Body & beauty

Normandie Keith Chats Yoga, Sound Baths and Finding Peace

Teaching yoga, meditation and chanting, Normandie Keith shares her spiritual ways with us.

Born in New York before later moving to London to pursue a career as a top model and beauty editor, Normandie isn’t a stranger to the hustle and bustle of city life. Yet, in pursuit of more, she studied many of the world’s spiritual traditions and delved head first into the world of yoga. Leaving on divine guidance, she headed for Los Angeles where she qualified as a kundalini yoga and meditation teacher. Not to mention, she also runs sound baths and retreats! Championing self-love and acceptance, Normandie is a great advocate of wellness, so, naturally, we wanted to find out more about her expert teachings.

I have done yoga since I was about six and I’ve really been amazed by how it can bring me back to an awareness of my body and breath. When I moved to LA, I found kundalini yoga – my true passion and greatest love. Kundalini yoga is different from traditional yoga, as it’s actually a method that works deeply with your energy or life force. It uses movement mantra and mudra [which means seal or closure in Sanskrit] and is a gesture used mostly in meditation to direct the flow of energy by using the hands. This awakens your satnam (mantra), which is your truth, and brings you back to a state of harmony.

I think that there are so many outward stresses in the world today and people are recognising a greater need for inner harmony. If you can find peace in your inner landscape, you will be in a better position to gracefully handle any situation that might arise. I predict that there will be meditation in schools one day because it’s a tool that is simple and everyone can use to help bring them back into their natural rhythm. The health and beauty scene in the US is a little bit more explorative, especially in California where wellness and spirituality is on everyone’s list, but I do believe that everyone in the UK has woken up completely to the need for this conversation. The health and wellness industry in England is flourishing.

Fitting everything in, and balancing work and social life, can be a juggling act. I try to hold things lightly and keep a good sense of humour, knowing that I won’t be able to do it all if I don’t stay present in the moment. I aim to fully be wherever I am at that time and not worry that I’ll be missing something. I try not to think about something in the future, as that will pull me away from the right now. I look at everything with eyes of discovery and aim to keep the wonder and magic of this life in my heart and mind. When it comes to setbacks, I try to surrender all my expectations, I have faith that, if things aren’t going according to my plans or time, there is something better and greater that the universe has in store for me. I remind myself to be grateful and to accept what is and how I would wish it to be.

I swear by drinking plenty of water and laughing a lot! My number one piece of advice is to be happy and appreciate the changes your body goes through as you age, and to look at each stage as being beautiful and magnificent. See the changes with selflove and be happy where you are!

My sound baths are a modality of feelings that use down current and vibration to allow users to release breath and disease from the body, bringing them into a deep state of relaxation and relief. Using traditional instruments, such as the gong singing bowls, rain sticks and drums, users can reconnect with their inner rhythm. My retreat is the perfect way to reboot. You can completely disconnect from the pressures of everyday life and learn new lessons of living radiantly and in harmony with your body.