Image Credit: @yogaandphoto

Gabriella Espinosa is a yoga teacher and nutritional therapist who helps women to find their way through perimenopause, menopause and beyond. Her classes and retreats are all about women connecting with their inner self and discovering or rediscovering their strength. Gabriella is also the founder of Women’s Body Wisdom, where she coaches women on holistic and hormonal health. We caught up with Gabriella to hear more about the work she’s doing and what the future holds for her.

We’d love to hear more about who you are, can you tell us a little bit about yourself and what you do?

I am the proud U.S. born daughter of Ecuadorean immigrants who sought the American Dream. I adopted London as home 15 years ago with my soulmate and together we have three fun and feisty teenagers, enjoy cooking big family meals and going for long walks with our dog through London’s beautiful parks.

I am also the founder of Women’s Body Wisdom, a teacher of embodied yoga, somatic movement and breathwork as well as a nutrition/lifestyle coach and writer. My business holistically supports women’s’ hormonal health in the natural transition from perimenopause, menopause to postmenopause. I am passionate about guiding women to connect with their bodies, take charge of their hormonal health and live their fullest potential.

As a yoga teacher what are your passion projects and themes you love to share with your students?

I am passionate about empowering women to really know their bodies so they can be the best advocates for their health and wellbeing. My classes often inform women about areas of women’s health that have traditionally been overlooked or ignored such as pelvic floor and bone health, mental and emotional wellbeing.

How would you describe your own classes and retreats?

My teaching is inspired by the precision of alignment, synchronisation of breath and movement, the calming power of meditation and journey inwards to our felt experience. My classes and workshops are designed to address many of the common symptoms women experience as they move through menopause, but most importantly they are an exploration of each woman’s unique journey to self discovery.

My women’s wellness retreats are about relaxing and resourcing from within and embracing our WHOLE self – mind, body and soul. We gather as women to widen our scope of connection, honour our wisdom, uplift and support each other on our unique journey into perimenopause, menopause and beyond.

I offer cooking demonstrations and nutrition talks for hormone support with the focus on delicious plant-based meals for optimal health. We make time to rest and reflect in beautiful natural surroundings.

Women leave feeling more knowledgeable and empowered to reclaim their body’s natural intelligence to journey into menopause and beyond with greater ease.

What impact has your yoga practice had on your own life throughout the year?

Yoga has generously offered me its rich and traditional teachings which I strive to take off the mat and put into everyday practice. The gifts of presence, truth, kindness, compassion and deep love for myself and the world around me are invaluable and ones I share with my students and family.

You left the corporate world to teach yoga and share your knowledge and passion with women, what made you pursue that?

Yoga has been my constant companion for 22 years providing me with grounding, clarity and strength whilst I travelled around the world in a busy professional career and then into pregnancy, motherhood and now menopause.

My teaching is informed by my personal healing journey overcoming stress, anxiety, an autoimmune condition and navigating the transition into menopause. Deepening my knowledge of somatic body and breath based practices and retraining as a nutritional therapist has allowed me to offer the women I teach and work with a 360 degrees holistic approach to health and wellbeing.

This past year has forced a lot of people to change the way they work, but we know you have been working on a lot of exciting things, can you share some of this?

Yes, like many other yoga teachers and nutritional therapists, I had to take my work online and learn a new way of connecting with people in a virtual space. I feel my life has been enriched by finding new ways of supporting others with their health and wellness. I am currently offering online classes in somatic movement and pelvic floor health for women which you can find here.

I also used the opportunity to study and deepen my learning with international experts in women’s health and neuroscience. I am especially interested in the intersection of neuroscience, yoga and emotional wellbeing for personal and collective self care. I am looking forward to offering workshops and retreats which incorporate these areas of science and yoga so that women can feel well in their bodies. Receive my monthly newsletter with self care practices and information on these upcoming events here.