Teacher Profiles

Paddy is the Director of `Santosha Yoga` which comprises both Santosha Yoga Studio and Santosha Yoga Training.

He has been practicing yoga for over 25 years. A passionate advocate of the benefits of Yoga he brings a wealth of experience  to his teaching which is underpinned by student safety and is delivered with a down to earth approach.

He teaches a range of classes at different levels and encourages every student to work at a level that is appropriate for them. His classes will help progressively build strength, stamina and flexibility and are characterized by precision, correct alignment and attention to detail. He believes that these fundamentals will lead to a sustainable, integrated and injury free practice. 

The Studio also provides various high quality training courses for those students wishing to train as yoga teachers, develop their CPD or those who would like to focus on developing specific areas of interest.

Literally hundreds of yoga trainess have passed through our doors successfully completing a wide range of yoga courses and as one of the most long established yoga training providers we have gained a reputation for quality, excellence and professionalism.

Paddy has been involved in training yoga teachers for over 20 years and as director of Santosha Yoga Training he continues to oversee and develop further courses and workshops to help support all students in their on - going yoga journey. It is this structured support that will help you to achieve your short, medium and long term goals in yoga.

Practising Yoga since 1991 and teaching since 2002 Gill is passionate about  Yoga as a way of life. She has been teaching at Santosha Yoga Studio since the doors opened in 2004 where she teaches, Pregnancy Yoga , Hypno Yoga for Birth and Postnatal & Baby Yoga. 

In 2003 she pioneered Pregnancy Yoga in Northern Ireland, having trained with Birthlight Perinatal Yoga in London under Dr Francoise Freedman and Uma Dinsmore Tuli. 

In 2004 she began to teach women Postnatally and in 2005 qualified to teach Baby Yoga and Smart Toddler Yoga with Birthlight and in 2009, she qualified in Baby Massage with The International Association of Infant Massage ( IAIM ).

She fell in love with Mantra Yoga in 2005 and bought her first harmonium and has continued to immerse herself in voicework and the ancient art of Mantra Yoga, under the discipline of Swamis and teachers of the Bihar School of Yoga. 

Her Yoga travels and studies are extensive and have taken her to many countries including, India, Hawaii, France, Egypt, Canada, Turkey, Greece and the USA.  She has been very privileged to train, study and be inspired by some of the world's leading teachers and Swamis - Paramahamsa Niranjananada, Swami Nishchalananda, Michael McCann, Donna Farhi, David Sye, Marlene Mawhinney, David Swenson, Kaustab Desikachar and Elise Browning Miller. 

In 2015/ 2016 she trained to teach Yoga for Scoliosis with Elise Browning Miller in California in the Iyengar Yoga tradition. The training released an old injury to her thoracic spine so that she could now stand taller and straighter. Her daily practice of Yoga for Scoliosis has relieved her back pain and helped to correct a structural Scoliosis she had suffered since youth. She has also witnessed first-hand the amazing effect of Yoga for Scoliosis on students' confidence body shape and pain management. 

Also in 2016 she trained to teach 'Yoga for Stress, Depression Anxiety and Sleep' , with Dr Hania Kramhund at Mandala Yoga Ashram . She has seen how Yoga counteracts such crippling conditions with the healing gifts of deep peace and restfulness.

Her intensive training in Hypno Yoga for Birth in 2017 has immeasurably enriched what she offers as a widely experienced Pregnancy Yoga teacher so that she can share with mothers and babies this innovative, deeply transformative practice. 

Yoga’s spiritual journey continues to uplift and inspire Gill, may you be equally transformed by this ancient path of self integration.

Susan Reid - Yoga Teacher, EFT Master Practitioner and Modern Stress management Facilitator; Motivation Therapist and Coach.

Susan  discovered yoga in the early `90s while juggling the responsibilities of caring for twin babies and full time work as a senior manager in Health and Social services. Building on her  experience of 23 years as a senior manager in health and social services and the not for profit sector  she retrained in 2014 as a clinical hypnotherapist and NLP coach. In August 2015  she  trained with Bridin McKenna to qualify as a Master Practitioner in EFT ( Emotional Freedom Technique)  and then in November went on to qualify as a Modern Stress Management Consultant. She is a 200 hr Santosha Yoga qualified teacher.She has a particular interest in stress and the evidence based therapies that allow us to not just remove the interference of stress from our mind and bodies but actually to feel, act and think better. She see’s yoga in all it’s aspects as an essential survival toolkit for 21st century living .Susan’s personal experience of yoga has fuelled her aim is to make yoga accessible to everyone who has an interest and a desire to “ get on the mat”.

Lisa got into yoga about 10 years ago. Initially she used yoga as a class to compliment fitness and dance. Then after a serious hip injury turned to yoga as a way to help and support recovery. It was after this that a desire had ignited to ‘investigate’, ‘explore’ ,‘learn’ and it was this desire that opened a pathway of what lisa would soon discover was ‘svadhyaya’ self - enquiry and self - discovery. This ethos is the building blocks not only to Lisa’s self practice but classes she leads. She believes being on a yoga mat is a platform and a gift, in this busy world we live in. Many roles and responsibilities pull us every day and all yoga asks is for you to turn up. Lisa succeffully completed her 200 hr Hatha teacher training under the guidance and teachings of Paddy Hamill, and she has also recently completed her Yin yoga teacher training. What might you expect from Lisa’s classes? 

‘I want students to explore their practice. How does your own body work, what makes it work? Ignite an understanding to how something feels. And at times this will offer up questions? Self inquiry? Absolutely! Soft does mean weak, and hard does don’t mean strong. Once we connect the mindset, with the breathe the asanas become the dance of yoga. Her class is based on a flow aspect of the root of Hatha, building on good technique, inner strength and self - discovery and she`d love to see you at one of ther classes!

Collette first discovered yoga in a local club in county Armagh in 2007 and was smitten. In 2013 she got married, relocated to Belfast, left her 24-year career in the Pharma industry to look after her young children and started a new family life in the city.  A few years later when her children were established in primary school, she enrolled in the 200-hour teacher training program at Santosha yoga studio and says, “what a fabulous journey that was”!

She qualified as a Hatha yoga teacher in November 2017 and commenced running her own yoga classes in the South Belfast area.  Since then and as part of her Continuing Professional Development, Collette has successfully completed YAP certified diplomas in Yoga for Athletes; Yoga for Children; Yoga for Pregnancy and Labour; First Aid, Yoga for Menopause Well-Being and a 150-hour Diploma in Mindfulness for Children.   

Collette offers both in-person classes and on-line classes with some of her clients based in the USA.  Collette teaches mindfulness and yoga to children at St Bride’s Primary School in Belfast as an after-school activity.  For the last 3 years she has taught (on a voluntary basis) mindfulness and yoga to P7 children in St Bride’s preparing for their transfer test to help children learn simple skills to relax and to deal with the effects of stress.

Her classes are designed to teach clients a practice that is safe, irrespective of how fit you are and she believes that one of the important things about yoga is that unlike most physical sports you can start at any age. You do not need to be physically fit or active to take up yoga.

Collette feels that yoga provides us with an opportunity to reconnect with ourselves, brings a sense of coming back home and loves this quote by the Irish poet John O' Donohoe “Your body is your only home in the universe, it is your house of belonging here in this world”. 

Collette is delighted to be back at the Santosha Yoga Studio teaching but also learning from her students – “every day I learn something new by observing and engaging with the people I teach”.