Welcome to Womankind Yoga & Therapies. Founded in Swansea, South Wales in 2013, by myself, Helen Wilson.
My story
Someone recently told me that yoga probably saved my life. And when I reflect back on the things I have moved through, they were probably right.
Before qualifying as a yoga teacher, in my 20s, I was actually a senior level news reporter and media manager in South West England. After six years of working in high-stress, corporate environments, I suffered a nervous breakdown which left me unable to leave the house for several months.
The turning point came when I started practising yoga and learned to calm myself using pranayama. Within a year I was back on my feet, working for a vegan charity in Bristol and attending Ashtanga Yoga classes several times a week, around 2008. Yoga became my life-line and love and vowed that when I turned 30 I would train as a teacher.
My teachers
After the birth of my first son in 2012, I moved to Swansea and began my first 200hr YTT with Yoga Satsanga Ashram in West Wales, shortly after which I founded Womankind Yoga Wales. The foundations of my teaching are credited to my teachers there, Yogacharya Jnandev Giri and Yogacharini Deepika. I went onto complete 500hrs of advanced training with them (YAP certified). Credit must also be given to the lineage of Yogamaharishi Dr. Swami Gitananda Giri, via the teachings of his son and successor, Yogacharya Dr Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani, whose teachings I have studied and practised.
Between 2018-2023 I completed over 150hrs of additional and advanced training at The Green House School of Yoga in Swansea.
I am also qualified in Pregnancy Yoga, Restorative Yoga and Menopause Yoga and have undertaken a 24hr training in Trauma Awareness.
My life and yoga
During the ten years training, I had two young children, got married, moved house and then in 2017 and 2020, both of my parents died suddenly in traumatic circumstances. These events uncovered the true effect childhood trauma had had on me – and it was clear that yoga had taught me how to manage my mental health and nervous system more than I ever realised. I am a survivor of Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.
As a result of this life experience, many hours of yoga practice, training and teaching, I have developed my own unique style of heart-opening, grounding and honest yoga that helps people find the heart of their own strength, as I did.
My teaching and Beach Yoga
I have taught in various venues across Swansea, on retreats and at festivals, but my main studio to this day, is the beach. In 2014, I launched Beach Yoga Swansea Bay, with the aim of bringing yoga to women from all walks of life. A donation only and no-booking policy set the scene for this and in the proceeding years, the class went onto become the largest Beach Yoga Class in Europe, regularly attracting between 80-100 people on some evenings in the summer.
Beach Yoga has featured in The Guardian and in OM Yoga Magazine. It is renowned for its friendliness, community feel and accessibility.
Dozens of women are brought together to practice a welcoming, inclusive, holistic hatha yoga – creating a community.
In Autumn 2024, WKY’s first Yoga Teacher Training programme in Yoga for Women began.
Other trainings completed
80hrs Pregnancy Yoga at Yoga Satsanga Ashram, West Wales
24hrs Trauma Awareness Training, Green House School of Yoga, Swansea
40hrs Restorative Yoga Teacher Training with Mel Skinner, Bristol
40hrs Menopause Yoga Teacher Training with Petra Coveney
I am a registered and insured Senior Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance Professionals. This accreditation demonstrates excellent standards as set by Yoga Alliance Professionals. I have completed more than 5,000 hours of teaching and training.
In 2026, after benefitting greatly from massage treatments for many years, I decided to add Level 3 Massage Therapy training to my portfolio, training with the Lake District School of Massage.