Michelle Palmer

First of all, because receiving these made me love what I do even more, I want to share some testimonials. These are from my yoga and cooking students, who I asked for feedback in October 2011. This is what some of them had to say about working with me. My Bio is also below.

• Hi Michelle, just wanted to say thank you for your yoga classes over the last 18 months which have enabled me to overcome a long-standing running injury to my lower back, and I'm now fitter and stronger than before. When I started I wasn't able to do any running or impact work, and I'm now back to a breezy 10 miles on a Sunday morning. My posture is better, my core much stronger and my flexibility has improved dramatically. Your class is an absolute joy - each week is different and depending on mood can leave me either energised or relaxed - usually I'm rushing from a tough day at work so it gives me a perfect hour of leaving stress behind. (It also helps that your lovely accent reminds me of doing yoga in sunny Palm Springs on my honeymoon so that always makes me smile!) - AJ Stacey, Leaminton Spa
• I credit Michelle's yoga instruction with sorting out a chronic lower back problem which suddenly became acutely debilitating about a year ago. It left me barely able to manage day-to-day tasks such walking to the corner shop or getting dressed. Michelle gradually introduced me to yoga despite the fact that for the first few months I was unable to straighten my right leg. It was not easy but after 10 months of fairly regular classes with Michelle, my lower back now feels better than it has since I was a teenager. Last week I did my first ever head stand and managed 8th place in a 5K orienteering race which I think represents fairly concrete progress from where I was a year ago. - Colm Connaughton via LinkedIn
• I have known Michelle for 4 years and am always interested in what she can create. My interests have been in her cookery and I've held a home cookery course with my friends employing Michelle as a superb Ayurvedic Cook for the evening. Not only was the food superb but the evening in its entirety was well thought out. Michelle was punctual, happy, confident and very personable to everyone. She's a great cook and a fantastic teacher too. I'd thoroughly recommend Michelle; she's a one-off in her line of work and I will definitely be employing her again. You'll be glad you've met her! - Marianne Wright, Leamington Spa, via LinkedIn
• After injuries to both shoulders, knees and lower back, I was recommended yoga as a preventative measure. Initially sceptical, I now enjoy yoga thoroughly and look forward to Michelle's classes. Having been to a number of gym based yoga sessions, I find Michelle's class to be pitched at an ideal level with the ability to progress yet with plenty of alternatives to the more difficult postures. Being a keen sportsman (mountain biker, footballer, skier, climber, golfer) but also bound to the desk and computer in the week, I find her classes not only improve my flexibilty and posture but I have become less prone to injury too. I thoroughly recommend her classes... even for the sceptical blokes out there! - Martin Gunnarsson via LinkedIn
• Michelle has been teaching me yoga for at least eighteen months now. She is absolutely fantastic! Now that I am maturing in years I want to stay feeling young and this is exactly what yoga does for me. I feel fit, strong and supple. Michelle has a very relaxed approach to teaching but makes the classes as challenging as we individually want them to be. She is a very creative teacher always coming up with new ideas and she makes the classes very enjoyable. Thanks Michelle, don’t ever leave! - Claire Seneviratne, Leamington Spa
• Michelle's Yoga Classes are one of the best I've attended. Always lots of options to suit a beginner, advanced, or for however your feeling on that particular day. Relaxing and fun, particularly when Michelle comes to class saying she's made up a new move/posture. Has helped to improve my back, stress and sleep levels. - Sue Bryant, Leamington Spa
• Michelle is a fantastic Yoga instructor. During class I feel really physically challenged yet in a safe pair of hands, as I'm an ageing inflexible ex rugby player this is really important to me! Awesome, highly recommended! - Emily Steer, Leamington Spa, via LinkedIn
• I have tried many different yoga classes as it has been an excellent hobbie that helps me unwind after a hectic day in the office and has also proved instrumental in helping my knees recover from marathon training. It was Michelle's classes that got me hooked as a regular yogi! Not only are they challenging, informative and varied but also well catered for all abilities. Most importantly they leaving you feel great. I always come away smiling! I would definitely recommend Michelle as a first class yoga teacher. Michelle's cookery classes are a great way to bring friends together to learn some interesting tips whilst having a fun evening. I would definitely reccommend.
• Ever since Michelle began training in ayurveda and yoga instruction, she has demonstrated a unique passion for it. She has incredible expertise and combines her knowledge of yoga, ayurveda and cooking with her own zest for life, to offer advice that is wise, helpful but never preachy. Her one-on-one yoga instruction is excellent and she makes healthy meals delicious and approachable. She also makes the best guacamole I have ever tasted. Whatever your needs, Michelle is flexible (literally and figuratively)! - Rachel Wilkes, Los Angeles CA, via LinkedIn
• I am really enjoying ALL your yoga classes so very much. I come to all of them whenever I can. Even making the Tuesday evening ones at 8.30. You make them so enjoyable - varying the Yoga poses/sequences so classes are never boring! Always reminding us of our options - folding mat in for extra padding for my knee is a good tip - checking our postures & our breathing. But also making classes light hearted. You are very approachable & knowledgable always there to give advice or to answer questions or explain at end of classes. Giving freely extra time to us. Now giving good exercises for Winter to keep us healthy- explaining about keeping chest open. You are the best yoga teacher Thank you for being ours. -Susie Cook, Leamington Spa
• Michelle’s yoga classes are effectively differentiated so that they suit beginners, intermediates and advanced level participants. I feel comfortable trying the harder moves because I know that I can stick with the easier ones if I prefer. Michelle’s classes are always fun. Whether you need relaxation or a challenge, you will enjoy the sessions. Michelle is sensitive to the needs of those in her classes and gives gentle encouragement without making us feel under pressure. Michelle’s classes help me to stretch and relax at the end of the day, easing away the stresses of a day at work. - Julie Robinson, Leamington Spa

