practice with traditional yoga philosophy. Becky is grateful to all of her teachers and mentors, especially her current teacher, Jason Crandell, with whom she has completed her advanced teacher training certificate. Becky is the lead teacher on the Yogarise 12-month 200hr Yoga Teacher Training (UK, weekends only), starting in January 2024.
Amy Chilver
Amy’s classes consist of strong, uplifting and playful asana practice with breathwork and meditation. With plenty of options, she encourages students to take the practice that works for them, whether they have come to their mat to sit and breathe for the whole session or to move more dynamically. Amy’s aim is to hold a space for students to feel welcome, connected, at ease, and with a sense of achievement. Amy’s favourite thing about teaching is the people she meets and she is always open for a chat after class!
Suzanne Pendlebury
Suzanne grew up in Manchester and, after studying fashion, moved to London to begin a career in buying. Practicing yoga for over 20 years which began as a way to escape the stresses of a busy career and sometimes life, soon became a way to actually look within and for life not to escape her. To find moments of calm and time for herself, gaining skills that she could be taken off the mat and apply to everyday life. Grateful to have practiced in studios and with great teachers who were very welcoming, wanting to create that same safe and welcoming space to all who practice with her. Learning to understand what works for you and your body, taking away the pressure we often put on ourselves, no expectations, no judgement. Always the option to adapt your practice, however, feels right, challenging if that feels good or easing off, finding the balance that works for you. And hopefully, have some fun along the way.
Suzanne teaches in Streatham
Shamita Ray
Shamita started life as a dance and choreographer, specialising in contemporary dance and bharatanatyam (Indian classical dance). She started practising Iyengar yoga as a means to increase flexibility and complement dance training. A chance wandering into an Ashtanga class one day turned was, until then, a mere hobby, into a lifelong passion, rivalling her love for dance. She went on to undertake 200 & 500 hour teacher training, eventually developing her own style of yoga that combines the precision and alignment of Iyengar, with the breath and dynamism of Ashtanga.
Ever curious to explore the many facets of yoga, she has also completed teacher trainings in Yin, Ashtanga, meditation, Forrest Yoga, and Gong Master Training. Most recently, she completed a MA in the Traditions of Yoga and Meditation. Shamita teaches regular classes and workshops at Yogarise Queen’s Park and Streatham studios in addition to leading the Sanskrit module on the Yogarise 200hr Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training.
Shamita teaches in Streatham and Queens Park
Orishemma Shombe
Orishemma teaches in Streatham
Liv Lockwood
Liv’s practice is rooted in her love of movement and bringing people together; she believes yoga and movement is for everyone and aims to inspire confidence in anyone who joins her class. Liv delivers a Dynamic Vinyasa Flow based class with influences of both Vinyasa and Ashtanga practice, also infused with her professional Dance background. Expect an energising, grounding and fun flow of postures that will encourage you to awaken your mind and body with a strong emphasis on connecting breath with movement.
Liv teaches in Streatham
