Dubliner Sinéad O’Connor discovered yoga in her 20s while undertaking a gruelling dance training programme which took her to Madrid, Amsterdam and New York.

After studying under famous yoga teachers, including Dharma Mittra, who is known as the ‘‘teacher’s teacher’’, O’Connor returned to Dublin and is now an accomplished yoga instructor. Last year, she set up Hush Yoga, which offers week-long boutique luxury yoga holidays overseas.

‘‘My passion is dance, but I found it to be such a competitive and stressful career choice, especially in New York, that I turned to yoga to de-stress and relax,” she said.

‘‘Flexibility and physical fitness from dance training helped my yoga studies. I started training in New York under Dharma Mittra, who called me Shakti Om, which means Zest for Life. I also studied under Sarah Lewis, Paddy McGrath and Danny Paradise and I continue to study under Bridget Woods-Kramer.”

O’Connor set up her yoga classes when she returned to Dublin, and offers classes to corporate clients, such as Arup Consulting Engineers, Dell Computer and Citibank, and one-to-one sessions for stressed business people. She is currently a teacher at the Yoga Dublin Studios in Ranelagh. Hush Yoga was set up last year and is offering yoga holidays to two destinations in Ibiza and one in New York this year.

The first holiday to Ibiza takes place from May 23 to 30 and guests will stay at the Villa Ariba y Abajo on the north of the island. The property sits atop a wooded valley and has ocean views, private swimming pools and courtyards.

The second trip takes place at the end of September and guests will stay at the hip Atzaro hotel, a converted century-old farmhouse which counts Kate Moss and Sienna Miller as fans.

The New York trip takes place in October and will incorporate a tour of different yoga centres, as well as leisure time to shop and have fun. The holidays cost from €1,950 before flights and details are available at www.hushyoga.com.

‘‘I want people to absorb themselves entirely for a week. Usually, people enjoy one yoga class a week and it’s an effort to make it two classes a week. The impact of enjoying yoga for a full week will help people realise the positive benefits that the practice offers and will let clients slow down, relax and find balance in their busy lives,” she said.