Looking for Rocket yoga in South East London? Well fire up your jets and look no further – we’ve got a fantastic selection of teachers leading classes throughout the week across our Peckham and Streatham studios.
Rocket is a dynamic, fast-paced flowing style of vinyasa yoga that builds strength, flexibility, all whilst inviting a sense of explorative playfulness and creativity to your movement. Adapted from the traditional Ashtanga Series, Rocket sequences are designed to be more adaptable to your body’s needs and ability – modifications are encouraged, inversions are woven throughout, and you’re encouraged to take class at whatever pace you need.
Larry Schultz: The Man Who Built the Rocket
Rocket Yoga was formulated by Larry Schultz in the 1980s; a San Francisco-based teacher who studied directly under Sri K. Pattabhi Jois (the father of Ashtanga yoga). Considering the Ashtanga sequences too rigid and unadaptable, Schultz began adapting to make them more fluid and accessible.
His style and approach was rapidly popularised (famously he taught the Grateful Dead on tour). He opened his studio, ‘It’s Yoga’, in San Francisco and spent decades spreading Rocket across the world. His philosophy was simple: yoga should be for everyone, and progress shouldn’t be gated by perfection.
The Rocket lineage he created continues to thrive through the teachers he inspired – more than a few of which are at our studio! Read on to meet our Rocket crew…
Hannah Whittingham
Hannah brings a huge breadth of life experience to the mat. After a childhood in the Royal Ballet, a degree in History at Cambridge, a postgrad at the Royal Academy of Music, and over a decade performing and writing in theatre and television, Hannah found her way fully into yoga following a period of real personal struggle.
She trained in Ashtanga + Rocket with TYP, and went on to study Qigong, Embodied Yoga Principles, and Yin. Her fascination with the mind-body connection has since led her to study the neuroscience of mental health at Harvard.
She now leads her own Rocket Yoga Teacher Training and runs Good Life Yoga School alongside Marcus Veda. As a musician, she teaches with breath tied to beat, and movement tied to breath – her classes are as much a nervous system reset as they are a physical practice.
Helen Russel Clark
Helen has been teaching yoga for over a decade, with certifications spanning Rocket, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin, and Pranayama – as well as an MA in Psychoanalysis from the Tavistock and Portman NHS Trust. Having trained in Rocket under David Kyle, she now leads Rocket teacher trainings in London and across Europe.
Her classes are powerful and playful in equal measure, rooted in yogic philosophy and held in a space that’s as nurturing as it is challenging. Expect to be pushed, supported, and to leave with a smile on your face.
Richard Knight
Richard came to teaching because yoga changed his life and he wanted to share that with others. His classes draw on the discipline of Ashtanga, the creativity of Rocket and Mandala, and are always taught with a trauma-informed approach. He also teaches Yin, meditation, and an accessible chair flow, because he genuinely believes yoga is for every body.
Expect creative sequencing, yogic philosophy woven into the class, and a teacher who holds space with both playfulness and care. Richard also teaches on Yogarise’s 200hr Teacher Training, leads international retreats. When he’s not on the mat Richard works as a celebrant delivering weddings and funerals across South East London.
Nino Russo
Nino found yoga in Hong Kong in 2017 as an escape from city life, and discovered Rocket when he returned to London. He trained under Marcus Veda, Hannah Whittingham, and Christian Di Giorgio at Good Life Yoga School. His classes are precisely instructed, music-driven, genuinely challenging, and above all – fun. If you’re looking for a Rocket class that is sincere without taking itself too seriously, Nino’s your man.
Lucia Zanone
Lucia came to yoga during a chaotic period in her early twenties and found something she hadn’t expected: safety, belonging, and the beginning of a long process of healing. Originally from Italy, she moved to London in 2021, and yoga helped her find home – both in a new city and within herself. The confidence and self-knowledge that she developed on the mat eventually helped her make the decision to leave a corporate career and commit fully to teaching.
Lucia teaches Rocket alongside Vinyasa, Power, Hatha, and Yin Yoga – her classes are intelligently sequenced, inclusive, and designed to give students space to feel grounded as they experiment with movement to find moments of real quiet.
Fiona Callanan
Fiona’s yoga story begins in Hong Kong in 2014, on maternity leave from her career as a litigation lawyer. When she struggled to not pick up her phone that kept ringing during class, Fiona recognised that Yoga might benefit her in ways beyond the physical.
She went on to undertake a teacher training, then advanced study with Patrick Creelman, Jason Crandell, Marcus Veda, and Hannah Whittingham. She now teaches Rocket-inspired 4-Beat Vinyasa with a focus on breath, finding stillness within dynamic movement.
Particularly remarkable about her teaching is the lived experience she brings to it. A right below-the-knee amputee after losing her leg in the 2004 Asian Tsunami, her practice has shown her first-hand that physical limitations are often more mental than they are physical. Her classes are built to challenge, empower, and invoke a genuine sense of possibility for every body in the room.
Rocket Yoga FAQ’s
What is Rocket Yoga? A dynamic style of yoga adapted from the Ashtanga series by Larry Schultz in the 1980s. Faster, more playful, and more accessible – modifications and inversions are encouraged, and it’s designed to help students physically progress quickly.
Is Rocket Yoga suitable for beginners? It’s best suited to students with some yoga experience. If you know your Sun Salutations and basic standing poses, you’re ready to give it a go. But! With a busy class and a great teacher, even a complete novice should be able to fumble their way through. Just make sure to take it at your own pace – you don’t have to be able to do everything, but you do have to be able to walk home afterwards.
How is Rocket Yoga different from Ashtanga? Ashtanga follows a strict, fixed sequence. Rocket takes the same foundation and loosens it up – more flexibility in the order of poses, modifications welcomed, and a less formal atmosphere overall.
How is Rocket Yoga different from Vinyasa? Vinyasa is a broad term for any breath-linked flow practice. Rocket is a specific system within that style.
Will Rocket Yoga help me build strength? Yes. Arm balances, inversions, and continuous movement make it one of the more physically demanding styles out there.
Where can I do Rocket Yoga in South East London? At Yogarise, across our studios in Peckham, Streatham, and Queen’s Park for those North of the river. Our Rocket Yoga classes are taught by some of the most experienced Rocket teachers in London.
Can I do Rocket Yoga teacher training in South East London? Yes – both Hannah Whittingham and Helen Russell-Clark run Rocket teacher trainings in London.
