Kia ora and welcome to Eastwest, a yoga studio founded upon years of practice and a love for sharing it. We are Sheryn and Amelia, mother-daughter duo and wāhine Māori.
Traditional yoga goes far beyond the physical. For us, it is a returning home. It is remembering to breathe, to connect, and bring more ease to the body and mind. Over the years, it has helped us both find our way back to acceptance, joy and gratitude, time and time again.
Both in our own practice and in observing our students, we’ve experienced how yoga sets us up to move through the day with groundedness and calm, ready to face whatever life throws at us. It simply makes us feel better. That’s why it feels so important to share it.
With our studios and our teachers, we create a space for you to focus your mind and connect with yourself, surrounded by the warmth of community. Our space is woven with te ao Māori and the wisdom of whakataukī.
See you on the mat.
Our studio has been designed to help you drop in. An intentional space of simplicity and calm which encourages ease of mind. Here, you can feel safe to go inwards; just you with you on your mat.
While this is a practice of self, we are also big believers in the power of community. Focusing the mind takes effort, and practising side by side can help to build the energy you need. We invite you to stay a while after class - have a yarn, connect. All of you is welcome here.
Exhale. Soften. Release. You have arrived.
Level 01, 26a Ponsonby Rd Ponsonby,
Auckland 1011
info@eastwest.co.nz
Each of our yoga teachers brings their own touch to this traditional practice. They are not performers, gurus or elite human beings - they are sharing the skills and teachings they have learnt to focus the mind and connect with the breath. And they’re brilliant at it.
Sheryn Gieck
Sheryn is a long time Yogi. She started Astanga Yoga 27 years ago and since has had a committed practice, studying under Sri K. Pattahbi Jois and world renowned Astanga teachers - John Scott, Dena Kingsberg, Lino Miele, Peter Sanson to name a few. She did her Vinyasa teacher training 8 years ago. She has been a teacher and studio owner of an Astanga studio and later a Vinyasa studio in Wellington, and now co-owns EastWest studio with Amelia and Kirsty. Sheryns other love and dedicated practice for the last 12 years is The Work of Byron Katie..a practice for the mind, which questions the thoughts that are the cause of our stress. It has been life changing for her and after a 5 year training she is now a Certified Facilitator of The Work.
Amelia McCombie
Ko Hapuakohe te Maunga, ko Mangawara te Awa, ko Tainui te Waka, ko Ngāti Pāoa te Iwi, ko Amelia tōku ingoa. With both parents dedicated practitioners of Ashtanga Yoga, I have been surrounded by this practice for as long as I can remember. For me Yoga is home. It is a practice that has supported me to live with greater stability, awareness, and ease. I have been teaching Yoga for 10 years and have completed over 1800 hours of in-person training with a variety of world renowned yoga teachers. I have a regular practice, and this practices provides a tūāpapa (foundation) from which I teach and live from. My classes are steady, stabilising and spacious, with an emphasis on turning the attention inwards, connecting to yourself and your body, and building awareness of the breath to bring more stillness to the mind. I hold deep reverence for yoga as a traditional and transformational path from India, and look forward to sharing this practice with you.
Nathan Reynolds
Nathan stumbled upon yoga in 2009 not knowing much about it, other than its mystical eastern roots, and it took some years before he had established a solid regular practice. As a builder and runner Nathan experienced all the physical benefits of a regular practice of vinyasa yoga and the hot sequence at EastWest Yoga. He also enjoyed the experience of a clearer mind for problem solving at work that would arise on job sites. A few years into his practice he walked into a yin class while living in Bali. It was this early experience of Yin Yoga that was transformative for him. With a life focused on “Yang”-like practices which required muscular effort and endurance, he found such incredible solace and stillness in the yin yoga practice. Since that time he has under taken training under Jo Phee, to become a teacher of Yin Yoga. With the guidance and mentoring of Kirsty va de Geer, he now teaches at East West Yoga.
Barbara Orrego
Barbara is originally from Chile, the first time she stepped on a mat was in her early 20s, but wasn't until she moved to Auckland in 2015 that she committed to a daily yoga practice, experiencing deeper benefits beyond the physical. Inspired by how much Yoga has changed her life, a background as Physiotherapist, and a strong passion for mind-body awareness, she became a teacher in 2017. Barbara teaches Hot Yoga and Vinyasa, through this energising physical practices combined with breathwork and meditation, she will help you to do the best you can, she aims to inspire you develop awareness and become your best self.
