Sue Cheung is a yoga and mindfulness meditation instructor with over a decade of expertise instructing at a few of London’s hottest studios. In 2023 Sue certified as an Integrative Change Employee with the Moral Teaching Collective and as a licensed Life Coach with the Life Coach College.
Inform us a bit about your self…
I used to be born and raised in Toronto, Canada and moved to London in 2005. I’m a yoga & meditation instructor with over 13 years instructing expertise. I lately skilled as an integrative life coach, which has been numerous enjoyable. I’m a eager pupil and at all times seeking to study extra. For me yoga, meditation and training are all types of change and liberation work.
What does a typical day appear like for you?
Very first thing is hitting the bottom working by getting the children prepared for college!
Then relying on the day, I’ll begin with a little bit of qigong and meditation, earlier than transferring on to admin/content material creation, then I’ll head off to show and acquire the children from faculty. Different days it’s straight to instructing with all the above within the night.
Meditation and motion are non-negotiable. Typically it’s a 45-minute barre/power class, others it’s 10 minutes mendacity on my mat!
How did your yoga journey start and what impressed you to turn out to be a yoga instructor and life coach?
I began training within the early 2000s. I used to be volunteering at a neighborhood TV station and Rodney Yee was one of many friends. He was selling his e-book, Yoga: The Poetry of the Physique, which I purchased and swiftly devoured. I dog-eared the sequences, and mirrored the images whereas barely wanting on the directions. I keep in mind downdog feeling excruciating! Then I went to my top notch at a neighborhood fitness center in Greenwich in 2005 and I by no means seemed again.
A significant turning level was in 2011, after I was on a retreat with Jean Corridor, and he or she requested me if I’d be eager about instructor coaching. It felt just like the sky had opened up and there have been angels singing!
I took the plunge and did my first 200-hours with Jean Corridor and Mimi Kuo-Deemer. Since then, I’ve accomplished my pre & postnatal coaching with Nadia Narain, 300-hours with Jason Crandell, Mindfulness Meditation with Cyndi Lee and Intermediate Trauma-Knowledgeable Yoga & Somatics with Collective Resilience.
I had my first teaching expertise in 2022 with the good Maisie Hill. I used to be so reworked by the method that in 2023 I certified as an Integrative Change Employee by means of the Moral Teaching Collective and as a licensed Life Coach with the Life Coach College.
Throughout my teaching classes I work with the unconscious thoughts, use somatics, mild hypnosis, and thought work. It actually will depend on what arises within the second, however there’s at all times a change.
Whether or not I’m instructing a yoga & meditation class or teaching a consumer, I view it as an actual privilege to have the ability to share these practices and instruments for consciousness and transformation.
What impressed you to concentrate on your observe?
Lockdown.
On a person, micro-level, early within the pandemic I used to be made redundant from my company job. There was nowhere to go, so I sat and meditated. I might additionally usually sit and cry, however the steadiness of the observe helped me to beat the ache. And in hindsight, I feel it was the universe’s approach of telling me it was time to maneuver on and make change elsewhere.
On a collective, macro-level, the loss of life of George Floyd, the BLM motion and the anti-Asian racism within the US had been pivotal moments. It sounds ridiculous, but it surely was the primary time I totally realised I used to be Chinese language! In response to those occasions, I started my anti-racism research with the non-profit organisation Off the Mat into the World and lately was a part of a 9-month communal consultations program hosted by the Training of Racial Fairness facilitated by Resmaa Menakem, Ja Younger Ahn-Williams, Jennifer Lee Koble.
My instructing model has developed and I now train by means of a trauma-informed lens, which is basically people-informed. It recognises our humanity and invitations us to think about all that has formed us. It has made me a way more compassionate instructor and coach.
How have you ever seen your observe profit your college students?
I’d say changing into extra acquainted with their breath. Remembering it as a useful resource that’s already inside and not one thing they must “exit and get”. That our breath could be like our homebase, bringing us again to the current second.
Additionally they’re extra embodied. Even when it’s simply during class. That they’ve introduced their minds again into their our bodies. Constructing on the reminiscence or imprint to allow them to maintain coming again. Which could be fairly highly effective as we spend a lot time in our heads or on our telephones, being “disembodied”.
What’s your favourite quote or life motto?
“Slowing it down is a revolutionary act” by Resmaa Menakem. It was mentioned within the context of Somatic Abolitionism and therapeutic racialised trauma, which I really feel is necessary to acknowledge. I remind myself of it each time I really feel the urgency and stress of life.
Oh and might I share another please?
“Every of you is ideal the way in which you’re … and you need to use somewhat enchancment.” by Suzuki Roshi.
What’s arising for you in 2024?
There’ll be extra yoga & meditation workshops and retreats within the second half of 2024, however in the intervening time I’m focussing on my teaching enterprise. Particularly, as a Advertising Coach for BIPOC Wellness Practitioners.
I studied Advertising and Worldwide Enterprise in College and I’m lastly getting to make use of what I discovered to create one thing that feels aligned to my values. The prospect to mix this information with teaching to uplift and help a bunch of individuals, whose work impacts their college students’ and purchasers’ lives, is tremendous thrilling! My hope is to assist them create a ripple impact of their communities and past.
To spend a bit extra time with me as a meditation instructor, you possibly can obtain my meditation HERE.
Or if you wish to expertise a few calming methods I exploit with my teaching purchasers, you possibly can attempt them out HERE.
My web site is: https://www.suecheungyoga.com/
Instagram: @suecheungyoga
