28/05/2026
🌟🧘♀️STUDENT OF THE MONTH🧘♀️🌟
🌟May 2026 Student of the month is……. Gina!
Gina has been coming to my classes for about a year and a half now, and over that time she has become a steady and deeply committed presence in the room. She tends to work at the back, very unassuming, but there is never any sense of disengagement. In fact, quite the opposite. There is a real sense of full attention in the way she practices, each instruction is received and absorbed completely, without distraction. Gina attends two classes a week, in East and West Coker and has recently added a third class, class at the Castle Cary studio with the wall ropes. It has been a joy to see her willingness to expand her practice in this way.
In a recent study of Patañjali’s Yoga Sûtrā 1.20 in the Level 2 classes, we reflected on the qualities needed for the yogic path: faith, courage, intelligence, and memory. These qualities are not fixed, but something that can be cultivated through practice. I see all of these unfolding in Gina. There is a steady faith in the method of Iyengar yoga that has supported her in meeting something initially unfamiliar in the ropes work, where she admitted feeling nervous at first. Alongside this, I have watched her courage grow, not in a dramatic way, but in an unwavering willingness to stay with what is challenging. She also works with real intelligence in relation to her own body, adjusting and refining her understanding with care and sensitivity. And her memory in practice is remarkable. Once something is shown, it stays with her; props, adjustments, and instructions are consistently remembered and integrated. It feels as though what she is learning is settling deeply, and will continue to support her whole practice over time.
Well done Gina! What a pleasure and a privilege it is to teach you!
❓Tell us a little about yourself……
🧘♀️I am Gina Homewood. I have lived in Yeovil since 2024, having moved from Sussex to be nearer family after being widowed. I’m 68 and work part time (mostly from home) as a contracts lawyer. When I am not working or attending yoga classes I like walking in the countryside especially long distance paths and national trails (currently part way through the Dartmoor Way). I also like going on cruises, looking forward to seeing a total solar eclipse in Spain on my next one in August.
❓How long have you been practicing yoga?
🧘♀️On and off since about 2006.
❓What made you start yoga?
🧘♀️My friend Mary Mulligan first took me along to one of her Iyengar classes in 2006. I found an evening class local to me the following month and tried to attend regularly until the classes were discontinued. Over the following years I attended other classes from time to time and some retreats or workshops with Mary, but work commitments (and house moves) got in the way, and I never practised regularly. However on moving to Yeovil I found Lisa’s classes (through Mary) and have attended since January 2025.
❓What’s your favourite pose?
🧘♀️I have a soft spot for viparita karani as it is the first Iyengar yoga pose I ever learned.
❓What’s your favourite prop?
🧘♀️I like the back support offered by a bolster in supta baddhakonāsana, and the wall (if that’s a prop!) in vrksāsana as balance is often a challenge for me.
❓How has practicing yoga benefitted your life?
🧘♀️My work has mostly involved sitting at a desk in front of a screen so I definitely feel the benefit of moving my body in ways I wouldn’t normally do.
❓What makes you keep practicing?
🧘♀️I love the way Iyengar yoga can be adapted with props to my own limitations so I can get the benefit of each pose. Also with more regular attendance at classes I have noticed gradual improvements in poses which is a great motivator.
In my work and personal life I always seem to be juggling several things at once but a yoga class creates a calm space where other things are set aside and I can just concentrate on the poses
Also the stories of the other students in Lisa’s classes are so encouraging and uplifting - I want some of what they’ve got!
❓Anything else you’d like to add?
🧘♀️I like having the opportunity to work with wall ropes at the new yoga studio in Castle Cary. I was rather nervous at first but as a prop they do offer another interesting level of support in many poses, including hanging upside down.
Thank you Gina for sharing your yoga journey with us! ❤️🙏🕉️
