Nina Saacks

Nina has been teaching Integral Hatha Yoga with her mother since 2004 after graduating from the Ananda Kutir Ashrama in Rondebosch, Cape Town, in 2003. 

Over the years Nina's love for yoga and the very many different forms it comes in has led her to experience Yoga and various additional Yoga based classes and workshops with local and international teachers. All these teachings have influenced her to create her own unique, gentle and therapeutic style, with focus on asanas, pranayama and yoga nidra in each class.  

Her yoga journey continues each and every day in which ever form it manifests opening the space for new opportunities, growth, travel and understanding so that it may be shared and experienced by others too.​

Nina travels regularly so she holds classes, workshops and retreats
​when she is in Cape Town. ​

Juanita

​Juanita: Having more than 9 years of teaching experience with teacher trainings with Ananda Kutir Ashram and advanced teacher training in Rishikesh, India with Jim Harrington, Juanita integrates her passion for Iyengar, Sivananda Yoga and Yoga Synergy into a mindful Hatha class with Vinyasa sequences. The pace gently builds up into sets of sequences which follow from warm ups with flexibility movements, to postures that flow in a Vinyasa form, with recovery static postures in between, to seated and supine poses that end with relaxation. Juanita teaches with mindfulness and gentle calmness to create an overall feeling of wellness and serenity.

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Sharm

Sharm: Everyone in the Monday evening class knows Sharm, her and Margi forming the unmistakable naughty corner, bringing happiness, lightness and fun to each class they’re in. Sharm completed her teacher training course at Ananda Kutir Ashram a few years back and is now finally using her qualification to teach. Sharm has been doing yoga for years (probably longer than Nina's been alive!) and will bring a deeper understanding of the traditional Indian wisdom to the postures and classes. 
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Anneke

I started my yoga journey way back in 2000 as an Integral  Hatha Yoga student at Ananda Katur Ashram in Rondebosch, and finally I landed at Yoga in Tokai with Nina around 2008.
I had been contemplating doing the teacher training course for several years, but when I heard that Nina had teamed up with Pramilla, Rene and Jennifer to form the Academy of Yoga and Ayruveda, I jumped at the opportunity to complete my teacher training with them. I was amongst the first group of students who qualified at the end of 2014.
 
I started teaching general Hatha classes in 2015, but have more recently been teaching Restorative and Gentle Yoga classes on a Tuesday morning. Some of our students may have mobility issues, or perhaps recovering from an injury, or may be new to  yoga practice and looking for a safe place to start. These classes encourage me to slow down, dig deeper, and I have become calmer and more mindful as a teacher, and in my own practice. Our classes include flexibilities , warm up, and working towards a main pose. I include pranayama during, as well as at the end of the class, and I usually end with a visualisation or yoga nidra. I enjoy working with a different theme each week related to various aspects of yoga philosophy.
 
Yoga has been an ongoing healing journey of discovery for me as I learn more about myself and my students.

Piera

​Piera has been practising yoga for 15 years, exploring Integral, Iyengar, Ashtanga and Kundalini yoga before choosing to undergo her teacher training in Integral Yoga and the complementary science of Ayurveda.

She completed the 300-hour yoga teacher training course with the Academy of Yoga and Ayurveda in 2016, and has also studied Yin Yoga and Chinese Medicine for Yoga with Canadian teacher Jennifer Raye.
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Her classes encourage students to tune into the physical and subtle body, becoming more aware of the flow of energy and sensation during their practice, and allowing awareness to move gradually more inward, toward stillness and surrender. She welcomes the opportunity that each class presents to share the joy and light of yoga, and to deepen her own understanding of the practice. Yoga has enriched her life immeasurably, and continues to guide and support her journey.​

Rabia

My name is Rabia and I started my yoga journey in 1999 with my teacher, Ivan Agherdien, who was taught by Mother Yogeshawari from the Sivananda lineage. I fell in love with the practice and became an accredited Integral Hatha Yoga teacher in 2016 and have immediately been given the wonderful opportunity of teaching. I am mesmerised by the physical, mental, emotional, spiritual and health benefits the practice offers/makes us experience.

Yoga takes me out of my comfort zone and encourages me to do things I would not normally try, it makes me exceed personal limitations set by myself, thereby bringing about a sense of growth and accomplishment.
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Through the practice of yoga, unbeknownst to myself, I have grown in various ways, it is a journey of self-discovery.

Victoria

Victoria runs her own studio in Marina da Gama, but helps out and teachers in Tokai when her schedule allows. 






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Sharon

Sharon qualified through the Academy of Yoga & Ayurveda in 2018 and teaches at the studio when her schedule permits. 








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Colleen

My official Integral Hatha Yoga journey began in early 2017 when I joined Nina’s studio as a student. Prior to 2017 I had been practicing TM for six years and doing a self taught practice of Iyengar Yoga.

After 5 months of Integral Hatha classes at the Tokai studio, having perceived the immense benefit to  stress levels and sense of well being, I decided to attend the 200 hour Personal Development Course offered by the Academy of Yoga and Ayurveda. This evolved into the 300 Hour teachers course as the Body, Mind and Spirit benefits began to unfold in my life. Old physical injuries improved, the levels of stress in my life became manageable and I began to become more mindful and aware of the reality I created in my life with thoughts! One of the most powerful lessons yoga continually teaches me is to  create a state of mind in which I am present in the moment and conscious of my actions and thoughts.

My life has been enriched immeasurably by the Eight Limbed path of Yoga Philosophy and the amazing Yogis I have met along the way. By teaching and guiding students along the Yoga path I hope that with grace I am instrumental in imparting and sharing the immense benefits to Mind, Body and Spirit that Integral Hatha Yoga has to offer.

Jennifer

Jennifer: Most of you have heard me speak highly of Jennifer, yoga teacher and Ayurvedic Practitioner. She is one of the first Hatha teachers in Cape Town (not the oldest!) and teachers on the Academy of Yoga and Ayurveda Yoga Teacher Training Course on Saturdays.
She offers beautiful yoga classes from her studio in Kalk Bay as well as private yoga therapy sessions.