I am a Yoga teacher in Madeira, Portugal. My name is Melanie de Villiers. I discovered Yoga in 1995 when during my psychology studies I intuitively felt drawn to explore eastern philosophy as a compliment to my western understanding of the human mind. In 2022 I immigrated from Cape Town, South Africa, where I’ve been offering Yoga classes since 2009.

I am an internationally certified Iyengar Yoga teacher through Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute, a RYT 500 Vinyasa Yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance, and a Yin Yoga teacher in the Paul Grilley style through Bernie Clark at YinYoga.com. I hold a BA Degree in Psychology and a Diploma in Journalism, which led me to work in the Photographic and Film industry for many years, before I finally committed to the Wellness industry.

As a dedicated Yoga student, whom has devoted more than half my life to research and experiment with various Yoga techniques in the laboratory of my own body and mind, I am passionate about sharing these supportive tools. With over twenty years of practical experience in both Iyengar Yoga and Ashtanga Yoga, I have a comprehensive understanding of the traditional techniques in the Krishnamacharya lineage, and an ability to apply this subtle knowledge in a simple, anatomically precise and somatically integrative way.

Although the focus of my teaching is on mobility, strength and agility, my Yoga classes are much more than fitness sessions. I support my Yoga clients to discover the deeper, transformational benefits of Yoga. My knowledge of anatomy, physiology and postural alignment, coupled with my background in western psychology and eastern philosophy, plus my ongoing study of Yoga therapy, gives me excellent tools to work with a diverse range of bodies and personalities, and adapt to a variety of physical and emotional ailments.

If you are still reading, thank you for your interest. I will take you a little further on my personal journey.

Yoga has been a lifeline for me since the age of 19, and continues to support me through the challenges of middle-age at 50. After a few years of dabbling in Yoga, a pivot began when I found BKS Iyengar’s book ‘Light on Yoga’ in a tiny bookshop in 1999, while travelling in Cornwall, England. The philosophy section of the book awakened such inspiration to change my life that I began to self-practice Yoga on the concrete floor of the ablution block in the caravan park where I was living at the time. As a dope smoking, surfer hippie I felt immense relief to finally find my direction in life. The change was unstoppable! On return to Cape Town I enrolled in regular Iyengar Yoga classes with Judy Farah, whom many years later became my Iyengar Yoga mentor, and guided me through certification.

A decade after practicing Yoga on that concrete floor, with no sticky mat, but lots of will power, I got to touch the feet of Guruji BKS Iyengar, with tears of joy in my eyes, softened by his smile. This was in 2011 when an incredible privilege opened for me to study at the Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute in Pune with BKS Iyengar present daily, and classes conducted by his daughter Geeta, his son Prashant and his granddaughter Abhijata.

Controversially, in the same year I also travelled to Mysore in India, to explore the roots of Ashtanga Yoga. In those years it was not really acceptable for Yoga students to openly practice both these seemingly opposite Yoga styles, and yet they originated from the same lineage. So for many years I secretly practiced Mysore style Ashtanga, while continuing to attend regular Iyengar Yoga classes. To me these two Yoga styles were clearly a compliment to each other, the one method perfectly exposing the blind spots of the other method.

My earliest journey to study Yoga in India was actually a few years prior, in 2008, when I spent a month in Rishikesh. The profound personal break-though of this experience sparked me to complete my first Yoga Alliance accredited Vinyasa Yoga teacher training in 2009. After returning I immediately launched Yogaflow in Cape Town to teach at every possible opportunity, while still working in a corporate office.

In 2014 I committed to the 6 year Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training journey. Due to the pandemic, I was certified a year later than expected, in 2021. Two years after, in 2023, I completed the level 2 Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training, but due to burn-out stress of immigration, and opening a business in a foreign country, I decided not to return to South Africa for the final assessment and exam.

Real life experience is worth so much more than labels and credentials. My recent completion of the Yin Yoga teacher training with Bernie Clark, in April 2025, showed me this.

Over the years I have studied with many senior Iyengar and Ashtanga Yoga teachers, including Faeq Biria, Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, completed two Anatomy and Therapy trainings with Simon Borg Olivier, enrolled in various online courses with Jason Crandell, plus lots more than I feel to bore you with here.

No seriously, if you are still reading, I sincerely appreciate your attention.

Above all, the ability to regulate my own nervous system has been the greatest gift of my ongoing Yoga practice. Simplicity is the key to happiness. As an introvert I feel that meditative embodiment is our ultimate rebellion in these turbulent times.

My deep desire for direct self-knowledge has taken me on epic journeys through rural South America to explore indigenous plant medicines, through India many times, in pure devotion to the profound study of Yoga and Ayurveda, through Thailand, immersed in Buddhist meditation and learning Thai massage, to Bali in pure bliss of Yoga and Surf lifestyle, and through many other magically mysterious places and spaces, plus a few dark alleys, all of which made me who I am today.

I draw inspiration from my own visceral life experience and the raw elements of nature around me, always curious to see how life unfurls. Through an intuitive understanding of the rhythmical ebb and flow of life-force, I creatively weave a tapestry of insight into my Yoga classes. Fully committed to authentic inner evolution, I believe in the healing power of Yoga as a strong soul medicine that can unlock our fullest life potential.

We are here on this planet to express our unique essence, and hold space for each others diversity to flower. As dr Seuss says: “Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind.”

See INFO page for details about my Yoga classes