“why fit in when you were born to stand out?”
~ Dr Seuss
ANNALIESE SZOCS (nee Bishop)
Experienced Registered yoga teacher (ERYT-200) with over 1000 hours of teaching
Yoga Alliance Continuing education provider (yacEP)
PRESIDENT, Award-winning Yoga Teacher & Aspie/Autist.
NOMINEE - WESTFIELD GEELONG LOCAL HEROES 2019
Winner - Sport & Recreation Category, Geelong Awards for People with a Disability 2017
Nominee - Geelong Women in Community Life Awards 2017
Winner - Hobsons Bay Inspirational Women Award 2014
Annaliese is a highly qualified and experienced Yoga Teacher, Wellness Coach and Fitness Professional who has won numerous awards and accolades for her work in inspiring others and in establishing FREE Yoga classes for children on the Autism Spectrum.
Having dabbled with Yoga on and off for over twenty years, Annaliese is very familiar with the "floating on a puffy cloud" feeling after a good class. After a shoulder injury in mid-2011 and subsequent reconstruction surgery derailed her Personal Training career and plans to complete Ironman New Zealand in 2012, her physiotherapist Jed Ritchens told her to "go smash Yoga" to regain her flexibility and range of motion.
She believed she could. So, she did.
Yoga had already helped Annaliese overcome her freaking out at being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 2009 at the ripe old age of 31. This time around however, getting back on her Yoga mat after yet another surgery was VERY different. She came HOME.
After completing 125 classes post-surgery in 2013 and with a lot of sweat and tears later, Annaliese was encouraged by her own amazing teachers to become a Yoga Teacher herself - she believed she could, so she did. On 30th September 2014, she graduated from Byron Yoga Centre, one of the oldest established Yoga Schools in Australia, and in October 2014, she opened her Yoga school and set out to make a true difference in the world.
In 2016, Annaliese and a group of amazing friends and family established The Inspiring Grace Foundation. You can read more about our mission, values, purpose and our work here.
Annaliese has worked in the Fitness Industry in both Australia and New Zealand since 2009, managing several large Fitness clubs and has run her own successful Fitness businesses. She has trained hundreds of women in her roles in female Fitness clubs, from figure competition entrants to Mums and Grandmothers wanting to be as fit and healthy as possible in everyday life. Annaliese became a sought-after specialist trainer in knee, back, neck, elbow, wrist and shoulder injuries after her own injury and recovery experiences, working closely with Allied Health professionals to implement rehab and prehab plans for surgical and non-surgically managed patients alike. Annaliese was also on the FILEX Fitness Industry Convention and Australian Salsa Classic team of event volunteers for several years.
Annaliese has completed eleven Triathlons, three duathlons and several fun runs of various distances, and is back training for Ironman New Zealand - a proper, full Ironman distance Triathlon consisting of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run, all to be completed within 17 hours. She won an age group spot at the 2011 ITU World Championships in Sydney, but due to that seriously pesky shoulder injury, had to pull out at the last minute. Annaliese served as a Technical Official with Triathlon Australia for a number of seasons and is a certified Triathlon Australia TriActive Triathlon Coach.
In January 2018, Annaliese gave birth to her daughter Zita by Caesarean section. This experience was extremely humbling in itself, but Annaliese also had a severe separation of her abdominal muscles from pregnancy and has experienced a number of other serious post-operative complications since. Yoga got her through a complicated and stressful pregnancy, and it has naturally formed part of her recovery from childbirth and it's physical consequences!
her values: love, contribution, fun, joy, abundance
stuff she loves: travel, Yoga, triathon, music, movies, dance, photography, random and spontaneous adventures, writing sewing, crafting, designing, good cheese, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, a good beach and a good book!
key influencers: Rumi, His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama, Richard Branson, Mahatma Gandhi, BKS Iyengar, Leslie Kaminoff, Les Leventhal, Daymond John, Lisa Messenger, Gary Vaynerchuck, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, Hal Elrod.
favourite Yoga teachers: John Ogilvie, Les Leventhal, Tom Schroeter, Michael Nazar, Jennifer Allen, Ana Davis, Sadie Nardini, Nickie Hanley, Seane Corn, Ana Forrest, Bernie Clark, Jo Phee, Hugh Lee, Maria Kirsten.
travel bucket list: Japan, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Hungary, Germany, Italy, China, Taiwan, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Komodo (Indonesia), Dominican Republic, Dubai.
