Where are you from?
I’m from Yamba NSW, in Australia.
How did yoga come into your life?
My mother was a student of yoga and Tibetan Buddhism in the 1970s when I was born. This is how I came to be given a Tibetan name. Her library was full of books on yoga, Zen and Buddhism. I was surrounded by teachings, ritual and iconography from the East so it was quite natural for me to start doing yoga when I was in my late teens. I was introduced to Ashtanga yoga when I was living in Bali in the ’90s and loved the practice so kept it going. I started to travel and study in India in 2004 and have never looked back.
What is yoga to you, right now?
I’m not sure that I can separate myself from the teachings of yoga at this stage – practice and teaching are embedded in the way I live, relate to people, think and feel.
Why do you practice?
I get on my mat every day as a way to feel my own aliveness and appreciate the wholeness of the present… thinking, planning, remembering and imagining are all incredible capacities and fantastically engrossing right!? However, a daily practice of yoga allows us to be as readily engrossed by feeling our aliveness as miraculous and whole. We give ourselves time to witness the inseparability of the mind and body and recognise that everything in existence is interwoven and connected. That is worth a daily check-in, I reckon.
I get on my mat every day as a way to feel my own aliveness and appreciate the wholeness of the present.
Why do you teach?
I teach yoga as a life practice and I encourage my students to embrace yoga as a daily habit. It’s a great go-to for reflection and insight, to remember to embrace our vitality and relax as deeply as possible into our reality. I feel like it’s a necessary regular reality check.
What do you offer to your community, through yoga?
I imagine my offerings are particular to my enthusiasm, my passion and my experience and I have successfully shared that enthusiasm with hundreds of people. I studied Community Development and worked for many years in remote Australia. I have been teaching yoga retreats for the last 10 years and it is much the same work… creating a contemplative culture with a passion for kindness and respect.
Favourite yoga pose?
Trikonasana, so complex, so gorgeous and it feels so good… It’s also something I have been doing every day for so many years so when I move into this posture a part of me whispers, ‘Hello, old friend.’
Advice to new yogis?
Play, enjoy, experiment, don’t worry about what it looks like and be willing to feel clumsy and confused for a while, it gets better and better – I promise.
Recommended reading?
Bringing Yoga to Life by Donna Farhi
The Inner Tradition of Yoga by Michael Stone
A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki
Favourite meal?
I LOVE Greek salad – I can never get enough.
What do you do for fun?
Travelling, second hand shopping, I’m very social and love to hang out with friends… especially if we go dancing.
Stranded on an island — what 3 things would you bring?
A speaker, my Audible library, sunglasses.
As a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?
I wanted to be free and wild. I was a creative kid destined to be a traveller.
Surprising or little known fact about you?
I can write backwards, it’s called mirror writing… its something my mother taught me, she was away a lot and she would write me letters backwards so I had to read them in the mirror. I found it magical so I taught myself how to do it and write back to her.
Current projects?
My retreats across Europe have resumed so I’m offering immersion practice and mentorships again in stunning places throughout the European summers.
Closing words?
Let’s learn to love the life that’s here and witness the miracle beings we are.
Join Tashi’s 10 Day Tone Up Challenge – starts 10th October!
