Hello, I’m Alicia Hiew and lucky to be based in the beautiful Gundungurra and Darug country, Blue Mountains. By profession and experience, I am a secondary and tertiary educator (BA Arts/Education UNSW). Teaching has been a natural inclination for me since childhood and an unequivocal link in my service across communities. I continue to pursue this through facilitating support in other disciplines - yoga!

In my vinyasa and yin classes I like to encourage connection back to the body with holistic integration between breathwork, movement and its meaning through purposeful theming. With regular practice, focus gradually shifts to the practitioner’s inner space, which is intuitively echoed in the way they move mindfully through the world, being able to project from a greater capacity of self-care and awareness. The value is its impact on a interoceptive presence with connection, community and compassion.

Having the privilege to pursue this through yoga comes with a cognisance of its effect on communities through the power of voice and space-holding. Ongoing sociological reflections and discernment on what this entails within the critical discourse of yoga for health and wellbeing is one reason that has led me to my specific pathways of yoga education and training (see below).

At some point during class we all meet with our internal landscape on the mat and the ability for my students to feel safe in practice is a priority. I am trained and certified to embed trauma aware practice in all yoga classes through my use of language, approach and support throughout the sessions. I also facilitate trauma informed yoga, offering one-to-one sessions to work on tailored re-integration of the body-mind connection, sensitive to individuals’ context and specific needs in their body. Having lived through complex experiences related to personal trauma, I approach this work from both a theoretical and personal lens. It is from this space of understanding that I am particularly drawn to supporting recovery and giving back to community.