Written by Brook McCarthy

Davina Kruse used yoga to prepare for her annual visits home following a hectic expatriate life as a model. Now as a teacher, she lives on-site at the Centre and has embarked on a voyage of yoga discovery teaching ex-addicts at the Buttery therapeutic community in Byron Bay.

Davina's first experience of yoga was 10 years ago at a Yoga in Daily Life class in Brisbane. "It filled me with joy and I had to keep going back," Davina says. Although clearly smitten by her first class, it was another 7 years before Davina practised yoga consistently. "The only consistency I had for a long time was my annual month-long visit to the Sanctuary in Koh Phangan in Thailand, which had daily yoga classes, to help me regain my health before returning home to Australia for Christmas."

Davina began modelling at age 14 and was, by her own admission, "a bit wild." For 12 years, she lived and worked in Hong Kong, the US, Japan and London, travelling frequently but returning annually to Sydney to see her boyfriend and family. Working long hours, being constantly on the move, and partying hard threw her out of balance. "I have a very busy mind which constantly jumps between thoughts," Davina says. "Yoga was the only time when I was distracted from the noise, the only time I had any peace."

In 2005 aged 28, Davina went to stay at the Buttery residential therapeutic community. "I began practising in the meditation room that very first day and have continued ever since." There she took weekly classes with Byron Yoga Centre teacher Kara Goodsell. Davina remained in Byron Bay after leaving the Buttery and undertook her Level 1 Teacher Training with the Centre in 2006. She completed Level 2 the following year and then moved into the Centre, where she lives in a cabin with her pug named Pickle and cats, Queenie and Silver. Davina now teaches her own weekly classes in the Buttery to residents.

"One yoga class a week is compulsory for all residents and not all residents are keen. But these are the ones who need it most. I try to be gentle, make them feel safe, that they are free to feel whatever they feel without needing to change it - and I smile a lot!" Davina says. "It's very rewarding to help people learn how to sit with their thoughts and not seek some distraction. When you're an addict, you become indifferent to your body and disconnected from your soul. Yoga helps people rediscover some unity between mind, body and spirit."

For some years Davina needed to disassociate herself from friends from her model days and, although she is happy about resuming a few old friendships, she remains cautious about who she contacts. "Although many of my friends grew out of drugs and partying, others haven't, and it's best for me to keep my distance." It's common for people who are interested in drugs to be interested in spirituality, and vice versa. "I am mildly obsessive so I channel this into my home practise and do my asanas and pranayama every morning," Davina says. "I think that if you start applying spiritual principles and practising meditation or yoga, then drugs and alcohol will naturally drop away."

Davina recently travelled to Vietnam with the Centre teaching staff, teacher trainees and retreat attendants to assist in Level 2 Teacher Training. It was the first time in several year that she'd left Australia and says it's been great staying in one place. The Centre recently hosted a yoga and meditation retreat - which Davina says brought a wonderful energy to the place. "The atmosphere was very chilled out and the attendees didn't feel like visitors at all - they fit right in."

When asked about future plans, Davina says that she feels like a baby on her journey. "I'm blessed to see the benefits of yoga in the people I teach at the Centre and at the Buttery and feel like I'm in the right place at the right time," says Davina. "I am very inspired by my students; it's incredibly rewarding to see serenity and stillness become apparent on their faces. I just want to keep doing what I'm doing."