In yoga she found solace, acceptance, working with the body and not against it. It was all together kinder, more inclusive and more positive. She embraced the peace, the insight the discipline and the delight within.
A long-standing balletomane, she is a passionate supporter of The Royal Ballet at Covent Garden, her love and passion for classical ballet was the reason she found yoga in 1999 at Danceworks in London’s Oxford Street. She started ballet late but always dreamed of becoming a professional ballet dancer. She attended the 1st international summer school at The Vaganova Ballet Academy, home of the Kirov Ballet, alongside students of The Royal Ballet School and 5 other non RBS students in1989 when the city was called Leningrad. Always feeling she was not flexible enough, not ‘good enough’ for ballet.
In yoga she found solace, acceptance, working with the body and not against it. It was all together kinder, more inclusive and more positive. She embraced the peace, the insight the discipline and the delight within.
She went on to train to be a yoga teacher in the early noughties before everyone one in the world seemed to train as a yoga teacher! Alongside she trained to be a Gyrotonic teacher too, which incidentally she alsodiscovered at Danceworks in London because she thought it would make her more flexible for ballet. The Gyrotonic Method was the real game changer for her. A global niche movement system, an incredible rich, deep, intelligent movement system. It is a movement modality full of ballet dancers from all over the world but it offers something all together more empowering, intoxicating, functional and esoteric all at the same time.
Pure brilliance in its essence. Ironically Gyrotonic training is not about at all about more and more flexibility, but rather a balance of harnessed strength and support for greater freedom and flexibility. The method has taught her a lot about life and movement and it has heavily influenced her yoga teaching. It draws dance, martial arts, yoga, breathwork, physics, kundalini energy and high vibration. It is wonderful for all ages, it maintains a healthy spine, good for the joints, for coordination, for athletes, dancers, for injuries, able bodies and ageing bodies.
In yoga she found solace, acceptance, working with the body and not against it. It was all together kinder, more inclusive and more positive. She embraced the peace, the insight the discipline and the delight within.
Kirsten was invited to bring The Gyrotonic Method to triyoga Primrose Hill in the early 2000s and later was invited to be part of the inaugural teaching faculty for triyoga hot which was rolled out across multiple triyoga centres including; Camden, Soho, Chelsea and Ealing. She also worked and taught at Garuda headquarters in London’s, St Johns Wood on James da Silva’s team.
After moving to the countryside in 2011, in 2012 she combined working in London with working locally as well initially for Absolute Hot Yoga in Gerrards Cross and then added Stoke Park, as well as teaching our of her own studio in a converted barn at home. In 2018 the barn studio underwent a big extension and development and she left London teaching to concentrate full time on running and teaching out of her eponymous studio, Studio Orchard and along the way has somehow collected a pack of 8 hunting dogs which means these days she barely leaves the house, the garden and the studio!
