Lineage
I began my yoga journey as one of the original students of Monica Gauci and Gregor Maehle in 1997. I completed a 3 year (500 hours) teacher training in 2009 and an additional year of senior training which allowed me to teach advanced postures and assume the lead teaching role in the early morning mysore classes. I continued to work closely with my teachers eventually holding a senior teacher position and assisting in teacher training roles. After 18 years with my beloved teachers, in 2015 I embarked on a new adventure, opening Yogahub in Mount Hawthorn, located in Perth, Western Australia.
My Teachers
Gregor Maehle
Gregor Maehle began his yogic practices in 1978. In the mid-1980s he commenced annual travels to India, where he studied with various yogic and tantric masters, traditional Indian sadhus and ascetics. After practising with BKS Iyengar he spent fourteen months in Mysore, and in 1997 was authorised to teach Ashtanga Yoga by K. Pattabhi Jois. Since then he has branched out into researching the anatomical alignment of postures and the higher limbs of yoga. He gained his anatomical knowledge through a Health Practitioner degree and has also studied history, philosophy and comparative religion.
In India, Gregor also received eight months of mostly one-on-one instruction in scripture and the higher limbs of Yoga through B.N.S. Iyengar, a student of T. Krishnamacharya, and he studied Sanskrit under Professor Narayanachar and Dr Chandrasekhar. He lived for several years as a recluse, studying Sanskrit and yogic scripture and practising yogic techniques. Together with his wife, Monica, in 1996 they founded 8 Limbs in Perth, Australia, which they co-directed for 21 years. They now live in a rain forest in the hinterland of Byron Bay where they conduct occasional Teacher Training Immersions.
Gregor’s internationally acclaimed textbook series consisting of Ashtanga Yoga: Practice and Philosophy, Ashtanga Yoga: The Intermediate Series, Pranayama: The Breath of Yoga, Yoga Meditation: Through Mantra, Chakras and Kundalini to Spiritual Freedom and Samadhi The Great Freedom – have sold more than 75,000 copies worldwide and have been translated into eight foreign languages. Further volumes are in progress. He has been invited to many countries to teach and has contributed to and been interviewed by numerous yoga magazines.
Today he teaches an anatomically sophisticated interpretation of traditional vinyasa yoga, integrated into the practice of the higher limbs in the spirit of Patanjali and T. Krishnamacharya. His zany sense of humour, his manifold personal experiences, and his vast and deep knowledge of scripture, Indian philosophies and yogic techniques combine to make his teachings applicable, relevant and easily accessible to all his students.
Dr Monica Gauci
BSc., BChiro (hons), yoga therapist.
Monica has studied and practiced Yoga since 1978. She is dedicated Yogi, a compulsive Educator, a registered Yoga Therapist and a rehabilitative Doctor of Chiropractic!
In 1996, Monica was authorized by K. Pattabhi Jois to teach Ashtanga Yoga. She is registered at the highest level with both Yoga Alliance (ERYT 500) and Yoga Australia (Level 3 Membership).
Since the age of 24 years, Monica has studied many disciplines of the Healing Arts, including Reiki, Australian Bush Flower Essences, Applied Kinesiology, Lomi Lomi massage and emotional release techniques. In 2008 Monica graduated with 1st class honour as a Doctor of Chiropractic. Additionally, she received numerous awards for Academic Excellence.
Monica has published ‘Ashtanga Yoga Beginners Course Manual for Teachers‘ which is a step-by-step guide on how to teach Ashtanga Yoga safely and effectively to beginners. She is also a contributing author to Ashtanga Yoga, Practice and Philosophy and Ashtanga Yoga, The Intermediate Series in the areas of asana, anatomy, injury prevention and rehabilitation.
In 1996, Monica co-founded 8 Limbs Yoga in Perth, Australia, which with her husband Gregor they co-directed for 21 years.
T. Krishnamacharya
Affectionately coined the Grandfather of modern yoga, T. Krishnamacharya was the teacher of respected yoga educators such as Indra Devi, BKS Iyengar, Pattabhi Jois and TVK Deikachar. Most contemporary styles of yoga trace their roots back to the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya, whose teachings remains the inspiration for thousands of practitioners around the world. T. Krishnamacharya taught yoga therapeutically individualising the practice depending on the physicality and psychology of the student. Famously, he had a proven ability to stop his heartbeat and his most famous student was none other than the King of Mysore. T. Krishnamacharya was a master of vedic chanting, yoga philosophy, asana, pranayama, dhyanam techniques, a yoga researcher and therapist, writer and orator. T. Krishnamacharya was a true master of the entire system of yoga, and a devoted bhatka who encouraged others to find their own anchor within the teachings and practice of yoga.