Meet our Founder

Hello! I’m Clare . . .

I was only 23 when I found yoga and trained as a teacher. I was lucky ~ I had found my passion and loved it! A few years later in 2006 I found out I was expecting. It was a huge surprise. I needed yoga more than ever to help me cope with all the changes happening in my life and in my body.

I put everything into practice; breathing, movement, relaxations and mindfulness to help me each day ~ using all these techniques to prepare for birth and what was to come. After having my son, I wanted to share these amazing practices to help others. So when he was only 6 months old, I returned to teaching and LushTums was born!!

25 years on, you'll still find me teaching in my favourite studio in the heart of Brighton's North Laines. Seeing how much my classes were helping people, I decided to train others to share LushTums far and wide. So far I've trained over 150 teachers since 2013 ~ so now you'll find LushTums classes all over the UK and around the world.

A chapter we're proud of ~ 2019 to 2026

In 2019 a new chapter began when I joined forces with Clair McGill ~ a LushTums-trained teacher, brilliant organiser and passionate advocate for what we do ~ to form LushTums Yoga Ltd together. Over the following seven years, Clair and I worked hard to grow and develop the brand. Together we created the LushTums At Home online video platform, launched and produced the LushTums podcast, nurtured and grew our wonderful teacher community, developed CPD opportunities and trained and supported a new generation of pregnancy yoga teachers across the UK and beyond. We are both incredibly proud of everything we built together and of the community of teachers and students that surrounds LushTums today ~ that is entirely down to all of you.

In June 2026, after much reflection, Clair and I decided the time had come to explore our own separate next chapters. It was a mutual and considered decision, made with respect, gratitude and genuine warmth for everything we shared. Clair continues to teach her own wonderful classes and I continue to run LushTums — rooted in the same values, the same passion for birth and the same commitment to the women we serve that has been at the heart of this work since 2007.

And the story continues…

If you'd like to train and join our wonderful community you can! We have also made a lovely video collection of all our much loved signature practices for people who can't make it to our in-person classes. Or you can join us on the mat ~ LushTums teachers are in many locations ~ and we’d love to welcome you!

Much love always,
Clare xx

MORE INFO ABOUT OUR FOUNDER:

I am a Senior Yoga Teacher registered withYoga Alliance Professionals andFEDANT. I have professional experience teaching yoga for around 25 years. I completed my Doula Training ( 2012) with Kate Woods founder of Conscious Birthing; and I have supported numerous people before, during and after childbirth. I am an Antenatal Educator (since 2006). All our Teacher Training content has been thoroughly assessed by midwife colleagues and is fully accredited by FEDANT; giving us the best mark of excellence in this field.

I think it’s important to know ones yoga lineage. I lived in San Francisco to train with Tony Sanchez, founding director of the United States Yoga Association and the San Francisco Yoga Studio; creator of a system called Yoga Challenge, based on the 84 classic asanas taught at Ghosh’s College of Physical Education in Calcutta, India, where Sanchez was certified in 1979. The college was established in 1923 by Bishnu Ghosh and his brother Paramahansa Yogananda, founder of the Self-Realization Fellowship.

A few years after completing this year long 200hr training, I developed the Yoga History and Philosophy module for Tony and then completed a further 300hr Intermediate & Advanced training with Mark Acquaviva who had trained with Gary Carter, Diane Long, Sophy Hoare and directly with Vanda Scaravelli herself. I practiced with Peter Blackaby and John Stirk and wove in the beautiful somatic practices that Scaravelli Yoga inspires. I have also completed an Anatomy ABC Training with the wonderful Joanne Avison.

By the time I had my son in 2006 I was passionate about offering yoga and all its myriad of benefits to help mums-to-be and new mums, having experienced those benefits for myself.

In my time, I have worked with tens of thousands of women and their families, spoken at numerous conferences, lectured at midwifery events and sparked many discussions on making birth positive and empowering on social media and within my community. It’s been my life-long passion and I would be delighted to share this with you on one of our trainings.