About Cheryl
Hi, I’m Cheryl MacDonald!
I’m an inclusive, not scary, totally normal yet heavily qualified yoga instructor and founder of YogaBellies® and the Birth ROCKS Method. I’m trained in self hypnosis and meditation and what I love is helping women (ALL women) enjoy yoga without having to whisper all the time and wear fancy activewear that cost a month’s rent.
I believe Yoga is for everyone.
How it all began...
I had just got married and had qualified as a yoga teacher. I was looking into having children and knew I wanted to practice yoga during pregnancy. I was properly terrified of giving birth, so if there was a class with ‘pregnancy’ or ‘birth’ in the title, I was there with bells on. However, the pregnancy yoga classes I went to were just awful. There were 50 of us crammed into a cold church hall and I’m pretty confident the teacher had never done yoga in her life. There was no atmosphere, nobody spoke to each other. It was painfully awkward. I looked into hypnobirthing too and although I loved the concepts, what was available just seemed very cheesy and not something that I could fully buy into.
So I started training myself instead.
I became qualified in meditation, tantra and self hypnosis, combined those trainings with my yoga qualifications and created YogaBellies® and the Birth ROCKS Method. This then became yoga for women at every life stage.
I have undertaken training in multiple holistic modalities over the years and I am an E-RYT 500, specializing in women's yoga, health and sexuality. I was the first teacher in the UK to hold the RPYT qualification and have trained hundreds of YogaBellies teachers across the globe.
Then I started teaching and doing things my way.
I wanted a yoga class that wasn’t silent or intimidating. So I created it.
I wanted to learn how to practice yoga safely during my period, during pregnancy and with my baby. So I created it.
I wanted my yoga classes to enhance my life and balance my crazy hormones - not be a punishment to endure because I was trying to ‘be healthy’ or ‘look after myself’. So I created that, too.
I wanted a class that filled UP my cup, rather than becoming just another thing I had to squeeze (reluctantly) into my day.
So I created YogaBellies®.
5 Fun Facts About Me…
I first discovered yoga when I was 10 years old. Checked a book out of the library and read the whole thing cover to cover. Little weirdo.
I’m Scottish.
I’m a slave to Diet Coke and I’ll fight anyone who says Pepsi is better. It’s not.
My favourite movie is Love Actually.
I get up every day and practice yoga at 5am but I won’t make you do that… unless you want to!
find a class now
YogaBellies Instructors are now delivering classes online. Find the class that suits you below.