Unsure about what Yoga involved she then became fascinated and gained her British Wheel of Yoga teaching diploma in 1987.

Jackie has explored various schools of Yoga. Having a contrary lumbar spine and temperamental sacroiliac joint, she was particularly interested in the teachings of Vanda Scaravelli, an Italian aristocrat, whose original teacher was B K S Iyengar. Vanda developed a softer, holistic approach to the Yoga postures, focusing on the breath and gravity to release the spine. Like working from the inside out, starting with the structure (bones) and waking up the deep postural muscles to release the spine. It's not, however, a soft option, requires a lot of attention and once the body wakes up, anything is possible. Jackie believes passionately in this way of approaching Yoga postures because it worked for her, but more importantly, she can see her students benefiting so much from their practice.

Jackie has worked for many years under the tutorage of John Stirk, who has developed his own unique style and was a student of Vanda's until she died in 1999 at the age of 92 years.

The Cavendish Pavilion, Field End Road, Eastcote, HA4 9PG is a wonderful Tutor style building, set well back from the road and backing onto Cavendish Park. It is very quiet and on a summer's evening there is just the sound of bird song and bat on ball from the nearby tennis courts. There are excellent parking facilities. It is a perfect venue for Yoga.

Currently there are 13 CLASSES during the week at the Cavendish and beginner classes at Northwood Hills United Reform Church, Joel St.. These cater for approximately 300 students with tutoring to a high standard. All you need to do is select a suitable day and time and e-mail Jackie to check for availability. Then download the application form and send it together with your cheque. All courses are paid for in advance and each course follows the school term (students can start at any point within a term provided there are vacancies).

Beginner classes are notoriously hard to keep as solely beginner, because students tend to want to keep to a day and time which suits them. However, some classes are more suitable for beginners and will have a bigger intake. Just e-mail Jackie for details.

ONE TO ONE or small group tuition can be arranged on request. This is particularly useful in helping to remediate back and postural problems. It is sometimes used as a fast track approach to learning yoga or for people whose life style is too busy to fit in a normal class. Just e-mail Jackie for details.