Yoga helped to balance out the Yang in Sarah Highfield's (founder of Yogagise) busy life
- NAME: Sarah Highfield
- AGE: 37
- OCCUPATION: Yoga teacher, founder of Yogagise Yoga
- YOGA YEARS: 16+
Why did you start yoga
I came across yoga while backpacking around the world after university. At first, my approach to yoga was simply to treat it as another form of exercise, and I loved it because it was completely different to any type of workout I’d done before. However, I quickly discovered that yoga was much more than exercise. I was intrigued by the idea of syncing my mind, body and breath, allowing my breath to guide me through the asanas and bringing my awareness into the present. I quickly learnt how incredible yoga made me feel and I made a routine out of it.
How has yoga changed your life?
Yoga helps to bring a lot of balance into my life, it’s the Yin to the Yang of everyday life. Whenever I feel stressed out, yoga is the perfect antidote, and I love coming home at the end of the day to my yoga mat. At home, I often end up doing a lot of Yin and Restorative Yoga, I really enjoy extended stretches and find them very soothing.
Favourite yoga haunts
My favourite place in the world to do yoga is in the Alpujarra mountains in Andalucia, Spain. I love looking across the mountains, breathing in the fresh air and enjoying the silence. It’s where I did my yoga teacher training in 2015, so it holds a really special place in my heart with so many memories. Every year, I travel back to the same mountains because I now teach with Inspira Yoga Teacher Training school, which runs part of its trainings in Spain.
Best yoga moment
One of my best moments was definitely when I qualified as a yoga teacher in 2015. It was such a big turning point in my life and one which, even a year beforehand, I could never have imagined happening. Since then, I’ve had many more exciting yoga moments including teaching on stage at the OM Yoga Show in 2018, organising my own Yogagise Yoga events in the UK and in Antigua, teaching in my hometown of Hong Kong and teaching on yoga retreats in beautiful places around the world.
Anything else
My advice to new yoga teachers who are trying to get their foot in the door is to be proactive and network as much as possible; you never know who you’re going to meet and what opportunities you may come across.
Find out more about Sarah Highfield at: yogagise.com
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