Jamie Isaac believes in the power of mindful movement to change the world. Really.

As a surfer, yoga lover and Classical Pilates aficionado, Jamie founded Azulfit & FluidLife Pilates Studio to share his passion with those who are ready to take their next conscious step toward vibrant health. Changing the world takes energy, clarity and inspiration, and Jamie makes sure his students have more than they need so they can be a shining example to others of what is possible.

Jamie is a Peak Pilates Master Instructor & Teacher Trainer, 2nd Generation Master Pilates teacher and is one of the world’s first specialist Pilates retreat teachers, having designed and taught Pilates retreats for 11+years.

Jamie loves nothing more than supporting and celebrating the transformations of his students… except maybe playing with his awesome kids.

As an eternal student passionate about the method, the learning journey continues.

For more information on Jamie please see www.fluidlifepilates.com

See upcoming speciality retreats and teacher training with Jamie.

Jo Dombernowsky is in charge of the menu at the retreat and inspires us all with her ability to make really healthy food taste really good. Having studied nutrition for many years, Jo knows the power of food to improve health, energy and wellbeing and prepares her meals to do exactly that. She loves to pass on her knowledge and passion for food throughout the retreat and in her workshops and nutrition weeks.

Originally from Denmark, Jo is quickly becoming the Canary Island’s go to expert on all things nutrition and you may catch her being interviewed on the radio. She has successfully campaigned to improve nutritional education within schools, and is experiencing widespread support for her amazing cookbook, ‘Truly Healthy, Truly Delicious‘.

Jo is also an advanced practitioner and inspiring instructor of Stott Pilates. Her classes focus strongly on understanding correct form, body awareness and body synergy, giving students the understanding and skill to progress in their Pilates safely and quickly.

Jo’s passion for fitness and overall wellbeing shine through in all that she does, and we are delighted to have her as part of the team.

For more information on Jo, please visit her website www.jodombernowsky.com

Training & Qualifications

• RYS 200 – 200 Hr Yoga Teacher diploma Gayatri School of Yoga
• Stott Pilates MAT-plus instructor (mat work, fitness-circle, flex band, arc-barrel)
• Nutritionist & Dietician- “Dietetica y nutrición” ISMET -Instituto Superior de Medicinas Tradicionales, Barcelona
• Author of ‘Truly Healthy, Truly Delicious’

See upcoming speciality retreats with Jo

See upcoming speciality retreats with Rachel

Charlotte started her journey with us as a young yogini and volunteer in 2012, a six month experience which quite literally changed her life. Having learned a new, simpler way of living, she committed to return to London, a place she had previously turned her back on, to continue a career in Media which she had once tried to escape. Her time away from her ´life´ had taught her that she wasn’t defined by a place, a job, or her things, and that she always had a choice. Yoga became her compass, an internal light which when strong will shine through even in the big smoke. Rooted in this knowledge, she found a way to balance her career and her wellbeing, until she realised that wellbeing could just as well be her career!

And so Charlotte came back to Fuerteventura and to the Azulfit family in 2016, to lead our beautiful team as our General Manager and Yoga teacher.

She sees her job as quite simple; to help to make the Azulfit dream a reality- creating an environment in which our team and our guests can meet their greatest potential. Through care, support, positivity and passion inside and outside of the studio we can grow and thrive, and find the inner peace and happiness that is our true nature.

Yoga Qualifications

• 200 HRs Teacher of Yoga, International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre 2012
• 100 HRS Yin Yoga and Mindfulness 2017

Meditation Qualifications

• • Level 3 Diploma in Meditation Teaching, British School of Meditation

See upcoming speciality retreats with Charlotte

Valentina is an inspiring teacher, and blends classical Hatha Yoga adapted for all levels with vinyasa yoga to make classes fun, challenging and inspiring. She connects with each and every student and her warm, open demeanor allow her to really see what each student needs.

