About

About me

I’m Fiona, a Viniyoga teacher, author, and Rest Activist. I teach Restful Yoga for Fatigue, which is designed to help people heal from chronic fatigue, burnout, illness and stress.

After leaving a successful career in PR, I retrained and dedicated myself to studying yoga. It was during my time in India and also studying Viniyoga with my mentor Dr Kausthubha Desikachar, that I discovered the gentlest of yoga and subtlest of tools are the most effective at healing chronic illnesses. I’ve seen real yoga, applied appropriately, help hundreds of my students (as opposed to bendy gymnastics, which isn’t actually yoga).

Now, I’m committed to helping others find rest and recovery. I’ve also published three books and been a key speaker on the topics of yoga, exhaustion and burnout, and contributed to advisory meetings on how to adapt yoga for those with Long Covid.

My work and background

Since 1995 I’ve been involved with a range of fatigue and yoga-related organisations and events, including:

  • Qualified as a yoga teacher in 2001. In 2012 qualified as a Yoga Therapist and accredited as an advanced teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga.

  • Trustee of Action for M.E.

  • Taught modules on stress and fatigue for Yoga Campus and CPD days for the BWY (British Wheel of Yoga).

  • Key speaker for Global Yoga Therapy Day on exhaustion, overwhelm and burnout.

  • Contributed to an advisory meeting for the British Council of Yoga Therapy on guidelines for teaching people with Long Covid.

  • Speaker at the Global Symposium ‘Wellness After Covid’.

  • Coordinated teacher training course with Sarah Ryan on burnout, ME/CFS and Long Covid through Yoga Teachers’ Forum.

Books

  • ‘Breathe, Rest, Recover’ with Nadyne McKie (Singing Dragon)

  • ‘Yoga Therapy for Stress, Burnout and Fatigue’ (Singing Dragon)

  • ‘Beat Fatigue with Yoga’ (Thorsons)

  • ‘Endless Energy’ (Piatkus)

Yoga teachings

Over the years I’ve regularly spent time studying yoga in India, including the Yoga Sutras under TKV Desikachar, and since 2019 with my teacher Dr Kausthub Desikachar.

I have also studied for several years with the Zen teacher Adyashanti.

My own journey with yoga and healing

Settle in with a cup of herbal tea to find how a simple yoga practice turned into a path of self-discovery and recovery.

A strange illness

In 1989, I became extremely ill for no apparent reason. With hindsight, it was clear that I was living unsustainably. However, this was the way most of us expect to live our lives without repercussions. The illness left me so exhausted and worn out that I couldn’t function normally, and I lost fifteen years of my life — or so it seemed at the time.

The illness is commonly known as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), referred to as Myalgic Encephalomyelitis or ME/CFS in the UK. My story of how I got ill is typical of how many of us can become unwell — being driven and rushed by a consumer-based society and the wrong values.

A life of high pressure

I led a hectic, stressful life, unconscious of how I was living and what I was asking of my body and mind. In the mid-1980s, I ran a busy and successful public relations business that turned over nearly £1 million a year. My clients included major brands like Duracell and those owned by the pharmaceutical giant Ciba Geigy. Yet, something was missing. I often felt a gnawing emptiness inside, a sense that I wasn’t quite good enough. I believed that by becoming more successful materially, I could fix my feelings of inadequacy and insecurity. But deep down, I felt sad.

This feeling of not being good enough was compounded by being in an unhappy marriage with an older man who was critical and controlling. I was the typical over-achiever, driven by the desire to be the best, please others, and be respected. So, I worked harder and became more successful — at least materially.

The hidden costs of success

We lived in a charming 14th-century farmhouse in the country, threw glamorous parties, and enjoyed the best wines and expensive holidays — when we had time. But there was a shadow side to this lifestyle. My husband, who was also a journalist and something of a local celebrity, suffered from depression and became a full-blown alcoholic. He also became abusive, sometimes physically.

In hindsight, I don’t blame him — he was reacting from his own pain and conditioning, just as I was reacting from mine. I buried all the sadness inside, put on a brave face, and got on with it. Meanwhile, the flip side of my glamorous lifestyle was panic attacks, crippling insomnia, and constant fatigue. I used fast food and wine for energy boosts and tried to exercise the tiredness away with aerobics, never considering rest.

The path to healing

By 1990, I decided to sell my shares in the business, but I had to work out my contract as a Director, despite being quite ill. I wished I had listened to the whispers from my body before they became shouts. Even after stopping work, the exhaustion became so profound that I couldn’t hold a conversation or do simple tasks. I became weaker and was eventually diagnosed with ME/CFS. I ended up in a wheelchair for a year and spent three months in a psychiatric hospital.

The early 1990s were a difficult time for people with ME/CFS. Society treated us poorly, often labeling us as malingerers or worse. I became involved with Action for ME, a national campaigning organization, and learned that healing requires uncovering all the layers of conditioning and trapped emotions that contribute to illness. It’s not just about taking medication but understanding how we live and the stress that our consumer-based society imposes on us.

Discovering Yoga

In 1993, after being discharged from the hospital, I was still weak and confused about my exhaustion. One day, I met Angela Stevens, a yoga teacher who introduced me to a small yoga group for those with ME/CFS. Through yoga, I began to understand that true peace and divinity were available within, not something external. I discovered the teachings of ātman, the authentic self, and learned that yoga is about quieting the mind.

As I continued my journey, I found healing and eventually trained to be a yoga teacher. Yoga helped me discover my true self and empowered me to make significant changes in my life, including leaving my unhappy marriage. This was a crucial part of my recovery.

My journey to India and Vedanta

In 2005, I went to India to deepen my yoga practice and explore the spiritual teachings there. I studied the Bhagavad Gītā, experienced panchakarma treatments, and learned about Vedanta, a path of knowledge that teaches that happiness, freedom, and peace are our true nature. These teachings helped me understand that seeking happiness outside ourselves is bound to fail.

My journey continued back in the UK, where I began teaching yoga to those with stress and ME/CFS. I also learnt valuable lessons within the yoga community about the importance of self-empowerment and not abdicating responsibility to any teacher or guru.

Embracing the future

Now, I continue to study yoga therapy and write health books. Through my experiences, I’ve learned that life’s challenges can offer us opportunities to be quiet and still, and that true peace comes from fully accepting what is happening.

As my spiritual teacher Adyashānti explained, letting go and embracing life as it is allows us to discover the energy of the heart and the peace that is always within us.

My yoga practice and books are about guiding you to listen to your true heart, and discovering the peace that is always there.