Manouk Tideman

In 2014, Manouk was diagnosed with early heart failure (due to a congenital heart defect from birth). She had open-heart surgery to replace her pulmonary valve, but required a second surgery only 4 days later due to unforeseen complications. Despite a ‘fixed’ heart, Manouk was left with debilitating health anxiety, chronic pain and a highly sensitive nervous system. Yet, as a result of these setbacks, Manouk went back to her mat and adopted a more therapeutic and compassionate approach to the practice and teaching of Yoga.

Manouk Tideman studied under John Ogilvie at the Byron Yoga Centre in Australia, completing her 500-hour Yoga teacher training in Purna Yoga. Alongside this, she has undertaken additional training in Restorative Yoga with Tiffany Cruikshank, Yoga Philosophy with Bec Isaacs, and Yoga Therapy with Montserrat G. Mukherjee.

When her father passed away unexpectedly in 2018, Manouk used Yoga as a spiritual guidance and personal therapy to process her grief. Her Yoga practice went beyond the mat and found its way into all facets of her life, becoming an essential tool to help navigate the challenges she had faced.

Manouk’s areas of expertise include anxiety, chronic fatigue and handling big life changes. She is also extremely well-versed in the application of anatomy and physiology to the practice of Yoga, and often guest lectures at Yoga teacher training, hospitals and corporate companies to share her passion on these topics.

When she is not in her Yoga studio, Manouk can be found painting, singing, gardening, or cooking. She is based in France, but is an avid traveller (for leisure and work) and hopes to one day walk the entire length of New Zealand by foot!

Manouk’s philosophy on teaching is that we all have a different life story that has shaped who we are – physically, mentally and emotionally – and by recognising this, we can learn to adapt the practice of Yoga to the individual, and not vice versa. She is also strongly influenced by Dr Peter Levine and Dr Bessel van der Kolk, particularly the focus on the interconnection of the mind and body.

Her classes are interactive, non-dogmatic, and filled with science and humour.