There are eleven more days of winter.

And what comes after Winter?

ITS SPRING!!!

Whether you notice spring because of the flowers blooming or your sinuses filling, it's on its way as we will let go of the bed socks and oodies for another nine months.

And to celebrate this momentous occasion, we have three big announcements:

1. Nin Yoga Castle Hill is Opening on September 2nd!

“Whatttttttttt!!!!!!!! I thought you were done with opening studios?”

“Youuuuuuuuu said you would never offer reformer!”

Look, we obvs have no idea what this universe has planned for us in the grand scheme of things...

I am thankful to our friends at Body Barre Air for trusting me to take over their community as my own starting Sepetember.

We have finalized the schedule, which is valid for all your trial deals, casual passes, and memberships.

2. Nin Yoga will also have its first-ever...

I once remember not being allowed to sit with a particular group of girls at school because I had not yet gotten my period.

It was primary school, so I was maybe 11ish at the time.

It was cold, and having just come out of class I saw a bunch of girls sitting in a circle under the shelter.

I wasn't really close friends with any of them, but for some odd reason, I thought it would be a good idea to break the ice and get to know them (I must have been feeling exceptionally confident that day).

When I answered the question quietly and honestly, I walked away thinking something was wrong with me.

I was a late bloomer, but it was eventually my time to shine.

I was also much too shy to speak to anyone about it, let alone go to the store to buy pads.

I had a weird relationship with my mum at the time, and there was absolutely no way I could speak to my dad.

I would make shift with what I could find, which usually...

I would love to introduce myself and tell you all that is shifting with your beloved Pilates, Barre, and Yoga community in Castle Hill 

My name is Annika Saigi. I am 35 years old and the daughter of two immigrant parents (Thailand and Hungary, random right?).

I am also a proud mumma of two baby girls (now 5 and 1), engaged to the man of my dreams, a yoga teacher and aerial teacher, facilitator of a bi-annual Yoga Teacher Training, co-host of the Australian Yoga and Wellness Festival, and owner of a yoga studio in St Marys and Penrith known as Nin Yoga.

Nin Yoga is about to turn 7 next month, but before I had these studios, I used to teach at a studio called Aerial Fit. I actually quit my day job managing a video game arcade for over a decade to go on part-time with Bek and Becca to teach Lyra, Silks, Aerial Yoga, and Hatha Yoga at their Castle Hill studio.

Because Bek and Becca trusted me to...

I have been ITCHING to tell you something.

Something that if you asked me if it was a possibility in June, I would have been like, "Mateeeeeeee, what are you even on about?".

Something that just continues to prove that there is only so much we can plan in this life.

Nin Yoga is merging with a dear friend in Castle Hill! From September 1st, all of our students and members will be able to book at that location, our third location!

Long story short, Body Barre Air, a studio I used to teach at, maybe 8 or 9 years ago, is looking for a new studio mumma.

Considering I already half knew the vibe of the community, and am still friends with the current teachers, and resonate with all their offers and core values, I actually didn't know how to say no.

That being said, I didn't say yes right away, either. I got the message with the offer while sitting by the first roasting marshmallows with the family. I then read the message out loud...

I walked up to Penrith Studio stairs this morning to a fancy surprise!

As mentioned in a few newsletters, we have been loving Pilates.

Many of our studio friends teach in local Reformer Pilates studios around the area, which we love to visit, as well as mat classes at Nin Yoga. It's exceptionally complimentary to our main practice of yoga.

Yoga is the ride and fly, the core values, the what I come back to every single freaking time we need to make a decision in this roller coaster of a thing called life.

That being said, however, as I walked up the stairs at the Penrith studio today to get stuck into working on this newsletter and riveting tasks such as payroll and video editing, I was treated by one of our dearest teachers and friends, Dolce Fisher.

Dolce did our yoga teacher training three-ish years ago, but she has been a dance teacher for what sounds like her whole life.

