About Me

Hi! I’m Diane - welcome to Silver Birch Yoga!

My Training

I’m a C-YT 500+hr yoga teacher, qualifying in 2024 after completing the inaugural Ignite 250hr in-person teacher training with Jess Horn and Emma Daisy in Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga, undertaken over ten months in St Albans, UK.

I teach Vinyasa, Yin and Forrest-inspired Yoga, alongside specialist pregnancy and postnatal classes, breathwork, meditation and sound.

Since qualifying, I’ve continued to undertake extensive advanced and specialist training, detailed on the right.

As of September 2026, I have completed more than 1,000 hours of combined yoga teacher training, advanced study and teaching experience, and I now teach multiple in-person classes each week.

I have also created and taught my own afternoon retreats and assisted at two YOAS weekend retreats at West Lexham in Norfolk.

I also hold an enhanced DBS and Emergency First Aid at Work qualification. I am fully insured.

Find out more about my journey from yoga student to teacher below!

Foundation Training

Ignite 250hr Yoga Teacher Training (Hatha + Vinyasa) - Jess Horn & Emma Arscott. In person, St Albans, March - December 2024.

Further and Advanced Training

Advanced Forrest Yoga (70hr) - Ana Forrest & Jose Calarco. In person, Indaba London, May 2026 Ceremony, breathwork and advanced asana
Advanced + Foundation Children’s Yoga (90hr) - Wild Tree Yoga. Live/online, January 2025 - July 2026
Pregnancy Yoga (50hr) - Tara Lee & Claire Daniell. In person, Yoga Rise Peckham, March 2025
Postnatal Yoga + Baby Yoga (25hrs) - Tara Lee & Claire Daniell. In person, Yoga Rise Peckham, October 2025
Yin Yoga & Breathwork (50hr) - Jess Horn. In person, St Albans, March 2026
Yin Yoga (25hr) - Gabrielle Harris. Live/online, 2025
Wild Woman Facilitator & Nervous System Training - Calisoma (Becci Murtagh). In person, St Albans, September 2026
Reiki Shoden, Levels 1 & 2 - Bodhini Hridaya & Emma Arscott. In person, Harpenden, 2025
Mandala Vinyasa (25hr total) - Dulce Mandala, Nicholas Menard & Carlos Mundalah 18+ hours certified live in person, plus 7 hours study/catch-up. In person, Yoga Rise Peckham, July 2025 and July 2026
Ignite Mentor Programme - Jess Horn. In person/live online, St Albans, 2025

Workshops & CPD

Bradshaw Unfiltered Immersive - Bradshaw Wish. In person, Yogalina, Oxford, September 2026
The Piriformis: The Gateway to Flow and Liberation CPD Workshop (6hr) - Cucumber Fields, with Jambo Truong In person, November 2025
The Anatomy of Twists CPD Workshop (6hr) - Cucumber Fields, with Jambo Truong. In person, Hertfordshire, November 2024
Forrest Yoga: Journey of the Warrior (7.5hr) - Ana Forrest & Jose Calarco. In person, Indaba Studio, London, June 2024
Dharma Yoga Workshop (7hr) - Cucumber Fields, with Ambra Vallo. In person, Hertfordshire, April 2023

Current/Future training & CPD:

Advanced YTT (300hr) - deep dive into creative sequencing and dharma, Juliana LaRochelle - live/online (September 2025 - September 2026)
Demystifying Joint Compression - An Alchemy of Movement Workshop (6hr) - Cucumber Fields, with Jambo Truong In person, Hertfordshire, October 2026
Level 1 Crystal Singing Bowls, Rainbow Sounds - Live/Online

My Journey

I started practicing yoga seriously in 2021, originally in the lineage Forrest Yoga (which is my first love). See ‘Experience’ for more details of my yoga journey.

I’m passionate about teaching and bringing the transformational practice of yoga + mindfulness - including pranayama (breathwork), meditation and sound - to busy Millennial + Midlife women, especially new mums, as well as children and teenagers.

In this hectic world, it can be hard to "Take Time for You” - that’s where I come in…

I’d love to show you what a regular yoga practice can do for your mind and body - join me!

Background

Originally from Liverpool and now based in Harpenden, I’m in my early 40s and I have 4 children (spanning toddler to teen).

My background is that I’m a qualified lawyer (currently on a break after 18 years in Civil Service specialising in Antitrust / Competition Law) - so I’m balancing two very different practices and embracing my “midlife pivot” from the career I chose when I was 10 years old and loved but which no longer truly inspires me to the one that I’m meant for now, and makes my heart sing.

Believe me, I get the midlife juggle!

This is why I am deeply committed to helping busy women find time to experience the power of yoga and mindfulness in midlife.

Me and my four children

(📸 : Collette Healy Photography, 2023)

My Mission + Practice Style

Why practice yoga with me?

I believe that yoga is for everyBODY.

I teach in an inclusive and accessible way with options for all levels, in small groups or 1:1/1:2 to enable individual attention.

My signature class is a unique ‘flow to slow’ vinyasa - yin fusion, with an added flavour of Forrest yoga.

Beginning with breathwork (pranayama) to ground and ending with a mini sound bath.

Experience

I started practicing yoga seriously in 2021, originally in the lineage of Forrest Yoga.

Since then, I have attended residential overseas retreats at Bamboo (Goa) and in Ibiza, as well as in the UK at Glastonbury, West Lexham (Norfolk) and 42 Acres (Somerset).

I had the incredibly rare chance to practice at sunrise in August at the Stone Circle at Glastonbury (Worthy Farm), and also Rocket yoga at a Nike/ @therogueroom special event with a backing DJ in an abandoned warehouse in EC1, as well as many day retreats at Cucumber Fields, Hertfordshire (my happy place) which have covered many different disciplines with a variety of wonderful and inspiring teachers.

Why “Silver Birch Yoga” ?

Well, it’s my family name.

Also, the Silver Birch is one of the most sacred trees in Celtic Mythology, symbolising new beginnings (which seems appropriate!)

The Silver Birch was also seen as a highly protective influence, especially on Midsummer's Eve when boughs were hung over doors to guard and bring good luck.

These associations derive from ancient times, before the written word, when the sacred Silver Birch was associated with the Celtic goddess Brigid.