What I wish everyone knew about their nervous system - 9:50-10:30am

After more than 5 years of training in Nervous System health and Somatics, I know that your nervous system runs your life. It is continuously collecting data from which, combined with your own unique life experiences (i.e. what kept you safe before) it chooses the nervous system state most likely to keep you alive.

So, here’s what I wish everyone knew about their nervous system and what I’ll be talking to you about at the Norwich Yoga Festival:

Self-Sabotage is not real – it’s a nervous system capacity issue.

How your Nervous System collects the data to determine in each moment whether you are safe or not safe and how you can support your nervous system to interpret the data more accurately.

What systems of the body are physiologically impacted by chronic stress (i.e. a nervous system stuck in a survival state).

Nervous System in three steps: Inputs – Interpretations – Outputs and How outputs like pain, lack of mobility (ROM), emotional reactions, your inner critic thoughts, your beliefs about yourself, all mirror your current nervous system state.

How suppressing your emotions creates inflammation in your body which can lead to physical symptoms (such as pain, anxiety, burn out).

Instagram: @maxine.gilmartin

https://www.maxinegilmartin.com

Finding Your Way Back to You - 10:40-11:20am

A hopeful, straight talking session for midlife women navigating change and wanting to feel more like themselves again. I'll reframe menopause as a transition that can bring renewed confidence and energy, sharing gentle ways to move through this stage with more ease. This is a conversation that leaves women feeling seen, reassured and excited about what’s possible next.

Instagram @essexmenopausecoach

Guided Mindful Self-Massage - 11:30-12:10

A gentle, grounding session designed to help you slow down and tune into your body. Through simple guided self-massage techniques, you’ll explore ways to release tension, reset your nervous system, and create a deeper sense of connection with yourself. Expect a calm, welcoming space with practical tools you can take away and use in everyday life.

Sarah Deakin is a chartered physiotherapist, deep tissue and sports massage therapist, and Pilates teacher. She specialises in women’s health, is a Mummy MOT practitioner, and works from The Space in Burston, as well as offering pelvic health physiotherapy with Boudica Physio in Norwich.

Sarah first discovered self-massage while working at a yoga retreat 13 years ago, and has continued to develop this practice through her studies and clinical work. She has since run self-massage workshops at festivals, Pilates and wellness events, and within treatments. Her work is rooted in helping people feel stronger, more informed, and more at home in their bodies.

@sarah.physio.pilates

physio.pilates.sarah@gmail.com

Mind, emotion and moment - 12:20-1:00pm

As a work psychologist, I bring an evidence-based yet deeply human approach to state management and mental fitness, bridging modern psychology, neuroscience, and embodied awareness.

This talk will explore how our mental and emotional states are shaped moment-to-moment and how we can intentionally train them, much like the body, to support clarity, resilience, and wellbeing.

Norwich yogis will learn practical tools to recognise their current state, understand what influences it (thoughts, physiology, environment, attention), and gently shift it when needed. The session blends psychological insight with simple experiential practices, making it highly accessible, grounded, and immediately applicable both on and off the mat, in work, relationships and daily life.

Instagram: @charlotte.psychology

Website: https://charlottecourtenay.com

When life doesn't go to plan: Asking for help with TimeNorfolk - 1:10-1:50pm

2:00-2:40pm

Yoga isn’t apolitical, neither is trauma healing. You’re part of something bigger. My approach to trauma healing is deeply rooted both in trauma theory, and a political and community based approach to care. I want to explore and challenge some of the ways healing is often marketed to us, and how this robs us of true healing and liberation. From boiling healing down to a series of training tools, to treating mental health as a personal problem to solve or manage, we will explore the ways in which we may become further disconnected from ourselves, and how we might find our way back. 

During this session, we will talk about common misunderstandings when it comes to trauma work, how trauma sensitive body work actually works, what the main pillars of the trauma sensitive approach are, and how we might apply them to our lives. We explore both individual and collective healing, and look at how we can’t have one without the other. We can heal whilst growing, hold capacity without having to silence ourselves, and feel safe without feeling small. We feel it together, so we must also heal it together. 

@emilybeeyoga

Creating your body confidence - 2:50-3:30pm

Meet Vic Mandi one of the co founders of Femme Coaching.

This talk is about redefining how you see, feel and think about your body. It explores the drivers of confidence which run deeper than dieting, your thoughts, habits, and identity.

You’ll learn why quick fixes fail, how to move from a restrictive mindset to empowerment, and practical ways to feel more in control around food, exercise, and self-perception.

This session aims to educate you about your body and mind, reveal where you may have been going wrong, and help you move towards empowerment. Expect honest insights, relatable experiences, and simple tools to build lasting, grounded confidence from the inside out.

How to Step into Your Purpose - 3:40-4:20pm

Are you devoted to finding your purpose yet somehow despite your best efforts, it eludes you?

In this talk, I will peel back the curtains of my own journey to reveal how I uncovered my own soul’s purpose and show you how you can uncover yours’ ?

When you have time to let me know if I’m hitting the right tone

Yoga Philosophy 4:30-5:10pm

Learn about the philosophy of yoga, the age and origins - 5000 years ago in India as a path to freedom from suffering

The history of yoga the Adi Yogi Lord shiva creator of the science behind yoga.

Discover a taste for the Yoga Sutras, and Patanjali 8 limbs, which is a practical guide from ethical living and breath-work to meditation and union.

Yoga isn’t escaping life, but meeting it fully — with steadiness, kindness, and clarity. On the mat you practice. Off the mat, you live it.