She also teaches a solid...

For someone who looks after yoga studios, I didn't do so crash hot in my actual yoga teacher training.

I used to sit in the back of the classroom during philosophy lectures and hide behind my textbook to sneak in a cheeky nap.

At one point, I put all the teacher training books over my face and laid on the ground and told my classmates that was the only way I was going to absorb this knowledge.

Promising right?

I was in my twenties and in India, the birthplace of yoga. It was a total honour to be there, but with the 200-hour and 300-hour courses condensed in 30 days, so much of the training was completely over my head because of how new I was to yoga at the time, how distracted I was by all the pretty things surrounding me and just the exhaustion from 12-hour days.

I had already taught some yoga in the past, but not traditional yoga. It was aerial yoga, and I specifically remember telling my teacher trainers in India that when I...

Can I offer you unlimited classes for just one payment of $10?

Considering it is the middle of winter (apparently, its going to snow up in the mountains this week!), I wanted to find a way to encourage all of our one-class and two-class-per-week members to join us in the studio a little bit more!

So, what better way than bumping you all up to an unlimited membership for the rest of winter?

What do I mean?

Well, for a one-time payment of $10, I will go into the backend of your account and give you unlimited access to all of our classes for the rest of Winter (that's until August 31st, by the way!).

Just reply to this email, and I'll get it set up for you.

No pressure and I'll send a few reminders, as we will keep this promo offer for the rest of winter just for our one and two-class per-week members.

Annika xx

I'll admit it: I initially thought yoga was sooooooooo boringggggggg.

My first impression was 16 years ago in a gym at Rooty Hill.

All I remember is the yoga teacher reading from a book and telling me to relax certain body parts, weaving in many philosophical ideas I couldn't even fathom.

I pretended my eyes were closed to hide from the awkwardness of only three of us in a vast room, but I would have much preferred keeping them open.

After 60 minutes, I dismissed it as yoga was not for me and continued with my life. (unaware that a traditional yoga practice would eventually sweep me off my feet ).

Before that was all to happen, however, I adored circus, and a local school sought a new teacher to teach Aerial Yoga. I still knew nothing of the "yoga" aspect but thought I could wing it.

One student in my class had a background in gymnastics and was always ready to experiment with funky shapes in the sling.

Her exceptional...

We love yoga. Our main thang will always be yoga (hence the name "Nin Yoga").

But also, it's not the be-all and end-all.

Unlike the infamous "yoga" documentaries on Netflix (the Bikram one was exceptionally hard for me to watch because I started in Bikram yoga, but I thoroughly enjoyed Wild Wild Country because the 1970s have always been so fascinating to me), there are more layers to life than just having a hardcore and inflexible yoga only practice.

Yoga is an exceptional foundation, a home to return to within ourselves. It's been that way for me personally for nearly a decade. But what if we have a sore lower back from a weak core or our pelvic floor needs some attention from pushing out those huge things known as babies (fun fact: 50% of women have a weak pelvic floor).

Some exercises complement our foundational yoga practice, and one of them is Pilates.

So, how Pilates...

Slow Dance

"Have you ever watched kids
On a merry-go-round?

Or listened to the rain
Slapping the ground?

Ever followed a butterfly’s erratic flight?
Or gazed at the sun into the fading night?

You better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Do you run through each day
On the fly?

When you ask: How are you?
Do you hear the reply?

When the day is done,
Do you lie in your bed

With the next hundred chores
Running through your head?

You’d better slow down.
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

Ever told your child,
We’ll do it tomorrow?

And in your haste,
Not see his sorrow?

Ever lost touch,
Let a good friendship die

Cause you never had time
To call and say, “Hi”?

You’d better slow down
Don’t dance so fast.

Time is short.
The music won’t last.

When you run so fast to get somewhere
You miss half the fun of getting there.

When you worry and hurry through the day,
It is like an unopened...