Nicole Walsh

 

Nicole has been teaching yoga for over twelve years and offers a progressive approach to Vinyasa Flow Yoga. Her transformational classes are a dynamic combination of breath-inspired movement and creative, yet balanced and intelligent sequencing.  Nicole blends a wealth of knowledge with experience, and her teaching style infuses traditional yoga practices with a modern twist - incorporating asana, pranayama, music, meditation, and a healthy sense of authenticity and fun! 

Nicole inspires her students to create balance and purpose in their lives through a practice that serves the modern-day yogi.  She contributes her knowledge of yoga to magazines such as Wellbeing and Australian Yoga Journal, and features regularly as Australian Women’s Health Magazine's "balance expert".  She feels privileged to have been the first Aussie on the cover of Australian Yoga Journal magazine. Having recently departed from BodyMindLife Yoga, the studio she founded twelve years ago, Nicole is excited about her new venture, InYoga - co-creating collaborative events for the yoga community, while helping to make a difference through various charity partners. She travels and leads yoga workshops, retreats and teacher trainings in Australia and internationally. www.inyoga.com.au

When was the last time you did something for the first time?

This year I became a free-lancing yoga teacher for the first time.  From my earliest days as a yoga teacher and for the past 12 years, I've always had my own studio.  Leaving BodyMindLife was like diving into the unknown! Scary, but open to infinite possibilities, which I am excited to be exploring.

What are your goals for 2016 and beyond?
Professionally my goal is to empower yoga teachers to be the best they can be.  I've had the privilege of training many teachers over the years, and it has been the most rewarding experience of my career.  I really want to cultivate in my trainees a heartfelt connection to the teachings of yoga that go beyond the physical aspects of yoga, so that people of all backgrounds and levels of ability can experience the healing and peace that a full-spectrum yoga practice can bring. Personally, I'd love to spend more time with my horses, more time in nature, and hopefully dust the cobwebs off my surfboard and get back in the water again.

How would you describe your first yoga experience?

A friend of mine took me along to a yoga class, and it was Bikram.  I sweated buckets, nearly threw up, and thought I was going to die. I swore I would never go back, but strangely found myself there again the next day…  I guess the rest is history! 

 

Who has influenced you most in your life?

I've had so many wonderful people influence me in my life at different times.  When I was 18, living away from home and working as a model, I met an amazing woman who become like both a mother and mentor to me.  Her name was Dene Selby, and she was the most graceful and stylish woman I had ever met.  While the international modelling career didn't quite take off, her influence is still with me in everything I do. 

 

What is your favourite yoga pose and why?

I'm not sure if I really have a favourite pose as such, but I do know that my daily practice will ALWAYS include half pigeon for a very long time. I come from the tight hip side of the family, so it always feels so good.