Who, why, where…

I’m Natalie, and I own and run Start Bay Studio, as well as Yoga Field & Sea (a luxury Yoga retreat business here in South Devon). Our lovely studio is is right in the heart of the beautiful village of Torcross, where the post office used to be, just a few steps from the ocean.

I grew up here, originally in Stokenham, and then Chillington, so I spent my childhood right here on Torcross beach buying lollipops and ice creams from Mrs Dunlop at the post office during summer.

I spent the last couple of decades working in very stressful corporate jobs, living overseas in different continents, having three kids, and generally just spinning lots of plates. This hectic/ busy/ stressful life, in Seattle, with endless long days of plane travel and desk time, coupled with pretty severe scoliosis (sideways curvature of the spine) resulted in some nasty pain. I call it the ‘Nat wobble’ as I lost my way a little bit for a while, and it really rocked me.

Enter Yoga into my life. It saved me from my wobble, and freed me of pain, so I studied my 200 hour Teacher Training, and then my 500 hours, all in America.

Yoga got me through horrible covid lockdowns, with a full time job, 5000 miles away from family, with 3 kids to home school at the same time. And very importantly, it enabled me to become pain free.

Now I am back in Devon, living in Slapton, and have rediscovered sea swimming, my second passion after Yoga. Actually it might be my first! I’m grateful every day to be able to plunge into that beautiful cold ocean outside the studio.

Opening the studio in Torcross was a special moment for me. The goal is to offer quality yoga, open to all ages and abilities, enabling everyone in the local area to have access to a very special discipline. It’s stretching, yes. It’s gaining strength, yes. It’s building up flexibility, yes. But it’s so much more than that, it’s creating health, it’s maintaining mobility, it’s feeling good, it’s making new friends, it’s humbling, it’s progressing and it might even save you from a wobble.

Come and join me for a class any time, you will be well looked after, no matter how stiff, immobile or scared you are. You’ll leave with a smile on your face, as so many of our customers already do.