The Land of the Long White Cloud

I grew up in Aotearoa, New Zealand, with a loving family. I’m a pakeha, a white settler - and I have traced my roots back in a direct line to the very first Europeans to land and settle with the local tribes. I have a deep respect for the tangata whenua of Aotearoa, and am honoured to share the land with them. Growing up, my mother took me to ballet classes, and my father took me to rugby games. I spent my summers running free on a sheep farm. I went to University and completed post graduate studies in fluvial geomorphology ('flow'). In hindsight, this was an interesting choice, as I now study the ecosystems of the body, and am endlessly fascinated with finding states of flow through movement practice. I still return to New Zealand every year, to unplug in the beautiful and remote Far North.

The Asia Diaries

At 21, after many years reading old National Geographics and dreaming about taking a trip on an aeroplane - I travelled to Nepal and India (on my own!) to spend time in the Himalaya. This trip 'evolved' somewhat, and I ended up calling this part of the world home for the greater part of my adult life - well over a decade

My shameless attempts to learn several languages at once, and insatiable curiosity to understand all that I saw around me, landed me a job as a tour guide for an Australian company. Based in Saigon, Vietnam, I led adventure tours for small groups throughout South East Asia and China visiting sacred places, bustling cities, and areas of unspoilt natural beauty for three years. This was a dream job for a nomadic 23 year old with an incurable appetite for adventure. I already had a well established ashtanga, and mahayana meditation practice from my university days. To connect my spiritual practices with the cultures I was travelling in, enhanced my appreciation of the philosophy and rich culture of this part of the world.

I completed my first teacher training in Bali in 2004 and opened my modest and gorgeous little studio in Saigon. My small-scale yoga experiment served both the expatriate and Vietnamese population, and it grew from a very small home based studio, into a thriving community with daily classes under frangipani trees on the banks of the Saigon River. I hosted yoga retreats at beautiful coastal locations, and international teachers to come and offer teacher trainings and workshops. With small classes, I cultivated deep relationships with every student. We all drank fresh coconuts in the sun after class. People who could afford to pay me, did so. Breathing Room Yoga had a heavy focus on karma yoga and service initiatives in our local community. It was completely free from all the commercialism and hype that surrounds the western yoga industry today.

The Great White North

In 2009, I moved with my husband and two kids to Toronto. I had never experienced North American yoga culture before, and it was eye opening to say the least. I recognised the great benefits that would come from teaching in a city with endless opportunities to refine my practice of yoga.

I was welcomed into my new home base at 889 Yoga, which was the absolute opposite of my lived experience of yoga back in Vietnam. I stepped into a busy managerial role whereby I oversaw the programming and operations of three beautiful studio locations, and managed a vibrant yoga schedule that was a leader in Canada. In 2011 I designed and launched the Living Yoga Program, a 200 hour teachers certification program that I directed until 2017. At the start of 2017 I prioritized a different duty - taking care of my Father who had terminal cancer back in New Zealand. This decision ultimately led me to step away from 889 and wholeheartedly focus on my Dad. It was the right decision, but a difficult ending to a special professional period in my life.

In 2018 I became a co-owner of Octopus Garden Yoga Studio in downtown Toronto where I co-directed the 200, 300 and Pre and Post Natal teacher training programs and ran a busy schedule of over 60 classes per week.

Alongside balancing running busy studios in North America’s fourth largest city, I have stayed committed to the roots of the practice. I return to India when I can to continue my studies in kalarippayat, in Thiravananthapuram, Kerala. I was initiated into this martial art system in 2015 and it is a very important part of the intersection between culture, tradition and movement that inspires my teaching and practice. In the pre-Covid world, my family also returned to Vietnam and New Zealand as often as possible to be with friends and family. I do appreciate that my family life is grounded in many different cultures and ways of being.

2020, Covid and New Directions

In mid 2020 I sold my shares in Octopus Garden and gratefully stepped away from studio management.

Twenty years in Yogaland has left me feeling disillusioned, and frankly, exhausted. I have witnessed and survived emotional manipulation, sexual misconduct, corruption, and grooming by narcissistic leaders that caused immense harm to myself and many others in the community. There’s been much silencing around these issues over the years and my hope is that the upheavals of 2020 will usher in a new way of being in the world, and a renaissance for yoga.

I am currently working as a consultant for yoga businesses, developing and delivering yoga trainings online, and dabbling in some other creative projects that spark joy. At this point in my career, I choose to only work with businesses that uphold the highest level of ethics and integrity.

My main passion these days is studying the history and visual culture of yoga. I completed the Yogic Studies Program in 2019 at the University of London with honours, and am enrolled in ongoing history and philosophy studies with Seth Powell of Yogic Studies. It is my goal in the future to complete independent research, and gain my Masters Degree in this fascinating field.

The yoga industry is well overdue for a massive change. Current events are forcing all of us to reimagine and create a future that is more equitable, and more accountable. I am committed to changing the industry and small and big ways, elevating BIPOC and other marginalized voices, and finding my way to express yoga that is rooted in social justice. We must improve access to yoga in modern wellness settings. I have not been the best leader on this in the past, and am committed to doing better.

Studies in yoga are worthless without also acknowledging the violent colonial conditions that gave rise to this knowledge being appropriated and moved into a western setting. I have long urged students to investigate the syncretic roots of yoga philosophy, so that they can really know that there is NOT one yoga, one traditional system, or one type of philosophy. The rich history of yoga is complex, under researched, and often contradictory. Learning to sit with discomfort, and being prepared to unlearn things are critically important for all of us as yoga practitioners.

