Estelle and her family moved to Australia from South Africa in 2002. In 2012 they relocated to Newcastle from Brisbane. Her early career was in financial modelling and reporting in the mining industry. Estelle’s growing interest in health and medical science led to a change direction and she completed a Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Newcastle in 2017. To use this knowledge in a more practical and client focus way, she completed her Bachelor of Health Science Nutrition & Dietetic Medicine in 2020. These formal qualifications inform her philosophy about health, nutrition, breathing and influence her clinical focus.

Estelle qualified as a yoga teacher in 2016 and have over 800 hours teaching at YBW. She brings her academic background to the yoga studio combining science and yoga practice together in a unique blend. Every movement has a specific intention while at the same time allowing for individual needs and limitations. She is passionate about movement and have participated in a multitude of sports, some with more success than others. Learning new motor patterns and challenging her body help to maintain her mental sanity. She loves to bring her background knowledge of anatomy and physiology into the studio. Understanding the unique demands that different sports and movements place on the body help to formulate her yoga teaching. Estelle is obsessed with anatomy and how our bodies move and what is the best way to recover from injury. There is always a pose/ position/ adjustment for everybody, and your age or injury is not a limitation to participate in yoga. Strength must be coupled with mobility in order to prevent injuries. Keeping our joints mobile is key to ageing well. Her Sports & Joints Release class caters for athletes in all sports and is very popular among members.

Estelle’s interest in breathing started in 2004 and she has holds various coaching certifications with a wide range of applications including stress management, asthma, sleep, surfing, and exercise performance. She teaches Performance and Functional Breathing in workshops and on individual basis. Her mission is to teach clients the many benefits that better breathing can bring to their lives from sleeping better to improved stress resilience and focus in the corporate environment. Dysfunctional breathing is both a driver and a consequence in many health conditions including anxiety, hypertension and asthma. The effects of better breathing can be felt immediately and are long lasting. A breath practice is easier to learn than other methods of stress management like meditation.

Breathing can act as the doorway to a calm, relaxed mental state and can be used to control fear, anxiety, anger and stress while promoting restful sleep. Through correct breathing habits, new levels of health, performance, fitness and wellness can be realised for any activity. ou can change your state – physical and mental – by changing your breath. Breath is the link between physical health and mental health. Mental resilience is increased by understanding the connection of breath with your physical and psychological state.