
I am Susanna
Meditation and yoga are the place I come home to. No matter where I am in the world or in my life, no matter how happy or how sad, I always find a place of connection in my practice. It is where I connect to a wiser, calmer self, and to Life with a capital L.
As a survivor of childhood abuse and a lifelong trauma-holder, I frequently need to take care of myself. In learning to take care of myself, and in building a life of joy and happiness, I have found that I have the capacity and desire to work with others who also struggle with what life can bring. The most important thing I have learnt is that love and kindness really are the bedrock on which to build wellbeing. This bedrock is available to us all, if only we have the guidance to access it. Joy is here, just hiding behind the clouds sometimes! I have found this one step at a time. These steps are taking me on many unexpected yet wonderfully beneficial journeys.
The mind and the body interweave to give us many routes into self-discovery, healing and happiness. Whether you wish to journey via yoga and the body, the breath, or the awareness and the mental faculties, the simple act of coming into the moment and paying attention yields incredible possibilities for living differently.
My qualifications
I am currently writing up a PhD research project into the experiences of trauma: trust and trustworthiness for survivors of childhood sexual abuse at The University of Essex. I have had a daily meditation practice since 1986. I graduated with an MSc in Teaching Mindfulness from Bangor University in 2015. I have studied with a variety of traditions, but since 2009 I have been drawn to the teachings of the Buddha, embracing this approach to philosophy and psychology. I am not officially a Buddhist and I teach mindfulness from a secular point of view, but the compassion and care of this approach makes my heart sing. I marry the ancient aspects of meditation with recent neurobiology and psychological research.
I regularly attend week-long silent retreats and I keep myself up to date with current research developments in accordance with the UK Network of Mindfulness Teachers Good Practice Guidelines.
I qualified as an Iyengar yoga teacher in 2002 and continued my studies by attaining a Teacher’s Diploma from the British Wheel of Yoga (BWY). I have continued to develop my knowledge and skills with Chloe Freemantle, Pete Blackaby and Bill Wood (Scaravelli Approach teachers), Zoe Knott of BWY and Birthlight for pregnancy and post-natal yoga. Over the years I have taught all manner of groups and abilities, from 4-year-olds to 74-year-olds, the able-bodied and those seeking help with physical and mental challenges and difficulties.
I hold a Certificate in Person-Centred Counselling Skills from the University of East Anglia (UEA) (2017) and I value enormously Carl Rogers’ philosophy of the inherent wisdom of the individual.
I teach according to the principles of Person-Centred Theory and in line with the ethics of the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) and the Good Practice Guidelines of the Mindfulness Network.
