Sammy Rainbow Furnival
About me...
Photos by Paige Courtenay Photography
About Me
I am a London based yoga teacher, mover, shaker and life enthusiast, teaching a regular weekly schedule of public, corporate and private classes throughout London. As well as my regular schedule I also run various workshops throughout the year, teach at festivals, host yoga retreats both in the UK and abroad, teach, assist and mentor on yoga teacher trainings and have taught internationally in beautiful locations abroad, including Norway, Sweden, Bulgaria and India. I have also had the pleaaure of training with teachers such as Bernie Clark, Sarah Powers, Ana Forrest, Michael James Wong and Dr. Melody Moore as well as studying with Elena Brower and Leslie Kaminoff. I am forever grateful to all of my teachers who have helped to shape me into the teacher that I am now.
'To love oneself is the begining of a lifelong romance.' Oscar Wilde
For me, yoga was an accident, a very happy accident, but one all the same. My background is in the arts, starting with drama and theatre from a young age and then later moving on to dance. Dance provided me with an outlet for expression and a profound freedom in the body that felt electric. I later embarked into full time professional training at one of the countries leading contemporary dance conservatoires to pursue a career in dance theatre. However, as I progressed into the contemporary dance industry, there was a realisation that something vital was missing. The environment was too competitive and I caught myself constantly trying to conform to unobtainable ideals that left my self-esteem pretty damaged, losing a complete sense of who I was and what made me happy.
Following the advice of a friend, feeling a little lost, I somehow fell into yoga - this unexpected and beautiful accident completely altered who I am today. Yoga provided me with a sanctuary, reinstated some lost beliefs and I quickly realised how transformational it was. I wanted to deepen my practice and, to be honest, escape life in London, so I embarked on an intensive yoga teacher-training course in Northern India, with a desire to immerse myself in learning, yet with no intention of following the path of teaching. However, the more I did, the more apparent it became that this was the direction that the universe was nudging me towards.
Having spent my late teens and early twenties, battling with an eating disorder, depression and some deep-rooted self-esteem issues, yoga was my saving grace. It saved me in ways I could have never imagined, allowing me to heal and start to re-evaluate the way I wanted to live. One of the biggest reasons I love yoga is that it accepts me for me. Each time I step onto the mat, I am reminded of the magic of being in my own skin - fully, brightly and unapologetically.
I am the happiest I have ever been, and I have yoga to thank for kick-starting that journey, my aim is to share that with as many people as I have the pleasure of coming into contact with.