Aime MacDonald
Aime MacDonald is a Canadian Ashtanga yoga teacher who began practicing in 2008 and has been teaching since 2014. She is an RYT 500, with an early background in the fitness industry and 15 years working in education. These experiences gave her a strong foundation in communication, observation, and working with different bodies, movement patterns, and ways of learning. She has assisted on several teacher trainings and taught workshops internationally.
Aime has dedicated many years to deepening her Ashtanga practice through extended periods of study in India and Greece, practicing for months at a time under the guidance of senior Authorised and Certified teachers including Saraswathi Jois, Rolf Naujokat, John Scott, Kristina Karitinou, and Adam Keen, along with Valerie Jeremijenko, with whom she completed her 500-hour teacher training in 2013 in Doha, Qatar. Their teaching and individual approaches have profoundly shaped her practice and understanding of the Ashtanga method.
After moving to Dubai, Aime joined the Ashtanga Yoga Dubai community, founded by Nea Ferrier, where she practiced and apprenticed under Nea’s guidance. She now carries the program forward, co-running Ashtanga Yoga Dubai with Tonia Cheng.
Aime is particularly drawn to working with women through pregnancy, postpartum, and the middle stages of life, areas where she has direct experience. While committed to teaching Ashtanga through the traditional 1:1 Mysore method, she remains curious and open to thoughtfully adapting the practice to suit each individual student. Her teaching is grounded in building genuine relationships and helping students develop greater self-awareness and connection through a sustained practice.
Tonia Cheng
Tonia has practiced yoga for over two decades and taught internationally since 2008. Early studies and influences from Hatha Vinyasa and the Iyengar method provided a broad, balanced foundation, cultivating an appreciation for alignment, precision and intelligent movement. Before teaching yoga, she worked as a CPA and financial consultant, a background that continues to inform her thoughtful and analytical approach to teaching.
In 2006, Tonia was introduced to Ashtanga Yoga, marking the beginning of a dedicated Ashtanga practice in her late 30s. She studied with several respected teachers in the Ashtanga tradition and first met Sharath Jois in 2008. While teaching in Thailand, she began making regular trips to India from 2009 and from 2013 onwards, became a regular student of Sharath Jois at KPJAYI in Mysore. Those years immersed in the traditional Mysore method helped shape both her personal practice and her teaching.
Registered as an E-RYT with Yoga Alliance, Tonia is also certified in pre-natal, post-natal and restorative yoga. Drawing on years of practice, teaching and continued study, she offers an approach to Ashtanga Yoga that is rooted in tradition and responsive to the individual. With a strong foundation in anatomy, biomechanics and human movement, she guides students towards an intelligent and sustainable practice that can support them throughout a lifetime. Her natural warmth and light-heartedness create a supportive space where students of all ages and abilities feel welcome to explore the practice with confidence.
Together with her teaching partner, Aime MacDonald, Tonia is honoured to share the traditional Mysore method within the Ashtanga Yoga Dubai community.
Tonia Cheng
Tonia has practiced yoga for over two decades and taught internationally since 2008. Early studies and influences from Hatha Vinyasa and the Iyengar method provided a broad, balanced foundation, cultivating an appreciation for alignment, precision and intelligent movement. Before teaching yoga, she worked as a CPA and financial consultant, a background that continues to inform her thoughtful and analytical approach to teaching.
In 2006, Tonia was introduced to Ashtanga Yoga, marking the beginning of a dedicated Ashtanga practice in her late 30s. She studied with several respected teachers in the Ashtanga tradition and first met Sharath Jois in 2008. While teaching in Thailand, she began making regular trips to India from 2009 and from 2013 onwards, became a regular student of Sharath Jois at KPJAYI in Mysore. Those years immersed in the traditional Mysore method helped shape both her personal practice and her teaching.
Registered as an E-RYT with Yoga Alliance, Tonia is also certified in pre-natal, post-natal and restorative yoga. Drawing on years of practice, teaching and continued study, she offers an approach to Ashtanga Yoga that is rooted in tradition and responsive to the individual. With a strong foundation in anatomy, biomechanics and human movement, she guides students towards an intelligent and sustainable practice that can support them throughout a lifetime. Her natural warmth and light-heartedness create a supportive space where students of all ages and abilities feel welcome to explore the practice with confidence.
Together with her teaching partner, Aime MacDonald, Tonia is honoured to share the traditional Mysore method within the Ashtanga Yoga Dubai community.
