Writing an “About Me” it is a little strange as I have a very British thing about not wanting to come across as boasting. I come from the country that created the “tall poppy” syndrome. Yet, I do feel that I have been really truly blessed somehow, to have met the right people at the right time and to change the perceived trajectory of my life if based on my early years. I was born in Gloucester and grew up in a very small English seaside town. My parents were devout Sufis, following a teacher called Ian Dallas, who became Dr. Abdalqadir as-Sufi in Morocco, a charismatic leader of a Sufi order. My name was Habiba. That did not go down well in the 70’s in Dorset.

What having this hippy Sufi alternative upbringing did do is set me up to be different. As much as that led to xenophobic bullying as a child, it helped me to notice that I was different than the other kids. I escaped through dance from the age of 5. I was luckily mentored by an incredible woman who knew the bigger world out there. She would tell me daily “work your socks off girl and you’ll be anything you want, and then I want you to get out of here.” Reflecting, she was the catalyst for the incredible opportunities, those socks definitely were pulled up and I flew out of there as soon as I was 16.

By 22, I was a professional choreographer in London and the USA, and founded a dance company that toured extensively. During this time I collaborated with musicians Howie B, Dobie, Sie, A-Cyde, Billy Bizniz, Nitin Sawhney and created work for Sadlers Wells with Rob Gallagher (Earl Zinger) from Galliano. I choreographed over 40+ music videos for artists such as Blur, Manic Street Preachers, Funeral for a Friend, The Bees as well as choreographing regularly for Top of the Pops and for film, working with Garth Jennings on films and various commercials. This work took me to New York c.1997, and a choreographer named Doug Elkins, who was creating incredible work fusing modern dance and old school b-boy style dance. This was a golden age of exploration of movement in New York. One day, I walked past a place called Jivamukti Yoga, a little colourful space down on the lower East side, and walked in. Catalyst for change number two. I began teaching yoga and meditation in 1999.

I founded a Yoga TT School in 2009 in London. It was the first certified RYS in the UK specifically training teachers in the Vinyasa Yoga method, as part of the Krishnamacharya lineage. Since then many established and talented teachers have been through this programme and I have focused hard to make these trainings detailed, rigorous and philosophically deep at the same time building lifelong friendships. A highlight of that time in the 2000’s was working extensively with Yoga Journal (see some of this work in the Press section). I taught at the conferences in the US, created sequences and shot many photoshoots for YJ, a seminal yoga magazine at the time. In 2007 with an amazing team I creative directed an award-winning Yoga DVD on the original vinyasa method that was also inspired by my training in Kundalini Yoga.

For me, creative expression overrides normalcy, led by a curiosity in everything the physical and esoteric body is capable of. Creating movement(s) through collaboration with incredible people has always been the driving force, as is music. Music, for me, is the stem that blossoms every waking thought and feeling. I cannot separate movement and music from ‘me’. Music is my medicine in every conceivable way.

I trust in the creative process and that it will bring me steadiness and support in all forms. I continue to be as curious about the embodiment of esoteric anatomy as I am on the potential of the physical somatic layers. Movement in all forms, as internal and somatic enquiry that embody an external connection to nature and human potential.

I am a teacher, always have been and always will be, I believe teaching is gift that should be treasured. My experience as a teacher shows me the human ability to heal, grow in intellectual capacity and physical stability, and watching beautiful humans in movement practices that move their soul is what keeps me dedicated to passing on and holding a place for learning. I continue to be a student and have a daily Sadhana where my life is laid bare before me, in the presence of a sacred thread to my teachers.

My Sadhana is the time to heal, understand my personal and collective history, get back into my body. Yoga gives me a dedication to connection through teaching in all forms. I’m just doing that, passing on what I know at the moment, with more to come…

Tall Poppy syndrome indeed.