Tori Freedman

Currently working as a junior doctor, yoga helps me to unwind after busy and often emotionally challenging days. Coming to my mat allows me to find the time and space to feel grounded and connected. 

My relationship with yoga started during my school years. Stress and pressure of academia and unrelenting exams acted as a source of anxiety. Yoga offered an accessible path to mindfulness and rest. I fell in love with the art of the mind body connection, and learning how to appreciate the little things, such as the physical sensation of each breath and the complexity that underpins it. The challenge of stillness and rest became an essential part of my academic studying routines. 

Moving to a new city for University, I quickly became preoccupied with a hectic social life, a busy course schedule and found myself using every free moment to try a new activity, sport or be with friends. I fell out of my regular yoga practice and the change in my mindset was noticeable. This gave me a true appreciation of the benefits a regular practice had provided. I knew I had to make time and space to reintroduce yoga into my life and started to prioritise this once again. 

Surrounded by a cohort of high achieving and often exhausted medical students, I wanted to share my love of yoga and all the benefits it had to offer. I studied my 200hr YTT with The Online Yoga School alongside my degree so that I could offer accessible classes to my peers. 

Uniting with a handful of yoga enthusiasts on my course, we founded Medics Yoga Society, and taught weekly open classes. This quickly transitioned to an online format with the national lockdown, and then took the form of outdoor classes as we started to open the country back up. 

My interest in fetal and maternal physiology, and my love of learning, has now led me to undertake my 90hr Teacher Training in Prenatal, Postnatal and ‘Mummy&Baby’ Yoga.  Working with women through such a special, vulnerable and unique time in their lives is an exciting prospect that I am looking forwards to.