TEACHERS
Nea Ferrier
Alexey Pavlyukov
In 2010 he became a student of KPJAYI and has made five individual trips to Mysore since that time, as well as attending multiple trainings, three workshops with Sharath Jois and classes with David Swenson, Richard Freeman, Lino Miele, Petri Raisanen, Eddie Stern and Mark Darby.
Alexey has been teaching Ashtanga yoga for the last eleven years, firstly at the Ashtanga Yoga Shala and Ashtanga Yoga Center in Moscow, and at Ashtanga Yoga Dubai since 2015.
Anmar Arjan
She continues to maintain her regular yoga practice at Ashtanga Yoga Dubai alongside a full-time career in the corporate world and her role as a founding partner of Nilaya House.
Zainab Ali
An advocate of mental health and wellbeing, Zainab aims to create a safe space during her classes and hopes for her students to draw their focus inwards and find a sense of calm.
Zainab continues to study under senior yoga teacher Nea Ferrier at Ashtanga Yoga Dubai regularly assisting her during the Mysore sessions and has attended several workshops with international yoga teachers such as Mark Robberds, Deepika Mehta and Petri Raisanen.
Zainab Hafizji
Zainab completed her 200 Hrs. YogaWorks Vinyasa teacher training in Dubai in early 2020 and has been teaching full time since then. She is an assistant teacher in the Mysore classes at Ashtanga Yoga Dubai as well as teaching Ashtanga level 1 classes and courses.
Her classes follow the traditional Sanskrit count and allow for modifications to suit the students needs. She incorporates drills to increase range of motion and mobility when required and assists her students to access the limitless potential of the human body.
Naseem Kapasi
She is thankful for indulging in the Iyengar methodology of teaching and practising because of the immense physical, mental and psychological benefits of this approach. Mindful movement whether dynamic or static is key to self awareness.
Naseem does not take herself or life too seriously which is clearly reflected in her fun and dynamic style of teaching but at the same time she is considered quite the task master.
“Be Happy” is her mantra in life and to be kind to one’s body and soul and to treat it with love and compassion.
Rangaji Ramachandran
His approach to the biomechanics of yoga has paved the way to handling health from a new perspective. This was inspired greatly by Dr Gladson Johnson, a Sports Physiotherapist from Bangalore (Attitude Prime Physio). He also uses complementary techniques from other bodywork systems to enhance the experience of yoga, all the while retaining its traditional essence.
He has spent time in an Orthopaedic Hospital under the guidance of Dr John Ebenazer in administering yoga to patients as a way of managing and improving their overall health. He believes yoga should be learnt as a subject, and not just practised as a physical form.
Aparajita Ghose
She completed her teachers’ training at Yoga Point in Nasik. She continued her yoga training and is a certified Introductory Level 1&2 Iyengar yoga teacher.
Her classes are fun and approachable, with attention to alignment, breath and maintaining mindfulness through the practice.
Hodis Kavian
Her classes are focused on combining a deep understanding of anatomy and the organic body in the poses, with the breathwork and mind-soul connection that yoga brings. Hodis can teach classes in both English and Farsi.
Nancy Zabaneh
Based in Dubai for over 20 years, her work spans across North America, Europe, Asia and the Middle East. Nancy was the first in the region to certify in Compassionate Inquiry, the psychotherapeutic approach developed by acclaimed physician Dr Gabor Mate that reveals what lies beneath appearance.
Formally educated at both McGill University and the London School of Economics with an MA in International Relations, Nancy trained as a diplomat, and began her career in the corporate world, before training in Neuro Linguistic Programming (NLP), counselling skills, suicide intervention, and a range of alternative therapeutic techniques. She is a human relations mentor, humanitarian and motivational speaker.
Mariam AlQassimi
She is an initiate within Mahavatar Babaji’s lineage of Atma Kriya Yoga with foundations in transpersonal counselling, emotional bodywork therapy, energy-healing modalities and environmental conservation.
Her classes are held as a journey consisting of mantra, meditation, asana & breathwork and are a healing container for prayer and spiritual transformation honouring the lunar calendar and astrological seasons.
Leela Charan
Leela’s classes focus on the body, mind and soul working together as one unit to create the flow of harmony through meditation, breathing, yoga, mantra and relaxation.
It is an absolute blessing for her to share the teachings that have profoundly shaped and changed her life. She finds most joy in teaching and serving others.
Payal Barua
Her yoga teacher training in a secluded ashram, deep in nature, away from family and city, focussing on nurturing the body and mind through asana and philosophy were healing steps in her journey with her son.
