Meet Nani Kays Berger: YA Classes Teacher Highlight Series (Interview)

Every month in our YouAligned Teacher Series, we highlight one of our YA Classes teachers. This month’s teacher highlight is Nani Kays Berger.
Nani is a finance professional turned Fitness Instructor based in Portland, Oregon but originally from the beautiful island of Kauai, Hawaii. She found her passion teaching fitness classes and yoga.
Nani’s goal when she’s teaching is to make you feel healthy, sexy, happy, and confident within your own body!
Nani is a Buti Yoga Master Trainer teaching instructor certifications and 200 HR teacher trainings. She is a Yoga, Zumba, and Pound instructor and has Bachelors in both Accounting and Economics.
In her spare time she can be found on her paddleboard, practicing yoga, pilates, traveling, and dancing! Nani believes every BODY can exercise, move, and practice yoga. She will encourage you to love and accept yourself in the present moment, in this body today…inside and out.
Nani is best known for her emphasis on movement with purpose, proper body alignment, and awareness of muscle engagement, all while having a good time, every class she teaches. She has several online yoga classes for YA Classes members.
Get to Know Your YA Classes Teacher: Nani Kays Berger
We sat down with Nani for a Q+A session so YA Classes members and YouAligned readers can learn more about her.
1. YA: What’s one yoga necessity that you can’t live without?
Nani: I love a yoga mat, but I can improvise 🙂
2. YA: What’s your go-to song or music genre when you teach (or practice)?
Nani: R&B and hip hop
3. YA: What’s your favorite yoga discipline to practice? To teach?
Nani: To practice? Hot Vinyasa. To teach? Buti Yoga
4. YA: What’s your favorite yoga pose? Least favorite?
Nani: My favorite yoga pose? Sasangasana (Rabbit Pose). Least favorite? Ardha Chandrasana (Balancing Crescent Moon)
5. YA: When were you first introduced to yoga? Was it love at first asana?
Nani: In college I signed up for a PE class but dropped after the syllabus required a paper. Something drew me to the word yoga even though I had never heard or been exposed to the practice.
A few years later a yoga class flyer was put in my mailbox, I immediately signed up. Was it love at first asana? Yes! I lived with migraines for many years and yoga gave me 2 hours of relief. I also felt like my body knew yoga, needed yoga, and felt at home with the practice and overall philosophy.
6. YA: What’s your most embarrassing moment, either teaching or in life?
Nani: I was working at a college in finance and teaching fitness classes during my lunch. I went to change my clothes and realized an article was missing . . . where did it go?!
So I put my sweaty workout clothes back on, stepped out of the restroom and my boss was holding my dropped clothing. “Missing anything,” he said? LOL, yes I was. He was very supportive of my fitness teaching and we cracked up. I got dressed and back to work.
7. YA: What’s your #1 piece of advice for yoga students?
Nani: Trust yourself and listen to your body. We have everything we need within ourselves; when we take a moment to breathe and find stillness in each moment we can let go of personal expectations, judgements, and emotions. From this place, we can find our inner acceptance, peace and self-love.
8. YA: What’s your favorite resource for inspiration (teacher, podcast, book, IG account, etc)?
Nani: Yoga Journal and music.
I enjoy most styles of music and when I hear a beat that makes me want to move my body it inspires me to flow and practice. I feel most comfortable expressing myself through body movement and find internal balance as I flow.
9. YA: Aside from your own, what’s your favorite YA Class?
Nani: Vibes with Ashton August. It’s a graceful, powerful, and intentional practice to balance your feelings and boost your vibes.
A Big YouAligned Thank You to Nani for Her Amazing YA Classes Teacher Highlight Interview!
Nani’s teaching is creative, dynamic, encouraging and informed. She brings a wealth of knowledge, diverse training, and passion for movement and anatomy into every class. We are honored to have her on our team of incredible YA Classes teachers!
Want to connect more with Nani?
Find her on Instagram @nanimoves and check out her classes on YA Classes. Click here to practice with Nani in her latest YA Classes yoga class, Align and Engage!
Not yet a YA Classes member? You can try it out free for 7 days!
More Online Yoga Classes with Nani Kays Berger


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