Who We Are

At Seedling Yoga we call our program facilitators Seed Planters. 
Seed Planters invite curiosity, encourage questions and offer different ways of viewing things.

They support students to befriend their thoughts, deepen their breathing and meaningfully connect with their bodies through intentional movement and mindful moments. 

​

Sara Warnock

Sara completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in 2013 with the Byron Bay Yoga Centre whilst living in Melbourne, Australia. After a year spent travelling India, she returned home to Aotearoa, New Zealand and completed a graduate diploma in Primary Teaching. 

After significant mental health challenges pushed her out of classroom teaching, Sara began the Seedling Yoga for Schools Program in partnership with the Hutt City Council. 

Sara holds a master's degree in Education, through which she researched Primary Teachers' experiences of Burnout through the lens of theory and personal stories.

Sara is now a second-year doctoral candidate at Victoria University where she is researching the impact of Yoga on classroom teachers' interoceptive awareness and emotional regulation. 

Sara is a proud co-parent to a 7-year-old, a novice gardener and a deep lover of musicals, books and cats. She volunteers at Cats Protection wellington as well as having two furry cat babies of her own. 

Ashley Raju

Aum Lokah Samastaha Sukhino Bhavantu

“May all beings everywhere be happy, healthy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute to the happiness and freedom for all.”

Ash was born into a life of yoga with ancestral-based learning of the Achala Paripurna Rajayoga lineage from the state of Andhra Pradesh where her whānau originally come from. Her biggest gurus of yoga have been her Nani (nana) and parents. She recently deepened her yoga practice by completing her 200-hour yoga teacher training through Embody Yoga’s Roots. Ash completed her Masters in Counselling studies and Transcending Sexual Trauma through Yoga: Comprehensive Trauma-Informed Yoga training in 2021. 

Outside of Seedling Yoga, Ashley also works as a Kaiwhakamahereora Rangatahi (Rangatahi counsellor), a teacher in the Bachelor in Counselling & Addictions Practice at Te Pūkenga/Weltec, and founder of Maharani Movement. 

Ash adores working alongside tamariki and rangatahi, and is constantly inspired by their openness to learn new ways of being. She is a lover of music, dance, the Indigenous arts and all things dog related!