Henrietta Brice-Smith

True yoga is not about achieving shapes — it is about learning to feel. My work invites you into a deeper conversation with your body, where movement becomes a pathway to awareness, resilience and transformation. Through somatic movement practices, I guide students to rediscover the subtle intelligence within their bodies and develop a more nourishing relationship with themselves and the world around them.

My somatic journey began in 1999 after the birth of my first daughter, when I was looking for a way to regain strength and balance in my body. I tried various group exercise classes, but I often left feeling sore in my hips and knees, flushed and exhausted, with the sense that something important was missing.

A friend suggested I try yoga. I remember laughing and saying that I wasn’t flexible or “bendy” enough. She simply replied that flexibility wasn’t required to practise yoga — and so I gave it a try.

I was immediately struck by the depth and beauty of this ancient practice. Before long, I felt a strong calling to teach, believing that the best way to fully embody what I was learning was to share it with others.

Over the years I explored many styles of yoga including Iyengar, Ashtanga and Vinyasa (and even tried Bikram twice). Despite this exploration, I still felt something was missing. My practice had largely become about making shapes — moving from one posture to another — and I often felt like a failure when I couldn’t perform the more complex arm balances or so-called “advanced” poses.

It was while attempting one of these poses that I badly injured my knee. A surgeon advised me that surgery would be necessary. Around this time, I discovered the work of Godfrey Devereux. Through his teachings I realised what had been missing from my practice.

Instead of choosing surgery, I began practising Dynamic Yoga with a deep focus on protecting and supporting my knee joint. About a year later I returned to my surgeon, who was both surprised and delighted to see that my knee had healed completely and surgery was no longer needed.

This experience transformed my understanding of yoga.

I realised that the true purpose of posture practice is not to achieve shapes, but to feel — to truly sense what is happening within the body. As I began to pay attention to the sensations my body was generating, the practice became deeply nourishing. Through this awareness I began creating healthier neuromuscular pathways while protecting my joints.

I went on to train in The Dynamic Yoga Training Method, a powerful methodology of somatic intimacy. Through this work I developed a profound relationship with my body, becoming less concerned with achieving externally impressive poses and more interested in cultivating deep sensation, awareness and integration.

Over the years I have continued my personal development with Godfrey and Olivia Devereux and have earned the title of Senior Somatic Awareness (Dynamic Yoga) Teacher — one of only ten worldwide. I have continued to refine my understanding of progressive instruction in Dynamic and Tantra Yoga, and more recently trained in Embodied Resilience, where I am now one of only twelve presenters worldwide.

As we grow older, many of us naturally let go of competitiveness and the need to strive for where we think we “should” be. Instead, we begin to accept where we are. Through somatic movement education we can age with grace, fluidity and strength.

Protecting the spine that supports us throughout our lives begins with sensitivity — learning to feel and respond to what is happening within our joints and tissues.

Building on the powerful simplicity of Dynamic Yoga, Embodied Resilience Training offers a somatic approach to living peacefully in turbulent times. This experiential training is rooted in the body and designed to help reconnect us with the stability, security and resilience of our deeper nature.

My role as a presenter is grounded not only in training but in years of direct personal experience. I present the comprehensive vision of Radical Ecology in a way that is both authentic to my own journey and supportive of each individual’s exploration.

Over many years I have worked extensively with somatic awareness and integration techniques, teaching classes, workshops and courses both locally and internationally. My work has also included teaching in prisons and hosting international retreats. It brings me deep joy to guide others into this intimate somatic practice that enriches the human experience.

My teaching is grounded in Vinyasa Krama — step-by-step instruction — carefully supporting the body within each posture and encouraging each student to deepen their relationship with their own direct experience and the inherent intelligence of the body.

During the Covid-19 pandemic I moved my teaching online, which proved to be a gift for students wishing to continue their practice. Creating online resources has been a learning journey in itself, and I am currently developing a series of recorded classes and tutorials to make the practice accessible to students anywhere in the world.

With this new website I am delighted to begin sharing a growing library of recorded classes, courses and workshops. You can practise in your own time or join live sessions — whichever suits you best.

“RECHARGE, REPLENISH AND NOURISH YOUR WHOLE LIFE, AND STAY CONNECTED TO NATURE AND THE WORLD AROUND YOU”