Y O U R T E A C H E R S
Our yoga journeys
All of the teachers at Kapiti Hot Yoga have one thing in common, our passion and love for teaching yoga. While we have all come from different backgrounds, jobs, and even countries, along the way, we all stumbled across our yoga practice and for each of us, our practice has shaped and changed us and ultimately led us to become teachers.
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Anjana (Anj) Mistry
I’ve been practicing the 26+2 hot yoga sequence for over a decade and have been teaching it for just over 6-years and I LOVE everything about it. For me the heat, humidity and, the consistency of the sequence work. I love how the heat warms my body up from the inside out, allowing me to safely stretch. I love how I sweat no matter what and flush out toxins from my body along the way. I love the 'sameness' of the sequence and knowing what is expected of me. I love how the heat and humidity force me to concentrate and focus for 90-minutes, calming and quieting my mind. Opening Kapiti Hot Yoga and being able to share this incredible practice with my community is a privilege and a dream come true, and I look forward to meeting you all soon! |
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Zara Degetz
I’ve been practising various types of yoga for almost ten years, but the first time I stepped into a studio heated for the 26+2 sequence, I knew I’d found the perfect environment – a space that keeps you warm, keeps you safe and helps you explore poses at a deeper level while grounding your mind. For me, this sequence is the perfect blend between physical challenge and meditation. The body is working hard but the mind is at peace. For 90 minutes, I don’t need to think at all, and that perfect place of mental stillness is invaluable. Where else can you get a brain cleanse along with an optimally balanced physical practice? I finished my 250-hour training with Evolation Yoga in April 2022 and am thrilled to be joining the team at Kapiti Hot Yoga. I love chatting about poses and look forward to seeing you on your mats! |
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Cameron (Cam) Castle
I discovered 26+2 hot yoga a few years ago when living in Dunedin, during my medical school training. I began practicing a few times a week and soon realised how specifically the sequence is designed to help heal the body, recover from injury and re-centre the mind. I had many inspirational teachers along the way and so was motivated to embark on my own yoga journey towards training as a Hot Yoga teacher. I recently completed the Original Hot Yoga (OHY) Teacher Training (Bikram lineage of 26 and 2) consisting of 350 hours credentialed by the OHY Association, in Queenstown, NZ. For me, yoga is about the balance between strength and flexibility, exertion, and releasing. My passion is working with people to realise their own potential within the sequence and guide them on their journey toward a positive, energetic, and well-balanced life. |
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Katarina (Kat) Cattermole
I discovered hot yoga just over two years ago and immediately felt the need to come back over and over. I wanted to know more and recently trained in Queenstown as a hot yoga teacher. For me, this yoga offers structure and sharp focus that now also translates to my personal and work life. It feels good. I like our studio because it feels like “coming home” to where I am nurtured. From my stressful but rewarding job as a midwife, this is where I get to take care of me. Every so often, I am noticing progress in the way I practice, no matter how big or small. I learned that putting myself out there, into hard or uncomfortable situations, is the best gifts that one can give to themselves because this is where the real magic happens. The body works hard but the mind remains calm. I hope my experiences can help others guide to find their potential, peace or whatever it is they may find through their hot yoga journey. |
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Ngila Bevan
I have been practicing yoga for over 20 years experimenting with Bikram, Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Vinyasa before finding Forrest Yoga in 2015. My teaching journey began in 2014 after completing a 200hr Yoga Alliance training at BodyMindLife in Australia. In 2015 I trained for a month with Ana Forrest in Sydney, and in 2018 became a certified Level 2 Forrest teacher in Bali. Nowadays I am most at home teaching Forrest, Yin, and meditation. I am to keep my classes light hearted, intentional peaceful. I believe that practicing yoga can help us to build the best versions of ourselves, to relinquish what doesn’t serve us, and to celebrate our gifts with confidence and grac |
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Carol Shortis
I’ve been practicing various forms of yoga for the last decade, and in 2017 I completed a 200 hour yoga teacher training with Hot Yoga Wellington. It was a pivotal experience, a process of triangulating my own life learnings with a set of established principles, finding commonalities, divergences and new tools for new situations. It helped me grow, on and off the mat, and in my own yoga practice. In 2023, I became inspired to do yin training because of my own experiences in attending yin classes, I discovered a need for balance for my largely yang-orientated life! But specifically for KHY, I think yin is a great counterbalance to the yang of the 26+2 hot yoga practice, and I’m enjoying exploring the points of connection between the two, and how they can each inform and complement the other. |
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Amy Masters
Spirituality has been a natural part of my life and began with journaling my dreams as a child, reading cards and astrology forecasts as a teenager, to qualifying as a reiki healer and yoga teacher in my 20’s. I trained as a Hot Yoga teacher in Wellington in 2015 and since then have been teaching classes, workshops and as part of my women's retreats in mainly yin and hatha yoga practice. As a strong women's advocate, I spent my nursing career working in gynaecology, maternity, paediatrics and in the community. Self-development and spiritual practices became both my passion and my lifeline when I experienced postnatal anxiety and depression after having both of my babies. I am now a spiritual life coach and retreat facilitator for women seeking more fulfilment and deeper meaning in life. |
