Kavita Chana of Deaf Yoga Works on how Yoga changed her life

Kavita Chana is a deaf yoga teacher who has been practising yoga since 1996. Prior to this, Kavita had been experiencing a myriad of symptoms and health complaints due to the stressful nature of her job in social work. She reports how she experienced headaches, anxiety, digestive issues as well as struggling to sleep and having endless aches and pains in her body.

It was actually Kavita’s GP who suggested she take up and yoga and meditation to combat the stress she felt, and after attending classes weekly Kavita felt her health steadily improve. Kavita felt yoga had changed her life, ultimately providing her with an enduring sense of calm and offering her the courage to go ahead and become a yoga teacher.

Due to being deaf, the road to becoming a qualified yoga teacher with the British Wheel of Yoga was not straightforward. However, with persistence and determination, Kavita eventually qualified as a Yoga Teacher in 2015 after completing her Certificate in Yoga Teacher Training at Bristol City Yoga School (Yoga Alliance UK approved).

She has continued to study further and completed her Level 4 Diploma Yoga Teacher Training from the British Wheel of Yoga in March 2018. She has since trained further in Mindfulness, completing a 40 hour course with Suryacitta from Mindfulness CIC and in May 2022, Kavita completed a 35 hours course: Sacred Activism in Modern Yoga: The Warrior Pathway to Decolonising Yoga with Kallie Schut from Rebel Tribe Yoga.

Kavita now wants to share what yoga has done for her with others in the Deaf Community and her social enterprise Deaf Yoga Works seeks to do just this.  Deaf Yoga Works’ aim is to ‘educate, enlighten and empower deaf people to take control of their physical, mental and emotional health as well as spiritual well-being through the practice of Yoga.’

Kavita explains that she is passionate about the transformational benefits of yoga, mindfulness and meditation; about creating connections and sharing her knowledge and experiences. After working as a Social Worker for twenty five years, she now uses these valuable transferrable skills to focus on teaching Hatha Yoga to deaf people, giving them access to Yoga and its philosophy, thus empowering them to take control of their health and well-being.

Kavita states;

“Yoga is my grounding factor in life as it provides me with deep healing, strength, balance, clarity and peace.”

Prior to the pandemic, Kavita was teaching in-person classes several times a week across the Midlands for deaf and hearing people. However, as the restrictions came into force, classes were moved online which meant Kavita has been able to work with deaf people across the country who would have otherwise not have been able to take part.

Kavita is now pleased to share with us that she is launching a new yoga course online this September, with classes on a Wednesday evening and a Friday morning. All sessions are via Zoom and for each class Kavita will teach Hatha Yoga using British Sign Language (BSL.)

To find out more about Deaf Yoga Works and the forthcoming classes, email Kavita on kkholi8632@aol.com