Portugal
Portugal. Where it began.
Growing up on the Silver Coast of Portugal, yoga was simply part of life. My mother ran her own yoga studio, and the practice was woven into daily life from the very beginning, steady and unhurried, like the Atlantic itself. Then came the decision to leave, to move to the UK for university, and with that distance came the first real question: what do I actually carry with me when everything familiar is left behind?
India
India. Where it deepened.
Goa, home to the oldest yoga institute in the world, founded in 1918. Teachers whose words reshaped what yoga meant, not a physical practice, but a way of seeing. The Sanskrit names for states that had no English translation. The understanding that the practice was never separate from life. The first cards were written in notebooks here.
Bali
Bali. Where it opened.
A month of volunteering, teaching yoga on a farm and living inside the real culture, not as a visitor but as someone with a role and a responsibility. The ceremonies witnessed at dawn, the offerings, the rituals woven into every ordinary moment, the understanding that devotion is not a separate practice but the quality of attention brought to whatever is in front of you. Bali gave the teachings of presence and of beauty as something practiced, not observed.
Malaysia
Malaysia. Where it settled.
Teaching yoga in a hostel, for travellers passing through, people from every background and every level of experience. It was here that the practice became truly portable, stripped of any setting or expectation, just the teaching and whoever showed up. The realisation settled: this was never about a particular place. It had always been about what you carry inside it. The work of distilling it all into 83 cards began here.
United Kingdom
United Kingdom. Where it found a home.
The UK gave the journey a place to land. Since 2024, teaching has become not just a practice but a purpose, sharing what was gathered across four countries with students in Birmingham and beyond. This is where Sohamspaces came into being, and where the work of bringing ancient wisdom into everyday life continues. Currently based in Birmingham, still teaching, still learning.
