Hi I’m Nikki May!

When I was 14 years old in 1997, I was diagnosed with a condition called Cavernoma. A Cavernoma is malformed blood vessels in the brain which can leak and bleed. Over the next 15 years one in my brain bleed 6 times causing me 6 strokes. They left me with 50% vision and left sided weakness in my arm and hand.

After my 6th stroke I felt lost, confused, frustrated and lonely. An amazing charity called Headway helped me to get back on my feet and really explore what it was I wanted to do with the next stage of my life and what I was capable of next. Brain injury and stroke have a way of stealing a lot from you. Who you thought you were and what you thought you would do and what life would look like. There is so much grief in this. Headway and Yoga gave me space to explore that grief.

Finding Your New Normal was my response to this. Understanding that it was ok to start fresh from this point. This felt like ground zero. Yoga gave me some amazing tools, friends and support to do this. I practiced regularly for a few years. On my Yoga mat I found space away from the physical pain and emotional pain that stroke had left me with. Whether it was in a flow or holding a pose, practicing breathwork or in a meditation. This was a new kind of freedom. I always adapted the poses to my ability and to my bodies restrictions. I wasn’t doing what everyone else was doing but I didn’t care. In yoga I was happy.

I decided I wanted to go to India, the home of yoga. Could I do it? With my vision and other disabilities. Would it really be a possibility for me?

These are every day struggles for people with accessibility needs. Well this trip was possible and it showed me how asking for and accepting help really will help you to still do the things you dream of. Unfortunately the world isn’t very accessible. So having voices in these areas is so important. The airports are getting there and with the help of a Sunflower lanyard and very helpful accessible teams at the airports travel is starting to become slightly more possible. So I went from someone who was so scared to leave her flat due to all my disabilities to someone boarding a plane to India to become, of all thongs, a Yoga teacher!!!

India welcomed me with open arms, as it does, but also teaches you lots of patience along the way, things are different and nowhere else in the world has ever taught me how to lean so far into trust. When you think everything is about to go completely wrong and fall apart it then somehow falls back into place.

I came home from India just as Covid was taking over the world as we went into lock down and I was no longer able to work in my nail business I found myself wondering what I would do. When out of the blue people an charities started asking me if I could teach yoga for them. It really felt like yoga chose me at this point. I continued my study at this point with various online courses in Yoga for Brain injury, The Philosopshy of yoga, Yoga Nidra and 100 hours meditation training. So coming out of lock down it was only natural for me to continue teaching, starting up classes, running retreats as well as working with the amazing charities.

Over the last few years I found myself more and more frustrated at the in accessibility of the world, from inaccessible venues to unaffordable classes for those that need yoga the most. So I trained in Yoga for Wheelchair users and Accessible yoga both with Accessible Yoga School and I am now working to bring yoga to all those who want access to the practice. Through only working with accessible venues, having a community fund and sliding price scales and teaching the true loving heart of yoga.

My dream is to start a charity to run accessible classes workshops and retreats and to teach accessible yoga to those who’s life has been thrown off the rails whether from disability, illness or other life changing circumstances. Change starts within ourselves and yoga teaches us how to connect with ourselves. Lets work together on change for all.