Sally Marsland

As a child I loved to read, draw and solve puzzles. I was never particularly coordinated. I recall being chastised by a ski coach for not being able to touch my toes, and a friend once said she could recognise me a mile away as my arms and legs ‘were always all over the place’.

I ‘grew up’ and, as I studied Gold & Silversmithing in Melbourne and Munich, I began to learn yoga, initially to help with a knee problem. My first yoga teacher was also an Alexander Technique practitioner and then in Germany I learned from an Israeli Vinyasa Yoga teacher with a background in dance. I found them both inspiring.

Back in Melbourne I discovered Iyengar yoga, it’s been an essential part of my life for over 20 years. As a jeweller I loved my craft; the fun and intensity of creativity, contained within the structure and discipline of technical processes and function. Iyengar Yoga has the same effect on me, it is just as interesting, in fact it contains everything I love – and more.

In 2020 I ceased making jewellery to focus on teaching yoga, and to study Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen’s Body-Mind Centering® work; I am also a Somatic Movement Educator.

My husband Stephen and I have two young adult sons. I love to read, cook, be in nature, and to dance. Stephen says I am the most awkward dancer he has ever seen; he qualifies this by adding, “… you are also one of the best”.

I think I understand what he means, and for that I give thanks to yoga. Yoga enables us to cultivate many good qualities, including health, clarity, acceptance and ease. 

May we all allow ourselves to see clearly, and to just be ourselves.