Urban Soul Raw Yoga

Melanie is a teacher (and student) of yoga with an emphasis on exploring balance for the body and mind.

With 20 years of industry experience, including 9 years teaching, Melanie facilitates Flow, Slow Flow and Yin classes, as well as specialty workshops, retreats and teacher training. Frustrated with sports injuries, Melanie found balance and a sense of putting her body back together with yoga. Melanie is inspired by a variety of styles and teachers including Baron Baptiste, Duncan Peak, Jill Mille and Ido Portal and is working towards 500 hours of teacher training. She creates grounded, challenging and accessible classes, providing the opportunity to get out of your head, into your body and experience the power of movement and breath awareness.

From a history as a teacher of sciences, to a journalist writing about the Mafia in the heated Neapolitan metropolis, to a multi-disciplinary artist fiddling with print and the web, Rua has changed lives a few times over. The only thing that​ has been​stick​ing​​ throughout​is her passion for learning​,​and sharing mindful experiences rather than just knowledge - and that’s how today she is a dedicated meditation facilitator, a stretch therapist and a multi-style yoga instructor.

​She is striving​ to teach - or perhaps even better, facilitate yoga, and movement - the way​ she would have always wanted to be taught. ​Her long-term goal is to gather around ​her a new generation of practitioners who think of yoga​​and all its​ ​offshoots critically, not superstitiously, who aspire to work healthily and live mindfully; to offer a resource for those who want to approach it from a different angle; to offer a space for those who have tried and failed to get into it many times before, to try once more.

For over a decade Marnie has been performing as a professional contemporary dancer with a dedicated yoga practice as her main accompaniment. She believes yoga is similar to dance in its syncing of breath, movement and creative flow. Yoga has been her medicine, helping her maintain a healthy lifestyle and sustain a long career.

Marnie is passionate about teaching and practicing a mindful sequential flow with a strong focus on alignment and full body awareness.

What Marnie loves about yoga is how your experience is different everyday. She loves that it encourages acceptance and humility by challenging you to observe and move your body in the present moment without judgement.

Marnie enjoys teaching because she is inspired by an individual’s journey and progression in their practice, and its potential to influence their life off the mat. She enjoys a space that brings people together to share breath, movement and positivity.

Hi my name is Jenna, my approach with teaching asana is the same approach I take with my health & wellness clients; respecting bio-individuality while engaging in functional movement that supports us day to day.

My 14 year love affair with yoga began when I was able to develop a new relationship with my mind & body with less judgment of the outcome. As my curiosity grew so did my desire to learn all aspects of the ancient yoga system such as pranayama, meditation & Ayurveda. Seeing how it can be used in modern times has now become my passion and joy to share with others. With 1200 hours of teacher trainings under my belt I still am a student and students are my teachers.

Come and join me for a breath centered practice that explores your own body’s movement and encourages safety, awareness and wellbeing.

"I first began to practice yoga in 2015, as part of a fitness program. I had previously been ill and overweight for a number of years. While I was off to a slow start, I thoroughly enjoyed the way this practice felt in my body. A few months in I began to recognise the impact it had begun to have on my mind too. I was no longer anxious! I felt calmer and more content.

After this realisation I was hungry to find out more about the history and philosophy behind this beautiful and ancient system. I knew at the end of my studies I couldn't wait to teach and share what I had learnt!

I know that attending yoga classes can be intimidating for many but I strive to ensure students feel welcome and comfortable. I give variations for poses so that everyone is being challenged at their own level. My classes are very breath focused in order to cultivate a stronger connection between the mind and body."

Andrew is a certified 200 hour yoga teacher in Vinyasa. He has also completed an additional 200 hours of study in alignment and assists, meditation and yoga philosophy.

Andrew first discovered yoga while living in Singapore. Yoga was an incredible counter balance to his training in Muay Thai and to offset the stresses of corporate life. Andrew completed his teacher training in Sydney to deepen his practice and to be able to share the benefits of yoga with others. His classes emphasise a connection with breathing above all. He is passionate about assisting and deepening the practice of his students with correct alignment and physical assists.

Andrew teaches part-time and assists weekly in large, advanced classes. His favourite pose is Triangle and he can usually be found with his mat close to an open window. Students can expect chilled but challenging classes,peppered with traditional yoga themes and philosophy and most importantly, a sense of humour.

Shona's first experience of Feldenkrais left a powerful impression on her. Moving in ways she had never imagined before was thoroughly engaging and afterwards she felt tall, free and dynamic. Working as a massage therapist since 2010, Shona started her Feldenkrais practitioner training in 2014 and has been teaching Awareness Through Movement since 2016.