Eridani Baker
Ko Aoraki te mauka, Ko waitaki te awa, Ko Uenuku te whare tipuna, Ko Kāi Tahu te iwi, Ko Eridani toku ikoa. Yoga was part of my upbringing, I studied within the same lineage as my godparents. My yoga study has been largely Jnana focused. I lived for a year at our Ashram (ICYER) in Pondicherry studying in the Guru Kula format, 4am till 10pm daily. I also have a degree in massage therapy and am currently working towards a Masters in Psychotherapy. I am passionate about highlighting the value of a te ao Māori view within any health practice offered in Aotearoa. Whakawhanaungatanga is important to me, I enjoy making connections with others.
Alexandra Rangecroft
Alex is an experienced and dedicated Yoga teacher (500h E-RYT) and Reiki master offering 1:1 sessions, workshops, retreats and trainings alongside her public yoga classes. Growing up in a holistic minded household in the UK, Alex was taken to meditation classes and first taught Reiki (energy healing) at the age of 14. It was here that the seed of inspiration was planted for Alex to continue to live a holistic lifestyle and to be of service in the world around her. After years representing GB in gymnastics and then gaining a degree in contemporary dance, Alex found yoga when she began to look for a more sustainable and nurturing way to move, live and flourish. Teaching yoga since 2014 and having completed a diverse array of trainings, Alex brings a grounded, authentic and embodied sense of knowledge and wisdom to her sessions in a relaxed and welcoming environment
Milly Taylor
The yoga practice has both been a pivotal and anchoring aspect of my life for the past 6 years. I started practicing yoga when I was 16 at Eastwest so the studio feels like a home to me and am honoured to teach there. The style of yoga I teach is very grounded in breath and I try to leave the students with as much room as possible to be in their own explorations. I recently took another vinyasa training with Awhi Yoga which inspired me to incorporate Te Reo and the concepts of hauora into my practice. To me the connection of Maori philosophy and yoga philosophy deepens my faith in the practice.
Anna Churton
Anna is passionate about the mind-body-spirit connection and a holistic approach to wellbeing. She has always been interested in movement and dance, and was first drawn to yoga more than a decade ago, primarily for the physical benefits. However, she quickly fell in love with the more subtle practices of yoga, including breath work and meditation, which have had a profound impact on her life and the way she sees and shows up in the world. After completing several trainings in vinyasa, yin and meditation, Anna is currently studying to become a psychotherapist. She is fascinated by the interaction and complementarity between the ancient philosophies of the yogic practices and modern therapeutic concepts, and aims to create a safe, nurturing and playful space for students to explore and connect with themselves on a deeper level.
Brydie Colquhoun
Brydie is Ngāpuhi, and from Ahipara, Aotearoa. She became curious about wairuatanga and spirituality when her Te Ao Māori dance career merged with her yoga studies. Brydie completed her 500YTT yoga training in India. This process of quietening the thoughts and unifying the body, mind and soul guides her classes, she is passionate about maintaining the ancient core principles of Eastern Yoga in a western environment. Brydie believes that how we walk through our life goes hand in hand with the relationship we have to our hinengaro, tinana and wairua. She uses breath and mindful movement to draw students into their present experience.
Celia Loo
Celia's yoga journey began in 2009 when she attended her first yoga class after losing a bet to a friend. She then took a leap of faith in 2014 and quit her full-time job, to attend her first Yoga teacher training. Since then, she has attended many trainings and workshops of various styles. Celia’s style of teaching is influenced by her education in Psychology, Yoga, and Thai Massage, and can be described as a fusion of movement, mindfulness, sound alignment, and self-therapy. She hopes to enable practitioners to feel free and safe on their mats, to practice whatever yoga may mean to them that day. Afterall, it is not about just touching your toes; it is about what you learn and feel on the way down.
Summer Knight
Since beginning my journey to practise at a young age, I have found a home within this personalised yoga. Growing and evolving to support me within the present moment. Which is something I aim to cultivate for others through my teaching practise. Around the time of my beginnings in the fine arts degree at Elam, I quickly launched into a luscious and expansive 200 hr YTT at The Contemporary School of Yoga NZ. Diving in to learn and absorb more about the body as a physical, alongside the mental and spiritual body, this is where my passion surrounding the connection of these three ‘bodies’ arose. My yin classes are simplistic and soft, whilst grounding you in both body, and breath with a calm voice and approach. Creating comfortable space for people to come and be at ease is something that comes naturally for me, and I welcome you to come join.
“Such a lovely team of teachers, strong leadership and good studio”
Sue
“I love the instructors and the energy of the studio is calm and inviting.”
Daniel
“Great space, great teachers, great classes, great people.”
Sophie
“Cannot fault anything here! This place is pure magic”
Lauren