Teachers
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Rachel Pereira
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga & Kundalini Yoga
I began practising Yoga in 2001 as a way to exercise while isolated at home when my son was ill. I soon noticed other benefits – I was calmer, more patient and more able to process the emotions that my son's illness triggered.
Yoga became a big part of my life and I felt drawn to share it with others. During my Yoga classes, I encourage mindful use of the breath in order for you to relax and revitalise as well as develop ever-increasing awareness of the ways energy moves in your body. We move between yoga postures in a flowing way to bring both strength and softness to the body. My Yoga classes always conclude with deep relaxation to give your body and mind time to absorb the benefits of your practice.
I trained as a teacher in Melbourne with Renee Goodman (Gurujivan) and taught in Melbourne before moving to Brisbane in August 2006. I have since trained with Adam and Akash Bornstein (founders of Radiant Light Yoga) and it is their influence that most strongly informs my teaching style.
Jessica White
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
My classes create safe space for you to explore yoga in a way that suits your unique body and temperament. The vinyasa flow style warms and opens the body and encourages you to practise staying present – a skill that can be taken to many other aspects of your life. I include poses that develop strength and flexibility, finishing with pranayama (breath exercises) and deep relaxation so the benefits of the practice are absorbed.
I originally came to yoga with the aim of improving my physical fitness and calming my mind. I was a Natural Medicine student during many of these years and came to rely on my yoga practice more and more to find balance and manage stress. I wanted to know more about the physical and spiritual practices of yoga and enrolled in the Radiant Light Yoga Teacher Training program.
I soon realised that Yoga can be a powerful tool for self-healing and even better, preventative therapy. It brings me great joy to share what I have learned with others and to assist them to take responsibility for their health and well being.
Hanan McGrory
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
With a background in teaching group fitness and personal training, my intention when studying Yoga was to broaden my repertoire of classes. But my training gave me more than I had bargained for! Along with amazing health and fitness benefits, I discovered Yoga's ability to bring personal and spiritual growth.
That was in 2000 and my passion for sharing yoga with others has not waned. My classes, taught in the Radiant Light Yoga style encourage you to feel your Yoga practice 'from the inside out' in order to develop awareness of the flow of energy in the body. Along the way, we increase flexibility and build the strength to stabilise our bodies.
Rebecca Simpson
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
Like many people I was drawn to yoga for the obvious physical benefits, balance and relaxation. After taking a few classes I was amazed by the vibrant yet calming energy that yoga devotees seemed to radiate.
I studied under Akash and Adam Bornstein with the intention of deepening my personal practice, but discovered an immense joy in sharing my experiences and knowledge of yoga with others and I began to teach.
I teach Radiant Light Yoga which is a graceful, flowing style of Hatha Yoga with an emphasis on activating the flow of Prana (life-force) and directing it through the body, promoting self healing and releasing both physical and emotional blockages.
I lead students through the practice of asanas (physical postures), pranayama (breathing) and relaxation. Combining these equally important aspects of yoga unites the mind, body and spirit.
I am passionate about making yoga accessible to everyone of any age, culture or religion. You do not have to withdraw from everyday life and meditate on a mountain top to become connected to the universe. It is my aim for students to leave my class with a renewed sense of health and wellbeing and a deeper connection to their true self.
Geoff Brooks
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
My practice and teaching is inspired by many teachers from a variety of styles of Yoga. My study includes different forms of Hatha Yoga in Sydney, Byron Bay and San Francisco...with my primary influences being Iyengar and Anusara.
After spending years of practice mirroring poses through much effort, I, like most of my peers, sustained injury...
This was my blessing in disguise; through physical limitation my practice turned inward. Essentially I was focusing so much on the outer aspect of the form that something had to give. What has developed since then is a path to obtain "Yoga" - a union between the Mind (by knowledge and focus), Body (by freedom of movement and alignment) and Spirit (through surrender and compassion).
The intent is to have the student focus on developing their own inner awareness through Pranayama and Meditative techniques and building a solid foundation in all Asanas in order to have a fulfilled, safe practice.
The class itself contains static, flowing and opening poses to build upon the union.
Emily Jeavons
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
I began practicing yoga regularly when I was 18, as a way to help alleviate pain in my lower back. Not only did I find this crippling pain begin to shift, but I also observed that my body was becoming more flexible and was developing muscular strength. My mind was starting to calm and become more focussed and I was able to tap into a sense of peaceful space whenever I found myself in a stressful or busy situation.
