1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:

As an adult Yoga has always showed up in my life, I never looked for it. It just sorta appeared randomly throughout stages in my life. Yoga was very present but I wasn’t. I actually hated my first yoga class and said, I’d never come back…It wasn’t until I hit rock bottom for the third….. ok, ok, maybe 4th time in my life is when my entire relationship with myself changed. I wanted better. The next time yoga came back into my life is when I lived in Florida in 2013 and there was a studio literally across the street from my apartment. I went one time and fell in love with the ambiance of the studio but my instructor was DOPE! I still call her my first spiritual teacher. I took 5 classes a week for a while and I began changing. I noticed My clothes were different, shaved my head to grow my natural hair, makeup was less and my days were peaceful. I was discovering how to love me without condition. I was accepting my faults and owning up to my responsibilities. I was changing and in a way that landed me in India for my yoga teacher training in 2016. Why is yoga important to me? Well, it transformed me into living the highest version of who I am.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?: I began teaching yoga right after I came back from India in February of 2016. I was born a natural leader I never really transitioned. I can say with my wisdom I am now confident enough to take on a leadership position.

3. What makes your classes unique? : My classes are unique because I bring a Rashidat Flavor to my classes, I bring energy, comedy and permission to be free.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?: Music is definitely a vibratory sensation so the more I can add higher vibes the better my students feel after leaving me class. Plus, if I am digging the music, my vibration rises and it pours into my students.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online.: My next event will be my Rise Minneapolis-Yoga & Meditation Workshop 11.4.17
Please go to my website www.rashidat.com
IG @iam_rashidat & @yogawithrashidat
FB iamrashidat

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here.

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:

Yoga is important to me because the ability to reconnect within is such a beautiful healing experience, whether it’s lifes everyday experiences or something more that you need clarity with, it brings everything into a grounded awareness that nourishes the spirit. The flow of the asanas allow my heart to dance.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:

I unofficially taught as a kid (18) to my girlfriends but solely for playful fun. After my divorce I enrolled into IYT’s 200 hr and even though we were encouraged to teach that year I wouldn’t until my certification hit my hand. I’d seen many things that could go wrong in gymnastics competitions, I didn’t want the responsibility over someone’s body until I was fully trained in 2015

3. What makes your classes unique?:

I bring a big dose of Shamanic techniques from my cultural background, which is woven into an intricate tapestry of IYT’s traditional yogic philosophy, shamanism, holistic/reiki healing and overall positive hippie~chick vibes….with a Peruvian twist!I also gauge my classes to meet All levels so that everyone is welcomed, I take each asana into phases to meet everyone’s needs.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:

Music is a big influence for me…Peruvians love their music! I feel that music invoked the mood in any space. In a yoga class it can help guide the journey into a particular path. It allows us to feel uplifted, relaxed, joyful and peaceful depending on the teachers needs. Music has the ability to make others at ease, which is like a warm fireplace welcoming you when you first enter~ a loving touch for my students.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online.: I’ve been working on some exciting projects in Tulum but decided last summer to focus on finishing my 800hr. Internship to graduate in May. Stay tuned because I will be announcing more about that closer to Dec/Jan. You can follow me online at www.peruvianlilyyoga.com and on IG: PeruvianLily

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here.

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:

My passion for yoga, movement and breathwork began at the age of three as a dance student. Unbeknown to me, my instructors (who were yogis before being a yoga was mainstream), incorporated asana and breathwork into our class instruction. It wasn’t until much later when I took my first yoga class that I realized I had been doing yoga all along.
Yoga is important to me because it helps to keep me balanced in my mind and body. I know a daily practice of yoga and meditation grounds me and allows me to be more present for whatever the day brings. A regular practice of yoga has also kept me free from the lower back and neck pain I once felt. I have not been to the chiropractor in years!

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:

I thought about getting certified for many years, but it was the birth of my daughter that ultimately compelled me to go to teacher training. I loved how yoga and breathwork connected me with my baby, the physical practice took care of my body and the meditation and mantras kept me from going crazy on many a sleepless night. I loved it so much, I wanted to share it with others! I began by leading yoga hikes where moms and baby could breath and move with their babies in tow. Before I knew it I was leading yoga hikes, teaching family yoga and traditional vinyasa yoga classes. I guess I’d have to say there was no real transition, teaching yoga just became a full time part of my life.

