Yoga is all about balance, according to Whangarei’s ‘Yoga Circle’ instructor, Tonya Russell. But it is not about holding your balance, she says, but balancing your life and attitude – balancing work and relaxation, ease and effort.
Tonya began teaching Yoga to her students while working as a sociology lecturer in the Middle East. The classes soon started getting bigger, with more students and staff joining in, she says.
When she returned home to Whangarei last year, she started looking for somewhere she could go to Yoga for herself. But the only existing Yoga class in the city teaches Ienga Yoga – a style which is quite different to Tonya’s Hatha Yoga which uses breath to move.
So Tonya set up ‘Yoga Circle ‘ in October and is now taking four classes a week, including antenatal classes for pregnant women and a beginners class for those who have never been to Yoga before.
Yoga is not a competition, she insists, but it is about working with your body and the timing of your own breath. People can be of any age or fitness to do Yoga, even her four year old son quite enjoys practicing it.
Yoga is also good for people recovering from injuries, says Tonya, who started doing Yoga about five years ago when she suffered a ruptured disk and prolapsed disk in her back.
“It works on all of your body, including the organs, unlike going to the gym, which just works on your muscles,” she said. “Yoga is about taking some time out for your body.”