Bio

I grew up in the beautiful state of Oregon, on the west coast of the United States. My childhood was not the healthiest, and at age 24 I admitted that I really didn't know how to properly look after my body, emotions, relatioships or happiness. I just hadn't learned any of that at home, at school or in life yet. I decided then to commit some time exclusively to developing good eating habits, changing my lifestyle, relationships, my whole direction. Well, maybe I didn't intend to change all of that at once, but once I started eating well, cooking and doing yoga, it all cascaded from there. Without going into too much detail, it's been quite a journey and it keeps getting better.

I hated cooking until I began doing it for my own health...then I fell in love with it, because I felt so much better when eating unprocessed food, especially green vegetables and other natural, whole, organic things. And before I began a yoga practice, exercise was just something I did to keep the effects of junk food at bay. Yoga turned exercise into an experience that enhanced my self-awareness, peace of mind and well-being tenfold. I had always dreamed of being a dancer but becoming a yoga teacher was a natural marriage of my love of movement and my passion for spiritual growth and seeking a deeper meaning to life. Cooking is now a creative outlet as well as a way of keeping myself fabulously healthy.

I was turned on to Ayurveda through "The Ayurvedic Cookbook" by Amadea Morningstar and "Perfect Health" by Deepak Chopra. Ayurveda just seemed to make sense, and it was FUN. Plus, once I started living by Ayurvedic principles (which are really not so hard to incorporate), I felt more and more fantastic as the weeks went by. I enrolled at The Ayurvedic Institute because of Dr. Vasant Lad's outstanding international reputation as the leading Ayurvedic doctor currently living, and because of their yoga teacher training program.

These days, I live in Leamington Spa, UK with my Irish partner, a chubby kitty and a nice vegetable garden out back. I love teaching and I live what I teach to the best of my ability. When I'm not doing that, I might be dancing, singing, designing and making my own clothes, writing, painting, getting out in nature, reading, resting or fantasizing about living in New Mexico, New York or Oregon again!