Meet the Teachers
We introduce our wonderful yoga teachers to you…
The ISHTA Studio of Yoga & Health is proud of the unique and collective energies of the yoga teachers of the studio and their differing teaching styles. They not only bring a wealth of knowledge and wisdom each within them, but all resonate with a shared love and passion for yoga and teaching. We welcome you to try all of their classes!
WENDY WOOD
NANDIVA – a spiritual name given to Wendy by her guru – is a name derived from the Bilaspur goddess Naina Devi who, being the goddess of eyes, saw things that most others could not see.
Wendy is an initiate of Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger and has been practising yoga for over thirty years. Wendy believes that by linking the mind and body with the breath we create a centred, harmonious feeling. After Mani left to live in the USA in the later part of his life, Wendy, inspired by the teachings of her guru, mentor and wonderful friend, continued the tradition of ISHTA by creating the ISHTA School of Yoga & Health.
Contact: (011) 880 3601 | 082 338 8153 | nandiva@wol.co.za
THEONI PAPOUTSIS
Over the last two decades Theoni has honed her pregnancy yoga classes to help women enhance flexibility and tone key muscles that support pregnancy health and assist you during birth. Pregnancy yoga helps release tension in the spine and body and helps build the strength and stamina that women need for birth and for the on-going challenges of motherhood. Theoni further helps women deal with anxieties around birth while providing a safe, supportive framework and community of like-minded women to explore them. Pregnancy yoga will help you create me-time and give you skills to connect with your baby. Theoni teaches, supports, inspires and holds space for women to find trust in themselves and their bodies, so that every baby feels welcomed.
Contact: 083 229 3253 | hello@theonipapoutsis.co.za | www.theonipapoutsis.co.za | Instagram @papoutsistheoni
ANGELA MYERS
Angela teaches and manages admin and workshops at ISHTA. Angela completed her ISHTA training in 2009 and initially began running the children’s yoga programme. Angela published the Complete Yoga magazine and is a freelance writer/editor and mom of two. She believes yoga brings deep grounded connection while allowing the spirit to fly. Teaching from the heart, Angela’s classes are spiritually uplifting while focusing on classical hatha, pranayama and meditation.
Contact: angela@ishtayoga.co.za | 082 789 4847
KAREN TURIS
Karen Anne Turis is a qualified Kundalini yoga teacher, as well as a qualified Dance and Movement Therapist.
She has offered private and group yoga for over 17 years and has, more recently, taught movement classes to both adults and children.
Karen has reached thousands of people over the past 25 years of working in the health and wellness industry. Karen also mentors youth as part of The Yoga 4 Alex project.
Contact: karen@zingwellbeing.co.za | 082 772 4794
HANNI DAYMOND
Having fallen in love with children’s yoga during a visit to India where she met a very young yogi, “Sunaina”, Hanni was inspired to teach children’s yoga and studied with YogaBeez. Hanni says, “Over the years I have been blessed with the most amazing teachers who till today form a very integral part of my yoga journey.”
“Yoga allows me to more present in my life and I am passionate about children and working with them as well as offering yoga as a therapy to special needs children who I am able to connect well with.”
Hanni says children are natural yogis – whole, innocent and playful. She believes that yoga is a gift to children and encourages them to hold onto their childlike mind with wisdom and beauty.
Contact: 082 373 2342 | daymond@mweb.co.za
CLAIRE STEPHENSON
Claire is passionate about wellness and has over 20 years experience as a yoga and Ayurveda practitioner. Having lived and studied in India and Germany, Claire is also a qualified Hatha, Pregnancy yoga, Children’s yoga and Yin yoga teacher. Claire spreads her energetic spirit through her passion for yoga and truly living a satvic and mindful yogic lifestyle.
Contact: | claire2clarity@gmail.com | 082 338 8001
HEMA RAMJEE
An ISHTA graduate, Hema’s passion for yoga began at a very young age when she discovered the joys and benefits of the practice. In 2015, she completed a course in mindfulness and incorporates this in her teachings. With a sincere passion for helping people, the aim of Hema’s class is to help you connect with your body and mind and improve your physical strength, flexibility and mental focus. Hema is committed to enhancing her students wellbeing through the use of movement, breath and awareness and finding the integration through the art of yoga.
Contact: | kassenh@gmail.com | 082 625 6696
NISHA OOKA
A real yogi at heart, Nisha left corporate finance to pursue her love and passion for yoga and completed her ISHTA Teacher’s Training in 2020. She is a yoga teacher, the accounts manager at ISHTA as well as a mom of two who says that, from her very first class, she knew that it was instant love. She did not know how much her yoga practice would transform her though, helping her to be the best version of herself daily. Nisha says that whether it’s breathing, asana or mediation, she loves harnessing the ancient technologies yoga offers and uses them as a tool to help others through their life challenges. “Yoga reminds me that I’m connected to something bigger. It helps me realise a simpler way of life, a way of life that is more sustainable, more enjoyable and more manageable!”
Contact: | nisha.govind5@gmail.com | 082 835 8962
ANDREAS BOTHNER
With 18 years’ experience teaching yoga and Pilates, Andreas brings a rich and knowledgeable background and unique skill set that makes his classes gentle yet challenging, inspiring and informative. Having studied with teachers such as Pattabhi Jois, Sri Srivatsa Ramaswami and Simon Borg-Oliver, Andreas has immersed himself in many different styles of yoga such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yoga Synergy, Iyengar, Jivamukti, Forrest and Anusara yoga. He is well versed in the movement sciences of Tai Chi and Qi Gong and has a passion for anatomy, classical Buddhism and Eastern philosophy also. Andreas uses his knowledge and experience to help people overcome their physical and mental boundaries using a safe and gentle approach while providing his students with a deep physical and spiritual connection.