Having trained using ancient Indian methods learned in her various studies all over the world. Classes with Valentina improve agility, muscle tone, strength, flexibility and breath control.

Valentina believes in yoga’s physical and mental benefits, providing a holistic harmony in our bodies through asanas and pranayama. This helps to promote a balance between the nervous system and endocrine system, then directly influencing all organs in the body, providing an improvement in overall health and wellbeing.

Valentina loves living and teaching yoga in Fuerteventura where she can surf, kitesurf and body board, and feel the benefits of her yoga practice through improved coordination and flexibility, and sees that yoga improves self confidence and helps us feel connected. She strongly believes in yoga as a way of life, which can only be learned through experience.

TRAINING & QUALIFICATIONS

• Advanced training with Matthew Sweeney – winter 2016
• Jivamukti Yoga Teacher Training with David Life and Sharon Gannon, completion: July 2014
• Advanced training with Matthew Sweeney – spring 2014
• Advanced Hatha Yoga Teacher training at Patanjali International Yoga Foundation with Master Jitendra Das, Rishikesh, India
• Teacher Training Course in ‘Yoga Flow’ including Ashtanga sequences and special postures for levels from Beginner to Advanced, Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka
• Teacher training at Patanjali International Yoga Foundation, Classical Hatha Yoga, Pranayama, Mudra & Bandhas with Master Jitendra Das, Rishikesh, India

See upcoming speciality retreats with Valentina

Jigyasa as her name suggests, was born with curiosity. She was always keen and eager to learn new things ever since she was a child. This quest of hers lead her to turn her love of learning into a lifelong pursuit, deepening her knowledge and sharing this with her students.

She started her career as an Insurance agent, moving onto a Workshop consultant with leading newspaper of India, The Times of India, later she made a switch in Electronic Media, wherein she started as a Creative Sales person and eventually landed herself hosting a Drive Time Radio show on RED FM. Having tried all forms of creative expression, nothing seemed to satisfy her quest in Life. Eventually her encounter with her Master made her realize what she wished to do in pursuit of quenching her spiritual thirst and helping people.

Jigyasa is a Traditional Yoga Teacher and Energy Therapist with a Modern twist. She started practicing Yoga when she was a kid, using the practice as a remedy to help with her health issues. Seeing how the practice worked for her, she has believed strongly ever since in the power of Yoga and Meditation.

Originally born, brought up and trained in India, Jigyasa has been living on the beautiful island of Fuerteventura for a couple of years teaching Yoga and practicing Energy Therapies. Classes/Sessions with her will help you heal your Body, Mind and Soul and connect better with your inner-self. Her classes provide a good mix of Chanting, Pranayama, Asana and Meditation.

Jigyasa strongly believes that Each body is different and dedication can bring in great results.

Yoga Aphorism that Jigyasa strongly believes in is “Ishwarapranidhanadva” meaning “Inner peace can be achieved through complete devotion and surrender (pranidhana) to God or a higher power (isvara)”

Training & Experience-

Yoga, Energy Reading & Healing. Flower Essences & Animal Communication.

Yoga Trainer.

Teacher Training Hatha Yoga at Mysore Hatha Yoga Kendra.

Teacher Training Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga at Ashtanga Yoga Institute, Mysore

Intensive Saadhna at Mysore Hatha Yoga Kendra

Short term Yoga Saadhna from Yog Shala, Rishikesh, India.

Meditation.

Practitioner of Kundalini & Chakra Meditation, Sri Vidya Saadhna for a couple of years now.

Energy Practices

Aura Scan & Energy Consultation

Chakra Balancing

Reiki Certified as a Master in Reiki. Have been healing and teaching Reiki as a healing technique.

Pranic Healing Certified as Advanced Pranic Healer and Psychotherapist.

Crystal Healing. Using crystals to heal and help in a person’s health and wellbeing.

Flower Essence Therapist Certified as a flower essence therapist from Australia.

