Hi! I am Mahailia. I live on the West coast of Scotland with my family, dogs, and hens. I work in health and wellbeing and am studying for a master’s in Creative Writing.
I have been immersed in the yoga world since childhood, accompanying my mother on her visits to Siddha Yoga Ashrams to practice with Gurumayi Chidvilasananda. I remember creeping into my mother’s lap at 4 am to listen to the chanting. I remember the food and the flower garlands. I remember the kindness, compassion, and time I was afforded by the adults there.
My first job was at the beautiful Ickwell Bury yoga for Health foundation, and although I was only cleaning and helping in the kitchen, I felt at home in the peaceful surroundings, and with adults who sat on the floor and breathed like lions.
I took my initial yoga teacher training in 2015/16 with Joanne Lockhart in Milngavie, where I was introduced to Ashtanga yoga. I loved the dynamic practice of ashtanga, the depth of the teachings, and the way my breath carried me to a different state. But I found it hard to keep up a consistent daily practice.
I was lucky to meet John Evans at The Eco Yoga Centre, Inverlever, Argyll. He mentored me through a thorough unpicking of my societal conditioning, helping me develop my daily practice.
I have been on several teacher training’s, and CPD courses, including teaching yoga to children, Trauma-informed yoga, pranayama, and mindfulness immersions. I recently attended David Swenson’s Ashtanga Yoga teacher training at Yoga Manchester, which was incredibly inspiring. It was amazing to come together with other Ashtanga yoga practitioners from around the world, particularly after the Covid-19 pandemic. The Ashtanga community is small enough to feel like a family, which I feel very blessed to be a part of. There are some major plus points of modernity, with countries and timezones not proving such barriers, and currently, twice a week at 6.30 a.m, I am transported to the Island of Maui to practice online with Nancy Gilgoff.
My practice sustains me through the challenges of work, motherhood, and the general trickiness of being a human. Its constancy is reassuring and comforting. The depth of insight I gain from merely breathing and moving seems beyond probability.
My husband and children have been amazingly accommodating and enthusiastic in sharing this path with me, and we have turned our living room into a Shala, placing the practice at the heart of our home.
I would like to share the joy and steadiness I find each morning in my practice. I hope to create an environment where adults can sit on the floor and breathe like lions, with complete social ease. I want to make simple yogic food that I remember from my childhood and share it with others. It is with these intentions that we are sowing the seeds of an Ashtanga yoga community on Kintyre and welcoming you into our home.