About

Hello and thank you for taking the time to view my website.  My name is Nicola Maxwell and I'm the founder of Yoga First Cairns. A  dedicated Yoga practitioner and Zen student. I am registered with Yoga Alliance as an ERYT 500 (experienced registered Yoga Teacher) and a YACEP (Yoga Alliance Registered Continuing Education Provider), I am also a fully qualified Kids and Teens Yoga Teacher. In addition to traditional yoga I'm trained in Holistic Healing (Yoga Therapy), Pregnancy Yoga and Chair Yoga. 

​I discovered yoga in 2006 not long after the birth of my second child, at the time I felt overwhelmed, emotional and exhausted.  I found myself in a difficult place, I was physically and emotionally drained.  Seeing my distress a close friend insisted I join her for a yoga class. I'd always been interested in trying yoga but had never got around to it,  so I was intrigued.  After just five short minutes of being on the yoga mat the tension, stress and exhaustion started to leave my body, I felt my mind clear and my breath deepen.  I felt human for the first time in months!  The savasana (relaxation) at the end of the session was pure bliss, I didn't want to leave the mat, I wanted to stay in that place of comfort, peacefulness and contentment.  I have to admit to being rather sore in my muscles the next day, but I was back again the very next week and then twice a week, eventually building up to a regular practice of three times a week, when I couldn't get to the studio I practiced at home.  I felt strong both physically and emotionally, I had a spring in my step and life was good again.  Since then Yoga has changed my life in so many profound and beautiful ways.  I know it can do the same for you.

After 7 years of practicing regularly, I was drawn to increase my knowledge and skills as a practitioner, I was by this stage working as the Office Manager for Knoff Yoga at their yoga school in Cairns.  I embarked on the journey of Yoga Teacher Training for my own personal benefit not to become a yoga teacher.  I completed the first course Discovery Level 1 in July 2013.  I was encouraged by some close friends to take them through a few classes to cement my knowledge and skills.  We all enjoyed it so much I continued with the classes and the number of friends attending grew.  When Nicky Knoff heard that I was teaching she insisted I teach at their school.  This is when my love for practicing yoga awakened in me a fierce love for teaching yoga. 

My journey continued with more Knoff Yoga teacher training courses, Level two Chair Yoga (2014), Level three Foundation (2014), Level four Pregnancy (2017), Level five Holistic Healing A (2018), Level six Holistic Healing B (2018) and Level seven Intermediate (2015).  After seven years of teaching yoga I came to see the amazing health benefits this ancient practice had on people of all walks of life, regardless of age, fitness level, body type, occupation etc.  Having two teenage boys and experiencing their stresses and strains first hand I became interested in how yoga could help our younger generation. In 2020 I embarked on the next chapter of my yoga adventure with Zenergy Yoga, an internationally accredited Kids and Teens Teacher Training establishment.  

Having completed their Foundation, Yoga Therapy One, Yoga Therapy Two and Advanced Levels I am now a recognised fully trained Kids and Teens Yoga Teacher.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Nicky Knoff and James Bryan from Knoff Yoga and Mark Togni from Gold Coast Yoga Centre for being my Yoga teachers, and Mark Togni for being my Zen teacher.