hen actress Leah Bracknell left Emmerdale, she landed her first theatre role in 17 years.

Nerves soon set in – but once Leah had unrolled her yoga mat backstage, they disappeared.

“I hadn’t been on stage for such a long time. I kept thinking ‘What have I done?’” says Leah.

“Then I took my yoga mat to my dressing-room and did an hour of yoga before I went on stage. I was amazed at how calm I was. I even felt excited about going on stage.”

It isn’t just Leah’s acting career that yoga helps with. She practises it every day and says it has changed her life; helping with everything from stress relief to posture.

Leah shot to fame playing troubled vet Zoe Tate in Emmerdale, and was at the centre of some of the Yorkshire soap’s most dramatic storylines.

More recently, she has filmed scenes for the new series of ITV crime drama DCI Banks and appeared in BBC1 drama Doctors.

She is also a qualified yoga teacher, and this week she launched classes at the DM Academy in Shipley.

“For some people, joining a class can be intimidating, but this isn’t the ‘legs up behind your back’ kind of yoga. People of any age or size can do it, and you don’t need to have done yoga before,” says Leah.

“It’s not about stretching the body into impossible positions. I teach it in a nurturing way. People say they feel very calm afterwards.”

Leah started doing yoga a decade ago and has been teaching it for several years. She has released two DVDs – Yoga And You and Yoga For Life.

“I got into it when I was a working mum with two young children,” she says. “I belonged to a gym and used to look through a window at a yoga class, thinking ‘that looks good’. I didn’t join for two years, but after my first class I came out feeling like I was on Cloud Nine. “I loved it. It was my time – an hour out of the week I really looked forward to. Busy mums will identify with that.”

For Leah, the beauty of yoga is that it can be slotted into a busy day. “Yoga teaches simple tools and you can take it around with you,” she says.

“My preferred time is morning. Instead of stressing out over all the things you’ve got on that day, just ten minutes of yoga de-clutters the mind and helps you approach the day in a positive way. Yoga works on releasing stale energy that gets blocked around the body.”

Benefits of yoga include increasing flexibility in joints, ligaments, tendons and muscles; improving respiration and circulation; relieving stress; toning and detoxing and boosting energy.

Breathing techniques can be practised anywhere, from the office to the car. “Yoga slows breathing down and helps calm the mind,” says Leah.

“Put your hand on your tummy as you breathe and for five minutes follow the passage of breath in through the nose and out again. You can do it at a traffic jam or a supermarket queue. Concentrating on breathing makes you feel calmer – give it a go sitting at your desk.”

Just talking to Leah on the phone makes me feel relaxed. She started teaching yoga because she was keen to share it.

“I’ve seen people’s postures change really quickly,” she says. “Yoga is really accessible; you listen to your body and work to your limits.

“When I first went to a class, there were ladies in their 60s who held themselves so well and had a lovely inner-confidence. I’ve taught ladies in their late-80s and people with MS.

“When I met the DM ladies, I was struck by how motivated they were. Then I saw their room and thought it would be a great place to teach yoga. “ Yoga has become increasingly popular in recent years, partly because of stars such as Madonna and Gwyneth Paltrow, who are regularly snapped clutching a yoga mat under their well-toned arms. “In the West we’re conditioned to think physically; people see them and think, ‘I want a body like that’. Yoga can aid weight control and tone the body, but it’s about strengthening mind as well as body,” says Leah.

“I focus on the spiritual side, too. It’s not a religion, but it’s been around a few thousand years, so it’s tried and tested!

“I teach yoga from my own perspective – I look at what it has done for me. I feel stronger now than ten years ago, and more confident about my body. I cannot stress enough what an impact yoga has had on my life.”

Leah Bracknell’s yoga classes, at DM Academy, Briggate, Shipley, are on Mondays from 11.15am to 12.15pm. She is also launching a weekly Thursday class on June 16 from 7pm to 8pm. For more details, call 07531 439486, or visit leahbracknell yoga.com. Yoga For Life is available at high street retailers and online, priced £14.99.