Bio – Mara Musso

Mara’s interest in yoga started in her teens and blossomed in her 20s, when she moved to London. Mara qualified as a yoga teacher with the BWY in 1996. Her thirst for knowledge led her to delve into Buddhist meditation and to study the philosophy of yoga. Over the years Mara has delivered several BWY Foundation Courses, one BWY Teacher’s Diploma Course in Central London, IST days, yoga retreats as well as mentoring trainee yoga teachers for Yoga Campus.

Mara has been invited to teach at the BWY London Yoga Festival, for International Yoga Day and has represented the BWY at the OM Yoga show in London.

In 2024 Mara celebrates 30 years of teaching yoga, having taught her very first yoga class in central London in November 1994! Mara is passionate about teaching yoga as she has witnessed time and time again the deeply transformative effects that body & mind practices have when fully embraced.

As well as offering yoga classes from her home yoga studio in North London and online, Mara has also delivered weekly yoga classes at a secure mental health hospital.

Areas of expertise: teen yoga, trauma-sensitive yoga.

Mara is married to London artist and sculptor Cornelius Guiste. They have a teenage son. It is possible to admire some of Cornelius’s sculptures at The Haven.

QUALIFICATIONS RELATIVE TO TEACHING YOGA:
  • 1994-96 BWY Teacher Training. Qualification: ‘BWY Teaching Diploma’
  • 1996 C&G 7307 ‘Teaching adults’ – Qualification: Certificate
  • 1996-97 ‘Remedial Training Course’ (stage 1) at ‘The Yoga for Health Foundation’ – Qualification: ‘Remedial Training Course Certificate’
  • 1998 BTEC Stress Management Course – Qualification: Certificate
  • 1998-99 BWY Yoga for Pregnancy Training Module – Qualification: ‘Yoga for Pregnancy Teaching Module’
  • 2000-01 ITEC Anatomy & Physiology – Qualification: ‘Diploma in Anatomy & physiology theory’
  • 2001-03 BWY DCT Training Course – Qualification: ‘Licence to train yoga teachers’
  • 2005 BWY Philosophy Module ‘The spiritual heritage of yoga’. Qualification: Certificate.
  • 2011 Yoga Birth Postnatal yoga. Qualification: Certificate
  • 2016 PTSD Training – The Minded Institute. Qualification: Certificate
  • 2018 Teen Yoga & Mindfulness with TeenYoga. Qualification: Certificate
  • 2023 Yoga for the Stages of the Menopause with Yininstinct Yoga – Qualification: Certificate
Nextdoor Neighbourhood Fave

I am very proud of this award and would like to thank all my neighbours who have voted for me. A big thank you from the bottom of my heart. Neighbourhood Faves is Nextdoor brand-new local business awards!

‘And when the body is in silent steadiness, breathe rhythmically through the nostrils with a peaceful ebbing and flowing of breath. The chariot of the mind is drawn by wild horses, and those wild horses have to be tamed.’ (from the Svetasvatara Upanishad, trans by Mascaro)

Foundation Course students graduating, 2015, YBC, London

Foundation Course students , 2014, Central London

Yoga retreats at Florence House in Seaford, East Sussex, 2015-18

International Yoga Day, Central London, 21st June 2016

The British Wheel of Yoga (BWY) -a charity founded in 1965 – offers a range of courses including Teacher Training courses, Foundation courses, In-service training and Teaching Modules. In 1995 the BWY was awarded National Governing Body status by the then Sports Council (now Sports England). The BWY is committed to promoting a greater understanding of yoga and its safe practice through experience, education, study and training.