I realize that I’ve been so lucky to travel and immerse myself in deep periods of study with many of the worlds best teachers. It’s a privilege that I do not take for granted and one that I am honoured to share. The life of a yogini is one that I will never truly master, or ever fully understand. In a world saturated with quick fix solutions put forward bypseudo-experts everywhere, it is wonderful to be at ease with being a curious and dedicated beginner in this ancient and sacred lineage of teachings.

Thankyou for taking some time to get to know me a little bit better,

Nicky

**UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 2020
I have so joyful to announce that I have just launched Leelapod with two very special partners: David Choy and YuMee Chung.
Leelapod is an evolving digital yoga collective. We offer inspired, heartfelt classes from our homes, unfettered by studio schedules, culture, and overheads. Students enjoy affordable pay-what-you-can livestream classes and flexible video-on-demand subscriptions that directly support their teachers
We actively work to hold safer, more inclusive and more accessible space by embodying anti-racism, anti-ageism, and fat-, trans-, and queer-positivity.

On most yoga schedules in the western world we see the words ‘vinyasa’ yoga, but how many of us know what it really means? That ubiquitous phrase – “Now, take a vinyasa” – often refers to the challenging yoga sequence from plank, down into chatturanga, into upward dog and back to downward dog. For many students, this is their only understanding of vinyasa. But as our commitment towards our yoga practice develops, many of us look for deeper levels of insight within our practice. How can we enmesh the lessons we learn on our mats into the rest of our lives?

Vinyasa is a Sanskrit word that is formed by linking two words together:

Nyasa means, ‘to place’ and Vi means ‘in a special or sacred way’. Hence Vinyasa means ‘to place something in a sacred and special way.’

A common definition of vinyasa is ‘breath synchronised movement”. This is not completely incorrect, however, this popular definition that does not convey the true power of the word. A truer and broader reflection of the meaning of Vinyasa may be ‘the placement of movements and life events in a sacred and mindful manner’

The father of modern yoga posture practice, Krishnamacharya

The father of twentieth century yoga practice was the great Indian yogi and healer Sri Krishnamacharya (1888 - 1989). His students include India’s most influential teachers, most notably B.K. S Iyengar, the late Sri K. Patthabi Jois and his own son TKV Desikachar. He taught yoga adhering to the principal of vinyasa krama; a structured arrangement of yoga postures progressing towards a desired goal. It was a highly personalised offering, carefully tailored to the specific needs of each student. For example, some vinyasa sequences he taught were therapeutic, some were invigorating, and some were restorative, depending on the needs (ages, gender and general health) of the student in front of him.

Today, vinyasa is commonly associated with the specific series of postures known as ashtanga vinyasa yoga. This yoga method includes six challenging series of yoga postures, each of increasing difficulty, which are taught sequentially with a focus on breath and movement co-ordination. Ashtanga vinyasa yoga has experienced growing popularity around the world since first being introduced to Western students in the 1970’s by the late Patthabi Jois (now disgraced and remembered as a sexual predator). Prior to this time, it was a vigorous style of yoga that was only taught to young Indian boys.

In the past 20 years, there has been a natural evolution of the beautiful Ashtanga Vinyasa series towards more creative combinations of yoga postures. Vinyasa yoga today is personalised by each teacher, making it an open system relatively free from rules. It is commonly enhanced by music, and can combine elements from dance and martial arts alongside traditional tantric yoga techniques of mantra (sound), pranayama (breath control), mudra (hand gestures) and meditation.

Less well known, and perhaps more importantly is that Krishnamacharya also defined vinyasa, as any cycle or wave that has a beginning, middle, and an end. Upon examining this more organic explanation, we begin to understand that vinyasa is not limited to what we practice on our mat, but is also the intelligent unfolding of life itself. It is the movement of the earth around the sun (a 365 day vinyasa), the rhythmic passage of the four seasons (a 3 month vinyasa depending on your global location), the lunar cycle from new moon to new moon (a 28 day vinyasa), the ebb and flow of the tides and the daily arc of the sun (a 24 hour vinyasa), and each beat of our hearts and breath (a moment to moment unfolding). In fact, our lives are representative of a maha vinyasa (great vinyasa) from our very first breath at birth, to our final exhalation as we leave our bodies. Developing an awareness and appreciation of the many cycles in nature, enables us to live with a greater sense of connection and unity to the cycles living within us.

This is yoga, a sense of union, or non-separation with all that is around us.

Flowing through a movement vinyasa requires us to have mindfulness between one moment and the next. Vinyasa shows us that all forms are impermanent, cannot possibly be held on to, and that all movements have a clear beginning, middle and an end. With this idea, we can release our attachment towards their outcomes, knowing that the dissolution of each posture, gives rise to other related forms.

We practice the awareness of vinyasa as we observe and embrace the changing seasons, cook, share and enjoy a meal, or dance under the stars – anything that takes us deep into a state of flow with full awareness. So, the next time your teacher says in class the ubiquitious – ‘Take a vinyasa’, please take a moment to appreciate the flow into upward dog, and back into downward dog. These movements are symbolic for the many peaks and troughs of life, and our challenge as yogis is to ride this blissful wave with as much strength and grace as we can.