Lalitha Rajah

I went for my first Yoga class in 2008 during a particularly difficult patch in my life. From that very first day, Yoga became like a balm, or haven, from the heartbreak in my life at the time. It was an hour and a half of not thinking about anything else but learning and doing the postures and trying to remember to breathe. For those 90 minutes, whatever was upsetting me in the outside world couldn’t get in, my body and my breath were my safe haven. I found that even after whatever difficult periods in my life had passed, I still loved going for Yoga class and how light and open I felt afterward. Most importantly it was fun and it made me happy.

Yoga speaks to my heart, and I will forever be its student. It helped me find the courage to step away from the relative security of being a lawyer, which wasn’t fulfilling me as it should have been. Since then I have completed 4 Yoga Alliance accredited teacher trainings:

RYT 200-hour teaching certification studying the philosophy, physiology and anatomy of Yoga with Don Peers (Singapore);
100-hour Anatomy & Theory Yin Yoga Level 1 Teacher Training with Paul Grilley (RYS 500) (Koh Samui);
100-hour Chakra Theory & Meditation and Modern Meridian Theory Yin Yoga Level 2 Teacher Training with Paul Grilley (RYS 500) (Koh Samui); and
RYT 50-hour certification to teach Kids Yoga with Rainbow Kids Yoga (Australia)

as well as 2 AcroYoga.org immersions covering therapeutic & acrobatic techniques as well as Thai Massage:

30-hour Lunar Immersion with Bonnie Argo and Claudine Lafond (Australia); and
30-hour Elemental Immersion with Bonnie Argo and Marc Bauchet (Malaysia).

I have also attended over 260 hours of workshops and immersions with internationally accomplished teachers such as Ramanand Patel, Noah Mazé, Christina Sell, Desirée Rumbaugh, Ross Rayburn, Duncan Peak, Simon Park, Simon Borg-Olivier and Nicky Knoff. In addition I have completed a 9-month certification in Therapeutic Massage Practice with an Australia nationally accredited training organisation to give me a more in depth and hands-on understanding of human anatomy and physiology. I continue to avidly study the different Yoga styles and traditions, incorporating what resonates with me the most from each lineage into my own classes.

I would like to specially thank my first teachers Don Peers and Vivienne Spanopoulos for opening my body and my heart to Yoga. To Paul and Suzee Grilley, for whom there are no words to express my gratitude and admiration. Thank you for giving me the freedom to experiment in my practice to truly make each pose my own, and more importantly for giving me the tools and the courage to outgrow teachings that were no longer serving me - With the grace of God, may our study be vigorous, may the light of understanding spread without limit, and in our quest for knowledge and spiritual understanding, may we never hate one another.

Yoga continues to open my heart, create space in my body and inspire me in my life. I teach in the hope that Yoga will lift people out of the everyday, to have fun and feel inspired to try things they would never have thought they could do before. Through practice and devotion our body becomes strong and our mind clear. We realise we need only look within to find our haven, our home.

“Be happy you know how to practise. The practice will make you happy." - Erich Schiffmann