3. What makes your classes unique?:

Truthfully we are not all recreating the wheel here. So if I had to say what make my class unique…what makes any teacher’s class unique…is the energy that we bring when we step into the room. I like to think I specialize in creative sequencing, safe transitions and the ability to read a room to know what people need. When I show up to teach my goal is to leave my students with glowing skin, a positive energy flow in their bodies and a smile in their minds!

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:

I LOVE music! Although funny enough, some of the best advice I received in teacher training was to not use music. My mentor said music could be a crutch and a distraction from the actual instruction. Without music I found my voice and became very conscious of the importance of silence in a yoga practice. Once I found my voice and learned that sometimes the best instruction was to say nothing at all, I cranked the music up! For me music is energy. Music, just like our breath, acts like a guide to our practice. Every playlist I make has a rhythm that matches the asana flow. I love nothing more than sequencing an asana flow to music and watching it dance around the room.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online:

www.alisonburmeister.com

“Balance and Peace Retreat”
November 11, 2017
11-4 pm
Temescal Canyon Gateway Park

http://themissingpeace.squarespace.com/workshops/xl4eu3w3tcvytwheib7kej7xlr6axv

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here.

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:

I started practicing yoga shortly after college and immediately fell in love with everything about it. Regardless of the format, I love how it feels to sweat out the day and disconnect from an otherwise very connected life. Yoga provides me a platform and a space to look inward. That time and space is so precious to me because it has shaped my outlook on life and has helped me find the confidence to be authentic and true to myself.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:

I just recently began teaching yoga! After years of contemplation, I finally took the plunge and took sculpt teacher training and my 200 hour power training this past year. I always knew it was something I wanted to do to deepen my own practice, but was not sure I actually wanted to teach. Within just a few days of training I suddenly felt a strong calling towards becoming an instructor. Yoga has such a unique ability to inspire each individual it touches in a different way. My practice gives me a way to continually grow physically, spiritually and mentally. I wanted to be able to share my passion for yoga and help inspire introspection through yoga for others.

3. What makes your classes unique?:

I always try to find ways to add on to basic poses or exercises to help students find a different perspective. I genuinely believe people are so much stronger than they believe and always aim to empower my students to find strength they may not have known they had. I try to encourage students to focus on the strength they are building rather than the challenge they may feel in that moment, whether physically or mentally.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:

Music is so important to my classes! In my sculpt classes I teach to the beat to help students find pacing and have fun with it. In my vinyasa classes I use music to help energize and keep students present.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online:

I’m so excited for my live music class with DTO coming up this Tuesday Oct 10th at 6PM at the CorePower Del Mar studio. You can follow me on instagram (@michele_maley) and please come take my class anytime!

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here.

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?:

I began my yoga journey at the age of 14. I was training to be a singer and I felt I wasn’t using my breath correctly. My body felt tight when I inhaled and although I wasn’t aware at the time, I was instinctively listening in and helping my body to function better through breathing lessons. Then at 19 I bought the Tao Te Ching not knowing consciously about it’s context, yet extremely intrigued by the Chinese philosophy especially the ability to overcome the self.

The physical practise began at the age of 21 through a series of classes at the gym and a home yoga video. I loved how it made my body feel and it challenged me. I was into running, spin and body pump at the time so this practise was slower and more mindful and I just knew it was so good for me.

As the following few years went on I realised that yoga was important to me because it was offering my body the love and attention it required after strong physical exercise. And I was stretching my body and noticing the benefits and difference the yoga practise gave me.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:

I first began yoga teaching in 2015. I had been a Vocal Coach for the ten years leading up to the transition to becoming a yoga teacher and at the beginning of 2015 I asked for guidance. One Saturday morning as I walked towards my vocal studio, a rather large white feather, floated down by my feet. As I watched it circle, I knew it was the right time to notify my students and go on a journey.

I flew to America and studied with Ganga White and Tracey Rich at The White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara. It was an intense two week training and I wanted to challenge myself by staying on the land for this entire time. Retreating inwards and reflecting, understanding and facing the fears which no longer served me.