She is a formally certified Hatha yoga teacher by the Sivananda Yoga Vedanta. She has completed multiple trainings in yoga for people with injuries, disabilities, seniors as well as prenatal yoga. She can teach in both French and English.
Payal is also a certified Health coach helping clients with gut and hormone health, fertility, menstrual health as well as autoimmune conditions.
Purva Kaushal
Her Hatha, Pranayama and Meditation classes are for all levels, with focus on the fundamental yoga poses, breathing (pranayama) also leading to exploration of the principles of yoga.
She finds meaningful purpose and inner satisfaction in offering individuals a chance to turn inwards for empowerment, solace and nourishment.
Sneha Arora
Having experience of over 17 years as a yoga teacher, she is an Affiliate to the world’s most renowned school of yoga, a little over a century old; The Yoga Institute. She conducts the 200 & 300 Hour yoga teacher training sessions in the UAE.
Apart from teaching yoga, she has been trained as an Indian classical singer and has been drawn to Bhakti Yoga since her youth. Her YouTube channel ‘Yogihearts’ has a compilation of Mantras and devotional songs.
Neeru Garg
She has completed a 900-hour Yoga Teachers Training with The Yoga Institute in Mumbai as well as an additional 250-hour training in Mysore, India.
Petra Marin
Petra has been a yoga practitioner since 2014. She joined her first yoga class out of curiosity but immediately noticed it relieved her lower back and hip pain, and above all helped to focus and quieten the mind after an intense day at work.
She completed her Hatha yoga training with The Yoga Institute and is also certified in Prenatal, Postnatal yoga and Garbhasanskar.
Her Hatha yoga classes cover all the traditional aspects such as asanas, pranayama and kriyas. She aims to spread the knowledge of yoga and to create more awareness on its mental and physical health benefits.
Sara Otto
Through Sara’s multi-disciplinary teachings, her aim is for her students to feel stronger, more mobile and balanced, resulting in emotional and mental clarity alongside the physical benefit.
Sara’s teaching focuses on a combination of a dynamic, positively challenging and uplifting physical practice, whilst also incorporating other facets of yoga such as breathwork (pranayama) and meditation.
She has been practising yoga for fifteen years and has been teaching for six.
Vini Soares
He is also a RYT200-hrs yoga teacher, accredited by the international yoga school, The Yoga Institute.
His classes are fun and welcoming, with the goal of making people find their flow and helping them apply that very concept to life.
Amanda Smith
Studying Traditional Thai massage in Thailand and the U.K., a natural progression was to move into full-time Personal Training. For ten years, since taking her 200 hours yoga-teacher training with Gabrielle White Wolf, Amanda has continued to study, listen and observe all kinds of different bodies with a sense of curiosity.
Amanda completed a 100 hour Yin yoga teacher training with Jade Wood in 2015 and is currently taking a two-year course on Bio-Dynamic Sacral Cranial Therapy.
Nassima Benamane
Nassima is a Trauma-Informed registered Hatha yoga teacher (RYT500+ Hrs.) with the Yoga Alliance. She has been teaching yoga classes for three years alongside continuing her education and expanding her knowledge. She is specifically trained in Restorative yoga as well as in Relax and Renew Level one®; a training conducted by Judith Hanson Lasater.
She is currently enrolled in a 850-hour program to become a yoga therapist.
Besides teaching Nassima runs a small business of handmade yoga and meditation props that she makes herself in Dubai.
Cathy Beasley
With a background in the corporate world combined with practising energy work, including Breathwork, Sound Healing, Reiki, Pranic Healing, and Reconnective Healing, Cathy offers a practical, grounded, supportive and empathic approach to her classes.
Her yoga Nidra class is accessible to all, incorporating physical movement, energy work, relaxing self-massage techniques and sound healing for a fully immersive experience.
Britni Allen
She is also certified to teach Prenatal, Postnatal and Mommy & Baby yoga, and is currently continuing her education to become certified as a Childbirth Educator.
She has been teaching yoga in Dubai since 2014, as well as providing doula support with the aim to offer couples physical, emotional, and informational support throughout their pregnancy, labour and the birth of their baby.
She teaches her prenatal yoga classes from the perspective of a teacher, a doula and a mother. She strongly feels that the benefit of prenatal yoga, breathwork, and the support of a doula can help promote a more positive birth experience.
Grace Petit
A mother of two, Grace is passionate about bringing the benefits of yoga and mindfulness to children and has many years of experience in teaching children of different backgrounds and nationalities. Her creatively-themed classes incorporate breathing techniques, yoga asanas, creative yoga games, individual and partner poses, mindfulness activities, visualisation and relaxation.
