The asana (postures and exercises) practised in these classes are traditional in style and are generally within the capability of most people. Instruction is detailed so that the novice will feel comfortable in their yoga practise.
These classes are recommended for persons who:
These classes are recommended for persons who are generally fit and are reasonably flexible. Persons attending these classes should have a basic knowledge of yoga asana and should not suffer from physical limitations.
Instructors in these classes are skilled and will cater to all levels of skill. They will caution and guide those quite new to yoga and encourage those who are more experienced or skilled to take particular asana to more advanced levels
Yin yoga is a more gentle, meditative approach to yoga. Its goals are awareness of inner silence and bringing to light a universal connective quality.
Yin yoga postures apply moderate stress on the connective tissues of the body, the tendons, fascia and ligaments. The aim is to increase circulation in the joints and improve flexibility.
We do fewer postures but hold them for longer. The postures are all floor based, seated or lying on your mat. Sometimes we use props to make ourselves as comfortable as possible in the long-held postures.
Advanced Asana will appeal to students who are physically fit and strong without any physical limitations. Students should have had regular practise in yoga asana and be looking for that added challenge in their practise.
The focus is on linking series of poses together in a continuous movement. Moving with your breath from pose to pose and rarely holding any posture for any length of time. This flow offers strength, flexibility, concentration, breath work, and when you settle into the flow, meditation. If it's hot, do bring a sweat towel!
Preggie Yoga is suitable for beginners, through to advanced yogini's.
It is effortless, non-strenuous and has a meditational quality, connecting to the sources of energy that empower women to create and give birth to a new life. A quiet, inner confidence then enables women to be an example to their families.
Through Preggie Yoga, muscle tone is strengthened and improved, bringing flexibility to hips, pelvis and spine. Backache is relieved and posture corrected, making for a more comfortable pregnancy. The postures widen the pelvic diameters, positioning baby properly.
Yoga encourages relaxation and a woman forms a bond with her baby from conception, through birth and beyond. Friendships are formed with like-minded people between Moms, Dads and babies!
Pregnancy classes are separate. Click here for more info on our pregnancy classes or contact Shikhara on 072 333 3646.
We offer a yoga teachers training course which involves:
For more information surrounding the course please email Charene by email at charenes@gmail.com. The training is based at the Centurion studio.
1 class a week : R400 per month in advance
2 classes a week R550 per month in advance
3 classes (or more) a week : R600 per month in advance
Casual / Drop-in Fee R120 per class CASH only (or EFT in advance with proof of payment) - NOTE the Casual fee paid may be applied as a part payment against any of the Monthly Fee options.
The fee month can start on any date in the month... no need to wait for the beginning of a calendar month.
Student discount available for TUKS students upon presentation of valid student card. Students pay R400 for unlimited classes.
Fees can be paid by EFT to:
FNB (First National Bank)
Branch 222026 (RMB Private Bank)
Account name Yoga Connection
Account number 62014016572
| Morning / Afternoon | Morning / Afternoon | Evening | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Monday |
9h00 - 10h30 Meghan |
|
18h00 - 19h30 Meghan |
| Tuesday |
|
Yoga Flow - Vinyasa Tania |
18h15 - 19h45
Trevor SMS to attend 082 7748418 EXTRA Fee per class |
| Wednesday |
9h00 - 10h30 Basic - all levels Shahnaz |
|
17h00 - 18h15 Yin Yoga Cornelia |
| Thursday |
Meghan 11h00 - 12h30 Basic (Restorative 1st Thursday) Annette |
16h30 - 17h30 Vinyasa Flow Tania |
18h00 - 19h30 Meghan |
| Friday |
9h00 - 10h15 Basic - all levels Christa |
||
| Saturday |
8h30 - 10h00 Intermediate / Advanced Shahnaz 10h30 - 12h00 Basic - All levels Javaira |
||
| Sunday |
|
Instructors may change occasionally from those named in the schedule
Covid 19 LIMITATIONS / Protocols may apply from time to time -- Ordinarily attendance is limited to 17
Public/Seasonal Holidays: we are closed on SOME of the Public Holidays and will adapt our schedule in Holiday Periods ie Easter, Christmas & New Year. Please watch this page and our facebook page "Yoga Connection - Brooklyn" for details OR join our WhatsApp Group - simply WhatsApp Meghan and ask to join
Pre-Natal classes - enquire with Shikara at: 072 333 3646
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.
I have been practicing yoga for 11 years and have been blessed to manage Yoga Connection for 6 years.
Yoga for me is the practice of connecting mind, body and spirit so that you feel good and enjoy the human experience. Ultimately working towards fulfilling your highest potential.
My classes focus on the spine, breathing 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 and science of self-realization. It is my dharma to pass this on.
My yoga motto: No yoga No Peace - Know Yoga Know Peace :)
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
After many years of attending yoga classes and having an inquisitive mind with an interest in philosophy, I decided to enrol for a yoga teacher’s training course to deepen my understanding and practice. I subsequently completed several yoga courses.
My interest lies mainly in a holistic approach: perfect alignment for each individual body, and a meditative, transformational yin practice. For me the balance and harmony obtained through yoga practice (perfect alignment for each individual body, mind and self) is important.
Yin yoga is sometimes called the fountain of youth. As we grow older, our bodies lose flexibility, tension increases, circulation is inhibited and tissues begin to atrophy and deteriorate. Yin yoga can greatly reverse this process, thereby slowing down ageing. The simplicity we find in the stillness and silence of a yin practice might just be the most potent medicine for our modern busy lives.
I obtained my Yoga Teacher qualification and training in Rishikesh, India in 2013 and have been
teaching yoga since then. I focus on correct alignment for each individual guiding them with my words and finding a connecting with
their bodies using their breath.
I wish to spread my passion for yoga to all who attend my classes, and help all recognize the
numerous benefits this ancient art has for all.
My styles include creative flow, power yoga and yin yoga.
Relaxation - Toning - Flexibility - De-stressing - Harmony - Balance - Fun - Inner peace Beginners and General Yoga Classes in Brooklyn, Pretoria