I left America back to England and began teaching straight away. With 10 years teaching on my belt I felt confident however the feeling of sharing a practise with my fellow yoga students was beautiful. I feel peace and contentment each time I go to the mat and teach channelling the art of stillness and the beauty of being human.

3. What makes your classes unique? :

I am a qualified Master Hypnotherapist and NLP Practitioner and I use positive language to encourage my students to move beyond their limiting beliefs, and transform the way they perceive themselves so they can achieve great things. I also channel guided meditations at the end of each session, after having listened to what my students need to release and help them do so through the meditation.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:

Music benefits my guidance from an intuitive perspective. The vibes of the music resonate with our energy and even if the student isn’t switched onto this unconsciously the body begins to release and feel more relaxed as they soften to the beats and become more fluid with their thoughts and movement.

As a singer I love to use songs with vocal arrangements for me it heightens the relationship between the mind and the body.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online:

I have just launched my own brand of yoga clothes called The Kandi Collection. We are exhibiting on the 22nd October in Tunbridge Wells, Kent, England. I will also be offering free yoga demonstrations and explaining how choosing the right yoga clothes can offer you confidence. The collection gives you support where you need it yet movement to not restrict or make you feel too conscious, allowing you to embrace yourself and accept who you are.

To keep in contact with me visit my website www.yummyyogagirl.com.
You can also find me on Instagram and Twitter @yummyyogagirl.
I am always welcoming new tribe members to my Facebook Page Yummy Yoga Girl.

Look forward to meeting you soon Natalie x

Until then spread a little yumminess…

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?: 

I was very much one of these people who started practising yoga thinking it was just a physical practice. I got into yoga because I was in pain–years of gymnastics training as a child had caught up to me and I couldn’t walk without knee, hip, and back pain. I felt like I was a 90-year-old even though I wasn’t yet 30. But like so many other people, even though my intention was just to get healthier physically, I found that yoga magically influences all aspects of life.

As my practice took me deeper and deeper into the whole lifestyle that is yoga, I began to see that every aspect of my life changed. And for the better! And it just keeps getting better, because yoga brings me in tune with who I really am, without external distractions.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?:

I began teaching immediately after I finished my teacher training course in India. I wasn’t always sure I wanted to teach, but so many people would ask me to teach them, and I found that even though I didn’t really know what I was doing to begin with (my cueing was pretty awful!), I just loved sharing this practice that’s so meaningful to me.

3. What makes your classes unique?:

Coming to yoga from a gymnastics background means I can’t help but become a little bit of a gymnast when I’m moving on the mat. So this is what I teach as well. A gymnastics influenced vinyasa style which I call yoganastics!

I’m also very strength-based, rather than flexibility. A lot of people think of flexibility when they think of yoga, and yoga will definitely improve your flexibility. But I have hyper-mobile joints and therefore am always more focused on bringing stability to those joints through strength. So I teach in a way that incorporates movements that improve overall mobility, rather than just trying to lengthen the soft tissues to go deeper into an asana. I want people to be able to be more proficient at moving in general, and this requires strength as well as flexibility!

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?:

I am always on the lookout for good songs that I know will work for my classes and workshops. Music is a powerful tool to influence mood, energy, and movement, so I create all my playlists around what I’ve got planned for the class!

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online: 

I’m currently in New York City and following that will be in the Maldives teaching at a retreat. After that is Singapore, Australia, and Sri Lanka! I put my events up on my website adellbridgesyoga.com/events and I announce everything on my Instagram and Facebook pages.

Facebook: Facebook.com/adellbridgesyoga

Instagram: @adellbridgesyoga

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here.

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?

So far, my journey with yoga has been one of incredible healing, learning, and evolving. When I first discovered yoga (or when yoga first discovered me) I had a terribly disconnected, negative relationship with myself and the world around me. I constantly felt very small, powerless, and hopeless. I was honestly a bit depressed, and carried a lot of hurt and anger around with me. Yoga reconnected me to myself and gave me a new view and understanding of life, that I could never have imagined before. Yoga opened my eyes and my heart to new ways of existing. Yoga has helped me to reclaim my personal power, and to find pure, childlike joy and happiness in all of the many areas of life. Yoga has taught me, and continues to teach me, a more WHOLE way of being; that feels really, really darn good. And that’s why yoga is so important to me. Man, does it make me feel GOOD.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?

