~ Molly Sullivan ~
Background:
The breath is the red thread that runs throughout my life. It began with my Mama and has remained my central teacher, guiding light and foundation for how I understand yoga, movement and wholehearted living.
I am a Kiwi woman who grew up in the Waitākere Ranges, deeply connected to the native bush and the natural world. My early education at a Waldorf Steiner school nurtured an understanding of the human being as a whole, body, mind, spirit and soul. This holistic education has remained a foundation of how I understand life, learning and holistic wellbeing.
I later studied Environmental Science, developing a deeper curiosity about the natural world, human geography, psychology and the psyche. Alongside this, I spent many years working in education and social services, including supporting people with mental health and disabilities. These experiences shaped my understanding of the importance of meeting each person as an individual, with their own history, culture, circumstances and way of being.
Over the past six years, I have worked in the wellness industry after training as a yoga and meditation teacher in Bali. I have managed wellness centres in Bali and Portugal, developed and facilitated programmes, run retreat centres, and taught yoga and meditation in group settings, private retreats and one-to-one. These experiences have continued to bring me back to what I believe is at the heart of yoga: a genuine relationship between teacher and student, where teaching is responsive to the individual.
In recent years, I have been studying trauma-informed somatic movement therapies, exploring the relationship between the nervous system, psychology, women's health and movement. This is where I feel most alive in my work, and where the red thread of the breath continues to guide my teaching, mentoring and understanding of yoga.
Why I practice:
I practice for the same reasons a leaf drinks in sunshine. It is a simple act of devotion that is non-negotiable, non-obsessive and as simple as brushing my teeth. True intimacy is found in the union of body and breath, so why would I not is the real question.
Why I teach:
Simply because I must.
Favourite quotes:
"Truth is a pathless land" – Jiddu Krishnamurti
"Don't believe everything you hear: real eyes, realize, real lies" – Tupac Shakur,
“Wherever you are, be there totally." – Eckhart Tolle
"honey, you are sacred land. Choose your travellers wisely." – Della-Hicks Wilson.
Yoga Influences:
Hatha, Vinyasa Krama, Yoga Nidra, Yin.
Inspirational teachers:
T. Krishnamacharya, T.K.V. Desikachar, Mark Whitwell, Rosalind Atkinson, Andrea Sabatini, Devlin Goldberg, Rafael Chamán, Michael Sullivan.
Training Certificates or Qualifications:
400h YTT Heart of Yoga Hatha Vinyasa Krama
500h YTT Tantric Hatha
50h Meditation Teacher Training YACEP
Somatic Trauma Informed Facilitator
