Tash Brechmanis used to feel too out of her comfort zone to attend public yoga classes. Now she's teaching classes at her new studio, Yogabee.
Yogabee, located above the Brick House Restaurant in St Hill St, is the next step in a slowly evolving and deepening yoga journey for Brechmanis.
"I started yoga by practising at home, mostly to YouTube videos," she said.
"The further I got along in my practice, I decided I wanted to learn to be a teacher.
"I decided to go to Rishikesh in India, the home of yoga, to deepen my practice and learn more about the philosophy and anatomy of yoga.
"When I came back, I started teaching family and friends in a little home studio."
Brechmanis says the development of her new studio has been "really slow and organic".
"It has unravelled really naturally. My partner found this space and I moved in in February. I've been teaching private classes and have just started my public timetable."
She works as operations manager for New Zealand Computing Solutions and teaches classes before and after work and at weekends.
"My job is really supportive of it and I encourage them to get involved and do some yoga - it works sometimes. IT [information technology] is a really high-pressure job and there are lots of deadlines. Yoga is a really good way to bring me back to the present and let go of things you can't control.
"I get up about 5.10am and I'm here for class from 6am to 7am, go to work from 9am until 5pm and then have two classes in the evening. It sounds busy but it's something I love to do. I would be practising at home in the morning or evening anyway so it's nice to be able to share with others.
"Yoga is for everyone. You don't need to be experienced. When I started, I just did it at home because I didn't feel confident about going to a public class."
Brechmanis teaches hatha yoga, marrying movement with breath and holding poses a little longer. She also has dynamic hatha classes, which have more flow, and yoga nidra (also known as yogic sleep) classes to promote deep relaxation.
More information about the classes is available at yogabee.co.nz or on the Yogabee Facebook page.