I first began teaching in the summer of 2014. Since then, my career has evolved and transformed quite beautifully and naturally. Obviously I have hopes, goals and dreams; but, mostly, I try to not plan, and allow things to just unfold. Whatever I feel called to do, I do. Whether that’s a sequence in a class, or sharing inspiration on social media, or anything in between or beyond, I find balance in my work by taking physical action, but also allowing the Universe to guide the way.

3. What makes your classes unique?

My classes have a unique balance of playfulness and serious transformation and inspiration. My classes will challenge both your physical body and your mind, you’ll have fun, laugh, enjoy some good tunes; and at the end of it all, you’ll come out feeling lighter, empowered and connected, with an open mind and open heart.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?

I have always felt deeply connected to music. To me, music enhances most experiences, including a yoga class. Music sets the tone of the moment. Music inspires you to let go of your inhibitions and have fun. Music assists you in becoming present. Music supports you in surrendering and releasing.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online?

The next event I’ll be teaching is my signature Wild & Free Yoga Retreat, hosted by El Sabanero Eco Lodge in Costa Rica from October 7th-13th, 2017. This retreat is sold out, but keep your eyes peeled for more opportunities to get on your mat with me super soon!

Website: www.caitlinlassyyoga.com

Instagram: caitlinlassyyoga

Facebook: www.facebook.com/caitlinlassyyoga

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here.

1. What is your background in health and fitness?

I wish I had a glamorous story about why I started yoga.  The truth is that some friends and I dropped into a Bikram yoga class just to check it out.  I remember we were so impressed with the physique of one of the yogis, but we were not impressed AT ALL with the heat in the room. We were dripping wet discussing the class over dinner and decided we would try a different studio. For several years we all caught classes together when we could but there was nothing being offered where we lived, so our practices were inconsistent.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?

Yoga became important to me a few years later when I was hospitalized due to an injury I suffered during a HIIT workout. The doctors decided that intense workouts should be a part of my past and not my future. So I decided yoga would fit my exercise needs. (Notice how I THOUGHT yoga was not intense ;P)  I started attended yoga regularly. It was then that it became more for me than just a form of exercise.

I took my 200 hr YTT with Live, Love, Teach under the direction of Stacy Dockins in 2012. I opened the first yoga studio in my community 2 months later. I had fallen in love with yoga, knew this practice was something that needed to be shared, and wanted to be the first one to show people the way in my town. I have enjoyed the challenge and responsibility of introducing the ancient practice to a small Texas community one yogi at a time.

3. What makes your classes unique?

In 2015 I traveled to London and took my first Rocket Yoga class.  It was so “intense” and, therefore, completely against the rules. But I was hooked and traveled to Los Angeles to be trained just a couple of months later.  I came home and changed everything to Rocket. But not everybody comes for the intensity, and I quickly found that I needed to add some diversity back into what I was offering. As luck would have it, a couple of lovely ladies who had started with me were ready to take a YTT themselves. So now we offer a variety of levels and styles. I still tend to teach toward the Rocket end, but I don’t keep myself married to the sequences.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?

I rarely teach a class without music. I like the way the music helps with the pace of the class. I can sequence a sun salutation slowly or speed it up just by calling for the breath with the beat of the music. I took a class with Jen Pastiloff once where we sang along and rocked our bodies to songs we all knew. I like to add some of that into my classes, from time to time, as well. I love it when a student can’t help it, and bursts out in song. But I also like it when the message of the song hits at just the right time and makes it look like I meant to do that. I can teach the very same class with two different playlists and make the sequence feel completely different. That’s pretty cool!

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online

My next event is actually coming up this weekend. My teachers and I are leading a beginner’s workshop called The Beginning, Saturday, September 30, from 1-4. You can follow me online at www.cleburneyogaroom.com. My Facebook page is @TheYogaRoomCleburne and my Instagram page is @asana_de_Shauna

Attention Yogis and Yoginis: Are you interested in doing a 5Q Interview?  Fill out your unique responses here