By Maria Zannides · 5 min read
Overcoming Addiction Through Yoga: From Here to Serenity
Often there are happy endings but troubled beginnings. Maria reflects on yoga, connection and the first steps towards change in addiction recovery.
Read articleA Pathway through The Body
With Maria
Creative Flow
Saturdays 9am-10am
Easy like Sunday Morning
Sundays 9am-10am
Relax and ReNew
Mondays 7.30pm-8.30pm
Freedom
The practice of yoga is the commitment to become established in the state of freedom.
Meet Your Teacher
About Maria
Maria is a 200hr RYS accredited by IYN Teacher with 10 years of teaching experience and three decades of personal practice. She has guided students at Nuffield gyms, David Lloyds, Virgin Active, and worked in addiction and mental health therapy at Camden & Islington NHS Foundation Trust and The Priory Clinics.
Maria’s 10 Guiding Principles
Quiet anchors for the practice - on the mat and off it.
01
Show up - even when you don't feel like it. The mat is always there.
02
Practice with patience. Yoga is a slow, honest conversation with yourself.
03
Listen inward. The breath is your most reliable teacher.
04
Move from the inside out - let the body lead, not the ambition.
05
Honour where you are today. Every practice is complete in itself.
06
Soften the effort. Strength grows in the spaces between the poses.
07
Balance is not stillness - it is the dance between holding on and letting go.
08
Connect breath, body, and heart. This is the practice of presence.
09
Make space for stillness. Inwardness is where the transformation lives.
10
Carry the practice off the mat - let it shape how you live, not just how you move.
Why Yoga?
🌸
Movement.
Finding this coveted space deep within our minds and bodies requires making time for a purposeful escape; an opportunity to disengage from the demands of every day Life so as to reconnect with ourselves. Its not about forcing the body. Instead its about noticing. You will start to see how habits like clenching, slumping and gripping or favouring one side of the body. We then affect change through awareness and alignment to transform movement.
🕊️
Meditation
Meditation is not the practise of perfect stillness. It is the practise of beginning again with grace. Over and over breath after breath.
🌙
Philosophy.
Maybe the journey isn't about becoming anything. Maybe its about unbecoming everything that isn't really you. So that you can be who you were really meant to be in the first place
Virtual Space
ZOOM
Several times a week for the past few years I share my yoga space virtually with students. We have adapted and have become friends. We open up our hearts, release our bodies, finding that strength and elasticity can co-exist and once we are finished the world is good again.
Join Us:
Saturdays - Creative Flow9am-10am UK time
Sundays - Easy like Sunday Morning9am-10am UK time
Mondays - Relax and ReNew7.30pm-8.30pm UK time
£5 per class via bank transfer
Cyprus & Online
Live classes
Having moved to the beautiful island of Cyprus this year - live classes will recommence once I have found the people places and things that align with Me - this may take time but thankfully that is now what I have in abundance. One to ones are available now both online or in person. This is where the real work of integration really happens. Working on multiple levels through the body - both energetically and unconsciously - we bridge the gap of what you want and what is possible together.
Practice with Maria:
Group classesReturning in Cyprus — dates to be announced
One-to-one sessionsAvailable now — online or in person
Spain & Cyprus
Retreats
Join me on retreat in Spain or Cyprus. Daily practice, nourishing food and space to slow down and reconnect in two beautiful Mediterranean settings.
Details:
Cyprus13–23 June 2027
Spain25 October–1 November 2027
Our Community
Student Moments
Glimpses from classes, retreats, and the quiet joy of practice shared together.
What People Say
EMMA, LIVE STUDENT
I first came along to Maria's class to improve my strength and fitness but I have discovered that yoga is so much more. I absolutely love the classes, there is always something different, always something familiar, always something for everyone. It's great to challenge yourself but also to see progress and development as you practice. I would highly recommend.
CHRIS, CLINIC PATIENT
Maria, you did more than teach yoga, you taught me patience. What I might have decided as 'sleepytime yoga' and poetry readings with movement actually set a cornerstone in my recovery. I learned that I do not always need to do 'hardcore yoga', move broadly or do not need to be faster, stronger, better and too hard on myself to get through the many things called life. Someday...
