YOGA TEACHERS

All the teachers at Yogaveda have years of yoga and teaching experience

About us

Nikki Leaf

Nikki Leaf is the founder and Director of the Yoga Centre at Yogaveda.

Nikki has been teaching yoga since 1987 and was co-director of the Fremantle Yoga Centre for 20 years.

Her studies in ayurveda have greatly enriched her yoga knowledge, and she has integrated this into her practice and teaching.

Her teaching style has a strong therapeutic foundation and takes into consideration the ayurvedic body type (prakruti) and also any imbalances (vikruti) to create a balanced yoga routine. Nikki also has a special interest in women’s and pregnancy yoga which she has been teaching for many years.

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Jen Goldberg

I was first drawn to Yoga in 1992 when some friends urged me to try it out with the words “come on, its good for you”. Those words hold true regardless of age or ability and I’ve been on the yogic path since then guided by some inspirational teachers.

Yoga provides me with a steadiness and confidence when faced with life’s challenges, as well as a restorative and quiet space when I am in need of rest and rejuvenation. Strengthening the body and calming the mind – I feel blessed to have this yoga in my life, and enjoy sharing its benefits with others.

I have studied a number of different styles of Yoga, but my certification and method of teaching is in the Iyengar style. This style focuses on natural movement and alignment to protect the body, the use of props for support and a thorough understanding of each yoga asana or pose. Sometimes I combine this with a Hatha flow style, using breath and awareness to move deeper into each pose. My classes are suitable for all levels, and aim to let you leave the yoga space feeling uplifted and ready for whatever comes your way.

Bill Rogers

Bill Rogers

Bill was introduced to Iyengar Yoga in 2000 through weekly classes at his workplace and immediately liked the difference it made to his life in terms of improved flexibility, peace of mind and an increase in both vitality and feeling of well being and sought out the nearest Iyengar school, the WA School of Yoga (now known as YogaWest, Shenton Park).

Since then the importance of yoga in daily life has continued to grow and many hours per week have been spent as a student, practitioner, teacher trainee (under the tutelage of John Leebold) and since 2012, a certified Iyengar yoga teacher.

Bill regularly attends workshops and Bali yoga retreats and rates his two visits to Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, Pune, India in 2011 and 2012 as highlights.

Jasmine Pummer

Jasmine Pummer

In 2014 Jasmine completed the Level 1 Yoga Teacher Training at Fremantle Yoga Centre, a 350-hour course that focuses on alignment, use of props and yoga therapy. She had the opportunity to learn from senior teachers Kale Leaf, James McIntyre, Jane Underwood and Mary Swan. Her first yoga class was in 1998 at her local community centre. While she enjoyed exploring the different postures, what really resonated with her was a practice that integrated something deeper than just physical exercise.

Jasmine continues to develop her knowledge of yoga through a regular practice and has attended further trainings in Yin and Restorative Yoga, Yoga for Chronic Illness, Trauma Sensitive Yoga and Yoga Nidra.

During class students will be guided in a gentle series of asana combining Hatha and Restorative yoga, designed to slow down the body and mind. It will incorporate props to support and gently open the body, releasing any stored stress and tension. The practice will encourage students to have a deeper connection to their bodies and breath.

Melanie

Melanie Robinson

Melanie has been practicing Yoga for 22 years and is an Iyengar Yoga Certified Teacher, trained by Peter Scott and Sue Everett. From previous training, she also holds a Hatha Yoga Teaching Certificate and a Graduate Diploma in Pre- and Postnatal Yoga.

Originally a musician and cellist, Melanie maintained her Yoga practice through 15 years of touring nationally and internationally, as well as undertaking supplementary training in counselling and crisis care, meditation and mind-body therapies. Now as a mother, musician and teacher, she continues to maintain her own daily practice, and loves to share the art of Yoga with others.

“Yoga allows you to find a new kind of freedom that you may not have known even existed.” 

B.K.S. Iyengar

Coralie Benporath

Coralie Benporath

Coralie has been a practitioner of Iyengar Yoga for more than 15 years, and has been deeply inspired by the healing benefits of the Iyengar yoga method, both for herself and also for others she has taught and practiced with. Having sustained a back injury at 28, yoga has been the key to finding health, healing and well being while on the path of rehabilitation. She has been training under the guidance of senior teacher John Leebold since 2014 and holds a Level 2 certification. Having lived a year in India and Nepal practicing yoga in her 20’s, she finally made it back there in 2016 and was fortunate to have 3 months training at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune.

Also recognising the importance of a broader spiritual practice, Coralie has spent a number of years studying and practicing Buddhism – her yoga practice therefore becoming grounded within a strong tradition of meditation and service to others.  Through teaching Iyengar yoga, it is her wish to pass on these understandings and experiences developed through the practice of yoga and meditation, so that others can also come to experience these benefits for themselves.