Yoga was such an important part of my life that I wanted to delve into teaching to learn how to share it with others. I trained in the Radiant Light style with Adam and Akash Bornstein, and immediately loved the sense of flow which comes through connecting breath with movement. It brings me great joy to be able to share yoga with others.
James Mannion
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
Since discovering yoga in 1998 I have found that it is a great way to bring awareness into the body, helping me to disengage from thinking and become acquainted with the subtle frequencies of the life in the body. After about one year of attending regular classes, I had a profound experience beyond body and mind. That was the first of many subsequent realisations about the true nature of life and existence. My classes are guided by that ongoing opening into source and the integration of that into everyday life.
My hatha vinyasa style yoga classes create a nurtured space of openness while fully engaging the body in a dynamic, safe and fun flow of asanas (poses), uniting breath, movement and awareness.
Natalie Brazil
Pregnancy Yoga
My ongoing practice of Yoga enables me to feel rejuvenated, more flexible and in harmony with my body and its rhythms. I feel uplifted and inspired daily.
I was first inspired to practice Yoga when travelling in India in 2000. I explored a variety of different schools before discovering Bikram Yoga, in London. My first Bikram Yoga class was a transformative experience. I continued my yoga practice back in Australia, even while pregnant and was inspired to incorporate Yoga completely into my life.
I trained to be a teacher at the Byron Yoga Centre in 2009 and I have a Certificate in Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training for Conscious Birthing, which I studied with Canadian teacher, Janice Clarfield.
My classes include Pranayama (breathing), Asana (physical poses), as well as meditation and relaxation. I have a respect for safety and correct alignment, while maintaining the flow and the art of Yoga and I encourage you to tune in deeply to the needs of your own body.
Simone Dewar
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
I have been practising yoga since 2000 and my personal practice is a gift I give myself each day. Yoga enables me to stay focused, flexible in body and mind, balanced and rejuvenated.
I trained as a yoga teacher with Radiant Light Yoga and my teaching follows this flowing Hatha Yoga style. Setting a clear intention for our practice, pranayama (breathing), asanas (physical poses) and deep relaxation are explored in each class. Throughout the class we focus on moving with our breath, exploring lines of energy in our poses, modifying poses to your body, opening our hearts and watching the inner process of the mind.
It is my intention to create yoga classes in which we feel safe and nurtured. In this space, we can all learn to listen to and trust ourselves and become more familiar with our own body and mind.
Hazel Butterworth
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
I began practising yoga ten years ago and have been teaching for five years. My practising and teaching draws from a variety of traditions; though I have predominantly trained through the Gertrude Street Yoga Studio in Melbourne with Paul Wooden.
My calling to yoga began in direct response to a strong sense of confusion, anxiety and fear in my life. From my first yoga class I felt like a fish in water; a sense that there was a deeper element to life that yoga would enable me to recognise.
My intention in a class room setting is to encourage practitioners to explore the cultivation of openness and tenderness in the body, heart and mind. Through the experimentation with the practise of asana; pranayama; meditation and other yoga practises in the class room, we cultivate an intimate and equanimous relationship with our own experience. It is this intimacy that we carry out into our lives; enabling us to fully live in a generous heartfelt way within the stable ground of our own deepest nature.
Joanna Van Der Merwe
Hatha Vinyasa Yoga
I came to yoga with the hope that it would help me find a balance in my frantic corporate life, and ending up discovering solace and clarity through my yoga practice. Over the years, yoga has remained my steadfast companion, increasing my physical flexibility and strength, healing old injuries and calming my ever restless mind.
For me, yoga is a process which we can follow to find grounding and balance within ourselves and our lives - a way to find calmness in the mind and strength in the body. From the inside out we learn how to connect deeper within ourselves, in order to find the strength and happiness that we seek. It is a place we can 'come back to' when we have 'lost our way'. It takes us away from what we are conditioned to seeing and feeling. With the support of yoga we will seek and find change. As a yoga practitioner and teacher, I believe that if we want to change or achieve something, with time and dedication it can become.
I have trained to become a teacher in Yin Yoga with Victor Chng and Vinyasa Flow Yoga with Michel Besnard in Thailand.
