Julie Martin

Julie, the Director of Brahmani Yoga, is an established Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow Yoga teacher previously based in Brighton, United Kingdom. Coming from a background as a professional dancer, Julie has always been fascinated in the workings of the body and how the relationship between the body, mind and spirit are inextricably linked. She has worked with various forms of yoga and many talented teachers. She has also studied intensively with Derek Ireland, Kristina Ireland, John Scott, Gingi Lee as well as Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy.

Julie believes that all forms of yoga are accessible to everyone as long as they are practised and guided with awareness. She also instills the idea of personal freedom in individuals to enable then to make the practice their own.

• Julie will be teaching throughout the season.
• You can email Julie direct by clicking here.

Melanie Cooper

Melanie has been practicing Astanga for 12 years and teaching for 9. She has a background in massage and healing and brings this experience and knowledge to her adjustments and teaching. She is Hamish Hendry's apprentice in London and has studied with him and assisted him for three years. She has also studied with Guruji in Mysore, Nancy Gilgoff and Julie Martin in Goa.

She is an experienced and dedicated student and teacher of yoga and her love and enthusiasm for yoga comes across in her teaching.

Rachel Hull

Rachel is one of Australia's most diverse Yoga instructors, and has taught Yoga privately and/ or as part of teacher training programs within Australia and internationally - including Byron Bay, Bali, Kuala Lumpur, Singapore, India, Vietnam and Shanghai. She has been practicing Yoga for 19 years, commenced her apprenticeship in 1992, and isregistered with Yoga Alliance at the highest level: E-RYT 500. As well as studies in a variety of styles of Yoga - including Iyengar, Ashtanga and Vinyasa, Rachel devoted two years to the study of Ayurveda. She incorporates this as well as influences from Pilates, organic movement and Kriya Yoga, into her classes. Rachel was employed for years, as Senior teacher on many Yoga Arts and Yogalates trainings, and until recently, was Senior Teacher and Director of Teacher Training at Y+ Yoga Center in Shanghai, China.

From her new home base in Ubud, Bali, she plans to run her Shakti Spirit Yoga Health Retreats and workshops. Rachel is also the Senior Teacher and Director of the Shakti Spirit/ Brahmani Yoga 8 week Teacher Training Intensive, to be held in February/ March 2008. For more information, see her website: www.shaktispirit.com

• Rachel will be teaching Vinyasa Flow classes from January until the end of the season.

Ashley Bond

Ashley's early yoga practice was in the Sivananda tradition studying in both India and London before discovering Ashtanga Vinyasa over 5 years ago. She is now a fully committed and devoted practitioner and has been lucky enough to study under the guidance of many senior teachers including Patthabi Jois. Between 2001 and 2003 she taught and studied in Southern Thailand where she also learnt many styles and forms of Thai yoga massage. 2003 brought Ashley back to the UK and Brighton Natural Health Centre where she was taught and apprenticed under Julie Martin.

In 2004/5 Ashley had the wonderful experience of teaching at the Brahmani Yoga Drop-In Centre and is looking forward to returning later this year after a stop in Mysore and a summer in Crete studying under the guidance of Radha and Pierre.

Ashley is a recommended massage therapist at Brahmani Yoga.

• Ashley will be teaching throughout the season.

Jaya Jaks

Jaya attended her first yoga class here in Goa back in 1995. As a global traveller she has spent many years exploring various countries and cultures and discovering the magic of yoga. On her path, Jaya has studied with many great teachers, including Louisa Sear, Glenn Ceresoli, Pankaj Sharma and Clive Sheridan. In 2003 she completed an intensive 9 month yoga teacher training at Yoga Arts, Byron Bay, Australia. For the last few seasons Jaya has been assisting and teaching classes in Goa and during the summertime she is travelling, retreating and teaching in Europe.

Jaya is attending a Yin Teacher Training with Sarah Powers in the autumn and will be incorporating this technique within her classes.

Joanne Tchortov

Joanne has been a dedicated practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga since 1997. She completed a Teacher Training program in 2005 at The Downward Dog Yoga Centre, with Ron Reid and Diane Bruni. She values a daily practice and enjoys sharing her love of yoga. Joanne has been teaching yoga classes in Toronto and will be teaching and assisting in the morning classes throughout the season.
Joanne is also the General Manager at Brahmani Yoga. You can email her directly by clicking here.

Anna Smallwood

Anna Smallwood was first introduced to yoga nine years ago as part of her intensive training as Professional Contemporary Dancer. She has trained with a number of senior teachers in Europe, Australia and in India.

Anna completed her teacher training at Brahmani Yoga with Julie Martin and has since been teaching in Melbourne, Australia.

She enjoys sharing her understanding and love for yoga with others and is dedicated to a daily practice.

Nathan Gray

Nathan has been practising Yoga for 12 years and has been teaching in East Anglia, England for the past 6 years. Nathan runs a successful Yoga & Holistic Health Company in the U.K and also teaches retreats in Tuscany, Italy with colleague Stefania Giangregorio, as well as being director of The Fitness Angels, a fund raising group of Health & Fitness professionals in East Anglia.

Helen Noakes

Helen has been practicing and discovering hatha yoga for around ten years. This journey brought her into the inspirations and teachings of Vanda Scaravelli where she signed up and completed a two year teacher training course with Gary Carter at natural Bodies in Brighton. This technique, inviting the body to unwind and release using the breath and gravity as a tool, has transformed her life. It has a profound influence on her other body work where she practices the art of Chavutti Thirumal - massage by foot pressure. Helen lived in India for one year where she discovered and learned Indian Rope Massage and has been running a practice with this, Swedish massage, and Reiki attunements for over six years.

Liz Warrington

Liz has studied and practiced yoga for 16 years. During which time she met her teachers Diane Long and Sophie Hoare, among the very few to have been trained by Vanda Scaravelli. Vanda is perhaps best known for her beautiful book "Awakening the Spine" and it is the essence of her work that Liz teaches. She emphasises the use of the breath to both undo the body, release tension and to allow the elongation of the spine - the key to our well-being. Inviting students to bring attention to the ground as a source of rest, and to see the poses not as something into which the body need be pushed or pulled, but instead, as framework for the discovery of joyful, light movement.

Emil Wendel

Emil was born in Switzerland and has been in Asia since the mid-seventies, studying Sanskrit and Indian Dharma, as well as Chinese Philosophy and Taoism. Following the Hatha-Yoga tradition of his main teacher, Clive Sheridan, Emil advocates and teaches a method of merging asanas, pranayama and dhyana to develop and deepen a yoga practice beyond the mere physical experience.

He is instructing at various workshops and teacher trainings in Europe and Asia on the subjects of yoga philosophy and its main traditions. When not on assignment, Emil travels the world teaching workshops and retreats in various places. Emil will be teaching in December and January only (Julie Martin and Melanie Cooper, long term students of Emil’s will be teaching the Pranayama and Meditation for the rest of the season).