Deirdre Murphy

I began practising yoga at the age of 17 in my home state of Alaska, exploring it as a physical practise to compliment my dance background.
After moving to Chicago at the age of 20, I discovered AstangavVinyasa yoga, and knew I'd found home. Finally, the chance to move invan uninterrupted flow for 2 hours! The other 7 limbs began workingvtheir way into my consciousness as well, and in 2001 I did my first teacher training while living in San Francisco. I began teaching yoga not only for the chance to share transformative experience with other folk, but also as a way to augment my income as a dancer.

After a year or two my interest in dance waned as my yogic leanings and learnings waxed, and I moved to teaching full time. Perhaps as a result of dancing less, I started moving away from the strict rigour and daily repetition of the Astanga Vinyasa practice (though I went on
to enjoy a teacher training with David Swenson), and began experimenting with creating my own yogic flows. I have always enjoyed the physical intensity brought about by the vinyasa style, and found
that I loved translating the huge variety of yoga asana into coherent, structured flows. I found the book Moving Into Stillness, by Erich Schiffman, and found that his intuitive style was similar to my own experience of yoga.

I went on to do a teacher training with him in Santa Barbara, which opened my mind immensely.
After teaching and travelling my way through many more of the states, and starting a family, I moved to Ireland. I have found myself again drawn in to the world of professional dance, where I find
my daily yoga practice to be a grounding, stabilising and inspirational influence. Beginning to dance aerially piqued my interest in circus arts - from there, acrobatic yoga was a natural step. Acrobatic yoga now forms a large part of my daily practise.
Sharing yoga is, quite simply, my favourite thing to do. Namaste!

 

Contact: Deirdre Murphy

085 159 5751

danceofyoga@gmail.com