about neil

I was born in Windsor, Slough, and moved to Harrow in London after my second birthday. I am the younger of two brothers, a role that in itself demands both patience and strength! Because my mother was teaching yoga since I was a child, yoga was always a part of my life. I grew up around classes and students and my mum recalls me playing around the students pretending to do postures as a child, I guess that would be the beginning of my life with yoga.

My mother, Tara Patel, taught for over 25 years in London. My grandfather was a yogi of sorts - very disciplined, simple, and spiritual. Interestingly, my great-grandfather was a similar way. He was a pilgrim in India, who according to relatives disappeared on a bare foot pilgrimage into the forests of India in his late thirties…some say he was eaten by a tiger. I might decide to go that way if I get bored one day....!

There does seem to be a keen interest in yoga, meditation etc on my mother's side. Maybe that’s part of the reason I took to yoga and meditation so fast – who knows? One thing that always strikes me as odd though is how I came to teach this subject and find yoga...sometimes I feel it was pre-destined for me....again, who knows??