Kate Binnie

Yoga and Mindfulness teacher,

Music Therapist, and Academic Researcher into breathing and breathlessness

I’ve practised yoga for 20 years, initially for fitness but latterly as a way of coping with anxiety and stress. Kate’s compassionate approach in her classes has opened up a whole new way of self-nurturing, both on and off the mat. Namaste!

Jenny

GP in 40’s

My Approach

Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford
A deep curiosity about what helps us to live well, whoever we are, whatever we’re living with and at whatever age drives my work. My approach is relational, which means I want to support my students and clients to re-discover a wholesome and compassionate relationship with their whole selves; breath-body-mind-spirit. Through this, we are able to develop more balanced relationships with all other aspects of our lives; our work, our families, our sense of our place in the world and what is important to us as we move through the joys and sorrows, frustrations, fears and transitions that are just part of being human.
Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford - Feet

Yoga is holistic (involving all parts of our lived experience) and heuristic (something we learn about for ourselves, through doing). It is not just a set of “moves” or “positions” that you achieve and tick off – it’s a whole way of seeing and feeling the world – an integrated experience that begins with very simple foundations. Enjoying and exploring the breath. Feeling your feet on the floor. Letting go of tension in your body. Exhaling and letting things be as they are…….

Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford - Deep Breath

I’ve been going to Kate’s yoga classes for a few years now and I couldn’t recommend them highly enough. Kate talks about yoga in a really interesting way (often with very entertaining stories) so even when you’re doing quite a bit of exercise it never feels like hard work.

Andy

45 year old dad and football coach

Classes

I am currently teaching four public classes per week in my community in Oxford although you can join Monday and Thursday from anywhere as they are live and online, and you can use the recording at any time to suit you.

Friday is live only in Jericho.

See timetable below for upcoming 6 week courses. I teach 6 courses per year, in line with school terms. Drop-in is available if there is space (contact me to check).

Zoom links go out via WhatsApp to those who’ve signed up and is the same link for the term.

Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford - Leg in the air

Term 2, November – December 2024

Class Schedule

Monday

Nurturing Vinyasa Flow

The Yoga Barn, Wolvercote

A flowing style of yoga including joint releasing, sitting and standing poses where everything we do is guided by the rhythm of the breath

9am – 10:10 am

Hybrid (Live + Online)

November 4, 11, 18 & 25
December 2, 9 & 16

£105 (£85 concession)

Tuesday

Restorative Evening Yoga

St. Peter’s Church Hall

A gentle, restorative practice designed to help you release physical tension and mental stress to prepare for sleep.

7:30pm – 8:40pm

Live Only

November 5, 12, 19 & 26
December 3 & 10

£90 (£70 concession)

Thursday

Gentle Mindful Yoga

St. Peter’s Church Hall

Adapted mindful yoga using chair + deep guided relaxation on the floor. Suitable for people living with health conditions & disabilities.

11:30am – 12.40pm

Hybrid (Live + Online)

November 7, 14, 21 & 28
December 5 & 19
No class 12th

£90 (£70 concession)

Friday

Vinyasa Flowing Yoga

Jericho Community Centre

Yoga focusing on developing core strength, postural alignment + standing balances

9am – 10.10am

Live Only

November 8, 15, 22 & 29
December 6 & 13

£75 if part of last term’s cohort or £90 if coming back/new

Drop in sessions are available £18/£12 concession if space.

*Please note all classes must be used in the term of booking and cannot be carried over to a new term.  If you can’t make it to the class, you will be sent a recording to use at a time that suits you, or come to another class on a different day.

How to book and pay:

Paypal details:

Just click the link below and it will open your PayPal account ready to make payment.

PayPal.Me/katebinnieyoga

Ref: your name

Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford - A Little Help

As well as being a superb yoga teacher, Kate has the vision and perseverance to extend its application to long term conditions where the NHS often has little to offer patients.

Mark

Senior NHS manager with Parkinson’s disease

Therapy/Supervision

I work 1:1 as a therapist combining embodied skills from yoga & mindfulness with a creative psychodynamic approach. My particular focus is on supporting people living through change, loss, illness and grief. I’m particularly interested in dysregulated breathing related to illness and/or anxiety/trauma, and am currently working therapeutically with people living with Long Covid. This compassion-focused, body-up approach is appropriate for people with cognitive impairment, physical disability and other chronic and life-limiting illness.

I also offer supervision and support to allied and health professionals individually, and for clinical teams seeking to develop breath-body-mind skills to support self- and person-centred care. See https://www.sobelleducation.org.uk/product/breath-body-mind-integration/

Hand on Hand - Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford

Following an unpleasant and difficult course of chemotherapy, Kate helped me enormously.  She was kind, caring and very empathetic.  She not only taught me how to breathe but listened to my woes. She made me feel as though I would get better, and I did.  She supported and encouraged me through my breathlessness, fatigue and depression to become Me again.

