A Stable Structure

The Practice

Yoga is a practice that teaches us to unite the body and the breath. Developed over 5,000 years ago by Indian saddhus (holy people), it is an ancient science ripe for modern times.

Learning yoga is for everybody. All you need is a little bit of willpower, a willingness to learn and to find a teacher you resonate with.

This is because, ultimately, yoga is a study of the self. It assists in supporting the detoxification of the mind and body through the practice of physical movements, called āsanas, and breathwork, called prānāyāmā.

Having a regular yoga practice develops our perceptual awareness and sense of feeling. Āsanas are designed to deliver structural support and build from the foundation up. This creates a strong muscular-skeletal system, purifies the organ bodies and aligns the spine so that the nervous system functions optimally. It’s why developing a regular yoga practice supports us to live in good health. 

West Coast Yoga is a certified Iyengar yoga school and a member of the Iyengar Yoga Association of New Zealand. The practice we teach is based on the work of B.K.S Iyengar and the Iyengar family (see below). It focuses on precision, alignment and developing structural support.

Iyengar yoga is a safe, effective practice that can be done for the rest of your life. B.K.S practiced every day right up until he passed away at the age of 95.

The Lineage

West Coast Yoga is a Piha Iyengar yoga school, run by certified Iyengar yoga teacher Kylie Bailey. Behind our school, there is a strong line of dedicated, certified Iyengar yoga teachers, responsible for supporting many students around the world to amalgamate a regular yoga practice into their lives. 

Meet the lineage:

Suzi Carson, Founder of Four Winds Yoga  (Auckland, Aotearoa)

Suzi Carson is the director and principal teacher at Four Winds Yoga. A certified Iyengar yoga teacher, Suzi has been practicing yoga since 1988 and teaching in Ponsonby since 1991.  Suzi emphasises the importance of a systematic approach to yoga - developing a clear foundation for sustainable practice that can be practiced by all ages and levels.

Four Winds Yoga is our sister school. Kylie works with Suzi Carson as part of her ongoing teacher development.

Peter Thomson, Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher (Sydney, Australia)

Peter Thomson has been practicing yoga since 1979 and has been a student of the Iyengar family since 1981. He travels regularly to Pune to study at the Iyengar Institute. Peter founded or co-founded a number of significant schools in Sydney (The Yoga Space, The Sydney Yoga Centre, Mosman Yoga Room) and in 1988 founded the Glebe Yoga School. In 2002, Peter founded the Sydney Yoga Space. Peter is one of Australia’s most senior and most experienced teachers and practitioners. 

From September 2007, his teaching has focused on intensive courses for yoga students and teachers in regional centres around Australasia and Asia and on intensive practice-based retreats typically in Bali. Peter’s particular interest in the practice and teaching of yoga is the depth of perception, inquiry and understanding that sustained practice can develop and in making that understanding accessible to students so they can claim it as their own. 

B.K.S Iyengar, Founder of Iyengar Yoga and the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute (Pune, India)

Yogacharya B.K.S.Iyengar is a living legend who has taught yoga in a unique way to all his students. He found the meaning of the yoga sutras by his practical search and regular practice of yoga. Thus, he has helped all to experience the wisdom of the yoga sutras. His style of teaching yoga is called "Iyengar Yoga" and is now being followed by certified teachers across the world.

Bellur Krishnamachar Sundararaja (BKS) Iyengar was born on December 14, 1918. His father Sri Krishnamachar was a school teacher and therefore Iyengar has all his father's qualities even at this age. Iyengar was a victim of malaria, typhoid and tuberculosis in his childhood .

At the age of 16, he was introduced to yoga by his Guru Sri T. Krishnamacharya. At the age of 18, he was sent to Pune, Maharashtra by his guru to teach and preach yoga as he knew a little of English. Iyengar was a sincere and committed practitioner. His own practice helped him to explore and achieve perfection in yoga āsanas until his death in 2014, aged 95.