Having dabbled with Yoga on and off for over twenty years, Annaliese is very familiar with the "floating on a puffy cloud" feeling after a good class. After a shoulder injury in mid-2011 and subsequent reconstruction surgery derailed her Personal Training career and plans to complete Ironman New Zealand in 2012, her physiotherapist Jed Ritchens told her to "go smash Yoga" to regain her flexibility and range of motion.
She believed she could. So, she did.
Yoga had already helped Annaliese overcome her freaking out at being diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome in 2009 at the ripe old age of 31. This time around however, getting back on her Yoga mat after yet another surgery was VERY different. She came HOME.
After completing 125 classes post-surgery in 2013 and with a lot of sweat and tears later, Annaliese was encouraged by her own amazing teachers to become a Yoga Teacher herself - she believed she could, so she did. On 30th September 2014, she graduated from Byron Yoga Centre, one of the oldest established Yoga Schools in Australia, and in October 2014, she opened her Yoga school and set out to make a true difference in the world.
In 2016, Annaliese and a group of amazing friends and family established The Inspiring Grace Foundation. You can read more about our mission, values, purpose and our work here.
Annaliese has worked in the Fitness Industry in both Australia and New Zealand since 2009, managing several large Fitness clubs and has run her own successful Fitness businesses. She has trained hundreds of women in her roles in female Fitness clubs, from figure competition entrants to Mums and Grandmothers wanting to be as fit and healthy as possible in everyday life. Annaliese became a sought-after specialist trainer in knee, back, neck, elbow, wrist and shoulder injuries after her own injury and recovery experiences, working closely with Allied Health professionals to implement rehab and prehab plans for surgical and non-surgically managed patients alike. Annaliese was also on the FILEX Fitness Industry Convention and Australian Salsa Classic team of event volunteers for several years.
Annaliese has completed eleven Triathlons, three duathlons and several fun runs of various distances, and is back training for Ironman New Zealand - a proper, full Ironman distance Triathlon consisting of a 3.8km swim, 180km cycle and 42.2km run, all to be completed within 17 hours. She won an age group spot at the 2011 ITU World Championships in Sydney, but due to that seriously pesky shoulder injury, had to pull out at the last minute. Annaliese served as a Technical Official with Triathlon Australia for a number of seasons and is a certified Triathlon Australia TriActive Triathlon Coach.
In January 2018, Annaliese gave birth to her daughter Zita by Caesarean section. This experience was extremely humbling in itself, but Annaliese also had a severe separation of her abdominal muscles from pregnancy and has experienced a number of other serious post-operative complications since. Yoga got her through a complicated and stressful pregnancy, and it has naturally formed part of her recovery from childbirth and it's physical consequences!
her values: love, contribution, fun, joy, abundance
stuff she loves: travel, Yoga, triathon, music, movies, dance, photography, random and spontaneous adventures, writing sewing, crafting, designing, good cheese, Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, New Zealand, a good beach and a good book!
key influencers: Rumi, His Holiness 14th Dalai Lama, Richard Branson, Mahatma Gandhi, BKS Iyengar, Leslie Kaminoff, Les Leventhal, Daymond John, Lisa Messenger, Gary Vaynerchuck, Tony Robbins, Jim Rohn, Hal Elrod.
favourite Yoga teachers: John Ogilvie, Les Leventhal, Tom Schroeter, Michael Nazar, Jennifer Allen, Ana Davis, Sadie Nardini, Nickie Hanley, Seane Corn, Ana Forrest, Bernie Clark, Jo Phee, Hugh Lee, Maria Kirsten.
travel bucket list: Japan, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Hungary, Germany, Italy, China, Taiwan, Nepal, Bhutan, India, Komodo (Indonesia), Dominican Republic, Dubai.
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