KAREN, ZOOM STUDENT
Practising yoga with Maria is always fun! Even on the occasions when I am tired when I arrive on my mat I was completely into doing yoga on zoom at the start of lockdown. But after just one trial lesson, I was totally engaged with the approach and rapidly joined up to 5 sessions a week. Once you get started it's just like Maria is there in the room with you. She carefully monitors...
Words from Maria
Maria’s Blog
Reflections on yoga, recovery and finding our way — on and off the mat.
Future Trips
Yoga Retreats 2027
Two Mediterranean escapes — space to slow down, reconnect and deepen your practice in Spain and Cyprus.
SPAIN
Half an hour from Barcelona, near the coast
Sitges - Almiral de la Font
Monday 25 October - Monday 1 November 2027
Shared Room
£1,150
Own Room
£1,750
Rates are fixed to maintain equal value for all guests (no individual discounts offered).
A substantial residence with superb facilities half an hour from Barcelona. Private chef. The lovely town of Sitges nearby on the coast. Peace, connection & nature - a week to slow down, deepen your practice and return to yourself.
What’s Included:
- Daily yoga practices
- All food prepared by private chef
- Soft drinks, teas, coffees and snacks
- Comfortable accommodation in beautiful surroundings
Not Included:
- Flights
- Transfers
- Excursions
- Massages
Booking information — SPAIN
A £100 non-refundable deposit secures your spot. The balance is due 8 weeks before arrival. Travel insurance is recommended. Complete the Spain booking form and contact Maria to arrange your booking.
Cyprus
Pegeia, above Paphos — St George sea caves
Welcome to Aphrodite’s Island
13–23 June 2027 · 10 nights
Shared room · shared bathroom
£2,750
Solo room · en-suite
£3,250
The island of Cyprus is rooted in Mediterranean culture and offers the perfect backdrop to look within and reconnect with yourself. In the warm, balmy days of June, we can slow down, soften and enjoy beaches, nature, charming villages and well-known landmarks before the busiest summer crowds. Our private, gated villa sits in 2,000 square metres in the peaceful hills of Pegeia, above Paphos, with breathtaking views over the Mediterranean Sea. With eight bedrooms, six bathrooms and a multitude of outdoor spaces, there is room both to gather and to retreat. Set in the beautiful St George sea caves area, the villa offers a 12m × 6m infinity pool with a built-in jacuzzi, air conditioning throughout, al fresco dining, an outdoor bar, citrus orchards, a herb garden, a pool table and table tennis. Four bedrooms are en-suite; the remaining bedrooms share bathrooms. There are four twin rooms.
What’s Included:
- 10 nights’ accommodation
- All daily meals: fresh, nourishing brunch, healthy snacks and fruit, and gourmet dinners
- Yoga practice twice a day, plus individual deep dives offering further support
- Airport transfers and transport for all group visits
- Curated day trips and excursions to experience Cyprus beyond the villa
Not Included:
- Flights
- Massages
- Alcohol
- Travel insurance
Booking information — Cyprus
Secure your place with a 10% deposit by bank transfer and return the completed Cyprus booking form to Maria. Further instalments are due at the end of December 2026, the end of February 2027 and in April 2027, with full payment by 13 May 2027. The deposit is non-refundable unless the retreat is cancelled by the villa owner or Maria, in which case it is refunded in full. Your own travel insurance is recommended.
Important Booking Information
Each retreat has its own booking form, deposit and payment arrangements. Please read the information for your chosen trip and contact Maria by WhatsApp, SMS or email to arrange your booking.
Philosophy
To begin again.
In this fast-paced, ever-changing world we now Live in - so much cannot be relied upon; from our Governments to the weather, to our livelihood.
What we can rely on is our own growth. Well-being means showing up for ourselves and our practice.
I can help You create a yoga practice that offers you the time and space to attend live classes at a local venue, from the comfort of your home via Zoom, or by joining Us at one of two beautiful locations in Europe on a Retreat this year.
Contact
Please feel free to contact me by phone or email,
Or alternatively fill in the form below, and I will
get back to you as soon as I can.
Subscribe for Updates & Classes
Be the first to hear about new classes, retreats and seasonal schedules.