Our team

Debbie Farrar started teaching yoga in 1999 after about 20 years of practice. Initially teaching yoga alongside her career as a Secondary School Science Teacher. Following some extended stays in India to deepen her sadhana, Debbie left school teaching in 2009 to teach yoga full time.

After teaching yoga for a wide variety of people including the NHS for 6 years and Professional Football Clubs for 8 years, Debbie’s teaching became increasingly more somatic in nature and this developed into Feel Now Yoga, and the Sensible Yoga Teacher Training program in 2013.

A member of the BWY for 20 years, Debbie served as county rep, regional training officer, newsletter editor and editor of Yoga the World Over magazine for 14 years until moving to the IYN in 2013 where she co-ordinated 2 IYN Conferences in 2018 & 2019 and served as Interim Chair.

Now teaching accessible & inclusive somatic therapeutic yoga with an emphasis on joint rehabilitation, mental health, or wherever the self-enquiry takes, be it online or in person in North Cumbria, Debbie also works part-time for an Independent Advocacy Charity designing and delivering bespoke education and training packages for young adults with learning difficulties.

Conrad has practised Yoga and Meditation for more than 20 years, studying various forms of Yoga including traditional Ashtanga and more modern Forrest Yoga. Conrad spent years as an assistant to a Yoga teacher before undertaking a formal teacher training in 2011.

Since then Conrad has worked to develop his personal practice and those of his students with a view to helping individuals find their own path through Yoga. He believes that Yoga can be a tool for the transformation of body and mind.

In addition to his teaching and his teacher trainings, Conrad also works as a Physiotherapist within the NHS, with a strong focus on using a more holistic approach to improving health.

Karen caught the yoga bug in 1995 when she went to her first yoga class with Christine Howitt at Bodywise in the Manchester Buddhist Centre. She couldn’t believe how stretched and calm she felt afterwards.

Karen trained as a yoga teacher with Brian Cooper, studying Ashtanga with Iyengar influenced alignment and other traditional yoga practices, graduating in 2006.

Karen has been a yoga geek for many years, attending workshops & trainings with a variety of highly respected teachers. She then spends time at home furthering her studies, so that she can pass on all that she has learnt. Karen is also a qualified Hanna Somatics Educator & a Yoga Nidra Facilitator.

She still sees Christine on a regular basis to continually develop her own practise and for her ongoing development as a yoga teacher.
Her classes are full of warmth, creativity and a place to safely explore what suits you in the moment. She calls this Functional Yoga or Creative Yoga, depending on how the class is unfolding.

In 2017 Karen, along with Janine Hurley opened Creative Calm Yoga Studio to the people of North Manchester. If anyone asks her just how she manages to fit all this into a day her standard answer is…YOGA!!

Felicity Pryke first came to yoga through the 90s fad of Madonna and Geri Halliwell – we all have to start somewhere. She has since evolved as a yoga student, finding sanctuary and strength in yoga asana, meditation and philosophy. She studied as a yoga teacher to further her own practice and was unsure of whether she would want to teach but now thoroughly enjoys passing on the wisdom of yoga and has been teaching for 3 years.

Felicity has a passion for the psychology, neuroscience and philosophy of happiness, and often talks about living a satisfying life that you don’t need to escape from. Yoga teachings deeply inform her philosophy of finding a balance between acceptance and change, focus and flexibility, doing and being.

As Treasury Director, Felicity brings to Yoga Teachers Together a wealth of finance experience. She has worked in corporate finance for over 20 years and has been Treasurer for other community projects. She has also been Chair of Preston City of Sanctuary, supporting and advocating for refugees and asylum seekers.

James has been practising yoga in one shape or form for over twenty years. He trained in India, Nepal and the UK and has been teaching yoga since 2007.

He is a tutor for the Devon School of Yoga and has worked as a teacher trainer on the school's 500-hour teaching diploma for over ten years. James also runs a yoga studio in Torbay called Yoga Torquay. James has a background in Art & Design and, over the past 15 years, has designed and built websites for a number of yoga organisations, yoga teachers and small businesses.

In 2023, James completed an MA in Traditions of Yoga and Meditation at SOAS, University of London and was awarded a distinction. He is currently studying postgraduate Sanskrit at SOAS.

Joy Charnley left academia in 2009 and trained as a yoga teacher, starting teaching in Glasgow in 2011; she has since undertaken further training in Yoga Therapy and Yoga for Sleep.

She is particularly interested in making yoga accessible and available for those who may not usually attend classes and has taught in many different sorts of venues (charities, community halls, workplaces, and well-being centres for example). She was a member of the Board of Yoga Scotland from 2012 to 2017, where she served as Magazine Editor and then Chair. Since 2016 she has been a member of a European Union of Yoga team, contributing to the publication of regular e-newsletters, the organisation of a congress in Catania (Sicily) in 2019 and an online programme on spirituality (2022/23). Alongside her teaching and volunteering, she is also a freelance copy editor and proofreader.

Kay Birkett is our secretary and is a yogi with 40 years personal experience. She has been teaching since 2016. Kay has a general and broad interest in yoga and holistic health that was instilled from an early age.

Kay joins us with 25 years administrative experience after working in the financial services sector. She has previously worked as executive assistant at vice president level for investment banks and private equity firms in the UK and US as well as international trade finance. She brings key organisational skills and an eye for detail and process to the essential operations of YTT.