Contact: | andreas@bothner.net | 079 247 0104
WENDY WOOD
NANDIVA – a spiritual name given to Wendy by her guru – is a name derived from the Bilaspur goddess Naina Devi who, being the goddess of eyes, saw things that most others could not see.
Wendy is an initiate of Kavi Yogiraj Mani Finger and has been practising yoga for over thirty years. Wendy believes that by linking the mind and body with the breath we create a centred, harmonious feeling.
After Mani left to live in the USA in the later part of his life, Wendy, inspired by the teachings of her guru, mentor and wonderful friend, continued the tradition of ISHTA by creating the ISHTA School of Yoga & Health.
Contact: (011) 880 3601
082 338 8153
nandiva@wol.co.za
THEONI PAPOUTSIS
Theoni teaches Pregnancy yoga at the ISHTA School of Yoga & Health and is also a qualified Doula, certified HypnoBirthing practitioner and aromatherapist. Theoni is passionate about creating the right environment for a child to enter the world and believes in the capacity and courage of women to face life’s journey and all its challenges. With a sensitive and practical approach to your wellness during pregnancy, Theoni guides students on a yoga journey that they will be enriched through, learn from, delight in and ultimately, treasure.
Contact: 083 229 3253
theoni@consciousbirth.co.za
www.consciousbirth.co.za
ANGELA MYERS
Angela teaches and manages admin and workshops at ISHTA. Angela completed her ISHTA training in 2009 and initially began running the children’s yoga programme. Angela published the Complete Yoga magazine and is a freelance writer/editor and mom of two. She believes yoga brings deep grounded connection while allowing the spirit to fly. Teaching from the heart, Angela’s classes are spiritually uplifting while focusing on classical hatha, pranayama and meditation.
Contact: angela@ishtayoga.co.za | 082 789 4847
KAREN TURIS
Karen Anne Turis is a qualified Kundalini yoga teacher, as well as a qualified Dance and Movement Therapist.
She has offered private and group yoga for over 17 years and has, more recently, taught movement classes to both adults and children.
Karen has reached thousands of people over the past 25 years of working in the health and wellness industry. Karen also mentors youth as part of The Yoga 4 Alex project.
Contact: karen@funky-fish.co.za
082 772 4794
HANNI DAYMOND
Having fallen in love with children’s yoga during a visit to India where she met a very young yogi, “Sunaina”, Hanni was inspired to teach children’s yoga and studied with YogaBeez. Hanni says, “Over the years I have been blessed with the most amazing teachers who till today form a very integral part of my yoga journey.”
“Yoga allows me to more present in my life and I am passionate about children and working with them as well as offering yoga as a therapy to special needs children who I am able to connect well with.”
Hanni says children are natural yogis – whole, innocent and palyful. She believes that yoga is a gift to children and encourages them to hold onto their childlike mind with wisdom and beauty.
Contact: 082 373 2342 | daymond@mweb.co.za
CLAIRE STEPHENSON
Claire is passionate about wellness and has over 20 years experience as a yoga and Ayurveda practitioner. Having lived and studied in India and Germany, Claire is also a qualified Hatha, Pregnancy yoga, Children’s yoga and Yin yoga teacher. Claire spreads her energetic spirit through her passion for yoga and truly living a satvic and mindful yogic lifestyle.
Contact: | claire2clarity@gmail.com | 082 338 8001
HEMA RAMJEE
An ISHTA graduate, Hema’s passion for yoga began at a very young age when she discovered the joys and benefits of the practice. In 2015, she completed a course in mindfulness and incorporates this in her teachings. With a sincere passion for helping people, the aim of Hema’s class is to help you connect with your body and mind and improve your physical strength, flexibility and mental focus. Hema is committed to enhancing her students wellbeing through the use of movement, breath and awareness and finding the integration through the art of yoga.
Contact: | kassenh@gmail.com | 082 625 6696
NISHA OOKA
A real yogi at heart, Nisha left corporate finance to pursue her love and passion for yoga and completed her ISHTA Teacher’s Training in 2020. She is a yoga teacher, the accounts manager at ISHTA as well as a mom of two who says that, from her very first class, she knew that it was instant love. She did not know how much her yoga practice would transform her though, helping her to be the best version of herself daily. Nisha says that whether it’s breathing, asana or mediation, she loves harnessing the ancient technologies yoga offers and uses them as a tool to help others through their life challenges. “Yoga reminds me that I’m connected to something bigger. It helps me realise a simpler way of life, a way of life that is more sustainable, more enjoyable and more manageable!”
Contact: | nisha.govind5@gmail.com | 082 835 8962
ANDREAS BOTHNER
With 18 years’ experience teaching yoga and Pilates, Andreas brings a rich and knowledgeable background and unique skill set that makes his classes gentle yet challenging, inspiring and informative. Having studied with teachers such as Pattabhi Jois, Sri Srivatsa Ramaswami and Simon Borg-Oliver, Andreas has immersed himself in many different styles of yoga such as Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yoga Synergy, Iyengar, Jivamukti, Forrest and Anusara yoga. He is well versed in the movement sciences of Tai Chi and Qi Gong and has a passion for anatomy, classical Buddhism and Eastern philosophy also. Andreas uses his knowledge and experience to help people overcome their physical and mental boundaries using a safe and gentle approach while providing his students with a deep physical and spiritual connection.
Contact: | andreas@bothner.net | 079 247 0104