I'm a yoga and movement instructor based in South-East London.

I teach one-to-one classes and group classes at my well-equipped home studio in leafy Forest Hill (SE23) and in other studios across London. If you're interested in classes please give me a call on 07980 838122 or email me hello@yogamonkey.studio.

About Me

Having tried a few yoga classes here and there I started a regular practice in 2012 as a remedial activity to support my aerial circus training. However, following a nasty bicycle accident in 2014 (suffering a right sterno-clavicular dislocation and broken jaw) I had to avoid high-impact activities and embraced yoga as my path to wellness and recovery. From this point yoga began to be the bedrock of my life and I started to practice 5 or 6 times a week. Shortly after this I sat my first 10-day Vipassana meditation course which opened up my internal awareness and has hugely influenced my yoga practice. I now try and sit a 10-day course once a year if possible.

In 2018 I went to Bali to undertake a 200-hour (RYS-200) teaching qualification and studied under Joy (Kunkanit) Phrombut and Ricardo Martin of It's Yoga Satellite (a.k.a. Bright Yoga). The training focused on Ashtanga Yoga sequences as well parts of the Rocket series as created by Larry Schultz.

I've since undertaken an additional 50-hour advanced Ashtanga teacher training with the legendary David Swenson (author of Ashtanga Yoga - The Practice Manual - a.k.a. The Bible) and Ram Jain at the Arhanta Yoga Ashram in the Netherlands.

My personal yoga practice is quite varied... I love Ashtanga Yoga. The Ashtanga sequences can be challenging but the tradition demands you commit the entire sequences to memory — with each movement linked to and in- or out-breath — and as such it is like playing a piece of music. Under the traditional Mysore-style practice students enter the studio and undertake their yoga practice in silence and complete it in their own time, whilst a teacher moves around the room offering assistance and adjustments to all, as required. It's a beautiful thing.

I find the discipline of Ashtanga is helpfully counter-balanced with some more playful practices, such as Dharma Yoga (a dynamic style in the Hatha-Raja tradition) or Rocket Yoga (derived by Larry Schultz from Ashtanga).

Apart from yoga I have studied martial arts since I was a kid when I began training in judo aged seven. Since then I have dabbled in a great many arts (Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Jeet Kune Do, Kung Fu, you name it!) before ultimately settling on Muay Thai (Thai Boxing) the "Art of Eight Limbs". After training for a few years I realised that hitting people / getting hit wasn't for me (although I still like hitting the bag whenever I get the chance) and cast my net wider in search of movement disciplines.

I took a two-week dance summer school at Trinity Laban in 2012 and started training in aerial circus at the same time and have never looked back! Well, apart from that pesky bike accident! I currently train in Chinese Pole, Rope (Corde Lisse) and Straps at My Aerial Home in South London.

Outside of the movement world you can find me playing music and performing — kesterhynds.com — or designing and building websites at KOMOKO.

Kester Hynds Yoga Monkey 🐒 is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance, which acknowledges the completion of a yoga teacher training with a Registered Yoga School (RYS).

Contact Me

Phone: +44 7980 838122
Email: hello@yogamonkey.studio