Andrea Durant
Andrea began her career as a classical dancer progressing through the Royal Ballet School to the Royal Ballet Company aged 18, to Principal Dancer at Scottish Ballet. Having succumbed to career threatening injuries, and having had some success at treatment via acupuncture, Andrea trained as an acupuncturist and a masseuse and began practising yoga regularly.
The conclusion to Andrea’s career in dance coincided with dramatic changes in her personal life, so along with physiological therapy she explored psychological therapies, qualifying as a counsellor in 1983. Based in London, she practised yoga with a number of powerful teachers of various traditions and qualified as a yoga teacher via the BWY in 1992.
Andrea cites her main influences as Shandor Ramete(Iyengar), Swami Vedantananda (Satyananda), Guru Dharam (Kundalini), David Swenson and John Scott (Ashtanga Vinyasa), Clive Sheridan (An independent yogi with special awareness), James Seddon (who was a remarkable man and her mentor), Anna Le Gallois (a remarkable woman and faith healer), and Godfrey Devereaux, for whom she taught Ashtanga Yoga at the Life Centre, (now known as Yoga Campus), in London. Andrea was one of the original teachers on their teacher training courses and she currently instructs on the Devon School of Yoga teacher trainings and runs her own Foundation Courses through the BWY.
Andrea has run retreats and workshops throughout the UK and applied yoga as a therapy for children, adults living with HIV, and adults who have been tackling addictions. Last year she completed and was awarded a Masters degree in Mindfulness at Exeter University. Her research project was on ‘The effects of an eight-week mindfulness course (MBSR) on Elders living in the community
