My name is Petra and my passion is to work with women from before conception until after the baby is born. I have been a certified Hatha Yoga teacher and Pregnancy Yoga Teacher since 1996. I took part in a three year training course in the Netherlands, where I was born. After finishing my degree, I was doing an apprenticeship with Helene Verbeek. Helene gave me the opportunity to teach Prenatal Yoga in her yoga practice where I learned to become more confident in my teaching. In 1998 I moved to New Zealand with my husband and two children, where we settled in West Auckland. Once we were settled, two more children were born. I run my own Pregnancy Yoga courses in two different locations, Henderson and Titirangi in West Auckland New Zealand.
A lot of women will know me from ‘Pregnancy and Childbirth with Shambala Yoga’. With the launch of my new website, I decided to change the name into MAHINA MAHAI Pregnancy Yoga, Childbirth Preparation & Beyond. The words MAHINA and MAHAI originate from the Bahasa Tanah, the native language of the Moluccas in Indonesia, where my roots lie, meaning WOMAN and LIFE. A meaning which serves its right with the type of work that I do.