Golnaz is a yoga teacher based in London. She considers yoga to be her passion and path in life and she feels honoured to help others better their day with the practice that she shares. Since completing her teacher training in 2008, Golnaz’s personal practice and teaching style has evolved. She is now a qualified 500+ hour teacher and strongly believes that to be an effective teacher she must remain a student.

Golnaz’s teaching specialities vary and include yoga to reduce stress and aid in the symptoms of menopause. We caught up with Golnaz to learn more about her yoga journey and practices…

Tell us a bit about yourself…

I am a mother of two amazing humans who are both in their 30’s. I love going to the theater, do some acting on the side. I love to hang out with my loved ones and my sister hood.

What does a typical day look like for you?

I wake up around 6 am, even when I don’t have to! As I am now in my mid 50’s my body needs some warming up, so I do some gentle yoga poses to wake my joints up and then depending on if I am teaching that day I teach, I sort out class plans. I love to cook and am a real feeder so do some cooking, and then between teaching and studying and spending time with loved ones, the day is over!

How did your yoga journey begin and what inspired you to become a yoga teacher?

My yoga journey began after some cancer treatment and after 10 years of yoga practicing, I noticed that my bounce back to an equilibrium was faster and when I practiced yoga I seemed to have more serenity and space. So being curious about it, at that time in london you had to do a teacher training to learn more, so I found a training that suited my schedule and immersed myself in it and in the middle of the training I had a light bulb moment of “oh this is what I want to do with the rest of my life!”

What inspired you to specialize in yoga for menopause?

My own menopause journey. I really struggled mentally for a few years and I wanted to help women on this mad mad journey of menopause. I wanted to help other women not to feel alone and isolated during this change and transition.

How have you seen yoga benefit those going through menopause?

Yes definitely, Yoga is a great stress reducer and if we can reduce stress during menopause it can really help with reducing the intensity of the symptoms.

What are some resources that you would recommend for those interested in yoga for menopause?

Dr. Lewis Newson is wonderful, she has an app and podcast that I find very helpful. Davina Mcall has done a couple documentaries that I found very helpful. The internet is a great resource.

What is your favorite quote or life motto?

“How important is …(the situation), will I be remembering this on my deathbed?”