yahna fookes
Photography by Ilsa Wynne Hoelscher Kidd for Yahna Fookes
Share a little about yourself...
I am of Korean descent adopted into an Australian family. From a very tiny age I had a strong relationship with movement, starting ballet at the age of 3. This hobby quickly turned into a serious passion where I trained at the Royal Ballet School in London at 9yrs old and then during my formative years at the Victorian College of the Arts here in Melbourne.
Dance will always be a part of me but it’s not an easy road or career. It’s tough, competitive, physically demanding and emotionally draining. After a regional tour with Sydney Dance Company and then a final work for installation video work for Sugar Mountain I said goodbye to that life and fell deep into my yoga practice. I now teach Vinyasa, Yin and Prenatal Yoga and also work freelance providing content and digital strategy. This was an incidental career pivot but I enjoy the challenge and it fundamentally helped me build my course.
My sun is in Virgo with my moon in Cancer which is very fitting because I am very emotional and sensitive but also love to do and find joy in serving others. I take pride in daily routines and rituals and grounding activities. I am obsessed with food, my family, home time, vino, film, design, fashion and women but my biggest obsession is my daughter Sunday.
For those who have yet to discover your beautiful project Radiant Birth - could you outline a bit about the offering?
Radiant Birth is a new form of birth education. It is a holistic, four-week immersion – lovingly designed to support you as you navigate the new skin of pregnancy, and prepare you for life beyond your bump. Each week will look like a dose of yoga followed by a lecture hosted by some Melbourne’s leading female health educators from fields that include nutrition, traditional Chinese medicine and birth education.
Each week is designed to provide you with the tools, knowledge and practical skills for the safest, most sacred rite of passage for you and your baby as you transition from maiden to mother. Our first course starts just shy of 5 weeks away.
Could you share a little about the journey into creating 'Radiant Birth'?
The inspiration is truly down to one tiny being: Sunday. I often reflect on Björk’s journey. She birthed her son six years before her debut album which propelled her long and uncompromising career. It goes to show how the rebirth of ourselves has the capacity to inspire profound achievement.
Elements of my course were apparent in my pregnancy but were all separate entities. I would go across town to get acupuncture and listen to the wise words of my therapist, read endlessly about nutrition and yoga was a given. To be honest, for someone who has quite a developed practice, I found it so frustrating attending prenatal yoga classes and I didn’t get much out of this experience. I craved good prenatal yoga and saw a massive gap in this space. Spinning babies and hypnobirthing all draw upon elements of traditional yoga. It’s an ancient practice with so much depth and purpose. I truly believe it can change the way we give birth.
How are you finding the juggle between motherhood and a new business?
Oh gosh. Well it’s a tricky one! I am not going to lie, it's pretty exhausting. A lot of work gets done after bedtime from the hours of 6pm-12am. It sounds crazy but you get a second wind after your baby goes to bed. There is a lot of push and pull that goes on behind the scenes and Sunday’s needs are always met first. You just have to go with the flow and accept that not everything can be achieved and that’s ok.
You have a wonderful network of people you have brought together for this offering - with backgrounds in nutrition, doula support, Chinese acupuncture, yoga, embodiment.. to name a few - could you share a little about these brilliant people..
Yes we have a dream team. I am so obsessed with these women because they all offer a myriad of gifts and experiences so different to mine. I think lived experience counts for everything, we can learn so much for the sharing of stories and our lived truth.
Bannie Williams who is the founder of Fort Green Yoga, a yoga teacher and our in house nutritionist was really my first mum friend. We met when we were both during Yin teacher training pregnant. Our daughters are only 6 weeks apart in age which makes our friendship and shared experience even more special.
Vaughne Geary, who you have interviewed before, is a naturopath and a doula. She is our key birth worker and has supported so many couples during birth and transition. She’s really been in the thick of it. Her positive, nurturing and soft energy can make anyone feel comfortable and even the hardest men feel comfortable opening up about vaginas in her presence.
Michaela Rinkel has been my traditional Chinese Medicine doctor for 4 years. She specialises in fertility and brings a depth of experience in regards to Chinese Medicine and ancient rituals to the course. She is one of the smartest and most intuitive health workers I have met.
Jessica Prescott is my mum crush, doula, author, Mama Goodness founder etc. I really don’t know how she balances it all with two busy boys but she is doing it. I love how accountable she is – she always shows up. She will be sharing her home birth stories.
Shannon May Powell and I used to teach yoga at the same studio together and is the founder of Small Beyond, a wellness retreat that encompasses somatic work, cooking and art therapy. If you haven’t been to one of Shannon’s classes, we highly recommend them. In my option, she is the best yin teacher in Melbourne.
How have your teachings in yoga helped to support your transition into motherhood?
If I am being completely honest I don’t think I fully understood or embodied the philosophies of yoga until I gave birth. This is coming from someone who has practiced yoga for nearly 15 years and taught for 4 of these.
In those final days whilst waiting for Sunday to come, I would try and meditate and practice pranayama to get me into my body and out of my head.
When Sunday was 3 months old I started covering classes at my old studio. This was initially to get out of the house, but this teaching quickly became a cathartic exercise for me to unravel, digest and process my own love and understating of yoga.
These first few months were the most powerful, thoughtful and heartfelt classes I have ever guided because I truly understood what I had been teaching. Motherhood has enabled me the capacity to truly let go, to show infinite patience and fully surrender. I embodied moving slow because my body was and still is in a pattern of healing.
If you had a message for your younger self, what would it be?
Move slow. Doing things is not better than feeling things. Fear of missing out is meaningless. Listen to your gut and it’s ok to ask for help.
Connect with Yahna and her offerings at Radiant Birth -
