Our Classes

About Founders - Carley & Alan

Carley and Alan established the Yoga Connection in 1999. The first studio of significance in Pretoria at that time.

Carley has always been interested in the inter-connection of the body and mind - accordingly yoga was a natural home for her. With a background in the dramatic arts and a deep interest in the spiritual nature of man, she has been influenced by various influential thinkers and gurus of various disciplines. eg: Mirabai, Lionel Berman, Barbara Brennan, Ingrid Kohler, Swami Krishna Chandra, Gangaji, Elizabeth Kruger (Master EK), Terry Winchester (Mind Frame Technique) and Keith MacFarlane (RHASA) etc. Carley is also a dedicated student of A course in miracles.

She trained under various Yoga schools around the world, in the East and the West. Thus her style is a fusion of Hatha Yoga systems. In South Africa she received training from Durgana, the then president of the Yoga Teachers Fellowship, and graduate of the Ishta Yoga School. Carley has also had training in the fields of Reiki, Thai Massage and Cranio Sacral balancing, Barbara Brennan school of healing - all of which have enhanced her practical application of yoga asana.

She has had the privilege of visiting and practising yoga and similar modalities under a variety of instructors and teachers in New York, Thailand and India. Carley believes in all learning leading into one great truth. This principle has been developed into a unique system of integrating yoga and reiki so that yoga can be practised more effectively as a healing modality. She believes that the asana combined with the pranayama can balance the body and mind and restore personal equilibrium. Working with the awareness of prana - vital healing energy.

Alan has practised yoga since 1998 and with Carley was involved in the establishment of Yoga Connection. He has been trained with Carley and practise's a fusion of Hatha Yoga styles. He primarily presents basic / beginners classes. Being more than casually interested in yoga Alan has also participated in Reiki training and attended a wide variety of yoga classes in Thailand and India to balance his knowledge of different yoga systems.

Having personally enjoyed the wide ranging benefits of yoga practise he has always believed there was a need to provide 'western-friendly' yoga to others. He believes that yoga practise is an important complement to traditional western style practise's which generally seem to 'punish' the body. An awareness of the physical body and the energy body in the management of stress and health are important to him. This establishes a high degree of personal balance. This philosophy underpins his teaching style.

About Meghan

I have been practicing yoga for pleasure for 6 years and teaching yoga for 2 of those 6.

Yoga for me is the practice of opening body and mind so that you feel good and enjoy the human experience.

My classes focus on the spine, pranayama for release and engaging in awareness through-out the class to really deepen the practice, all this with a lot of awesome stuff mixed in in-between.

Yoga is the art of self-relisation and it is my blessing to pass this on.
My yoga motto: No yoga No Peace - Know Yoga Know peace :)

About Annette

Annette was born, raised and educated in Pretoria. Most of her working life, 20 years in all, was dedicated to providing career guidance to school leavers. She qualified as a therapeutic aroma-therapist in 1999, and is registered as such with the Allied Health Professions Council.

Having discovered yoga at the Yoga Connection, she felt like she had come home and accordingly pursued qualification as an instructor with Carley.

Yoga has enriched her life personally and at many levels. This treasured experience she now shares in her classes. These classes tend to be slower, healing and more meditative. She encourages students to become aware of the impact of yoga on the physical, mental and emotional levels. Her instruction encourages gentle work, no forcing of the body, mind or emotions.

Her experience in the fields of psychology and aromatherapy have led her to where she now is and continue to have a positive impact on her yoga practice and instruction.

About Shahnaz

Shahnaz has been practising yoga postures since 1996 when she was taught to use them as part of the warm up for Tai Chi practice. In 1999 she practised yoga with Rita and Tricia in Kampala, Uganda before joining the Yoga Connection in 2001 upon her return to South Africa. 

When her husband was sent to Kinshasa (DRC) in 2004, she realised that there was a great need for yoga classes there. After intensive study in books and on the internet she was asked to start simple classes with a friend. Later she began to give formal classes at a gym, three times a week. Soon after, the UN also asked for classes and she gave 2 evening classes on their premises. People working for the various NGO's who did not have access to UN premises, asked for classes which were held at someone's apartment on the sixth floor of an apartment building in Kinshasa – interesting times!

Soon after they moved to Brazzaville (RoC) in 2005 where she found a job with the UNDP and decided not to teach yoga there as there were no appropriate venues. However, a few months later, friends who had heard of my classes in Kinshasa, found a venue, put together a group and asked me to give a once a week session until they returned to South Africa in 2008.  

Back in South Africa Shahnaz formalized her teaching skills at Yoga Connection and now continues giving instruction at Yoga Connection.

About Shikhara

Shikhara started yoga at the age of seventeen and continued on and off while raising three children and running a business.

During 1999 she started practicing healing and discovered the enormous benefits of Reiki. This led to further training in a variety of healing modalities.

Yoga was a natural part of her discovery in healing. Yoga became a serious part of her life in 2000, qualifying as an instructor at Yoga Connection in 2003 and then furthering her instruction skills with Durgana. Shikhara’s creative skills led to the design and sale of a range of clothing suited to yoga practitioners. She now also sells other objects d’art at the recently opened shop “Samadhi” at Yoga Connection.

Shikhara runs our special prenatal (preggie) classes.

About Silvia

My vocational life is divided into three parts: healing, teaching and art. As a form of healing myself, my family and clients, I use a Kinesiology based therapy, which I have been practicing for almost 10 years. I am also a teacher and teach German as a foreign language. Art has been my life-long passion and I have now also begun to write and illustrate children stories.

