YogaHara is a Bendigo based Yoga studio offering a variety of Yoga classes. We believe that there is no one style of Yoga that everyone should 'fit' into and invite our students to explore, experiment and enjoy our diverse range of teachers and classes. For more details on our classes, visit the participate page.

Gina Macauley - YogaHara Director
	Gina's Yoga journey began with her mum when they went to their first Yoga class together in the late 80s. Over the years she has practiced a variety of different styles with different teachers and has discovered that there is no one style that best suits her body all the time. It is this philosophy that she brings to her teaching, giving her students the benefit of her combined influences to discover, through the ancient teachings of Yoga, how best to work with their own body and mind to achieve their lifestyle goals. She is honoured to now have her mum as one of her students. Gina leads her students towards the union of the body, mind and spirit, through the breath guiding them to re-connect with their inner, deeper wisdom enabling them to be in harmony with the world around them. Gina has an Advanced Diploma in Yoga Teaching (1000+ hours) through the Centre for Adult Education in Melbourne and the Academy of Yoga Learning, and is now a mentor to others studying this same course. She is a level I trained iRest Yoga Nidra teacher and she is currently undertaking a Graduate Certificate in Yoga Therapy through the Australian Institute of Yoga Therapy. Gina is a member of Yoga Australia and has recently joined the Yoga Australia Victorian Committee. She has also spent time in India practicing Yoga with a Tibetan monk. She is continually studying and practicing Yoga and is currently inspired by Leigh Blashki, Paul Wooden, Richard Miller and Donna Farhi.
Ruth Parker
	Ruth has been fascinated by Yoga since her early teens and began a serious, daily practice 12 years ago. She completed the Advanced Diploma of Yoga Teaching with Australian Yoga Academy in 2008 and since then has taught at various studios and gyms in Melbourne before moving to Bendigo. She has been influenced by many different styles of Yoga over the years and seems to gravitate toward a more flowing style both in her personal practice and her teaching style.  She loves to teach Yoga because she has seen how dedication to practice has been transformational in her own and others lives.
Nina Hakamies
	Nina has been practising and studying various styles of yoga and assisted experienced yoga teachers since 1995, in Australia and overseas.  She was a slow starter in yoga, but her hectic work and challenges of modern lifestyle led her to seek a more natural way of living and developing mindfulness and inner balance. In 2009, the yogic path brought her to study with Master Teacher Nicky Knoff, in Australia, and she graduated as an intermediate level Certified Yoga Teacher from the Knoff Yoga School and the International Yoga Alliance (RYT200). Prior to teaching yoga, Nina studied health sciences and worked in international development organisations, including in India and in Sri Lanka. This background is a tremendous help in combining Western science and Eastern wisdom in the daily yoga practise. Her personal passion lies in combining yoga therapy and health for both men and women, and to pass over to her students the holistic experience of physical asanas, exercises of relaxation and meditation. Nina is also our highly qualified Prenatal Yoga specialist. She has a Masters in Reproductive and Sexual Health, has spent time working for the World Health Organisation in the area of reproductive and sexual health and in addition to her Yoga Teacher qualification, has also completed a comprehensive Graduate Certificate Yoga of Birth: Teaching Prenatal Yoga. However her highest qualification is that of having just given birth herself. Can you afford to trust yourself and your unborn baby to anyone less qualified?

"In daily practice, reflect on the benefits of love, compassion and kindness, then reflect on the disadvantages of anger. Such continuous contemplation, the growing appreciation of love, has the effect of reducing our inclination towards hatred and increasing our respect for love. By this means even anger can be diminished."
-- His Holiness the Dalai Lama

All YogaHara Yoga teachers are members of Yoga Australia, Australia's peak body for Yoga teachers. This ensures your teacher is up to date with training and industry standards and requirements.




"I am very passionate about Yoga. It has provided me with the guidelines and tools to live a meaningful life with purpose, grace and love. Not a day goes by where I am not surprised by the insights Yoga offers, sometimes from the simplest of things. Yoga is so much more than what we do on the mat, and this is very exciting." -- Gina Macauley


"I believe that Yoga can make us healthier, happier and stronger; that life is one huge vinyasa – ever changing, ever flowing, breath by beautiful breath. I love that what we do on our Yoga mats can translate to how we live our day to day lives – we can choose to breathe easy, judge less and love more." -- Ruth Parker


“Yoga offers a fantastic tool to aid health and recovery. At its best, yoga guides me toward a most fulfilling life and relationship with myself and others. I invite my students to re-connect to the intelligence of their body, mind and spirit, that ultimately are the key to complete wellbeing.” -- Nina Hakamies