Born and raised in Auckland, New Zealand, I come from a large family with roots from Polynesia. We lived close to native forrest and sea in a small, young and thriving neighbourhood. We had the luxury of experiencing much freedom of movement and safety in a hard working developing community. The southern skies stretching out the bright and shinny Milky Way, a magnificent sight to behold at night…the back drop of my early years. Upon leaving school, I studied various aspects of business, including management and supervision and was employed in various corporate industries for just under two decades. It was an amazing time of learning, of experiencing a young nation developing and growing. Wishing to explore further a field, I left New Zealand in the late 90s to travel. Later my partner Rob, and I settled down and raised a small family in Heemstede, The Netherlands, which was very challenging, but also very rewarding on so many more levels. After a serious illness, I experienced several life changing and transformational events, developing a keen interest in holistic approaches in healing, including Yoga and Ayurveda. When our children were of age, I took up studies in Yoga with several teachers including Orit Sen-Gupta the founder of Vijnana Yoga, and with her dedicated colleague Shirley Woods based in Amsterdam. I studied for three years, and continued with the one year follow-up teacher training program. My Ayurvedic Nutritional Therapy and Ayuveda Yogic studies towards Practitioner was with Coen van der Kroon, Martina Ziska, Lies Van Dam, and Miriam Alberts of the Academy of Ayurvedic Studies in Amsterdam. Further studies include Yoga Therapy and Restorative Yoga with Montserrat G. Mukherjee. Also with Alison Melvin of The Yoga Therapy Institute.
Today, I teach in and around Heemstede and Haarlem, exploring the more recent forms of yoga such as Critical Alignment Yoga and Yin yoga. Since July 2024, I located to a new studio, Assendelverstraat 34, 2013 SK in Haarlem. My studies in Ayurveda, Yoga, Vedic sciences and other traditional modern healing modalities continue.
In the spirit of tradition and deep gratitude, I would like to acknowledge and give thanks to God, my dedicated and loving partner Rob, my loving family, ancestors, friends and communities. And also to all of my teachers, their teachers, and the ones that came before them.
May we all continue to walk our path, as authentically, bravely and graciously as one is able, come what may. May we courageously explore and experience this life vigorously, and fully with all our heart and all our soul, as after all ‘All life is Yoga’ ‘Auribindo’
Namasté Avau
