Ladan Soltani

Ladan Soltani is a yoga, meditation and breathwork teacher and health and well-being coach based in Ealing, West London. She leads yoga and wellness retreats in the Canary Islands and the UK, runs an online yoga and wellness membership, and teaches corporate wellbeing sessions. Her work is gathered under the name "meditation is my medication". She describes herself as still excited, after 30 years of teaching, to help people reconnect with themselves through movement, stillness and simple practices.

Ladan began her health and fitness career in 1989, teaching studio fitness classes and working as a personal trainer. She became a sought-after fitness professional in London, training high-profile clients and teaching freelance at many of the city's exclusive health clubs. She went on to study weight-loss NLP, hypnotherapy and time-line therapy, and qualified as a holistic nutritional therapist, bringing these into her coaching. In 2007 she completed an intensive yoga teacher training at the Sivananda school in the Himalayas, in a monastic environment. In 2008 she completed Ashtanga yoga teacher training in San Francisco, drawn by her interest in the metaphysical side of yoga.

In 2009 she began presenting classes on Sky Television's Fitness TV (channel 282), where viewers voted her best presenter on the channel. Her first DVD, legs, bums & tums, followed. She has written for boots.com, AOL.com, Yahoo and Women's Fitness. She has also contributed to Health & Fitness and Omyoga magazines, blogged for the Huffington Post and written a column for Balance magazine. She taught workshops at Vitality, Mind Body Spirit and the OmYoga show. In December 2010 she launched the book and DVD Fabulous Fitness at 40, about cultivating a positive attitude to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. It led to a TV series aired on the BodyinBalance Sky channel and other networks.

Ladan founded Yoga-Meditation Retreats, which hosts retreats in the UK and Europe. Her Christmas and New Year retreats in Lanzarote, in the Canary Islands, were named in The Guardian's "10 great Christmas getaways" in 2024. Days there begin with yoga, followed by a vegetarian brunch. Evenings bring yin yoga, yoga nidra, breathwork, guided meditation and, on the detox retreat, sound healing and facilitated circles. Her styles include Sivananda-based Hatha and Ashtanga-inspired flows. She also offers an Easter retreat in the UK, as well as virtual and in-person day retreats.

Her online membership is a space for women in midlife, menopause and beyond. It includes weekly live Zoom classes with verbal adjustments, new pre-recorded videos, an on-demand library of yoga, breathwork and meditation, replays, monthly Q&As, a monthly workshop or women's circle, and a community feed. For companies, she teaches virtual yoga, meditation and mindfulness, and breathwork and relaxation. She also offers virtual women's circles, and one-to-one yoga and coaching.

The Lanzarote retreats take place at a private villa with a heated pool, a tennis court and an experience room with sunrise and sunset views. The grounds cover 6,000 square metres. Her Easter retreat is held at Braziers Park in Oxfordshire. It is a Grade II* listed mansion on 55 acres, a residential community founded in 1950 as an educational trust. In West London she teaches weekly yoga classes and monthly workshops. Three Best Rated has ranked her among the top three yoga classes in Ealing since 2016.

Ladan welcomes all levels, including complete beginners, and describes herself as an intuitive guide who adjusts to each student and to the group. Her retreats attract solo travellers and mixed ages and abilities. Her business has won Prestige Awards for yoga services and wellness retreat of the year.