Teachers

Carolyn Diaz

Teaches Pilates

Carolyn Diaz has worked with the Pilates method since 1993. Injuries sustained as a professional dancer led her to begin as a clinical Pilates instructor, working in physiotherapy clinics. Carolyn’s interest in Eastern-based body therapies has led her to study Butoh muscle and bone with Min Tanaka in Japan. She is also a qualified Shiatsu practitioner, a traditional Thai massage therapist and is currently studying Shaolin martial arts.  Outside the studio, Carolyn works with Somebody’s Daughter Theatre Company, leading body-based workshops in women’s prisons and with marginalised youth in rural Victoria.
APMA Level 1; Diploma Shiatsu & Oriental Therapies

Jamie Power

Teaches Dynamic Yoga

New Zealand-born Jamie began practising at the Yoga Arts Academy in 2002, and has been teaching Yoga Asana in Melbourne for the past two years. He has a degree in fine arts (sculpture) from the University of Auckland, and combines both creativity and calmness during his Yoga sessions. “I’m interested in movement, form, rhythm and vibration all of which I believe find harmony in Yoga, music and sculpture,” says Jamie.

Tomoko Yamasaki

Shiatsu Therapist

Born in Miyazaki, Japan, Tomoko graduated from the Australian Shiatsu College and holds a diploma in Shiatsu and oriental therapies. She offers an intuitive work which developed from her family tradition of ”giving kata-tataki (a shoulder massage) and ashi-fumi (a back of feet massage) to the elders with a respect” when she was a child. Currently, Tomoko also works as a body art therapist and also a dance performer.

Zoe Stark

Teaches Dynamic Yoga

As an Iyengar Yoga practitioner for over 10 years, Zoe was trained at the Clifton Hill Yoga Studio in 2001-2003. Since 2004, she has been practising Shadow Yoga with Shandor Remete, Emma Balnaves and Peter Ujvari. This practice emphasises the breath and bandhas to release, maximise and harness the body’s energy. Zoe also has an acting background, studying at Victoria’s National Theatre Drama School and appearing on TV and on stage.

Jinji Garland

Teaches Pilates

Jinji has a BA , Dip. Dance Teaching & Management and is certified in the Body Control Pilates system (UK).   She recently returned from Europe  where she was dancing with professional companies and teaching Pilates.  She is a member of Body Control Pilates UK and the register of Exercise Professionals, with additional training in Pilates for pregnancy.  She also has training in Skinner Release, Body Mind Centring and Feldenkrais.  In addition to her dance and Pilates activities, she regularly travels to India to practice Ashtanga Yoga.

 

Katie De Araujo

Teaches Yoga

Inspired by the teachings of Pralad of Yoga Arts Academy, Katie teaches a flowing style of yoga that is also informed by her practice of tai chi and chi kung. She has a Bachelor of Arts from Melbourne University and an Advanced Diploma in Yoga. She enjoys the lifestyle of full-time yoga teaching and the time it allows her to be with her family.

Karyn Grenfell

Teaches Ashtanga Yoga

Karyn began practising yoga in 1994, mainly as a tool to help her deal with stressful situations while working as a registered nurse. She began a daily Ashtanga practice in 1997, captivated by the use of the breath and the openness to change that the practice demanded. At the end of ’97, Karyn made her first trip to Mysore, India, to further her journey, studying with Guruji (Sri K Pattabhi Jois) and R Sharath (his grandson), the masters of Ashtanga yoga. Karyn returns annually to her teachers in India, where she is currently an advanced practitioner. In 2001, Guruji authorised her to teach.  Karyn has been teaching yoga full-time since 2002. She tries to inspire others to practise with dedication and patience as her teachers have inspired her.