Animal Communication Master Level Certification from The Animal Talk Institute, Australia.

Gary left his corporate job in the UK to join the Azulfit team, adding his much-welcomed experience working for a large UK tour operator to the Azul mix. Gary was instrumental in launching the Lotus Lodge and has supported this venture to grow into the much-loved beach holiday that it is today.

Not just a quick mind, Gary loves cycling, triathlons and SUP. He can often be found out on his bike or catching some waves on his paddleboard, making the most of the beautiful island that he now calls home.

Gary is a real team player and helps with many aspects of the Azul experience, always bringing a healthy sense of humour and c’est la vie attitude, to keep things light whilst getting things done.

A geneticist by training, Karissa is a strong believer in a holistic approach to wellbeing and the benefits of Pilates and yoga. She put her passion for holistic health into setting up Azulfit along with Jamie, and works to make sure that all guests get the most out of their Azulfit retreat. Karissa is a reiki practitioner and is following her love of healing and holistic wellbeing.

Karissa is currently residing in California, USA with her young children, to be closer to family. Together with Jamie they have set up a teacher training center (Azulfit California), offering teacher trainings and retreats, events and workshops. Although she is missing the Fuerteventura lifestyle and especially her Azulfit family, Karissa loves the water and is a former America East record holder in the 200 Butterfly. You can still find her in the water, encouraging her little ones in all things water based! She is currently studying Ayurveda with the Dogwood Botanical school of medicine.

You’ll find Karissa behind the scenes working on our website, booking systems, marketing and working on our amazing location retreats to make sure you have the best Azulfit experience.

Claire has an amazing all-round background, having owned and run a successful business in the UK for many years. She has extensive experience in hospitality and her skills and beautiful and warm personality make her a perfect fit for our team.

She moved to the island with her husband for the lifestyle and she loves to share her knowledge and support to our guests. She loves diving and spends her free time on the island exploring the ocean, advocating for animals, camping with her husband and taking care of her two dogs, who share her love of outdoor lifestyle, healthy eating and natural living.

She is studying Ayurveda and adores her yoga practice.

Valeria’s passion for nutrition and health shine through in her lovingly prepared meals at the Lotus Retreat. She loves to share her creative vegan cuisine with our guests, and inspire them to get in the kitchen back home.

She is inventive, passionate and attentive and her menus and carefully planned meals will leave you happy, feeling nourished and  most likely wanting to take Valeria home with you!!

She is a yoga practitioner and her love for health and wellbeing shine through in all that she does. She helps host at the Lotus retreat and her island knowledge helps you make the most of your stay. Valeria is mommy of a beautiful baby girl, Kaya, who sometimes pops by to pick up mama and who has been spotted donning her very own baby chef hat.

Heraclio does everything with care and love and is such a wonderful addition to the Azul team. He is always there to host you with a smile and prepares your meals with love and care.

He is an extreme body boarder and his smile and sense of humour make you feel right at home as soon as you meet him.

Barbara takes guest care seriously and loves what she does. She believes in a holistic approach to lifestyle and is an avid believer in leading a healthy, balanced lifestyle. She enjoys spending time with her family and loves the healing and mood balancing properties of essential oils.  We are lucky to have her on the team, caring for our guests, cleaning and maintaining the beautiful Surya retreat site with love.

The island’s leading building expert, we are blessed to welcome Paul ‘Gecko’ Birchmore to our team. He keeps the retreat site running beautifully,  from top to bottom, he loves football and dives with sharks in his free time.

From a young age I danced, which led to a professional dance career travelling the world, achieving my dreams in my very early twenties. A shift in personal circumstances led me back to the UK where I fell into a corporate world taking up a senior management role where I remained for over ten years.

