Meet Our Teachers | Yoga Studio Brisbane
Clayfield Yoga Studio is led by Tanya Zappala and a team of experienced, friendly yoga teachers ready to help you get the most from your practice.
Tanya Zappala
When you notice how everyday life pulls you in all sorts of directions then you appreciate how the practice of yoga support pulling you back to find your center.
Tanya Zappala
Yoga is a practice; the more you practice, the more you gain. The real essence is bestowed upon the dedicated, as you cannot logically understand it; you have to feel it wholeheartedly.
The students who continue when you want to stop, the ones who master that edge. Yoga is like a fine bottle of wine; it gets better with age and experience. Finding balance between two essential qualities: Sthira and Sukha. Sthira represents steadiness and effort, while Sukha is about remaining comfortable and in a place of ease. It involves being comfortable in the uncomfortable, both in body and mind, and discovering softness within strength for sustainability.
Tanya approaches her classes from this understanding. Taking a moment to pause and let the dust settle allows you to see more clearly inside and around you. Pranayama (breathwork) serves as your guide, calling you back to yourself. When you are quiet, you can hear the whispers. Listen to the moment, step back into real-time, and then move forward from your highest intention.
In Tanya’s Vinyasa, Align and Flow, and Slow Flow classes, we always begin with warming movements to loosen tension or stiffness before increasing the momentum with more strengthening postures. Tanya’s Spinal Flow classes vary depending on the target area. Your body has multiple muscles, and they all benefit from having the spotlight of your attention, focusing on their range of movement using a variety of props such as balls, rollers, blocks, bolsters, or chairs to enhance your strength and flexibility on that day.
For Tanya, yoga has been the guiding light at the end of many dark tunnels. It’s a beacon that keeps leading her back onto the right track. Yoga continues to teach Tanya how to keep growing towards the best version of herself. Her rewards have been a healthy body, a positive mind, and an uplifted spirit. Tanya attributes yoga to bringing her the most incredibly supportive friendships, emotional resilience, and a happier approach to life, all from years of dedication to her practice.
Lucia Broekhuizen
Yoga with Lucia will leave you feeling at peace, stronger, and more balanced, physically and mindfully.
Lucia Broekhuizen
Her classes are creative and suited for all levels. Essential basics forming the foundation for more advanced poses are gently built upon so that asanas are challenging yet not overwhelming. A love of teaching and empowering people fosters an environment of inquisitiveness and community developed in her classes.
Since first introduced to yoga, Lucia knew it would be a lifelong study. Influenced by some of her first teachers, classical yoga and a sense of light and grace have woven into Lucia’s unique sparkle into her practice style.
Attracted to a flowing practice, Lucia intertwines alignment principles through a sense of play so those in her class can progressively deepen their training and experience. Discover their pose expression, and deepen an understanding of personal power.
Personally experiencing yoga’s benefits on mental wellness, Lucia endeavours to lead students to a deeper understanding of their emotional well-being. Yoga with Lucia will leave you feeling at peace, more vital, and more balanced, physically and mindfully.
Lucia continues to seek knowledge and wisdom through ongoing workshops, training, study, and the insights she gleans from the light within.
Lucia completed her first 200hr course in America in 2013 and started teaching the same year. She undertook further studies towards a 500hr certification before she moved with her family to the Philippines. Upon returning to Australia in 2020, she completed another 200hr training at Inna Bliss Yoga. Lucia loves to travel & has lived in England, France, Indonesia, the Philippines & America.
Inspired by the ocean as a scuba instructor and breath-hold diver, Lucia embraces the sense of peace, escape, and wonder on her mat as she finds it under the water. Bringing these skills into all aspects of her life.
Alana Wagner
Alana creates a space for you to arrive and ground. The class starts with a gentle warming sequence followed by Surya Namaskar (sun salutations) to build warmth and energy within the body
Alana Wagner
Alana says Yoga is her anchor, it brings whatever it is she is needing, whether that’s relaxation, stillness, or stretching out her body. It helps her get energised, feel strong, remain connected, and stay grounded in herself. Alana has gained physical strength, flexibility, stability, and increased range of motion. She opens up to what she needs, and most times it is sitting quietly in meditation. Alana is grateful for the clarity and wholeness she has found through harmonising her body, mind, breath, and spirit. To her it is magic!
Yoga has helped her increase her awareness and connection to the energy centers within her body, helping her be more refined when she is imbalanced or overstimulated. Yoga gives her a place to take refuge and find peace. Simple practices of breathing, mindfulness, and sitting in stillness continuously help to center and find perspective in all areas of her life.
Spiritually Alana has gained glimpses of the fundamental connection we all have to this vast and wondrous universe. Yoga has brought Alana friendships and connections. A sense of community that is valuable and fulfilling. Sharing space, energy, and a common intention of feeling more calm and happy in this life are truly special.
