About Stretch NI
Victoria Cunningham-Downey
Hello there! I am Victoria - the founder of Stretch NI. After doing youth work by day and teaching yoga by night I developed successful charity Stretch & Play for children and young people back in 2006. I then created Stretch NI in late-2009 to work specifically with adults (mostly because children are harder task-masters than grown-ups and I was exhausted!). My Stretch NI yoga, Pilates and specially-created Yoga-Lattes classes are designed to be fun and effective workouts. I also deliver meditation and stress management courses (which I LURRVVVE) as well as professional development including the Stretch NI Pilates Matwork Instructor Training and Stretch & Play Children's Yoga Teacher training, both of which are accredited by Active IQ.
I hold an MA Honours degree in English Literature and Sociology and an MSc in Marketing as well as numerous certificates and diplomas in youth and community work and training/facilitation. I am a confident practitioner in the fields of youth and community work but it's not where my joy lies. So, in addition to my academic qualifications I am also a highly qualified and experienced yoga and Pilates instructor and children’s yoga teacher trainer. I have been practising yoga for over 20 years (from the womb obv.) and teaching for over 10; while I have been teaching Pilates since 2005 and been teaching yoga teachers since 2006. I am a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 500 hour level and am insured to teach both yoga and Pilates at all levels (including pregnancy yoga). I am very excited to be joining my yoga mentor - Ms Sadie Nardini of Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga - in Mexico in January 2012!
In addition to my Stretch NI physical activity classes, I am a freelance Facilitator for larger Northern Irish charities such as Mindwise and the Ulster Cancer Foundation. I have a range of off-the-shelf training that I can deliver to organisations throughout Northern Ireland and I can also design bespoke programmes of activity which incorporate my unique skills in yoga, youth work, health promotion and community development to suit your needs. Personal Development programmes I deliver include stress management sessions, workplace health intiatives and body awareness training. Professional development programmes I deliver include YogaEd training for school teachers and early years workers as well as the Active IQ Diploma in Instructing Pilates Matwork.
My husband Chris and I are currently (and VERY slowly) working on providing the Stretch NI experience to people in the comfort of their own home using innovative 'podcast' technology. These regular online yoga, Pilates and meditation sessions give you an opportunity to practice when you can't make it to my classes. And, judging by my efforts so far, they will certainly give you a laugh!
Foxy!
Foxy is the resident joy-giver of Stretch NI. He is a Yorkshire Terrier/Pomeranian cross and he's 2 years old. Although he is small, he is top-dog in Victoria's household and is the best practitioner of 'Up Dog' and 'Down Dog' in the world. His hobbies include barking, sniffing, sleeping and eating bones which are much too large for him.