During that time, my mind yearned for a place to disconnect from the stresses of living in such a yang world and the high intensity stresses of my work environment. Having always been a gym bunny, and enjoyed Pilates throughout my dance career and with my background I have always been fascinated by how incredible the human body is. I was always drawn to yoga, knowing the benefits for mind body and soul, but just couldn’t quite find the perfect place and time. As with most things in life, it came to me, and found me at the right time.

Finally, in Manchester, I had found a place to reconnect to my body on a much deeper level than I could ever have anticipated. I hadn’t connected to my body in such a freeing, liberating, creative, fun and playful way since my dancing days. I particularly loved vinyasa flow, and Jivamukti, and not long after yin and restorative began to seep into my practice. I was hooked, and found myself craving more and more, always with a thirst for knowledge, my mind wanted to know more about Yoga and it’s fascinating history, until finally after my teacher convincing me I was ready I signed up to a teacher training, here in Fuerteventura with Andrea Everingham at Azulfit.

What a location, the whole experienced was truly first class and incredible. It wasn’t long, and didn’t take very much before my teaching days came back to me like they were yesterday and became more important to me than my regional manager role. I made the bold move to quit corporate, and move into teaching yoga full time. It was an easy decision for me when a position at Azulfit came up. Having experienced first hand the home Azulfit create, including their beliefs, ethics and professionalism, I instantly knew this was for me.

Luckily, they felt I fit too. Arriving back at Azulfit, I felt like I had come home. Now I get to do what I love daily, sharing the beautiful gift of reconnecting to ourselves, with wonderful souls in an incredible magnetic island, and our home in Corralejo, Lotus Retreat.

Lærke brings her passion for dance, fitness and healthy living to the Azulfit  team with a quiet confidence and ease. Her background is in ballet and modern dance having studied for years in both Denmark & Brazil. In Brazil Lærke had her first experiences with Pilates and saw how beneficial the training was not only to dance but to body awareness. She trained as a Stott Pilates instructor in 2009 and has been sharing her love for Pilates ever since. Since 2009 she has also trained and taught pre and post natal pilates, breast cancer rehab, stability ball, flexband and other Pilates equipment courses. In 2013 she qualified to teach Reformer Pilates and ballet fitness barre.

Lærke’s dance background has given her the ability to create flow and fun in her challenging classes. Laerke also believes in awareness and teaching to the body in front of you, as ‘working with a group of people always includes surprises and situations that you can´t prepare for.’

Her classes are a mix of technique, cuing, fun and sweat. Her classes are energetic, include everyone and keeping the focus on doing the exercises with correct form.

Lærke grew up in the Danish country side with parents who aimed to be self-sufficient, her mother teaching her about cooking organic, vegetarian food from a young age. At 18 she started working in a organic and vegetarian restaurant. Her passion for healthy living grew; she worked in raw food kitchens and has been inspired by vegetarian cuisine ever since. ‘I love how food and cooking is a form of a creative expression and how you as a chef can expand people’s horizon to new tastes and ways of living a healthier life.’

Andrea is the founder of OneYoga Studio in Manchester and a regular contributor to ‘Ask The Expert’ (Manchester Evening News). She combines her many years of experience studying and working with the human body and movement with an in-depth study of nutrition and raw foods and their impact on overall wellbeing. She is also trained in ante- and post-natal care.

She joins the Azul team in the Fuerteventura sunshine with her natural and empathetic teaching style and infectious enthusiasm. Her holistic and sophisticated approach of total body, mind and spirit integration is as accessible to those new to yoga as it is challenging for the more practiced yogi.

Naturally approachable and caring, her passion is to bring the joy and release of yoga to her students. Her captivating, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed approach continues to attract a strong following of committed yogis both in her studio and through retreats across the globe.

See upcoming speciality retreats and teacher training with Andrea.

Annie discovered yoga through the hatha style but has become a talented teacher and practitioner of ashtanga vinyasa flow. Annie integrates a dynamic series aimed at the development of strength (especially lower back and abs) with focus throughout the practice. Having studied ashtanga yoga she utilises the powerful flow of the surya namaskara (sun salutation) A and B from the ashtanga series.

