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
Despina is our main teacher. 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.
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 has been assisting Despina on our Glasgow trainings since October 2023, including taking on teaching sections of the training – which has gone amazingly well! Sam has also been studying teaching skills with Despina, and will be the main teacher for our Glasgow therapist trainings from autumn 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 is incredibly grounded and has a deep understanding and compassion for people, which we believe is what makes her such an amazing therapist and teacher.
Trainee teachers
Amy Byars
Amy brings a calmness and centredness to her treatments and teaching. She has been a committed practitioner since 2021, returning to our trainings often to deepen and enrich her AYM practice. We receive excellent feedback for her treatments and she was an excellent student in our spring 2023 training in teaching workshops.