HANNAH BATSON

In 1898, my great, great grandparents were stationed in Almora,
a remote hill town in the Kumaon region
of Northern India at the foothills of the Himalayan mountains.
They spent many years there and in 1905 their son was born,
P.F.J. Wills, my great grandfather.
Whilst living in Almora they established a school and it was during this time they met
Swami Vivekananda, one of the greatest Yoga teachers to be known in the West,
who became a family friend and introduced Yoga to them. 
Vivekananda stayed in Almora for periods of time.
When leaving Almora after one such visit, he gave my great, great grandparents
his bowl and his robe which my grandparents still have today. 
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My grandmother, Edith Drew-Wills, taught Yoga for 43 years.
Her teachers included André Van Lysebeth
and Swami Satchidananda among others.
During this time she opened the first centre
for Yoga and alternative treatments in the South of England in 1982.
This was called 'Yoga Health Centre' and is where I first became aware of Yoga as a child.
My aunt studied and completed her
Yoga teacher training with the
'British Wheel of Yoga' in 1988 at
'Yoga Health Centre' and taught classes there for some time.

In 2013 I completed a foundation course with Janet Bond through the
'British Wheel of Yoga' and then,
in 2014 spent 3 weeks looking into the 'Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series'
( a sequence of postures that I particularly enjoy ), in detail
at the 'Ashtanga Yoga Bali Research Center' in Bali with Heather and Anthony Carlisi.
I honour the methods and principles of Yoga
set out  by T. Krishnamacharya and his son
T. K. V. Desikachar and continue to study the
Yoga Sūtra of Patañjali translated by them.
 
At the age of 79 my grandmother retired but has remained my mentor throughout my teaching.
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Having had the privilege of teaching Yoga for a decade and being a third generation teacher who has completed comprehensive and detailed training at home and overseas,
I have come to understand that through the traditional practice of Yoga, we develop and experience
patience, perseverance, concentration and clarity.