Meet our talented team of teachers...

Karen Simper From yoga classes and fitness classes, to walks and guided tours; our teachers and guides are a fun bunch with bags of experience. Karen Simper joined the Healthy Options team in 2006 as Principal Yoga Teacher. She receives superb feedback on her yoga teaching methods & style, every single week of our season. Karen first started practicing yoga in 1996 to help bring balance to her life as a cardiac nurse. Since then, her passion for yoga has continued to grow and she has practiced Iyengar yoga, Scaravelli yoga and most intensively, Astanga Vinyassa yoga.

When she’s not teaching in Greece, she also holds workshops in London and teaches at a yoga centre in Cape Town.

Karen’s teaching is a reflection and blend of all the styles she has practiced and teachers she has studied with over the years. Although she is reluctant to label her teaching as anything other than Hatha yoga, it is probably best described as Flow yoga or Dynamic yoga. Her classes focus on connecting mind, body and breath through the flow of Asana (posture) and all levels & abilities are catered for. To see a list of Karen’s yoga classes, visit our yoga page.

 

Andrea Soles Andrea joined the Healthy Options Team in 2010 as our part time massage therapist. This year we are very pleased to have Andrea on board with the team full time. Andrea will be teaching mat based pilates, hatha yoga to our German clients and providing massage and reiki treatments. Andrea is a native German but has lived in Canada for over 20 years. Andrea’s love of all things holistic and health orientated began over 15 years ago.

Aside from being a qualified Pilates Instructor and Hatha Yoga teacher Andrea is also an excellent therapist, qualified in reflexology, swedish massage and hot stones massage. Andrea is also a reiki master and will be offering all of these treatments on site.

Andrea also has a love of the great outdoors and spent a lot of her time here last year exploring the surroundings on foot and by bike, she will happily point you in the right direction if you want to explore a little whilst you’re with us.

 

Andreas Barra Andreas Barra joined the Healthy Options team in 2010 having traveled the globe to become an extremely experienced yoga teacher and practitioner. Andreas started his yoga practice at the age of 11, practicing Hatha yoga under the tutelage of Swami Kriyananda‘s disciples. Since 2004, he has frequently traveled to India for 6 months of the year. On his travels, he has visited a number of Ashrams and studied a variety of disciplines related to yoga, including Ayurveda, Tantra and Vedanta

In 2004, Andreas completed an Advanced Yoga course in Rishikesh, India; learning with Swami Dharmananda Saraswati. In 2007, he completed his Yoga Teacher Training at the Bihar School of Yoga in India, learning about the Satyandanda yoga tradition. The following year, he also completed a course in Nada yoga.

Andreas teaches and practices Hatha yoga according to the Satyandanda yoga tradition, which emphasises the awareness of the body, breath and mind. He is also a great brain to pick on the subject of Ayurvedic nutrition and is always happy to pass on his knowledge to our guests.

Andreas is also a qualified Thai masseur with an amazing touch and sensitivity.

On a lighter side, Andreas is known amongst our guests for his other skills too, which include tight-rope walking, juggling and fire-eating & breathing. You must get him to show to you some of these skills during your stay with us! See more on Andreas’ classes on our yoga page.

 

Brigette Roth-Kokotsis Brigitte has over 20 years Phytotherapy experience, is an expert on local flora and knows a fair bit about Greek mythology too. She leads our informative herbal walks and has a drying workshop where she makes and sells homemade tinctures, creams, natural incense sticks, teas and more.

 

Nicole Nicole is from Greece and has over 6 years of fitness teaching experience in various gyms and clubs around Athens. She is a fun and enthusiastic teacher guaranteed to make you smile whilst you’re working out. Nicole also has a great passion for dance and has trained in many different disciplines, she is best known for her Belly dancing and is a Greek National Champion, she is keen to share her passion and will be taking 3 classes of belly dancing throughout her time with us.

Without too much persuasion she will happily give a demonstration of belly dancing at one of our social nights, not to be missed!

Nicole will be with the team from the middle of June through to the end of September as our fitness teacher and dance teacher.  Nicole will be teaching Aqua aerobics, Aerobics, Dance and fitness classes during her time with us; please see the class details for further information.

 

Emily Bennett Emily is a Reiki master and Tai Chi teacher and will be available for treatments or training in Reiki throughout this time. Emily is a fun and enthusiastic person and a very sensitive reiki practitioner. Her Tai Chi classes are always a big hit with our clients and are a great complement to the walking weeks.

 

Linda Ticehurst Linda first came to Lefkas in 1988 and has since bought a small house in Agios Petros, a small mountainside village above Vassiliki where she now lives year round. She has a wealth of knowledge about Greece and its people and of Lefkas in particular. Her guided walks are a great way to discover the island with an insider’s view.

 

Giulia Adams Giulia Adams is a designer, artist and teacher. She trained at the Royal College of Art and has practised as a designer in London for over 20 years and has taught drawing, perspective and watercolour at the Chelsea School of Art for 10 years. Her favourite medium is watercolour. She believes the more creative you are the happier you will be.

 

Pierre Clement Pierre Clement is an artist, specialising in portraits in ink and oil painting. He trained as a scenic painter in Germany, and is a skilled decorative artist and has worked as a muralist for over 25 years on many exclusive projects. He also teaches life drawing in his studio. He is passionate about drawing and painting and loves to share his knowledge with others.

For more information about our healthy holidays, download our brochure or call us now on +44 (0)844 4992909.