Yoga Flow Teacher Grainne O’Malley
Grainne O Malley is a very positive minded teacher with a very supportive and caring way about her.
She has been practicing yoga for over 12 years and currently she teaches a number of different styles of yoga including Yoga Flow, Yin yoga, Restorative yoga, Hot yoga and also Hatha yoga.
Grainne brings a lovely balance of a sense of fun and enjoyment to her classes, while marrying this with an awareness of one’s breath which helps center one’s mind and keep one’s awareness in the present moment.
Grainne became hooked on yoga right from the start especially when she found that she could move and flow with her body instead of counting repetitions or calories 😉
Grainne has always been very interested in the breath and how yoga can be so powerful at transformation on many levels… buy yet to the untrained eye looks so simple from the outside.
Right from the beginning, she attended as many yoga classes, and yoga workshops as she could, and was fortunate to be able to try out yoga teachers in various parts of the world including California as she travelled extensively. Luckily for her she had no access to Youtube yoga back then, so she started her own yoga practice at home outside the classes.
Grainne – “As time and life moved on, like everybody else life threw things my way and I can honestly say that through the tough times Yoga was the one thing I could rely on. Savasana was often the hardest thing to do during these times and there were often lots of tears but without it I would not have had the clarity to make choices decisions and coping mechanisms.”
It was when I was based in San Francisco that I found the company “Yogaworks” and I had a very regular practice with this company along with Bikram classes as I found the classes complimented each other and within a short space of time I found my strength and flexibility had increased quite a lot.
My main focus was still the breath so I was always drawn to classes and retreats that helped my understanding of breathwork and it was then that I discovered meditation.
It was around 2010 that I wanted to get serious about meditation. It had always been in the background and I’d flirted with it but never stuck with it. After many years of “trying to meditate” I found this aspect the most challenging but with practice and patience and well guided classes I started a personal practice.
As my practice develops and deepens I would say the main benefit for me personally is the feeling of calmness after a practice, where the monkey mind is less active and the waves of life become more ripple like.
Grainne has been fortunate to study with so many wonderful yoga teachers and she is very grateful to Jodie Rufty who was a very influential teacher for her from Yogaworks in San Francisco.
I have had so many influences over the years that at this stage I don’t categorise my teachings as a particular form of yoga – as I don’t follow any 1 particular type. I teach from my heart from what I believe works for me and I believe students too will follow their hearts. I believe What’s important is that you are practicing.
As a complete practice; asana, meditation and breathwork combined together, creates an all-round physical, mental and emotional support for the practitioner.
Grainne completed her yoga teacher training with Jodie Rufty from Yogaworks, and found that her own practice as well as her teaching deepened over the intense training which lasted for 1 year.
Grainne has completed many workshops and yoga retreats in addition to her formal training, and also attends courses on an ongoing basis.
She really enjoys sharing her love for yoga and would love others to reap the benefits from yoga in a similar way that she has done over the years.
Grainne likes to keep her classes varied and versatile so that students are kept on their toes and never know what to expect. She teaches in a way that helps to keep the practitioner’s mind engaged on the ‘here and now’ and this is a very good training and preparation for the mind when it comes to breath focused meditation.
Her teaching is mainly based on flowing movements coordinated with the breath. Even for many of the static poses Grainne will remind you to bring your awareness back to the breath which will allow you to go deeper into the experience as one ‘allows and let’s go’ rather than getting caught up in thoughts or with over-exertion.
Grainne teaches a variety of different forms of yoga and her classes range from dynamic flow yoga, to more gentle restorative yoga, to quieter Yin classes or stronger Yang style postures.
She also teaches Yoga Nidra deep relaxation, and this is a lovely way to let go and be guided by Grainne’s soothing voice and to enter a very deep relaxing state of awareness.
No matter what your level of yoga experience, whether you are a complete beginner or a well season’s yoga practitioner, you will learn many tips from Grainne’s classes and her enthusiasm and positive’ness are infectious 😉
Grainne brings a lovely balance of fun and enjoyment to her breath-focussed flowing yoga classes, helps you to let go in her more tranquil Yin yoga classes, and get in touch with more subtle layers during the meditation. Fun, laughs, and genuine yoga and meditation.
