OUR GUEST FACULTY

Collette Davis

My offerings are an ongoing inquiry into embodied liberation and I facilitate intuitive moving meditations that guide students into the liminal and imaginal realms of the somatic unconscious.

These can be psychedelic experiences that awaken the inner artist, heal the parts of Psyche that have been cut off and open up the channel for a Graced life. I live and breathe the teachings of Tantra and am constantly learning, practicing, forgetting and remembering how to get out of the Way so life can lead.

An Embodied Flow™ facilitator, senior yoga teacher, tantrika, devotee, and certified Wizard, I am also the humble shepherd of the Samāveśa School of Yoga. I’ve been a devoted student and practitioner of Non-Dual Shaiva Tantra since 2010, and have over 2000 hours of teacher training experience. I have two Masters degrees, the most recent in Interdisciplinary Psychology where I carried out a piece of academic research on the Embodied Flow School. I am forever grateful to my teachers Tara Judelle, Scott Lyons, Leila Sadeghee, Bridget Luff, Zeenat Cameron, Hareesh Wallis, Adyashanti and the luminous lineage and living stream of Kashmir Shaivism.

I don’t get down so well with hierarchical systems of power and am interested in disrupting the teacher-student binary. I advocate for circular communities where we get to co-create a brave and kind space, weaving trauma informed practices so we feel held and supported. I’m all heart so you can expect a big generous holding field and a healthy, tender friendship that honours boundaries on both sides.

@collettedavisyoga

| www.samavesayoga.com

Dr Ranjana Thapalyal

Dr Ranjana Thapalyal is an inter-disciplinary artist and writer. Her practice spans ceramics, painting, collaborative performance, creative and critical writing. She lectured for many years at Glasgow School of Art in both studio and academic departments. A life long interest in Vedanta and Indian philosophy has underpinned much of her art practice and approaches to education. In teaching this combines with inclusive, decolonising and critically aware methods, content and theory. These themes are also woven into workshops and talks inviting participants to see the world through different philosophical lenses and to consider how these might reflect in our everyday lives. Recent workshops have been delivered for Body Remedy, Merchant City Yoga, and Cooper Gallery Dundee.

Publications include her research in inter-cultural pedagogy for higher education titled, Education as Mutual Translation, a Yoruba and Ancient Indian Interface for Pedagogy in the Creative Arts. Recent critical writing features in Art Monthly, Third Text, MAP, Nowness Asia, Panel, and Mrin. More information can be found in Ranjana’s website.

Alexandra Macdonald

I am a professional dancer, yogini and somatics facilitator and have been immersed in the realm of embodiment for over twenty-five years. Formed by decades of exploration, inquiry, research and creation, my offerings are simple yet elegant syntheses that draw inspiration from the rigorous art of Shadow Yoga, the subtle craft of Body Mind Centering and the innovative laboratory of Embodied Flow, as well as the subtle energetic and philosophical elements of Tantra, Taoism and Traditional Chinese Medicine.

A lover of poetry and the liminal, I am inspired by cadence, flow and rhythm and am fascinated by the portals of movement, breath and the imaginal as gateways to embodied awakening. My offerings are not linear pathways of postures, but are seamless weavings of forms and explorations that encourage the mind to surrender its usual grasping and strategizing, giving way to a more natural state of quietude.

In this way, my work involves creating space for a simultaneous unfurling of both quiescence and revelation, providing a context within which our human complexity can coexist with our natural divinity, in a way that is both subtle and formidable.

I invite you to cross the threshold into a realm of embodied inquiry, a place where your mind can rest and your body can slip into a state of ease and availability. A realm were the art of yoga and the practise of embodiment coalesce, acting as ushers of remembrance and belonging.

Angie Tiwari

I’ve been practising yoga my entire life having grown up in an Indian, Hindu household where breathing techniques, poses and chanting were the norm. But when I rediscovered yoga in gyms/studios, it felt so far removed from the practice I knew that I didn’t actually recognise them as the same.

My vision has always been to make holistic Indian wellness rituals more accessible and to debunk the many myths around the "weird" and wonderful practices that have, rightfully so, stood the test of time.

I wanted to break down the barriers I had felt when I started my yoga and wellbeing journey so that no one felt as excluded as I had - especially from my own culture.

