about
Sumiya is the founder of Love & Lentils and a senior yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance, trained to teach specialist breath work practices and advanced hands on adjustments. Following many years practising law in a high-pressure, corporate environment in London and Sydney, Sumiya qualified to teach Ashtanga yoga ten years ago. It is probably no coincidence that she attended her first yoga class on the day she was made a law partner.
Sumiya qualified to teach yoga following a period of intense learning in a dedicated Ashtanga centre in Koh Samui with a well-known and respected teacher, Paul Dallaghan. She has spent much time in India exploring the roots of the yogic and Ayurvedic systems and is particularly interested in traditional and ancient forms of wisdom from around the world
Her yoga teaching experience began in earnest when Sumiya decided to share what she was learning in her own practice. She teaches what she herself practices every day, working intuitively with her students and guiding with verbal cues as well as gentle, hands-on adjustments.
Sumiya's teaching style is informed and inspired by her own teacher and friend, Nancy Gilgoff, who lives on Maui, ashtangamaui.com. Sumiya spends a month every year with Nancy, focusing on her own practice and refining her understanding of what it truly means to practice yoga. For Sumiya, it's about coming home to yourself just as you are, allowing the breath to guide you back in.
Sumiya brings a warm, supportive teaching style that encourages everyone to find their own connection with what yoga means for them.