Life lessons from Feldenkrais:

- the importance of rest and listening to your body

- looking for the simplest way - not making things harder than they need to be!

- you don't have to be good at something the first time you try it!

Shona loves enabling people to experience themselves in a whole new way - feeling lighter and freer than they imagined was possible.

Yoga has been an influential part of my life both on and off the mat since 2009. Teaching allows me to share my passion of mind body connection, helping set up space in others lives to reconnect, nourish and restore.

Influenced by a variety of modern Vinyasa forms, I lead classes with emphasis on alignment, strength and breath.

I encourage students to listen to their body and let that guide them through the practice, to take each movement mindfully and surrender to the stillness. This allows each individual to tune into their true teacher which is inside themselves.

Melanie first discovered the healing powers of yoga in 2012 while living in Jakarta, Indonesia. Trying to find an escape from the chaos of a big city, she stumbled across her first yoga class in the tranquil home of her first yoga teacher, Dini Maharani. Melanie discovered a positive way to move her body and calm her mind. From then on she was hooked, and she brought her yoga practice back home to Sydney.

Melanie qualified for her 200 hour certificate in June 2018 and is currently training for her advanced certification.

Melanie loves the multi-dimensional aspects of yoga and the way it can heal, restore and re-energise - both mentally and physically. She is excited to share her love and passion for yoga with others.

Yoga has been apart of Leah’s life for over 10 years.  It’s been her saving grace while navigating the often challenging and rejection filled life of an actor!

As Leah’s passion for the practice grew, she was drawn to take a 200hr teacher training in India and during this time she discovered a love and a calling for teaching.

With a deep respect for the tradition of yoga, Leah aims to fuse her classes with a balance of traditional and modern practices to encourage strength and flexibility not just in the body but also in the mind.  

Leah seeks to help others thrive and connect to the true essence of who they are through the practice of yoga.

What I love about yoga is its versatility. Yoga is at once a tool and a skill; an exercise and a chill pill; a hobby and a way of life.

Like so many, I came to yoga for physical exercise but stayed for the extra-physical teachings. After practising yoga from the age of fourteen, I finally found the courage to teach and enrolled in a Teacher Training program. For a long time I thought that in order to be ready to teach yoga I had to be able to do the splits or stand on my head or do something picture-worthy. That was to miss the point entirely. Teaching yoga has taken me back to the roots of yoga, to the understanding that it is not just about kicking out some beautiful shapes but about cultivating stillness through movement, bringing a softness to it that helps us to live more gently. That said, I do like a good Chaturanga!

For me, yoga isn't just about what we do on the mat, but about how we use Asana, our physical practice, as a metaphor to inform how we live our lives.

Being a mum and working full time in a corporate role, I understand what it is like to live a little chaotically and how important a yoga routine is for all of us who seem to be living in a constant state of busyness.

I believe Yoga benefits go beyond physical wellness, it’s having an impact on how we balance our emotions, how we behave with others, and how we accept ourselves without judgement.

My classes are slow paced, infused with creative movement, music, a dash of philosophy, in the hope that students enjoy their time on the mat, feel connected to their practice, and get inspired to continue.

Jodie runs a tutoring school which helps both primary and high school students gain skills and confidence in all areas of their learning.  After a few years of tutoring, she became aware that many students were feeling anxious, overwhelmed and lacking in self-confidence and she began searching for a way to help them.  This lead her to yoga.  She had experienced the calmness that yoga had brought into her own life and she became passionate about sharing this knowledge with the young people in her life.  She began her studies with a 500 hour teacher training course in 2018 and then added her Kids Yoga teaching qualification early in 2020.  Jodie feels blessed to share with all the children in her life the benefits of yoga on both our bodies and our minds.

Lara teaches Kids Yoga with Jodie. Jodie and Lara met at a Kids Yoga Teaching training course and haven’t looked back since. They decided they would love to impart their knowledge of Kids Yoga to children together.
When Lara isn’t teaching yoga she is works as a Primary School Teacher. Lara also enjoys running, reading mysteries and drinking cups of tea.

Together with Jodie she is excited to begin their Kids Yoga adventure.

Frank became the owner of Urban Soul Raw in January 2017 after an extensive career as an addictions counsellor. 

Frank is a job whisperer in many communities throughout Australia. Having developed health issues due to unhealthy eating and an inactive lifestyle, Frank found a dramatic new direction and immersed himself in the world of yoga, meditation and a plant based diet. Frank now lives pain free and looks forward to everyday. Frank’s vision for Urban Soul is to provide a holistic and relaxed wellness space that supports the community through the practice of yoga and associated healthy concepts. Frank is always up for a friendly chat at the beginning or end of class and loves community ideas and feedback on the studio.