Meet Jonelle Lewis

What does it take to join the teaching team here at MFML? A very special commitment to teaching is the main thing, usually backed up with a fondness for PJs!  Find out how our latest recruit,  Jonelle Lewis, fits the bill perfectly…

MFML: Hi Jonelle! Tell us your daily move! What do you do every day to keep moving?

Jonelle: I do a bit of Qi Gong everyday. Its easy to do and great for the joints. I love doing twists as it is a good way to open up the whole spine and also open hips depending what form you do.  My favourite twist is called cattail; I learned it on my Yin Yoga teacher training

MFML: Daily ingredient? Five minutes each day – what to do for you?

Jonelle: Chanting, pranayama & meditation every day.  Ideally for 30-40 mins but some days I only have  5-10 mins

MFML: How did you fall in love with yoga?

Jonelle: I went to a Jivamukti class in this studio in South London.  Previously I’d done bits of Hatha, Ashtanga and Bikram.  When we did the opening chanting my heart felt like it would exploded.  During the flow I felt such a sense of expansiveness and true power. I literally fell head over heels in love with yoga that day.

MFML: What’s your top tip for creating a habit?

Jonelle: Start where you are.  Remember the only perfect time is the time you begin. Do it EVERYDAY even if it is only for a small amount of time.  Be kind to yourself when things don’t happen or get done and move forward.

MFML: What motivates you to move more?

Jonelle: Movement is intrinsic to us as humans.  Moving more means I am more myself, more human.

MFML: If you weren’t a yoga teacher what would you like to be?

Jonelle: I’d like to be a florist or candlemaker.

MFML: What do you wear when you practice at home?

Jonelle: Omg my pyjamas….Lol! Nothing fancy ever….My home practice is not glamorous at all.

MFML: Asana of today and why?

Jonelle: I love side bends so I love doing exalted/reverse warrior or high lunge in a side bendy way.  I am obsessed with mobility in the side body as it feeds into space in the thoracic spine where I don’t have a lot of movement.  Also I read somewhere the side body is where we start to lose mobility first as we age.

MFML: In Tweet length why you practice?

Jonelle: I practice out out of love for myself, to connect to the nature reality and to be of service to all beings

MFML: What is your essential yoga accessory and where did you get yours?

Jonelle: My breath is my essential accessory…seriously it is.  Sometimes we can get way too hung up on external factors and that can get in the way of practice.  As long as we have our breath we truly have what is essential for practice.

MFML: Places to practice – your top five places you have or would?

Jonelle: India, Bali, Morocco, Maldives, Mexico (have); South Africa, Sri Lanka, Jamaica, Iceland, Mozambique (would)

MFML: What’s the last book you read?

Jonelle: Yorùbá Culture: A Philosophical Account

MFML: Tell us someone whose life perspective you admire?

Jonelle: Oprah Winfrey

MFML: What’s been your soundtrack this month?

Jonelle: Always hip hop, r n b, afrobeats & dancehall in rotation.

>>Try an online yoga class with Jonelle!>>