This is second time around for Monika Hindmarsh as IYTA SA rep, and she is looking forward to making a difference and creating a thriving community in the state. Here she tells her yoga journey…

Well it’s been a few years since I held this position but I am pleased and grateful to be back as the SA state Representative. Please let me briefly Introduce myself. Born Monika Slavikova in 1971 in former Czechoslovakia a communist country.

My life journey began in Prague where I was born. Most beautiful city in Europe. We arrived in Australia as refugees in 1980, I was eight at the time.

My yoga journey began at age 27 after a car accident, which left me with back and neck injuries. My first teacher was the beautiful Louise Wiggins. Louise also became my mentor when I decided to became a yoga teacher myself and trained by correspondence with IYTA’s Diploma of Yoga Teaching in 2003-4. At the time my study was not online it was from books and audio cassettes… how times have changed!

My dream was to teach children yoga in schools. My first experience of yoga was hiding in the back row of Louise’s class in beautiful Pt Noarlunga Surf Life Saving Club. My hamstrings resisted, my mind was full of distractions and I couldn’t wait for the class to finish! Despite all this resistance I went back week after week for 11 years straight and fell in love with Hatha yoga, Louise’s style and her very popular gentle, yet very effective classes.

I fulfilled my dream of teaching not only children in schools around Adelaide, but adults and the elderly.

I met a lot of yoga teachers in my journey whom helped me along the way like Russell, Beth, Ann and Nikki – all wonderful yoga teachers.

I have given up teaching, but not the passion for learning Yoga. Over the years I have tried most styles and recent years have been attending Shannon Stephens-Griffin’s classes which are strong Iyengar influenced classes at her Southbound gym.

Shannon has taught me inversions which I was not a huge fan of and how to gain more confidence in myself to try them. I’m hoping to get back into teaching again and recently reconnected with the IYTA to be involved in this wonderful Yoga network community here in Australia.

So here I am again a few years older and still very keen to learn more from Yoga and all of you.

Last time I was SA rep, family commitments didn’t give me much time to dedicate to the role. This time I’m all in and want to help make the IYTA a viable and highly sought after membership association that all yoga teachers and students want to be a part of.

And I believe with my experience in the Industry (Monika works full-time as Membership Advisor for a Non for profit state association: Master Builders SA), I know I can bring a lot of skills and experience to the IYTA to make it a thriving and solid business model.

I want to make a difference and help us all achieve what we set out to do together in the yoga community. So my yoga journey continues. Feeling blessed and grateful to be back.