Lorraine Close

Lorraine Close is a highly experienced trauma-informed TCTSY (Trauma Centre Trauma-Sensitive Yoga) teacher, with a deep commitment to community work since 2014. Drawing on a diverse career that spans nursing in a variety of settings—including a maximum-security prison in Glasgow and two years living in India—Lorraine has cultivated a profound understanding of the intricate connection between emotional and physical well-being.

As the Outreach Director of Edinburgh Community Yoga, Lorraine plays a key role in planning, organising, and developing community-focused outreach programs. She also teaches trauma-informed yoga across the city, leads wellbeing programs for NHS and corporate staff, and offers workshops and trauma-informed training for yoga teachers. In addition to her work in yoga Lorraine lectures in Nursing at Edinburgh University

In 2019, Lorraine was awarded a Churchill Fellowship and spent seven weeks traveling to the US, Canada, and Kenya to explore sustainability in yoga-based nonprofit initiatives, further expanding her expertise in combining yoga, social impact, and community resilience.

Suzi Cook

Co-founder of FORM!

Suzi is a vinyasa yoga and nidra teacher and musician from Glasgow with an interest and love for using mindful practice to tune into the body and float on other planes.

TRAINING:

200hr with Trimurti in Goa

30hr Yoga Nidra training with Yoga Leela

30hr Mandala and The Elements training with Yoga People

25hrs Vinyasa Immersion with Alice Gray.

Suzi offers nidra, slow flow and sound to provide the opportunity to tune in to the subtleties of mind-body connection and to practice finding turiya, the yogic fourth state of consciousness.

Rachael Gilmour

I’m the Founder and Creative Director of Reset Studio, guiding its growth and nurturing our community with a deep commitment to yoga’s sacred roots in India. Over the past three years, I’ve also become a mother to two beautiful babies, which has really reshaped my perspective on both life and work.

Yoga is a deeply personal practice. I love the complexities, discoveries and the endlessness of it all.

Balancing motherhood with running a business has taught me the importance of resilience, patience and compassion. Even though I’ve paused facilitating, I remain deeply involved in the studio and supporting my team.

I’m honoured to serve as a Legacy Ambassador for lululemon Europe, and I’m proud to have Reset Studio featured in Condé Nast Traveller magazine. It’s been an incredible few years, and I’m grateful for the chance to keep growing, learning, and serving our community - one slow breath at a time.

Lewis Cook

Lewis Henry Cook is an experienced vinyasa yoga teacher, trained at Trimurti in India, and an active member of Glasgow’s creative and music communities. With over a decade of practice, he came to yoga as a form of catharsis, exploring balance between extremity and control. His teaching integrates live music and sound as central elements, with a focus on flow as a meditative practice. Emphasizing the importance of ritual and ceremony, Lewis creates an immersive experience that guides participants toward self-discovery and grounding, blending movement, sound, and mindful ritual for a holistic approach to personal growth.

Charlotte Dreisler

Charlotte will bring her expertise to invite participants to connect to their authentic voice in order to both express the soul of what they’re offering and to project well and be heard by the room.

Charlotte trained as a yoga facilitator with Annie and Anna of FORM! in its first year. in Glasgow. Her background is in theatre: she’s worked variously as a maker, producer, stage manager and performer in the field for over 10 years. With a special interest in voice, she’s a student of the Nadine George Voice Technique, which uses the voice to explore a sense of self, creativity and authenticity. She says “I’m interested in bringing voice, mind and body more into alignment (we can often feel they’re very separate entities!), in order that we’re able to better to express ourselves.”

Gillian Wilson

Gillian will offer essential insights into body positive and accessible yoga and what it actually means to be able welcome a range of bodies into a practice.

Gillian’s interest in yoga began almost fifteen years ago whilst experiencing a disrupted relationship with her food and body. She found yoga to be a place to make peace with her body whilst developing trust, respect and appreciation in who she is on and off the mat. In 2017, Gillian completed her 200-hour teacher training certification from Jyoti Yoga School in Fife and in 2020, and has gone on to train further in body diversity, accessibility and trauma. As well as teaching yoga Gillian also is a certified coach specialising in disordered eating and body acceptance, and in the final stages of training as a psychotherapist. Gillian’s ambition is to make yoga accessible to everyone regardless of gender, age, race, ability, body shape or size. She provides a space where all bodies are celebrated and respected and is particularly interested in supporting those in bigger bodies and those who struggle to find their way within mainstream yoga culture.