Tali Gabai-Maiato is a passionate yoga teacher who is taking a 500-hour teacher training course in California as well as teaching at least eight classes a week in Bermuda, including the new paddleboard yoga.Now, the yoga instructor is bringing a master of AcroYoga, Daniel Scott, to the Island. He has been described as a ‘yoga provocateur’ who offers ‘a fresh alternative to the traditional yoga voice’.AcroYoga is the practice of working in pairs, balancing effortlessly on each other’s feet or hands, and sometimes photographed doing this on the edge of a sheer cliff or in the middle of a busy street.Dramatic as it appears, Daniel Scott has written about AcroYoga, and he says: “(It) is a dynamic offering that can seem both simple and complex,” continuing: “AcroYoga combines yoga, healing arts and acrobatics. It’s good to mix things up even if it sounds like an odd recipe. All three styles truly balance each other out.”He also says AcroYoga is for everybody. “Can’t do a handstand or even touch your toes? No big deal.” And he adds that size is not important, because AcroYoga doesn’t defy gravity, instead this practice honours it. “Technique is more important than strength. You’ll quickly learn that muscles tire while bones don’t, whether lifting someone above your head, pouring weight through hands for a healing touch, or counterbalancing someone twice your size.”Ms Gabai-Maiato said Mr Scott described the practice in an e-mail to her, encouraging a student who felt she was too overweight and inflexible for AcroYoga. “For starters, I’d like to say that I think AcroYoga is for everybody and every body. Just like any movement practice, some things are easier than others.“Overall, you’re going to find what works and learn to meet the challenge of everything else. We focus on structural awareness to understand moving weight and access flexibility.“It’s a practice that changed my life when I first started, and one that continues to profoundly affect me on a daily basis.”Ms Gabai-Maiato described her own teaching practice. “What’s great about it is, as a teacher, that you’re making a living, but making a living making someone’s life better.”She trained with the highly respected yoga practitioner Michael Watson before embarking on the 500-hour teaching course.“Most of my classes are at Lotus Studio on Victoria Street. But I also teach paddleboard yoga off Spanish Point or where ever is suitable.“I teach a class at Ace and another at BIOS once a week, and private classes as well.“Most of my classes are vinyasa flow; some people just want to come and flow,” she said. “Not everyone can hit all the poses, so you break it down into stages. It’s amazing what you find you can do.”This is Ms Gabai-Maiato’s second year teaching paddleboard hatha yoga. “I still just do one class a week; and private lessons. We use a special yoga mat (on the board); it’s wider and more stable.It’s great for core; it keeps your core strong.“Sometimes people do fall off, but with the sun is beating down, and you fall in; and it adds to the fun. Most people will say: ‘This is so much fun!’ The odd person will get sulky, and I will say:” The mat parallels life; we have to try, otherwise we’ll never get anywhere. Every time I start a paddle board class, I think ‘aahhh’, because its pretty. It’s instant relaxation.”The AcroYoga course with the Daniel Scott will take place from Friday, September 6 to Sunday, September 8, at the Spanish Point Boat Club in Pembroke. There is an early-bird discount for those who book by August 9.For more information about the AcroYoga course or about Ms Gabai-Maiato’s classes, visit www.yogawithtali.com or e-mail: DS@DanielScottYoga.com or talig@yogawithtali.com or call 441-331-6673.