To me yoga includes a little bit of all the above and seems to connect all of my passions and that is why I value it so much. It is certainly a powerful tool for healing and allows the yogi to bring peace, health and  balance to the physical, emotional and mental being. I believe that those who have found yoga are indeed very privileged!

As a yoga instructor, yoga also falls into my category of teaching. Simultaneously I am reminded that teaching and learning are essentially the same and we always teach what we need to learn most. I usually refer to myself as a yoga instructor, who facilitates classes, rather than a teacher, as every yogi is his/her own teacher.

Yoga is also a form of art and holds great aesthetic value to me. It often reminds me of a dance or even a story in the way it unfolds. Its beautiful postures (asanas) and the singing of sacred mantras, stimulate my creativity and fulfill my need for aesthetics!

Personally I feel very grateful to have yoga as a part of my life and I love to instruct yoga classes and share this ancient practice with a group of yogis during class time.

About Trevor

Trevor started beginners yoga classes with Sivananda yoga teacher Janice Hamman in Pretoria. Trevor attended Advanced Yoga Courses conducted by BKS Iyengar in Mauritius, Malawi, Swaziland, Poona India. At the end of the course Trevor was granted certificate to teach BKS Iyengar Yoga Method.

Trevor then attended a six day intensive BKS Inyengar Workshop conducted by Geeta Inyegar in Johannesburg.

Trevor is now qualified to teach the Senior Intermediate course of yoga Asanas and Intermediate Pranayama as set out in light on yoga and light on Pranayama.

Trevor is a founder member as selected by BKS Inyengar of the South African Ramamani Inyengar memorial Yoga Institute also a drafted original constitution and certificates.

About Cassandra

I was diagnosed with scoliosis (curvature of the spine) when I was about 12. With this new found knowledge that my back was actually shaped like an “S”, I was told I would have to be very careful in everything I did, because I now had to be as balanced as possible and very self-aware. In order to alleviate the back pain, I had to do many boring exercises as prescribed by the biokinetist. While these did help tremendously I still hoped there was another, more fun way to strengthen my spine and to reduce the back pain. At the age of 17, I discovered the magic of yoga when I began practising at home with a DVD.

After moving to Pretoria to study, I really felt that I needed something more than the simple yoga postures I had been practising. The demands of University life were beginning to get extremely stressful and I was struggling to calm my mind in order to study effectively. This is when I found Yoga Connection and fell in love with every aspect of yoga - learning that yoga consists of many layers (from breathing techniques, to ways of living) and is not only about postures.

I went on to obtain a BSc in Human Physiology, Genetics and Psychology and have started to further my interest in the connection between the mind, body and spirit by qualifying as a yoga instructor at Yoga Connection.

While I have proof of one of the many physical benefits of yoga, since my spine is becoming straighter and straighter as each year goes on, I can also say that I probably would not have been able to obtain a degree without its de-stressing techniques.

Yoga equips us with the tools to function in this ever-changing world. It helps us accept who we really are and it helps to bring about a sense of peace and harmony to our very busy lives.

There are so many things that we can learn through yoga and although I have been able to demonstrate some of its surface level benefits, there are many more personal benefits that each person can discover for themselves and in themselves. It is an exciting journey and one that I hope to share with everyone who wishes to open themselves up to the wonderful world of yoga. 

About Christa

I attended my first yoga class in 2008 and have never stopped since then! It was like coming home. In Yoga I found stillness and balance, and over time, my life was completely transformed. As my love and passion for yoga grew, I realized that I needed to share the wonder of it with others so that they too could experience inner peace and freedom whilst strengthening their bodies and improving their health.

So, in 2015, after spending some time in the Sivananda Ashram in the South of India, I completed a 500 hour teachers training course in Integral Hatha Yoga with Willie Cloete.

To uphold the tradition of my very respected lineage of yoga teachers, drawing back to Swami Sivananda from Rishikesh, I hope to offer students something more than just a physical experience. I often include meditations, yoga nidra, visualizations and breathing techniques (pranayama). My aim is to help all students to reach their full potential, so they can enjoy lives of good health, abundance and harmony.

About Deborah

I have been a practicing yogi since 2000 and work as a Natural Health and Wellness practitioner specialising in reflexology, therapeutic massage and detoxification, supporting clients through cleansing and fasting programs combined with colon hydrotherapy. I believe that fasting and cleansing gives the body the space to heal itself, still the mind and raises one's vibrations.

My lifelong yearning to teach yoga became a burning desire when I started attending yoga classes at Yoga Connection in 2001. After the traumatic birth of my first child, which resulted in severe cerebral palsy, life became intense, stressful and chaotic. Yoga was my salvation. Being on my yoga mat became a place of solace. The asanas allowed me to be in my body, in the moment. The pranayama and yoga nidra induced a calmness, peace and connection to my deepest self that could be found nowhere else.

We are each an expression of the life force within. Yoga guides us into a relationship with this life force. Through the breath, the physical body, a focused mind and an open heart, we encounter a more authentic way of being ourselves. In my classes I like to practice asana which strengthen and tone the body, in a meditative way, with time between each posture to feel the relaxation and tranquility that yoga induces. Allowing time for introspection and self-realization, combined with pranayama, yoga nidra and meditation for that connection to one's inner light and love.

I am honoured and filled with gratitude for the opportunity to share my knowledge of this ancient healing practice.