Natalie Winterson opened up The Mind Pantry in White Cottage Courtyard last month, offering alternative and holistic therpaies such as yoga, reiki, sound baths and counselling.

"My background is mental health and education," said Natalie. "I used to work at Turning Point, but now I have decided to go out on my own. I found yoga and breathwork helped me on my own healing journey, and now I have a space to deliver them."

And Natalie is hoping to show people that yoga isn't just for the "super bendy" and Instagram, but that anyone can do it, and reap the physical and emotional benefits.

"Yoga has got quite a bad reputation in some ways," said Natalie. "There's lots of things wrong with the industry, and the way it is portrayed on social media doesn't help. The philosophy of it has got lost along the way I think.

"Yoga is really good for your mobility, for back health, for releasing energy and also for processing trauma.

"The way I teach it is for stress and anxiety management. The style of yoga I am qualified to teach is ashtanga vinyasa, vinyasa flow and yin. The style i actually teach most often falls into more of a moving meditation based on all three. I combine breath work, movement and meditation to balance the nervous system to manage stress and anxiety more effectively, with a focus on yoga philosophy where appropriate depending on what comes up in each class.

"You certainly don't have to be mega bendy – although that does come with practice – and you definitely don't have to look like the people you see on Instagram. I certainly don't! I am just a normal 42-year-old woman, and when people come, they see that."

Natalie is passionate about encouraging people to use practices such as yoga to improve their mental health.

"There is absolutely a place for medicine," she says. "But there are other things that can help too. I think that over the last couple of years, people have become a lot more aware of their mental health, and have stopped to take stock of their lives. And a lot of people have realised that maybe there are things that are holding them back.

"There is a lot of talk about kindness at the moment, and I believe that it has to start with yourself. You can't pour from an empty jug and if you don't have firm boundaries in your day to day life you can end up burning out pleasing others and this spills into resentments etc and can for sure effect the way we engage in our relationships. There's also an element of self awareness which is important, often we can't #bekind if we aren't aware of our own triggers. Most judgements and criticism of others comes from a situation which taps into something in our own subconscious. Again this can relate to yoga philosophy but also human psychology.

"At the Mind Pantry I want to open the door to healing, from nervous system regulation (yoga and breath) holistic therapies, but also taking it as far as personal development using counselling skills and coaching. I work with many people who just feel stuck in life and can't figure out why, it usually comes down to belief systems and or trauma."

For more information, follow The Mind Pantry on Facebook and on Instagram @welcome_to_the_mind_pantry