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Philippa Asher - Personal Biography

From London, Philippa Asher is one of a few Ashtanga yoga practitioners in the world (and the only British woman) to be Certified to teach the traditional Ashtanga yoga method by Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. She has learned the Primary, Intermediate, Advanced A and Advanced B Series directly from Guruji and Sharath (at the Krishna Pattabhi Jois Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore, India) and shares the Ashtanga system internationally.

After a vocational ballet school training from age twelve and twenty-five years of studying and teaching dance at universities and ballet companies all over the UK, Philippa randomly walked into an Ashtanga yoga class in London. It was a life-changing incident that made complete sense.

From the late 1990s she began learning the Ashtanga system, daily before work (in the media, film and music industries). For over sixteen years she has studied for several months each year at KPJAYI in Mysore, practising under the guidance of revered guru Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Jois.

In 2006, Philippa established and ran Triyoga Soho's Ashtanga self-practice programme in London. She taught there for five years before relocating to South India, to build her own shala (on a coffee estate in Sakleshpur, in the Western Ghats). ASHTANGA NIRVRTA is a stunning homestay yoga retreat, which aims to bring Ashtanga yoga to all levels of practitioners, in nature.

As well as being the resident yoga teacher at ASHTANGA NIRVRTA, Philippa also leads guest workshops at studios in India, Europe, London and on retreats worldwide. Her approach to sharing yoga asana (from beginners to more seasoned practitioners), is serious, yet light-hearted and joyful. Her emphasis is on good technique, safe alignment, the synchronisation of tristhana (breath, gaze points and movement) and passing on the exact method, as taught by Guruji.

Philippa's dedicated passion for Ashtanga yoga, background as a trained dancer and experience as a qualified teacher (Post Graduate Certificate in the Education of Adults), gives her an intuitive and sound understanding of bodies, yoga asanas, people and how they learn.