Hello! My name is Dr. Katherine Jones (I go by Katie)! And I am veterinarian specializing in canine sports medicine & rehabilitation, practicing in Cardiff and Swansea, Wales. I am from Sterling, Virginia, USA, and first fell in love with Cardiff in 2014 while on holiday. When the opportunity arose for me to practice in my chosen field AND live in Cardiff (the land of Doctor Who, dragons, and castles), I packed up three bags and my Golden Retriever, Roku, and made Cardiff my home in December 2018. As I started to get involved in Cardiff life, I was seeking an opportunity to meet new people in my area while also fitting in a healthy routine. Studio Space came up in a lucky google search, and I had just started classes this past January. Then the March COVID19 Lockdown hit. And from there the Studio Space virtual offerings of yoga, and pilates became apart of my weekly lockdown routine, keeping me fit and sane particularly through the March-May period while I was self isolating. Now, Studio Space still provides a lovely and safe outlet as I have returned to work in this new normal we all find ourselves in. I cannot thank Team Studio Space enough, for providing a wonderful sense of community, mindfulness and accessibility through all of their classes. It’s truly been a positive highlight of my 2020 experience, for which I am most grateful.
Why do you practise yoga/pilates (what does it mean to you)?
I have always wanted to try yoga. I used to practice Jow Ga Kung Fu, under Grandmaster Hoy K. Lee when living in the States, but unfortunately found myself needing to pause my training after recovering from a shoulder injury prior to my move to Wales. Once settled in Cardiff, I needed to find a way to rehabilitate my shoulder, and yoga practice seemed like the perfect way to work on flexibility with the addition of pilates to rediscover my strength. The sensibility of yoga practice also really seemed like a great fit, much akin to what I loved in Kung Fu. I love the whole body whole mind approach to the yoga and pilates combo. A match made I think… -What is your favourite posture / stretch and why? I love the cobra & upward dog pose. Initially with my shoulder injury, I found the pose very difficult to achieve, but with practice and patience I find it now to be a very rewarding, strengthening and an opening stretch. My happy accomplishment of my lockdown yoga/pilates!
What is in your wellbeing toolkit? What do you do to take care of your wellbeing? Oooo. Good question. I’m very mindful of the two parts of myself. Veterinarian and writer. I need both to be in balance, particularly with what I do in veterinary medicine so making sure I’m taking care of all of me is quite important. I love food. I spend my weekends making sure the meal planning is in full gear so that my plates are colorful through the week, and I really love creating a delicious plate of food. And sharing it. I’m totally one of those people 😉 Cardiff is FULL of amazing independents with fresh sustainable ingredients and it has been a joy to discover what a foodie market hub Cardiff really is. Roku. I could not have made this move on my own without him. He inspires, he makes me smile and I am forever in awe of the power of the human animal bond; especially in this time of plague. And Zoom. It’s been vital in helping me stay connected to family and friends abroad. Yay virtual Studio Space Yoga/pilates! It’s also been lovely to enjoy the medium of Zoom theatre with such amazing groups such as The Show Must Go Online & the Sun and Moon Theatre Read-a-thons. I think we are lucky to have access to such technology, as it’s been a great medium for our artists and creatives to reach out to audiences during the pandemic.
Do you have a favourite mantra/saying you live by? “Enjoy the journey.” This was shared with me in the early days of veterinary school from my mentor, Dr. Cynthia Otto. It’s always a good reminder for me that we often get caught up in trying to fast forward to our destination, and we then loose sight of the process that it took to get there. Take everything in, the ups and the downs. The detours. And the roads less traveled by. Every chapter it takes to get to where we want to go is just as valuable as the grand finale.
Find Katie and Roku on: Instagram
