While our founder, Despina has set up and manages the school, we also have some talented, passionate people helping with the teaching, admin side of things, and publicity. AYM is an amazingly effective, but little known method in the UK. We are working collectively to support the AYM community and to ensure that AYM becomes better known and more widely available, so that more people can benefit from receiving treatments.
Teachers
Despina Psarra
Read Despina’s teaching profile here.
Linda Mebus
Linda qualified as a therapist in 2017 and has continued her practice and her training with Despina ever since. Linda has assisted Despina during one 2-week intensive training. Linda came to AYM after a 20-year academic career in training teachers, so she didn’t need us to teach her how to teach! But has completed our workshops facilitator training nonetheless. Linda has began facilitating workshops in the Netherlands in 2023 and will soon be teaching therapist trainings based in Haarlem. She greatly enjoys spreading her love for AYM!
Besides her own teaching, Linda is also working with Despina on the continuous improvement of the AYM UK therapist trainings, assessment and accreditation.
Jacqueline Lawrence
After receiving AYM over many years, Jacqueline qualified as a therapist in 2021. Ever since she qualified, Jacqueline has either attended or assisted with practically all of Despina’s Leeds based small group therapist trainings and workshops – of which there have been a lot! Jacqueline is a meticulous learner, and quickly became one our busiest therapists and our most experienced teaching assistant in the UK. She has also helped Despina to develop the therapist training manuals and videos. Jacqueline’s sensitivity, awareness and ability to support different client and student needs as an AYM teacher has partly been developed through her previous 15 year career as a care and support worker. We have always received excellent feedback from students, as to how well Jacqueline can explain techniques, and how supportive and friendly she is as a teacher.
Assistant teachers
Sam Mulgrew
Sam trained in Sports Massage in 2021 and completed her 200hrs yoga teacher training with Yoga Meditation Healing in 2022. She first came across Ayurvedic Yoga Massage when she attended a workshop with Despina in 2022, and signed up for the therapist training and starting practising straight away afterwards. AYM was an amazing fit for Sam’s skills and approach to wellness and therapy. We have been receiving excellent feedback for her treatments since she started practising. Sam has since completed levels 1-6 training with us and will start assisting Despina on our Glasgow trainings from October 2023. She has also started studying teaching skills with Despina, and will hopefully become the main teacher for some of our Glasgow therapist trainings from 2024.
Sam also practices Reiki and has a background in Naturopathic Nutrition. Working as a baker for many years has helped her develop sensitivity in her hands, and has also spent 5-6 years running Kelvin Pocket cafe in Glasgow! Sam has a deep understanding and compassion for people, which we believe is what makes her such an amazing therapist; and will also make her an excellent teacher.
Administrative support
Roxy Hawkes
Roxy joined us in 2021, after many years of holding an admin role at Leeds Beckett University. She understands how a school runs, and provides excellent support to our students. As a prospective student or graduate, if you need anything (other than questions regarding the AYM technique), Roxy is the person to ask! Roxy has also been receiving AYM treatments for years, and fully understands the value of the technique. She is also a qualified L4 AYM therapist! So she really understands the needs of our students.
Roxy is brilliant at keeping things running, and at thinking creatively about how we can improve our processes to better serve the needs of our students and clients.
You can get in touch with her on email using our contact form or on WhatsApp, on 07579831771, if you need assistance.