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The Yoga Room teachers are highly experienced and have diverse yoga backgrounds.

We aim to create a safe, inviting atmosphere that welcomes people of all levels, of all ages, of all shapes and sizes. 

 
 

MEET OUR TEACHERS

 
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Elsa van Niekerk

+ read Elsa's biography

Elsa is the founder of The Yoga Room. She believes in the transformational power of yoga and meditation and how it positively impacts people's lives and loves sharing this practice with her students.

Whilst living and working in New York in 2013, she completed her 500 hour Teacher Training and Yin Yoga qualification at the renowned ISHTA yoga school in New York, under the guidance of Yoga Master Alan Finger. The ISHTA philosophy combines the teachings of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda and emphasizes finding the yoga that resonates with the individual's spirit. She also completed her Advanced Teacher Training with Ana Forrest in 2017 and loves teaching the strong Forrest Yoga practice of focusing on breath, strength, integrity and spirit.

Elsa is a keen photographer and loves the world of architecture and design – and hopes to one day develop a yoga retreat centre.

Angelo Gazoulis

+ read Angelo's biography

Angelo completed his Hatha vinyasa teacher training through Yoga Warrior in Johannesburg in 2010, and have been teaching ever since.

"I appreciate so many styles of Yoga, and love blending them to create classes that are both physically challenging, but also filled with soul, space for self reflection, and mindfulness.

Looking forward to moving with you". 

Kayla Bull

+ read Kayla’s biography

Kayla completed her 200 hour Vinyasa yoga training at Wellness Connection in Cape Town. She was introduced to yoga during mindful-based therapies while studying psychology in 2015 and it has been her daily practice ever since. She is also a bereavement counsellor and wellness officer at Tygerberg Hospice NPO and palliative medicine student at UCT.

‘Yoga is a personal journey and I am grateful to share the space with others. Its restorative and rewarding at the same time. Each class is intentionally sequenced and grounded in mindfulness. I hope you'll leave each class feel a little more empowered. See you on the mat’.

Penny

Penny Cooper

+ read Penny's biography

Penny started practicing yoga 18 years ago when she discovered Bikram yoga in Australia. After moving back to South Africa she did her first 200-hour teacher training in 2012 and 500-hour training in 2017.

Her teaching style largely focuses on helping students find proper alignment and moving deeper into postures, balancing the body by building strength and flexibility. Yoga isn’t about pretzel shapes and handstands, it’s about recognising and nourishing yourself. Yoga seeps into your bones, your heart and your soul and over time, with consistent practice, yoga can give you a new outlook on yourself and the world around you.

"Yoga for me is all about balancing the mind, body and connecting with our souls. It's a wonderful practice to help calm my mind and centre myself into a state of peace and tranquillity, It also helps me find balance in my body by building strength and flexibility"

Candice Momsen

+ read Candice's biography

Through a lifetime of curious exploration, Candice has developed a self-practice rooted in intuitive movement, yoga, meditation, breath work and self-study. She believes this potent combination of weaving breath, movement, contemplation and meditation is the path to healing and empowerment. Candice’s teachings are gentle and explorative, threaded with embodied philosophy. She holds space for students to journey to their own rhythms and embodiment as gateways to embrace their depths, delighting in their own empowerment and awakening.

Gayle Friedman

+ read Gayle's biography

Gayle has been in the healthcare field for over 40 years and is a registered member of the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa.(AHPCSA). She is a yoga teacher for pregnant women and moms with babies, and first trained with Swami Gitananda at Ananda Ashram in Pondicherry India in 1981. She is a qualified aroma therapist, colour therapist, reflexologist, pregnancy therapist as doula (childbirth support) and post partum doula and incorporates aromatherapy essential oils, breathwork, colour energy balancing, meridian massage and pressure points, reflexology, visualisation and meditation in all her modalities.

Gayle has been serving WOMBS (Women Offering Mothers Birth Support) as chairlady since 2014 to motivate and encourage doulas to be accepted into public and private maternity care, to bring the human heart caring element to new mothers, babies, families and the medical team.

Gayle is based in Cape Town and founded the Sunshine Health Academy in 1984.