A Day In The Life: yoga teacher Ali Henderson
Ali Henderson feels incredibly lucky to have a job that never seems like work . . .
Sum up your job in 3 words: 1 Inspiring 2 Interesting 3 Uplifting
ITAUGHT my first exercise class aged nineteen, 39 years ago. It was Bums ’n’ Tums. I worked behind a cosmetic counter in a local department store by day, and ran multiple classes for a national slimming magazine by night.
After 16 years in retail management, I finished the degree I’d started years previously and embarked on a second career in the publishing industry.
I still managed to fit in exercise sessions for enthusiastic students and studied to become a yoga teacher, too.
Then, after 18 years, I made the bold move of quitting my editorial career to be a full-time yoga teacher.
I had a sort of epiphany when I was doing my morning yoga on a balcony in Portugal.
I’d started to feel a bit like a battery hen, cooped up in an office as part of the corporate world.
I thought, “I want to teach yoga every day and see the sky . . .”
Shortly after that I handed in my notice and took myself off to Spain to add Pilates to my teaching repertoire.
I have never looked back. No two days are the same for me and that’s just the way I like it!
My day starts at seven a.m., when my husband brings me a cuppa. I sit up in bed with my tea and choreograph my classes for thet day.
I can teach up to 20 sessions a week, so it’s mportant to make sure students aren’t doing the same routine repeatedly. I ike to vary things and ntroduce new poses.
Many teachers have had t their business decimated by the pandemic, but I’ve used it as an opportunity to teach in a different way and set up a programme of live classes by Zoom, teaching from the summerhouse at the bottom of my garden.
I call it my yoga hut. What is great about this is that anyone can attend – they don’t need to live locally.
I’m based in Scotland, but I have a few students from London, and even a Norwegian lady who regularly joins yoga.
There are still face to face sessions when group exercise is allowed.
I’m fortunate to teach for ParkLives, an initiative that encourages people to enjoy their local green spaces by providing free activities in parks.
Every Wednesday lunchtime I do a class in a beautiful local park. These sessions are really popular.
There is nothing nicer than doing yoga outdoors on a bright, sunny day.
We’re great believers in Scotland that there’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing, so we wrap up and carry on practising even when it’s wild and windy!
Time between classes is spent on admin and social media. I teach for numerous organisations and need to keep on top of invoices and bookings.
Then there are Zoom meetings to set up for my online classes.
I post on Facebook and Instagram, as well as keeping my website and blog up to date, to promote sessions and tell prospective students more about what I do.
I’m also studying for a nutritional qualification to enable me to expand my wellness business, so there are assignments to hand in for that, too.
The best thing about my job is that it doesn’t feel like work. Yoga’s been my passion for many years. I taught myself at seventeen.
There is no better feeling than helping someone make time for a routine that will improve their physical and mental health, or hearing that a student who couldn’t paint her toenails for years due to back pain finally did it for the first time.
I can go to work feeling “meh” and emerge from a session 45 minutes later on top of the world.
How many people can say a day in the workplace does that for them? I’m truly blessed!