Carmel Ahern

Carmel Ahern

I have been practicing yoga on and off (mostly on) for the past 35 years.

Having spent most of my time in the country, yoga has helped me to find a balance when life turns.

Over the years I have regularly attended workshops and retreats generally with senior Iyengar teachers.

I completed my Iyengar Teacher Training with John Leebold at Yoga West, and will always be a grateful student to the never ending practice of yoga and the wisdom of the ages.

Gary John

Gary John

Gary discovered yoga in 1998, initially to improve his meditation practice. His curiosity in yoga began to grow as he discovered its many physical and psychological benefits. 

Gary has been teaching since 2012 and trained with Senior Iyengar Yoga teacher John Leebold. He has an Iyengar Level II teachers certification and upgraded to Junior Intermediate Level I in 2018. 

Gary is dedicated to the life long journey of developing his practice and teaching. He regularly attends classes and workshops with senior teachers including the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune where he first visited in 2009.

Christiane Purcell Wells

Christiane Purcell-Wells

Inspired by the classical Yoga vinyasa taught in the tradition of Krisnamacarya, simple postures are repeated with precise attention to the breath which is recognized as the link between body and mind. Moving from the gross work of the body with the subtler medium of the breath we prepare the most subtle element of the mind for pranayama and meditation. Suitable for all levels.

Christiane began practicing Yoga in the early 2000s to manage back pain. She has spent the years since studying mainly in the lineage of Krisnamacarya with senior students of T.K.V. Desikachar.

She has a particular interest in Yoga Therapy, Yoga Philosophy and Ayurveda. Christiane is also a qualified Physiotherapist and is grateful to be able to integrate a Western understanding of the physical body with the holistic and spiritual teachings of Yoga for the highest benefit of each individual.

Her classes are inspired by her love of classical vinyasa and incorporate postures with breathing techniques, chanting, philosophy and meditation with the aim of integrating body and mind to experience the highest effect of Yoga and to encourage and empower students on their own personal journey of transformation.

Madeline Clare

Madeline Clare

I have been practicing and studying yoga for over 3 decades, teaching for over one: in Freo, in the mountains and in Iceland.

It all started in the seventies when my best friend’s mother disappeared into a room to do ‘yoga’. A dedicated practice emerged later in London and teacher training began in the UK with the British Wheel of Yoga, in the midst of raising three creative projects. I continued at the Fremantle School of Yoga pursuing further trainings with the Byron Yoga School, the Ashtanga Research Centre and Perth Meditation Centre, and attending workshops with Donna Farhi, David Swenson, Clive Sheridan, Janet Stone, Sean Corne and Les Leventhal. In addition, I have accumulated nearly a decade’s worth of Ayurvedic knowledge completing an Advanced Ayurvedic diploma to inform my yoga enquiries. 

Essentially, I am a creative; adaptive and resourceful. I teach a yoga style which employs poetic, visual and useful language to lean toward a closer understanding of ourselves. I aspire to graceful buoyancy and rhythmical alignment, providing space for playful enquiry. Whether it be Iyengar from England, Ashtanga from Bali, or Freo’s finest, I am well resourced to teach gentle resonance and attentive refinement, so that together, in a class, we capture an expressive presence. 

I paint and I write, an unpacker of things – words, sentences, postures, theories, breath, landscapes. 

“The rhythm of the body, the melody of the mind and the harmony of the soul create the symphony of life” BKS Iyenga.

Hannah Wilkins

Hannah Wilkins

Hannah has been practicing Hatha yoga since 1993, and has been teaching yoga since 2012, when she completed an 18 month certificate of Yoga teacher training. She has had many exceptional teachers inspired by the Krishnamacharya and Sivananda traditions. Drawing on her extensive experience and knowledge of the body from her 28 years of working and training in various modalities as a Remedial Massage Therapist and body worker, and with 19 years of teaching experience in the Diploma of Remedial Massage, Hannah has been passionate about finding a balanced Hatha yoga practice for the body, mind, heart and soul.

Hannah performed as a dancer for 25 years in Egyptian and West African styles. Her teaching life began by teaching Egyptian dance in 1996, and she has been influenced in a creative way to explore teaching yoga and running workshops, inspired by her love of dance and finding freedom for the body/mind.

In 2014, she completed Heart intelligence training and has included her dedication to heart-based living into her teaching. She runs several different workshops, including gentle Myofascial release, Heart shifts and embodying joy through yoga, dance, meditation, and connection.

Hannah’s yoga class is a general Hatha class, which includes limbering, vinyasa, asana, pranayama and relaxation. It is suitable for beginners and continuing students, as there is room to vary the practice to suit different needs.