Founder & Co-Director of the Shala & The Shala School of Yoga, RYT-500 Lead Teacher Trainer, Senior Ashtanga Yoga, Aerial & Yamuna Bodyrolling Teacher

Co-director of the Shala, Gingi founded the studio in 1997 as one of London’s first dedicated ashtanga yoga centre. He has been teaching yoga for over 25 years and is one of the country’s most senior ashtanga yoga teachers.

Gingi began studying and teaching martial arts in the 1980s with his father, Sensei Richard Taibong Lee. During an early trip to India, Gingi came into contact with yoga and spent many years returning to India to study and devote himself to the discipline. For two years he apprenticed with the late Derek Ireland after completing a teacher training course in Goa. He subsequently went to Mysore to continue his studies with Sri K Pattabhi Jois and then attended a two-year teacher training course with Graeme Northfield of Australia. Additionally, Gingi has more recently certified in Yamuna Bodyrolling, a form of remedial work which he has been interested in for many years and which he now incorporates into some of his teachings. He continues to do trainings on a yearly basis with bodyrolling founder and yogini Yamuna Zake.

For 25 years, Gingi has focused his energy on teaching at his centre in South London, alongside hosting yoga holidays and workshops abroad. He has played a key role in popularising ashtanga yoga in the UK and has taught, trained and inspired many British yoga teachers. In 2016 he established the Shala School of Yoga teacher training programme with co-teachers Kath Roberts, Mark Kan and Norman Blair. Gingi is a well-respected teacher who has remained at the forefront of the yoga community. His teaching is characterised by sensitivity, warmth and a deep commitment to the practice.

Read Gingi’s own personal story here.