Our Teachers
Christel (German) and Martina (Italian) are the Yoga Teachers at Villa Shanti. Christel teaches the whole year around while Martina is a seasonal teacher at Villa Shanti and is mainly during the Summer month with us. Shortly we will present more Experts for Yoga, Meditation, Reiki and Massages. We are holding our classes in Italian, English, and German.
Christel
In 1995, I read in a yoga book, “Stay in the forward bend Pada Hastasana and it will change your life!” Skeptical but curious, I began my journey into yoga. At the time, I was a global reporter and new mother, searching for balance in a hectic world.
Over the past 20 years, I’ve undergone multiple yoga teacher trainings, starting with Power Yoga under Bryan Kest in Santa Monica, California. His teachings propelled me from a Western approach to a deeper exploration of yoga in India and Nepal. In Kerala, India, I completed a Therapeutic Yoga training with Guru Saji, followed by certifications in Yin Yoga, Aerial Yoga, and becoming a Reiki Master.
I’ve developed a unique style that adapts to each group, often teaching in nature—on beaches, rocks, or at my Yoga Shala in Villa Shanti on the beautiful island of Elba, where I live most of the year.
In 2018, I opened the first Yoga, Meditation, and Reiki Center on Elba. Each morning, I practice Reiki in gratitude, embracing the magic of this place. Yoga and Reiki have transformed my life, and I now share this healing journey with others, in harmony with nature.
Martina
The rebalancing power of yoga has always been my greatest interest in practice. On the advice of a teacher, in 2012 I decided to approach this discipline for reasons of insomnia, back pain and recurrent headaches, resulting from a sedentary job.
Recognising immediately the beneficial effects of constant practice, which over time are increasingly reflected in everyday life, I approach different styles of yoga in search of a sensitive approach that goes beyond the simple postural attitude.
In 2017 I decide to spend a month in Bali to follow a therapeutic yoga teacher training and to deepen the issues related to energy rebalancing through the practice derived from Hatha and Tantra yoga, the knowledge of nutritional and holistic principles and the connection with the natural elements .
This kind of approach, sensitive and organic, leads to develop a careful inner listening that allows you to rebalance your self in a deep and independent way.
In fact, with this practice we are experimenting with how yoga allows us to find the balance in our natural rhythm, constantly following the evolving individual needs, developing a personal attention that leads to harmonize the inner energy through the connection with the natural cycles and the change in the energy of the external world around us.