The vision for Teen Yoga Flow Cornwall began in 2021, driven by a desire to offer local young people a practical, holistic and scientifically proven way to create wellbeing. The provision evolved gradually and by summer 2023 we launched our first summer courses in mid Cornwall. We now teach regular classes in Truro, support various secondary schools in Cornwall, and design yoga and mindfulness experiences that help teens to flourish.
 
Victoria Finch is the founder and lead yoga teacher for Teen Yoga Flow Cornwall. An educator for more than 15 years, she has taught wellbeing, mindfulness and yoga to young people in various school settings, both in the UK and internationally. She trained with the Mindfulness in Schools Project (MiSP UK) in 2016, is a 200-hour registered adult yoga teacher and gained her Teen Yoga certification (with Level 3 Sport England Coach Award) with the Teen Yoga Foundation in 2021. Victoria is also a Youth Mental Health First Aider (MHFA), and a fully qualified secondary school teacher (with QTS with an enhanced DBS). Dedicated to developing her own yoga practice, she is studying towards her 500 hour Adult RYT certification, teaching adult yoga classes too, in Mylor Bridge and Ponsanooth.

"Wellbeing is a great buzz word these days, but how do we actually create it? Many don't know how, and were never taught, which is why I feel so strongly that this has to start in our younger years, whether at school or at home. Yoga is so much more than exercise - it is an experience of flow, peace and power, uniting the body with the mind. A way to wellbeing even."

Victoria also works for the Breck Foundation, covering Cornwall, teaching the signs of online grooming, and volunteers for the NSPCC, regularly visiting primary schools in Cornwall to deliver their safeguarding workshops. Her third sector work demonstrates a commitment to the 'yamas' and 'niyamas' of yoga (meaning positive moral and social duties) by helping to protect children from all kinds of harm.

"They say, you don't learn to swim whilst you're drowning... and we don't learn wellbeing when we often need it the most. Yoga teaches the skills to cope and build resilience in a proactive way, BEFORE it all feels too much... It takes a bit of practice, but it is possible to cultivate a sense of wellbeing, one breath at a time... "