Supporting women navigate transitions in life to reconnect with themselves and find balance on a physical, mental and emotional level.
About
Awake Yoga supports uniqueness, inclusion and agency.
When I first set up this website, it was named Art Awake, after a program I created to help reignite creativity using the tools of yoga. Creativity, joy, and connection are a natural part of a balanced life, therefore, for simplicity, I shortened the name to Awake Yoga.
For me, being awake describes a process of deepening self-awareness, and being guided from a certainty within myself. This awareness empowers me to take steps to bring my life to balance, Wherever my starting point is.
Awake yoga is for women going through transitions on a physical, mental, and emotional level. In the process of realigning with their meaning and purpose in life.
We are all unique, and there is no one pathway to balance. Each one of us is on a journey that remains dynamic as long as we are alive. Change is a natural part of our journey.
As a Yoga Therapist and trauma-informed teacher of functional yoga, I love helping others reconnect with themselves to find balance in their lives on a physical, mental, and emotional level.
Awake Yoga collaborates with several talented yoga teachers, therapists and medical professionals to offer relevant information, training, and practices.
Our Vision and Mission
Helping women in transition take steps to
balance and fulfillment.
Sharing knowledge and embodied practices from traditional yoga to modern science, Awake Yoga supports women, especially in the 50+ age group, nurture resilience and move to balance on a physical, mental, and emotional level, aligning with their meaning and purpose in life.
About Natasha Gunn,
Founder of Awake Yoga
Born to a Maltese mother and British father, I grew up traveling extensively, cultivating a deep appreciation for cultural diversity and an expansive worldview.
Though I appeared to have everything I needed, my early years were marked by emotional intensity that later surfaced as an eating disorder in adolescence. After completing a psychology degree in Scotland, I took recovery into my own hands and moved to London in 1983.
Fiercely self-reliant, I avoided committed relationships and sought fulfilment externally — always searching for balance. It often felt like I was on the run, taking refuge in alcohol and surrounding myself with talented but troubled souls.
In 1987, my life took a pivotal turn. I left my job in London and moved to Paris, where I began expressing my inner world through painting, poetry, and drawing. A decade later, after a series of major life events, I relocated to Amsterdam. There, my career as a writer and editor thrived — but beneath professional success, I felt a longing for deeper alignment.
“In oneself lies the whole world and if you know how to look and learn, the door is there and the key is in your hand. Nobody on earth can give you either the key or the door to open, except yourself.”
~ U. G. Krishnamurti
A silent Buddhist retreat first opened the door. Yoga followed in 2003, bringing with it a profound journey into embodiment and self-inquiry. Meditation revealed deep-seated patterns of tension and self-criticism, but it also created space. In 2007, I completed my first yoga teacher training — the beginning of a long path toward personal and professional integration.
The births of my daughters in 1999 and 2000 further transformed my understanding of connection — to others, to myself, and to the wider world. My healing journey deepened, informed by a growing awareness of relational patterns and the importance of inner stability.
I’ve always experienced the world in a way that felt slightly off the beaten path — with strong intuitive insights, sensitivity to complexity, and a nonlinear way of making connections. Understanding that these traits — which some describe as neurodivergent — are simply part of who I am has helped me reframe them not as ‘too much’ or ‘not enough,’ but as different, and deeply valuable.
I’ve learned that “no” is a complete sentence. But so is “yes.” Saying yes to the life I want to live has empowered me to live it — with clarity, courage, and care.
Today, I support others in reconnecting with their inner wisdom through embodied practices, creative expression, and the safe, intentional use of microdosing. In 2024, I qualified as a yoga therapist, deepening my capacity to hold space for transformation, and I am currently completing an accredited training as a microdosing facilitator.
My approach is inclusive, integrative, trauma-aware, and grounded in decades of lived and professional experience.
“Since attending yoga classes with Natasha, my mobility and strength has improved, I can walk further than before, my leg is hardly giving way and l have more of an acceptance and understanding of my body since my surgery.
“The overall positive impact in using yoga as a therapy
for recovery has been the connection of mind and body.”
My Approach
- Exercises to clarify and prioritize the first step
- Access resources within yourself to help support your growth
- Nurture your resilience
- Develop a sustainable practice
- Create relevant lifestyle changes
- Experience how steps in one area positively impact other areas
For instance, by working on strengthening your bones or improving your posture, using movement and breathing, will change how you approach relaxation, sleep and nutrition.
“And the day came when the risk to remain tight in a bud was more
painful than the risk it took to blossom.”
~ Anais Nin
Free Video
What ground am I standing on?
In this FREE video I invite you to investigate where you are now in relation to the world, yourself, and others. You can also Download the PDF to accompany the video in this exercise.
