About Us
Sitaram Partnership was founded in 1998 by husband and wife Nirlipta Tuli and Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, We now comprise a team of ten local teachers and apprentices, all of whom have specialist interest and training in yoga for the perinatal period.
Who we are
Nirlipta Tuli is a registered clinical hypnotherapist who trained at the London College of Clinical Hypnotherapy and is a full member of the British Society for Clinical Hypnotherapy. He is also an associate memberof the British Association of Clinical Psychotherapy. He has specialist training in perinatal hypnotherapy (clinical hypnotherapy for childbirth, and for the pre and post natal period). The heart of his unique hypnotherapy practice is a specialised approach to perinatal hypnotherapy, including work with birth trauma resolution and the release of fears and anxieties around childbirth.
He has been practicing yoga for sixteen years and teaching yoga since 1990.
He has yoga teaching diplomas from three different yoga teacher training
organisations (Bihar School of Yoga, British Wheel of Yoga and Sivananda
Yoga Vedanta Centres). Nirlipta has completed the British Wheel of
Yoga Module in pregnancy yoga, and has undertaken further training in yoga
therapy (including management of lower back pain, and yoga for women's health)
and the health and safety aspects of yoga teaching. He has particular expertise
in teaching yoga practices for positive mental health, stress relief
and relaxation. Nirlipta also holds an MA in Indian Religion and Philosophy
from the School of Oriental and African Studies.
Uma Dinsmore-Tuli was first introduced to yoga at the age of four, and has been teaching yoga and meditation since 1986. She has a PhD in Communications from London University, a diploma in Yoga Therapy from the Yoga Biomedical Trust and is a recognised teacher of the British Wheel of Yoga.
Uma holds the British Wheel of Yoga Module in Pregnancy Yoga, and designed the British Wheel Module in Postnatal Yoga. Developing her interest in providing a comprehensive support for the postnatal period, Uma is currently completing her training as a Breastfeeding Counsellor with the National Childbirth Trust (Lambeth and Southwark Branch). She also runs the family yoga sessions at the Healing Field Gatherings, and teaches the children’s yoga programme for the Ickwell Bury Yoga for Health Foundation Annual Family Yoga Festivals.
Uma is a training tutor for the Yoga Biomedical Trust, and the Birthlight Trust for whom she trains and assesses perinatal yoga teachers and baby yoga teachers on courses and apprenticeships.
Uma and Nirlipta are parents to two young sons: Tejomaya (8) and Abhisheka
(5), who were both born at home in the Sitaram yoga rooms.
Our team of teachers also includes:
Sandra Girdwood
Sandra
has been working with Sitaram since 2002. She teaches pregnancy yoga and general yoga classes, and also runs Yoga Birth rehearsal sessions. She is a British Wheel of Yoga Teacher with a further diploma in Yoga Therapy from the Yoga Biomedical Trust, and a continuing personal practice in the Satyananda tradition. Sandra has additional training in Yoga Nidra (deep relaxation), and also trained with the Birthlight Trust in perinatal yoga and baby yoga. She has specialist training in other aspects of yoga therapy including yoga for people with MS. Sandra integrates her yoga teaching with her work as a corporate tax supervisor.
Niki East
Niki is mother of two girls and she teaches Sitaram’s Postnatal Recovery and Baby Yoga classes from newborns to toddlers. She also teaches pregnancy yoga for Sitaram. Niki’s training includes a 36 hour Life Centre/Sitaram Pregnancy Yoga Teacher training course completed 2006 and a 360 hour Sitaram Apprenticeship for Postnatal Recovery and Baby Yoga 2002-5 (approximately 3 hours per week, 40 weeks per year for 3 years). Additionally, Niki completed a 12 hour (2 day) Birthlight Baby Yoga Diploma Course in 2005. Niki is currently completing a general yoga teacher training course: she is a 2nd year trainee on the Life Centre Yoga Teacher Training Course (BWY accredited and insured). Niki has done Sitaram Partnership Continuing Professional Development since 2004 and identifies her primary training organisation/s as: Sitaram / Life Centre
Lisa Morris
Lisa teaches pregnancy yoga for Sitaram at St. Thomas’s hospital, and also offers her own pregnancy and postnatal classes in east London (http://www.lotusbaby.co.uk/). Lisa has been practising yoga for 6 years enjoying ashtanga, hatha and dynamic flow styles. Originally trained as a classical and contemporary ballet dancer, Lisa has an affinity with the body and movement. With a back and hip injury incurred during a fall which put an end to her dancing career, Lisa turned to yoga to help. Lisa did a Pregnancy Yoga Teacher’s apprenticeship with Sitaram in 2005, and has also completed the Birthlight certificate and diploma in perinatal yoga. She is currently working on a general yoga teacher training course through the Life Centre Yoga Teacher Training Course (BWY accredited and insured).
