Alice Panascia shares her story of Birthlight training in Perinatal Yoga, Postnatal Yoga, Baby and Toddler Yoga and what she has been doing since.
Moving to London in my mid-twenties with a background in Media and Photography, I always harbored a quiet dream of becoming a yoga teacher. However, self-doubt, time, and financial constraints kept it on hold until my early thirties. When I finally took the leap, I committed fully—completing a 500-hour British Wheel of Yoga training over weekends in two years.
During a module on pregnancy, my teacher, Bram Williams, mentioned the pioneering work of Dr. Françoise Freedman, praising Birthlight as the gold standard for perinatal yoga training. Shortly after, I found out I was pregnant.
Growing up, my understanding of childbirth was shaped entirely by my mother’s memories: the frightening, traumatic birth of my brother in the 1970s, followed by a somewhat gentler, better experience when I was born in the 1980s.
Coming from Italy—where childbirth is heavily medicalised, C-section rates are high, and fear around birth is common—the UK maternity system was a revelation. I was amazed to learn about midwife-led units and home births.
Realising how little I actually knew about the actual process, I set out to educate myself. I dove headfirst into books and scientific research, eager to understand the physiological and psychological aspects of birthing.
I trusted my body, embraced active birthing, and was fortunate to have a transformative water birth with my daughter.
That experience reshaped my life.
Motherhood turned out to be surprisingly joyful. My mum was able to stay for the first month, but once I was on my own, I unlocked a whole community of parent and baby classes. From postnatal yoga and music groups to those nostalgic baby cinema outings (which I miss so much!), those early days became a wonderful, connected adventure.
When my daughter was five months old, we joined Birthlight parent-and-baby swimming classes with Peter Abu-Jabir. The deep connection built in the water laid the foundation for both my children (now 7 and 11) to become competitive swimmers.
When my daughter was eleven months, driven by my passion for perinatal health and motherhood, I trained in Perinatal Yoga with Kirsteen Ruffell, followed a few months after by Postnatal Yoga with Belinda Staplehurst. Then, Mum & Baby, Toddler Yoga, as well as workshops (Preventing, Repairing Diastasis Recti and Birth Preparation) with Françoise and Kirsteen.
My teaching path unfolded naturally. In 2016, I began assisting Maxine Cohen, a well-established Birthlight teacher in East London, soon covering her classes while launching my own at local studios and Poplar Union, a community arts hub. My classes became very popular and my Toddler Yoga class became a vibrant, thriving community hub in its own right—a place where lasting friendships were formed.
I’ll never forget when a new mother of an adoptive toddler told me, “Thanks to your class, I learned how to become a mother.”
While the pandemic disrupted local community spaces and yoga studio, it also eventually opened new doors for me. Over the years, I pivoted to working extensively with nurseries, schools, charities, community centres and council-funded initiatives across Newham, Tower Hamlets, and Camden, alongside indipendent yoga studios.
Birthlight gave me far more than just technical training—it gave me the confidence to step into my true self. In the beginning, I felt deeply insecure teaching in English as my second language. Over time, I realised that my accent didn’t matter; what resonated with parents was my preparation, warmth, and sense of humor. Laughter is such a cathartic, essential part of my classes, a golden thread shared by Birthlight teachers everywhere.Today, I am blessed with a full teaching schedule that fits beautifully around my own family life.
Birthlight was the springboard that nurtured my passion for connecting mothers, parents, carers, children and building support networks across our community. Holding space for these moments is a true privilege, and I consider my work one of the most rewarding jobs in the world.
You can connect with Alice here:
@alipanyoga
See our upcoming trainings in Perinatal Yoga, Postnatal Yoga, Baby and Toddler Yoga with Birthlight on our training schedule: https://birthlight.com/training/
Read other teachers’ experiences of training with Birthlight: https://birthlight.com/blogs/