Helen Gilfillan

Teaches Pilates

Trained at the Australian Pilates Method Association, Helen has been teaching clinical and mat Pilates since 2003. Prior to teaching, she worked in advertising as an art director and tried Pilates because of her chronic lower back pain. She has also practised yoga for more than 30 years, starting as a child with renowned teacher, Mani Finger. Helen has many creative interests including playing the piano, lino-printing and etching.
APMA Level 1 certified.

Nina Davine

Teaches Dynamic Yoga

After completing her teaching training at Gertrude Street Yoga in Fitzroy, Nina has practised various styles of meditation for the past 12 years. During this time, she has also had five years of martial arts training and is currently practising tai chi. Completing a nursing degree, she divides her time between studying and being a Yoga instructor, hairdresser and drug and alcohol youth worker.

Mindy Thiessen

Teaches Pilates

US-born Mindy has been a qualified group and personal fitness trainer for 11 years and has been teaching Pilates for the past four years. Her teaching style promotes strength, flexibility and efficient movement through body and mind integration. She also teaches Posture & Flexibility classes and has a special interest in creating wellness, self-awareness and living pain-free through movement and exercise.  US-born Mindy is also a qualified massage therapist.

Katrina Kormendy

Teaches Pilates

Aimee Challies

Teaches Pilates

Aimee discovered Pilates in 1999 while rehabilitating from a dance injury.   Enjoying first hand the huge impact Pilates can have on your mind and body, she was able to spend many more years studying Classical Ballet and Contemporary Dance - injury free. Her great belief in Pilates motivated her to become a Certified Pilates Practitioner with Polestar International.  She now enjoys helping others in achieving the many benefits of Pilates in their lives.

Georgia King

Teaches Iyengar Yoga

Georgia began practising Yoga in 1991, spending a decade studying with Iyengar Yoga teachers, Lulu Bull and Alan Goode. She completed her teacher training in the Iyengar system in 2004, and is currently holding her Introductory Level 1 certificate, issued by the BKS Iyengar Association of Australia. Now  in preparation for her Introductory Level 2 Assessment, Georgia views yoga to be a lifelong study.

Amanda Hartzler

Teaches Ashtanga Yoga

US-born Amanda moved to Byron Bay, NSW, seven years ago to begin her teacher training with Louise Sears at Yoga Arts. She then became a student of senior Australian Ashtanga teacher Dena Kingsberg and completed a three-year advanced practitioner training, followed by two years as Dena’s apprentice. Amanda recently relocated to Melbourne to continue teaching yoga and complete post-graduate studies in landscape architecture. She has also spent three extended periods studying with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath in Mysore, India.

Antonia Pont

Teaches Meditation and Yoga

After studying Zen for the past decade, Antonia has completed a teaching certificate with the Yoga Teachers Association of Australia.  At Studio Cirq, she leads the Meditation courses.  When not teaching Yoga and meditation, she is completing a PhD degree, exploring ontology, time and memory in both theoretical and creative contexts.

Dale Sandwith

Teaches Yoga

Completing his four year yoga teaching apprenticeship at Yoga Arts Academy, in 2004, Dale has taught  and practiced yoga in Melbourne and  Cairns.    He studied acrobatic  circus arts the Beijing International
Art School, and is adeptat the Northern Chinese Wushu forms, Fei Cha (Chinese stick juggling) and Hand balancing.  He is now completing his Diploma in Shiatsu and Oriental Therapies.

Jasmin Johnston

Teaches Yoga

Orignally trained as a silver and goldsmith, Jasmin teaches Sakshin Ghatastha Yoga, a flowing style of Yoga with strong emphasis on the breath and correct structural alignment of the body.   She is currently doing a four-year full-time teacher training apprenticeship and teaches Dynamic Yoga at Studio Cirq.

Louisa Duckett

Teaches Dao in Yoga

Louisa has studied and taught tai chi, and dance for more than fifteen years. In the past five years she has added chi gong and dao yin to her teaching qualifications.   While training as a dancer she became interested in the internal arts and went on to complete a degree in Traditional Chinese Medicine.  She practices TCM in Melbourne.