Senior Yoga Alliance Registered teacher Gingi Lee, co-director of the Shala, founded the studio in 1997 and founded the Shala School of Yoga teacher training programme in 2016. He has been teaching yoga full time for over 25 years and is one of the country’s most experienced ashtanga vinyasa 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 in the mid 90s, 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 around 2001. Additionally, Gingi has trained more recently with Yamuna Zake and become certified in Yamuna Bodyrolling, a form of remedial bodywork which has interested him for many years and which he now incorporates into some of his teachings.

For 25 years, Gingi has focused his energy on teaching at his centre in South London, alongside hosting yoga holidays and workshops internationally. In 2016 he established the Shala School of Yoga teacher training programme and he is now hugely passionate about passing on his knowledge to the next generation of teachers.

Gingi has played a key role in popularising ashtanga yoga in the UK and has taught, trained and inspired many British yoga teachers. He 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.