Natasha Rhoden
Natasha teaches postnatal recovery and baby yoga (newborns to sitting babies) for Sitaram. She is mother to three daughters, Zyon and Tala and Jagadamba. She trained as one of the first doulas in the UK with Michel Odent, and worked as a maternity nurse for many years. Drawing from this background in caring for mothers and babies and from her own experience as a mother, Natasha provides mother to mother support for breastfeeding. She has been a committed yoga practitioner for six years, enjoying hatha, ashtanga and kriya yogas, in addition to perinatal yoga. Natasha’s training includes an 180 hour Sitaram apprenticeship for Postnatal Recovery and Baby yoga 2003-5 (approximately 1.5 hours per week, 40 weeks per year for 2 years), a 4 day (24 hour) Birthlight Baby Yoga Certificate Course attended 2004 and a 12 hour Birthlight Baby Yoga Diploma Course attended 2005 Sitaram Partnership Continuing Professional Development since 2005. Natasha is currently doing the Sitaram/Life centre pregnancy yoga training course and identifies her primary training organisation/s as: Birthlight/Sitaram.
Alan Grier
Alan teaches the Sitaram class in Soho, in the heart of the west end, where
he generally teaches a flowing style of yoga that incorporates important
breath work for pregnant women and movement aimed at easing areas of
tightness in the physical body and facilitating relaxation at the end
of a busy working day. Alan has been practising Hatha yoga since 1993.
He began his apprenticeship 2001, going on to complete BWY teacher
training 2002-2005. He has also completed a yoga nidra training with
the Satyananda Yoga Centre in London in 2005. Alan began his started
apprenticeship at Sitaram to teach pregnancy yoga 2005, and has also
completed the Sitaram pregnancy teacher training in 2007. Alan has
also studied astanga yoga in London and with Pattabhi Jois in Mysore,
India.
Antonia Pollock
Antonia teaches pregnancy yoga for Sitaram at Brockwell Lido. She is mother to two boys, and has been teaching yoga for seven years. Antonia has a deep and broad experience of all forms of yoga, but has developed a very special interest in the therapeutic aspects of gentle yoga, and has done further training with the Yoga Biomedical Trust, including training in pregnancy yoga. She has done Sitaram Continuing Professional development since 2005, including assisting on the Sitaram/Life Centre pregnancy yoga training course, and attending the Teacher Nurture Retreat in Italy in 2006. Antonia also teaches gentle hatha yoga for general classes.
Raquel Cinchetru
Raquel teaches pregnancy yoga for Sitaram at King’s College Hospital. She is a psychologist and general yoga teacher from Spain, who came to London to pursue further studies in Yoga Therapy, at the Yoga Biomedical Trust, where she completed her diploma in Yoga Therapy in 2006. As part of this training, she did special module in Yoga for Pregnancy with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli, and then continued to do a Sitaram Yoga Teacher’s Apprenticeship in 2006. Raquel has a special interest in the therapeutic applications of yoga, and has taught yoga in research projects especially for people with diabetes, as well as yoga for rehabilitation following drug addiction. Raquel integrates her yoga teaching with advanced studies in English and continuing training in Flamenco.
Melanie Desurmont
Melanie is mother to one daughter, Sienna, and has been practicing yoga for the past four years. She practiced postnatal recovery and baby yoga with Sitaram after her daughter was born, and then completed a 240 hour Sitaram Apprenticeship for Postnatal Recovery and Baby yoga in 2005-6 (approximately 3 hours per week, 40 weeks per year for 2 years). Melanie also completed a 12 hour Birthlight Baby Yoga Diploma Course 2006. She has Birthlight Baby Yoga Teacher Insurance and has done Sitaram Partnership Continuing Professional Development since 2005. Melanie identifies her primary training organisation as Sitaram.
Kasia Steyn
Kasia teaches pregnancy yoga and postnatal recovery and baby yoga for Sitaram in Brixton Hill and Brockwell Lido. Kasia is in the final stages of completing her British Wheel of Yoga Teaching Diploma. Additionally, she has done a 50 hour British Wheel of Yoga Postnatal Yoga Teacher training Course 2006/7 with Wendy Teasdill, and is currently completing the 50 hour British Wheel of Yoga Pregnancy Yoga Teacher Training Course with Uma Dinsmore-Tuli.
Ambreen Hameed
Ambreen has been practicing yoga for over fifteen years - and trained to teach
with The Life Centre. Her yogic influences are drawn from the great
Satyananda, Iyengar and Viniyoga traditions. While she has a broad-based
approach to yoga, she has specialized in restorative practices, designed
to access the body’s natural healing power through deep relaxation.
The Wednesday night class she teaches will be a gentle but invigorating general class (for beginners and intermediate students), focusing in particular on development of core strength and the skill of inner listening. There will be an emphasis on restorative practices and healing relaxation to help inject that little midweek boost of energy!