Teachers
Four teachers, between them more than forty years of teaching. Each teaches the same classes every week.
Hilary Thorne
Opened the studio in 2014. Teaches Slow Flow, Gentle & Restore and the Beginners' Course.
Gill Ramsden
Teaches every Pilates class on the timetable. Exact about posture, generous with options.
Mai Tran
Teaches Vinyasa Flow and Yin & Breath. Strong sequences, clear cues and a long rest at the end.
Joel Ferris
Teaches the early Vinyasa classes and Sunday Slow Flow. Came to yoga from rowing.
From church halls to Magdalen Street
Hilary taught in church halls around Norwich for eight years, carrying mats in the boot of her car. In 2014 she took on the empty first floor above a print shop and laid the cork floor herself.
Wensum Yoga & Pilates is still small on purpose: one room, sixteen mats, and teachers who stay. Gill joined in 2016, Joel in 2019 and Mai in 2021.
How we teach
- Plain words.We say “lift your left heel”, not “find your edge”. Sanskrit names come with the English.
- Options, not a perfect pose.Every pose has an easier and a harder version. Props are for everyone.
- Hands-on only if you want it.Teachers ask before touching, every time. A card on your mat says no.
- Ongoing training.Each teacher does at least 30 hours of further training a year, paid for by the studio.
From our members
I came to Gentle & Restore with a stiff back and no idea what I was doing. Hilary set me up with two blocks and a bolster and never made a fuss of it.
Ruth K. Joel's 6:45 class is the reason I get up on a Thursday. Hard work, well taught, and I'm at my desk by half eight.
Dan O. Gill notices everything. After a year of her classes my shoulders sit differently, and my physio noticed too.
Priya S. I was 71 and had never done yoga. Four Mondays later I knew enough to join a normal class, and I still go twice a week.
Margaret H.