David and Laragh Cunningham of the Yoga Shala have just returned from four months studying and working with Australia’s most respected yoga teachers and physiotherapists in Sydney. Simon Borg Olivier and Bianca Machliss have propelled yoga into mainstream Australian life through their innovative teachings over the past 25 years.
“It’s exciting to be the first to bring yoga synergy’s teachings to Europe. The style is a merging of elements of traditional and ancient hatha yoga styles and Simon and Bianca’s in-depth scientific knowledge of anatomy and physiology,” Cunningham explained. David and Laragh have established themselves through their Yoga schools in Galway city and Barna among Ireland’s most respected yoga teachers. Their work with the Connacht rugby team and Galway footballers has encouraged more men to try yoga to help with their sport and wellbeing.
The couple’s commitment to staying at the cutting edge of yoga and health has paid dividends with the classes often booking out and students staying with the teachers for years. Laragh has taught yoga in Galway for nine years and some of her first yoga students still attend classes. “I see the main difference nowadays as being that many of our classes have more men than women in them”, she explains. “It has all evolved by word of mouth, students recommend our classes to their friends, the athletes and coaches of Galway’s sports teams recommend us ,and doctors and physiotherapists send in their patients so we have been lucky with referrals,” adds David, himself a former international golfer. Laragh and David are teaching in Galway city and Barna on their new summer schedule. More details are available on www.theyogashala.net or by calling 085 1573153.
