Yoga with Alessia

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Yoga with Alessia

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Yoga, mobility and meditation classes in Melbourne Group, private and corporate sessions in English, Italian or Chinese.

Originally from Italy, Alessia is a light-hearted, down to earth yoga teacher with a passion for movement and meditation.

27/10/2026

10+ years into teaching yoga, and these are a few things I've gradually let go of.

1. Spending hours sequencing

I remember when I could easily spend two hours planning a single class!

Experience and years of practice definitely help, but the biggest shift has been learning to look inward for inspiration rather than constantly searching outside myself.

I'm in an ongoing relationship with what my body and mind need, and that naturally feeds my creativity. Sequencing has become much more spontaneous. These days, 30 minutes is usually enough.

2. Chanting mantras

Coming from an Ashtanga Vinyasa background and having completed my YTT in India, chanting was something I genuinely loved. I learned many mantras and used to chant before, and sometimes after, class.

But as my understanding of yoga evolved, I became more conscious of the cultural and historical context of these practices.

Sanskrit traditions have complex histories, including connections to Brahminical authority and caste hierarchies. I began questioning what I might be repeating without fully understanding.

3. Teaching without music

Another influence from my Ashtanga background!

I still practise mostly in silence myself (except for Yin), but over time I've realised how powerful music can be in shaping the experience of a class.

The right music can support the atmosphere, transitions and emotional quality of a practice.

I've learned that silence isn't the only way to create depth.

4. Using a million props

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE props and use plenty in my own practice.

But in a 60-minute class, constantly reaching for blocks, straps, blankets and bolsters can sometimes interrupt the experience rather than deepen it.

These days, I tend to choose one main prop to explore and keep things simple.

5. Looking for validation after class

Oh, this one took time!

I used to look for reassurance that I'd taught a good class. A compliment, a student's reaction, some sign that what I'd offered was enough.

Of course, feedback still matters. But I've learned not to measure the value of my teaching by how much praise I receive.

Fellow yoga teachers, what have you stopped doing over the years?

26/10/2026

After years of teaching yoga, I've realised that some of the most meaningful shifts in my teaching haven't come from another training, another technique or another piece of knowledge.

They've come from getting curious about things I used to take for granted.

How I use my voice. How I create space for students to explore. How my own practice continues to inform what I offer others.

I think as yoga teachers we can become so focused on what we're teaching that we forget to question how and why we're teaching it.

And sometimes, it's the smallest changes that completely transform the experience.

Not just for our students, but for us too.

What's one thing you've changed about your teaching over the years that made a real difference?

08/10/2026

I genuinely love teaching yoga during my luteal phase.

Not because I have endless energy. Quite the opposite, actually 😅

But over the years I've noticed that something shifts in the way I teach during this part of my cycle.

I naturally speak more slowly and leave more silence. My sequencing becomes simpler. I tend to strip away unnecessary transitions and keep only what feels relevant.

I also find myself breathing more slowly as I teach, which has a really calming effect on me. And perhaps what I love most is that I feel more intuitive, more sensitive to what's happening in the room and more connected to my students and their inner experience.

We're so focused on what becomes harder at different times of the month that we don't always notice what becomes available.

And that's one of the things I love about paying attention to my cycle. It's helped me recognise and appreciate different qualities in myself, and it keeps evolving me as a teacher and as a human being.

06/10/2026

The cycle isn't the prescription. It's part of the inquiry.

I've become increasingly uncomfortable with the way cycle-aware yoga is sometimes translated into another set of instructions for women.

Follicular = build.
Ovulation = expand.
Luteal = slow down.
Menstruation = rest.

There may be patterns worth noticing. Hormones do affect our physiology. But population averages aren't instructions for an individual woman.

In menstruality, Red School talks about The Big Red Rule: your own unique experience of your menstrual cycle matters more than any archetypal ideal or “should”.

And I absolutely love that.

When I first started studying menstruality, I remember really struggling with the idea of ovulation as this expansive, outward-facing “summer”.

With young children, that part of my cycle actually felt incredibly depleting. I remember working with my menstruality mentor around my inability to feel the expansiveness I thought I was supposed to experience.

Eventually I realised there was nothing I needed to get right.

I needed to see and care for the person who was actually in front of me, myself, rather than longing for an experience I wasn't having.

And interestingly, I now love my ovulatory time just as much as I love the other seasons of my cycle. Not because I've finally learned to experience it “correctly”, but because I've learned to meet it as it is.

This is why I'm building The Cyclical Practice.
It isn't about learning four new sets of rules.
It's learning to observe. Question. Experiment.

To notice patterns, and notice the exceptions.

To become more discerning about what your body, your practice and your life are actually asking of you.

Your cycle isn't another authority to obey.

It's something to be in conversation with.

I am so incredibly excited to share more of this.

Address

St Kilda, VIC

Telephone

+61414959637

Website

http://www.yogawithalessia.com.au/live-streaming.html

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