Nicky Knoff E.R.Y.T. 500 - was born in 1938 to a Dutch father and an English mother. The family were living in Indonesia when the Japanese invaded at the start of WWII. Nicky was in a concentration camp from the ages of 3 and a half years to nearly 8 years old.

The harsh experiences of the war forced Nicky to confront, at a very early age, the basic realities of life - what was important and what was not. Nicky learned that we all have an inner essence, that when stripped of the veneer of social conditioning, we are all essentially the same, but with conditioning we are capable of doing the most horrific acts.

Nicky's approach to teaching yoga is to help her students challenge their social conditioning, to guide them towards revealing their own inner essence, so they may reach their full potential as human beings.

Nicky studied yoga from 1970 to 1974 in Tokyo, Japan with Bikram Chaudhury (before he was famous and before 'Hot Yoga'). When travelling on holiday from Japan, Nicky discovered Iyengar Yoga and started studying with many Iyengar teachers all over the world, one of them was Martyn Jackson in Sydney, Australia. Nicky made many trips to Pune, India to study with B.K.S. Iyengar, Geeta and Prashant and in 1992 was certificated as a Senior Iyengar Yoga Teacher.

In 1989, Nicky went to Mysore, India to study with K. Pattabhi Jois, where she learned the first 3 Series of Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga. In 1991 she travelled to Maui, Hawaii to learn the 4th Series from Nancy Gilgoff and the other Ashtanga yogis there.

In 1980, Nicky attended her first Vipassana Meditation Course with S.N. Goenka. Nicky attended many Vipassana 10-day silent retreats and also a 30-day retreat at Igatpuri, India in 1988.

From 1974 to 1984 Nicky taught yoga at the Crippled Children's Society in New Zealand; 4 years in Dunedin and 6 years in Auckland. This experience led Nicky to specialize in Yoga Therapy. In 1980, Nicky opened the first full-time yoga school in Auckland, the New Zealand School of Yoga.

In 1984 Nicky moved to Australia and opened the Queensland School of Yoga in Noosaville. In 1992 she moved to Cairns, and opened the Ashtanga Yoga Academy.

In 2000, Nicky moved to Colorado, USA where she opened the Academy of Yoga. For the next 4 years, Nicky attended classes at many yoga schools throughout the United States and also the Yoga Journal Estes Park Convention for 4 consecutive years, where she studied with many famous yoga teachers.

Nicky returned to Australia in 2004 and is now based in Cairns, Far North Queensland where she runs teacher training courses, and teaches workshops, intensives, private classes, public classes and yoga therapy at the Knoff Yoga Headquarters.

Through Nicky's passion for yoga, The Knoff Yoga System has evolved over 40 years and provides a unique programe for better yoga practice and teaching.

To listen to an interview with Nicky Knoff on Yoga Teacher Podcasts, click on the link below:-

http://www.yogateacherpodcasts.com/category/yoga-teacher-stories/nicky-knoff/