Women in Sport with Katie Catherall

Learning the importance of mind-body connection, Katie speaks to successful yogini Laura Whitehead about her incredible journey to enlightenment.

Achieving true serenity through immersing yourself into the practise of yoga could be one of the most beneficial things you could gift to your mind and body.

Having found the art of yoga during a low point in her life, Laura Whitehead understands the importance of taking up a pastime that soothes both the body and the soul.

Laura embracing her passion of spirituality with the Hindu god of beginnings, Ganesha. 

“I found yoga when I was going through a difficult time in life, and I was suffering with depression. Yoga helped me to find stillness and a sense of peace, since then it’s continued to help me to create a calming balance in my life,” she says.

Prior to her yoga awakening, Laura had always been an active person since childhood, dancing from the age of 2 and taking up various sports and activities along the way.

This lifelong interest into physical activity has allowed her to experience all the benefits that regular activity brings, giving her the perfect set up to project these benefits onto others.

“I think it’s so important for our mental and physical health to move our bodies every day. I don’t think it needs to be a specific sport or activity but just whatever gets your heart pumping and makes you feel good, that will be something different for everyone,” Laura says.

After years of practicing yoga and developing an immense passion for it, the 31-year-old travelled to Goa in India for a month to train for 200 hours and become a yoga teacher.

“I felt called to learn more and what an incredible experience it was!”

From then on, she has been teaching the art of yoga and has started her own business, Sunshine and Soul, where she leads classes, workshops, online classes and yoga in the workplace for employees.

“I feel so blessed to be able to share yoga with others either in person or online. Yoga is all about self-enquiry, so I love creating the space to help people to help themselves.

“It’s amazing to see how much calmer and more relaxed people feel at the end of a yoga class,” she says.

Laura believes the benefits from yoga are monumental, as it is ‘so much more than physical postures.’

“Yoga is a way of life that helps with our ability to cope with stress and lead happier, more joyful lives.

“Not only does it increase our physical strength, flexibility and balance, but it also helps us to build inner strength in our minds too.

“Yoga works to relax the nervous system helping us to feel calm, sleep better and focus” she says.

In recent years, Laura has loved seeing how many companies are beginning to take their employee's mental and physical wellbeing seriously. She is proud to lead ‘yoga in the workplace’ sessions for employees which have been proven to boost motivation and productivity.

If you are interested in any yoga sessions or classes to boost health in the workplace, then Laura is contactable at sunshineyogawithlaura@gmail.com