Sally

Retired lung cancer survivor

FAQ

How Can Yoga Help Me?

Yoga means “integration”. By taking up yoga you will find more balance in every area of your life (although the fruits of this are not always or immediately apparent!) Physical flexibility is matched by psychological flexibility; stress relieved in the body equals a more spacious mind. As you unwind your spine you might find your thinking becomes less rigid and your heart more open. Alongside all this, we develop postural alignment, strength, mobility in the joints and improve our ability to breathe freely and fully, which promotes a balanced nervous system and emotion regulation.

What Should I Bring?

You’ll need a mat, blanket and a couple of cushions plus a strap (which could be a scarf or dressing gown cord). You don’t need fancy leggings but do wear something comfortable with an elasticated waistband.

Is Yoga A Cardio Workout?

Some styles of yoga (eg Bikram, Ashtanga) are very physically active and will raise your heart rate significantly, burning calories and challenging your body. My yoga is less dynamic although some poses are strong and deep and will lengthen and strengthen muscles you didn’t know you had! My teaching is influenced by Scariavelli, Hatha, Iyengar and Yin teachers and guided by the philosophy of kindness to self, attentiveness, acceptance and a hopefulness that whoever we are and whatever state we’re in, we can find more balance, strength, depth and grace.

Is This Yoga Suitable For Beginners?

Yes. I teach beginners who are teens, and beginners who are in their 90s. Yoga is suitable for All.

Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford - with bowl

Background and Training

After a first degree in English Literature and Music at University of Newcastle (1991) I spent my twenties working in the classical music business (IMG Artists). A singer and violinist, in 2003 I retrained as a Music Therapist (University of Bristol) and registered with the BAMT https://www.bamt.org. I spent my thirties working in a variety of settings including mental health, neuro-rehabilitation and for SureStart, alongside bringing up my three children. A long time practitioner of yoga (both my parents were keen) I gained my yoga training at YogaCampus in London in 2011. I now teach there, running bi-annual specialist courses and am part of the faculty for their Yoga Therapy Diploma.

In 2013 I completed my first 8 week mindfulness course at the Oxford Mindfulness Centre, following this up with masterclasses, summer retreats and further training with Breathworks (Vidyamala Burch) and Tim Stead. In 2019 I gained my level 4 training in Mindfulness and Compassion from Mindfulness UK https://www.mindfulnessuk.com (registered with the CPCAB).

From 2010 I have specialised in the therapeutic support of people and their families living with chronic and life-limiting conditions working in a variety of settings including Maggie’s cancer centres, Sobell House and Katharine House hospices. In 2014 I was awarded the Samuel Sebba Scholarship for an MSc in palliative care at the Cicely Saunders’ Institute, King’s College London, where I began my research journey into the benefits of yoga, breath work and meditation. I now teach on the MSc course as a visiting lecturer on psycho-spiritual care and the use of complementary and creative therapeutic approaches in supportive and palliative care.
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/study/postgraduate/taught-courses/palliative-care-msc-pg-dip-pg-cert

Subsequently, alongside my clinical practice and teaching I have spent the last 5 years working with the Wellcome Funded medical humanities Life of Breath project based at the Universities of Bristol and Durham. My 11 award-winning blogs about breathing and breathlessness can be found there.

I run workshops for health-care professionals in the use of Breath-Body-Mind integration (BBMi) techniques for improving compassionate care and non-pharmacological treatment of complex symptoms throughout the UK to healthcare teams, GPs in training, medical students (University of Bristol) and therapists (BAMT). I speak about this work at conferences in the UK and internationally, and have published my work in peer-reviewed journals.

I also teach on the Oxford Centre for Spirituality and Wellbeing PG course in Psycho-Spiritual Care and sit on the reference and research groups. https://www.oxfordhealth.nhs.uk/oxcswell/courses/psychospiritual-care/

I am currently doing my PhD at the Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre at Hull York Medical School, exploring mind-body practices and chronic breathlessness, funded by UKRI. For information about my research, please contact me at hyib9@hyms.ac.uk. For yoga classes and supervision/workshop enquiries please use kate@katebinnieyoga.co.uk or use the contact form below.

Kate Binnie Yoga Oxford - Yoga for all!

Guide dogs welcome!

BAMT Logo
Natia Logo
HCPC Logo
Life of Breath Logo
Yoga Campus Logo
Wellcome Trust Investigator Logo
Wolfson Palliative Care Research Centre
Phone

07931 792654

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Email

kate@katebinnieyoga.co.uk

Photos Copyright Laura Burt

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