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Min Zi Ng
I started practising hot yoga 2 years ago when I was looking for something to release the stress from my job. I remembered that I slept so well after the first class even though I struggled with the class itself, and I have been hooked since then. For me, the heat and the humidity create a safe space to keep my body warm and provide more opportunity to explore the postures. I love the same sequences in 26+2 as I know what to expect. During the class, what I need to do is to follow the dialogue, concentrate, and work hard. What a blessed to have 90-minutes of quiet mind in this busy chaotic world! After practising for a while, I wanted to explore more about the postures so I took the opportunity to attend teacher training. For me, yoga practice is like life, someday it’s easier, someday it’s harder, what matters is to embrace all of them with an open mind. See you on the mat! |
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Irene Limantara
In 2007, I tried Bikram yoga for the first time in Auckland, but I didn't quite enjoy it back then. When I moved to Wellington in 2010, I was in search of indoor exercise and found a yoga studio where I began practicing hot yoga again. It was on and off until about two years ago when I started to practice regularly and began to feel the benefits, motivating me to continue further. I love practicing in a hot room, enabling my body to sweat, stretch deeper, and feel good afterward. Recently, I completed hot yoga teacher training, which deepened my knowledge of yoga and has given me a greater appreciation for overall well-being. I am grateful for this opportunity and excited to share my knowledge and experiences with you. |
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Shoshana Smith
After completing my Original Hot Yoga Teacher Training just over a year ago, I’m dedicated to sharing the transformative power of Bikram Yoga, a practice that has deeply influenced my journey towards mental and physical well-being. Through two c-section deliveries, navigating postpartum challenges, and enduring a decade of genetic back issues, this practice has gifted me with mental clarity, reduced anxiety, and an overall enhancement in flexibility, mobility, and strength. It’s the most profoundly healing practice I've encountered yet. Guided by my own journey, I've developed a teaching style grounded in compassion, aiming to empower students of all levels to safely delve into their practice and uncover its benefits. So, let's roll out those mats, breathe deeply, engage with the dialogue, centre our minds, and surrender to the flow of those consistent 26 + 2 postures! |
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Raj Bhadresa
With a regular practice, this yoga healed my football knee injury, and the practice became as much about the mental benefits as it was the physical ones. Now yoga has become part of my routine to maintain my physical and mental health. I love the predictability of the moving meditation sequence and how it improves my focus and concentration in the heat of the moment. I’m passionate about sharing this hot yoga sequence with you. |
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Keryn Jones
In October 2023, I embarked on a new chapter in my wellness journey. That's when I discovered Kapiti Hot Yoga. My first 90-minute class was a revelation – exhausting, exhilarating, and enlightening. Hooked from the start, I committed to regular practice. Just six weeks in, Anj recognized my dedication and asked if I'd consider teaching. My response was an unequivocal "YES!" The physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual benefits of Hot Yoga resonated deeply with me. It clears my mind, brings joy, heals my body, centers me, and challenges me. In March 2024, I completed Evolation's 200-hour teacher training, solidifying my passion to share Hot Yoga's gifts with others. As a teacher, my goal is to empower students to heal, grow, and glow as I have. |
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Hemi Vickers
I started practicing 26+2 hot yoga at the Preston studio in Melbourne in 2013. Since then I have practiced at studios in Australia and New Zealand with some really amazing teachers. I've also tried many of the other types of yoga and similar practices but have always gravitated back to hot yoga simply because it works! Hot yoga has changed my life in so many ways, it has helped to develop my mind, body and overall health and the journey continues. I like how hot yoga is both physically and mentally very challenging. The way the heat, postures and dialogue work together to place you into a moving meditation to work the body and mind, remove stress and focus on the breath are just some of the benefits that keeps me coming back. I completed my teacher training this year at Kata Hot Yoga in Thailand and I'm very excited to share and further the practice with everyone. |
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Jude Best
When I first started yoga I couldn’t do any of it, I had a million reasons why it was too hard, and used all of them, BUT from day one I knew it felt good, and it felt right for me and my body. I had good and bad days, I progressed from the back row as I slowly became more comfortable with me myself and I. Practicing Bikram Yoga has changed me in so many ways, mainly how I react and respond to situations. It has freed me from limiting beliefs and brought some incredibly special people into my life. Through practicing I have slowly eliminated many people and things that no longer serve me today which has enabled me to move in more of a positive peaceful direction. I am incredibly grateful to have found this yoga and I’m able to share it with others. |
