Susan Allen

Susan has been teaching yoga and meditation for the last 20 years. Following a career in Mechanical Engineering Susan came across the practice of Yoga while travelling in India in 1999. Like many before her she felt a strong attraction to this transformative practice.

Having practised meditation since a teenager and always active, Susan was instantly drawn to the blend of the physical and mental that yoga offers. In 2002 she studied her first teacher training in the Sivananda lineage in Uttarkashi, India. Rooted in traditional yoga, as opposed to the contemporary fitness yoga movement, this school offered a good foundation in the philosophy and cultural aspects of Yoga. In years that followed she then studied extensively in the Anusara tradition with John Friend and the Krishnamacharya tradition with Gary Kraftsow and Vincent Bolletta. These two lineages offer a depth of knowledge in the asana branch of the practice with particular emphasis on personalising the practice for the individual.

From many years of practicing and teaching Susan is constantly encouraging students to make the practice their own. Regular practice of Yoga, from asana to meditation to pranayama, is truly transformative when one decides on that course. As one practices more the division between practice and life starts to blur and yoga becomes a way of life as opposed to something you pay to go to a studio to do. It is this progression that Susan encourages her students towards.

Meditation is the foundation of Susan’s yoga practice. The skills learnt in meditation create a means for exploring body and breath in yoga asana – developing sensitivity, awareness and a spaciousness in the body. Unfortunately many yoga approaches have lost this context of the practice and are just teaching a fitness or a stretching practice. Susan is a proponent in this area encouraging and mentoring teachers to rediscover this broader, more transformative context for asana work.

In 2012 after experiencing a major shift in her health attending the Buteyko breathing course in Auckland, she subsequently trained to become a breathing practitioner. Buteyko is a sophisticated breath re-training technique to normalise dysfunctional breathing patterns. This knowledge added depth and understanding to what she had previously learnt through the pranayama yogic practices.

Susan runs Yoga Ground Wanaka on the south pacific island of New Zealand. Yoga Ground offers extensive courses, daily classes and immersion workshops offered by a wonderful, experienced group of teachers. Susan also runs regular yoga and meditation retreats in NZ and abroad.