Her main attention is to continuous flow with proper breath, aiming to develop a self-dependant unity of movements and breath under the guidance of the teacher. Annie is a well-respected power vinyasa flow teacher within the professional surfing and windsurfing communities and she is the featured yoga expert in a book about power yoga for surfing.

Annie is committed to her journey with yoga and regularly takes part in courses and workshops with inspirational mentors and world-renowned teachers. We are delighted that she chooses Azul as her base in between her studies, and always look forward to trying and sharing the new things she has learned.

• 2014: Anusara Workshop with Tara Judelle.
• 2014: Yin Yoga Therapy with Markus Henning
• 2012 and 2013: Workshops with Bryan Kest, the founder of power yoga
• 2011: Safa Fitness Austria – personal training course with Pilates, TRX and nutrition focus.
• 2009 – 2010: Beyond Ashtanga Yoga with Stefan D. Prowaznik
• 2005: Ashtanga Yoga Vienna, Shinergy Vienna
• 1998: Yoga Siromani, Teacher of Yoga, International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre

Emma originally came to us from Scotland for a six-month period. She was such a popular instructor that we asked her to stay and happily she agreed, having been won over by island life and the friendly Azulfit team! Clients have been known to return to the island, just for Emma’s classes and her unique and supportive style.

Emma practises and studies yoga extensively in India, experiencing various styles and schools including traditional hatha, tantra, Mysore ashtanga, sivananda, iyengar, hatha vinyasa, and more modern forms such as yin yoga and bikram. She studies extensively all over the world, in order to further her experience and her personal journey with yoga.

Gaining inspiration from her varied experience, Emma has developed her own personal style for teaching. She enjoys leading a dynamic hatha class, with a strong vinyasa influence, rounding off the class by holding postures to create intensity and deep stretching in the body.

Emma’s experience and smiley, enthusiastic nature make her classes challenging, varied and lots of fun. She is currently on the road, but will join us in Europe this summer (2018) for more yoga fun and retreats. You can follow her on Emma Malarkey – YogaLife

Training & Qualifications

• Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher
• Rishikesh Yog Peeth RYS 200 Yoga Alliance Certification
• Trikka School of Yoga – Intensive Hatha Certification
• Mandala School – Intensive Ashtanga Yoga

Azulfit welcomes Nicola to the team for specialist retreat weeks. Nicola is a fantastic Pilates instructor, from the UK. She brings a wonderful experience and knowledge to her teaching, with experiences in both Europe and the USA.

Nicola trained classically, in New York, with one of the World’s most respected, authentic Classical Pilates teacher trainings, Power Pilates. From here, she continued her Pilates pathway teaching in prestigious London studios before moving to Fuerteventura.

Nicola discovered the benefits of Pilates after an injury introduced her to the method. Being hyper mobile as well, she almost instantly fell in love with it and the control it gave both her body and mind.

Although originally working in the fashion industry, her passion for Pilates directed her towards taking her teacher training and sharing the joy of this life changing practice. Nicola’s fun and energetic approach to teaching will keep you motivated, whilst her eye for detail and experience will challenge you to take your Pilates to the next level.

She is currently in the UK and has her own beautiful studio at the Hyntle Barn Clinic: Email Nicola

Nicola loves the island lifestyle, and loves spending time with her children when she is not sharing her love of Pilates.

Elia Bosi is a published author and we are proud to welcome him to our Azulfit kitchens. You can see his shining smile at both Lotus Retreat and Surya Retreat and he is always happy to talk to you about his wellbeing journey – from music to self care to his amazing recipes. The room is always more joyful, and more vibrant when Elia is around and we are honoured that this yoga chef has joined our team. Check out his wonderful book, DO IT YOURSELF SACRED MANUAL or purchase it from him on your next Azulfit retreat!