Tina Summers
“When the student is ready, the teacher will find you”. Tina believes when you are willing to dedicate yourself to giving a little time each day for
yourself, the lessons and guidance will be there.
Tina Summers
“When you dedicate a little time each day for yourself, the lessons and guidance will be there. Taking that little time each day to move loving energy through your body will set you up right”. This has been Tina’s journey with Yoga and her inspiration to her students.
Tina’s training began with Ben Sofowora, who inspired her to become a teacher. Tina has since studied with some of the best yoga teachers in Australia, including Nicky Knoff, Peter Ujvari of Shadow Yoga, Clive Sheridan, Mark Whitwell, Tracy Gray, Kaya Slater, Edwina Kempe, Tamara James and currently beautiful teachers Bianca Machliss and Simon Borg-Olivier of Yoga Synergy.
Tina has also trained with Master Yang of Calligraphy Health, the Chinese Yoga style of Qi Gong. Tina combines all these beautiful teaching styles to incorporate her own style of Yoga for the modern body.
Our lives have changed dramatically since we no longer sit on the floor to work, eat, rest or even go to the toilet. With that, Yoga has remained adaptable and relevant, more so than ever, to our modern times.
“Exercise is optional, Movement is vital” – Simon Borg-Olivier.
In the past 10 years, Tina has begun chanting the sacred transcendental mantras and learning to play the harmonium, delving into Nada Yoga.
Tina also began Sound Healing practice with crystal sound bowls and other instruments to help people retune their bodies for ultimate health and relaxation.
Tina has begun to focus on helping people with trauma in marginalised communities after completing a Trauma Sensitive Teacher training workshop in November 2022. This has helped Tina to expand her
offerings to those in need.
Bronwyn Wilson
Bronwyn’s goal is for students to enjoy and appreciate the time they have taken to create some much-needed space for themselves.
Bronwyn Wilson
Bronwyn’s classes are set to soft relaxing music to support the unwinding process of alleviating the stresses of the day. Beginning with a focus on your breath, Bronwyn slowly builds the intensity of the class through flowing yoga poses and finishing with a beautiful savasana. Her goal is for students to enjoy and appreciate the time they have taken to create some much-needed space for themselves.
Bronwyn completed her RYS200-hour yoga teacher training in 2013. She taught previously at Clayfield Yoga Studio until the birth of her twins in early 2017. Bronwyn feels a sense of joy and fulfilment through teaching yoga and giving back to the yoga community.
Bronwyn discovered yoga in 2006 to offset the stresses of working a corporate job. As Bronwyn’s yoga journey progressed, she realised the benefits of yoga to the physical body and to calm the mind.
With a natural inclination to rush and lean into the busy aspects of life, Bronwyn finds work-life balance by clearing her mind and practising mindfulness. This brings peace and calms back into her life.
Bronwyn’s role as human resources at the Royal Flying Doctor Service and being a mother to three active young boys is balanced by maintaining her love of food, adventure, and the outdoors, whilst enjoying time with friends and family.
Clayfield Yoga Studio is grateful to have Bronwyn’s beautiful energy back in our space.
Alisa Clark
Alisa welcomes you into a safe and accessible space. Starting with meditation and pranayama then moving. Alisa offers a nourishing experience to empower students to leave feeling grounded and inspired in their well-being.
Alisa Clark
Alisa’s warm and approachable demeanor welcomes students into a safe and accessible space for yoga practice. Her classes open with meditation and pranayama practice before moving into postures and sequences that align with a theme or focus area. Alisa offers a nourishing experience that aims to empower students in their yoga practice, both on and off the mat, leaving them feeling grounded and inspired in their well-being.
One of Alisa’s favorite yoga quotes, “Yoga does not just change the way we see things. It transforms the person who sees,” from B. K. S. Iyengar, resonates with her own yoga journey. Alisa started practicing yoga in 2014 to help increase strength and mobility to cope with a hip disorder diagnosed in her teens. After experiencing the combined physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga during her first pregnancy, she leaned on her yoga practice and yoga philosophy to survive postnatal depression. This experience inspired her to share yoga with others as a ‘whole self’ self-care practice, and she completed her 200-hour yoga teaching certification in 2021. Alisa is committed to ongoing development, having completed subsequent training in restorative and yin yoga. She is also currently studying towards a post-graduate diploma of psychology at the University of Adelaide while being a mom of two boys. These days, her yoga practice maintains a sense of feeling grounded, focused, and calm in the face of life’s day-to-day challenges.
Alisa is passionate about supporting those who come to yoga for their mental health, particularly parents and caregivers, to help them (re)connect with their inner selves through yoga so they can thrive.
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