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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

1. Tell me about your personal journey with yoga. Why is it important to you?  I started practicing yoga as a professional dancer. Partly for physical therapy and because that’s what all the cool kids were doing ;). But I’m a philosophy nerd so somewhere along the line I fell for all of the yoga teachings, not just asana. A few years in, I went through some trauma and relied on what little yoga I knew (and it worked). That event shaped my yoga path such that I took a teacher training (and another and another) and now teach (for the last 3 years I’ve taught full time) 200, 300, and prenatal teacher trainings, retreats, workshops, etc.

It’s important to me because it delivers me to a place of navigating life’s suffering moments with grace. And it slows time down enough that I feel like I connect with the heart of the matter more readily – whether that’s with people, or nature, or my own mind. It’s importance to me is almost ineffable. I tried 🙂

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?  Started practicing around 2002, teaching around 2010.

What made me transition into a position of leadership was a natural result of studying with great teachers and encouraging mentors. I don’t think I wanted to – it has just happened.

3. What makes your classes unique?  No clue! lol…

Ok, not totally true. I usually don’t rely on a soundtrack to create an emotive experience (although I’m not against that – I simply have a lot to say when I teach and I’m not interested in competing with the music).

I don’t dumb it down (even when I teach at a gym). I teach directly from my own practice so we are in conversation with the big questions on a regular basis. No one is checking out in my class 🙂

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?  Benefit my guidance…. you mean how does it help me teach? I consider myself less a guide, more of a teacher. I understand the teacher is always within but no need to invent the wheel – personal evolution happens a lot faster if you stand on the shoulders of the people who’ve traversed the path before you.

That said, I use music to create an ambient effect that is decidedly yoga (so generally, although certainly not always, I try to avoid using pop music or English lyrics or anything that will remind people of something – I want them present not reliving a memory inspired by the music). Which is why I LOVE live music. It’s totally present. 🙂

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

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 have practiced yoga since the age of 15 and have always been drawn to the mind-body connection. The spiritual connection, emotion, and flow that has ignited from my practice shifted my perspective entirely. Yoga has allowed me to increase my emotional openness, mental clarity and physical strength. In 2010, I graduated with a BA from the University of Arizona, continuing my passion with a degree in Physical Therapy in 2015. My educational background provides scientific knowledge of the human body to connect more with the physical side of the yoga practice. In 2016, I completed my RYT 200-hour Power Yoga and Sculpt certification at Corepower Yoga. Seeing how yoga has effected all aspects of my life I am passionate to spread that to others.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?: I began teaching a Power and Sculpt yoga class at Corepower in 2016. Since then, I have transitioned to teaching private classes at corporations, weddings and my weekly donation-based yoga class on the bay. My passion for the practice and benefits it provides drives me to spread my love to those who are open to receiving. I continue to learn daily and am grateful to get to opportunity to teach.

3. What makes your classes unique? : My class is a Vinyasa flow with a mix of creative strengthening. I enjoy keeping my students safe and in proper alignment as they move through the class. I like my students to feel present as they move and start to connect to their intention throughout class enhancing their experience.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?: I feel music drives the energy flow and provides a healing strength that increases through each posture. Music enhances the class and connects the students with their inner-self and the energies around them. The feeling of combining music, breath and movement is indescribable for me and I hope to share that experience with others.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online.: I hold a weekly donation-based yoga class on Mission Bay in San Diego. All proceeds goes to support Feeding San Diego and helps to raise awareness in the fight against hunger in our community. Classes are every Thursday at 6:30pm. You can DM @amy.j.krieger on Instagram for the exact location of the class or text at 925.787.8950. You can also sign up for classes at www.amyjkrieger.com.

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 journey with yoga began when I was 19. I fell in love right away with the physical practice because I had danced throughout high school and practicing Vinyasa flow felt just like dancing to me. I signed up for a 200 hour teacher training and soon discovered that there was so much more to yoga than just asana. In the years since I started teaching, yoga has opened up so many opportunities and connected me to many amazing communities and beautiful like-minded people. It’s taught me that I’m stronger and capable of so much more than I thought I was.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position? I started teaching yoga only a year after I began practicing. I’ve always been a pretty shy person, and I think becoming a teacher was exactly what I needed to start building confidence in myself. Now, I love being a guide and an inspiration for other yogis to deepen their practice.

3. What makes your classes unique? I like to teach pretty strong Vinyasa classes, but I also like to emphasize the breath and moving through transitions gracefully. I keep my sequences fun and creative, and offer lots of opportunities to get upside down!

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class? Music is super important to me when I teach. I make new playlists every week because when the music feels fresh and inspiring to me, I know that my teachings will also feel more fresh and inspiring to my students.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online.: I’m teaching a backbend workshop on August 27th and an inversion workshop on September 24th at OH Yoga in Orange. These workshops are meant for students who want to build more confidence with intermediate or advanced postures so they can prepare for level 2 classes. You can learn more about my classes and workshops at my website: www.yogawithalisha.com

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 first casually encountered Iyengar yoga while attending college at UCSD. With my background in dance and gymnastics, yoga seemed like an engaging form of exercise and an opportunity to maintain my flexibility. Over the years, as I cultivated my practice and studied extensively with several inspirational teachers, I discovered that a consistent yoga practice holds so much more than just physical benefits. During my prenatal classes and the labor and delivery of my twins, I truly experienced the benefits of pranayama and the mental awareness that yoga offers. It was at this point that yoga took on a more significant meaning and became the foundation for my daily life. My yoga practice supports me in discovering my presence, balance, clarity, and authentic meaning in all areas of my life. Yoga gently guides me back to the present moment and helps me to maintain awareness and appreciation of the here and now.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position?: When I took my first Intensive Yoga training, it wasn’t with the intention to start teaching yoga, it was simply to explore my own practice. In 2014, I began teaching yoga to the elementary school teachers at my own school site. I offered a free weekly after-school session to help my colleagues decompress and reset after a long day engaging with students. In 2015, with the support and encouragement of Lauren Duke, I was given a weekly recurring time slot at Yoga + Bergamot. Having over 20 years of public school teaching experience, and being a teacher at heart, the journey into the leadership role of a yoga teacher, seemed a very natural path to follow. For me, teaching the practice allows everything to seamlessly connect, come full circle, and take on a more significant meaning. When I am creating my lessons, delivering the philosophy, and cuing alignment, it in turn, helps me to fine tune my own understanding of the art of yoga, ultimately holding me authentically accountable to practice what I preach.

3. What makes your classes unique? : I love to create and teach thematic classes! The readings, quotes, music, and sequences that I pull together always come back to a common theme. The more in tune I am with my students and the universe, the more applicable my classes are to their current needs. It is important to me to create a warm, nurturing, and supportive environment in my classes. I am careful to provide clear and concise instruction and offer appropriate modifications to make yoga accessible to practitioners of all ages and levels of ability. I always interweave bits of yogic philosophy and stories to try to make the lessons applicable to daily life, since I believe that the true essence of yoga is being able to absorb the practice and take the lessons off the mat. If people are taking the precious time to come to my class, I want to provide a well rounded experience for my students, worthy of their time. For me, teaching yoga is an intensely creative artistic endeavor.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class?: Music sets the tone of every human experience and can move the listener in so many profound ways. I enjoy spending of time creating my playlists and using music to enhance my asana sequences. I carefully sequence my selected songs together to provide a combination of meditative, energetic, and uplifting music at the necessary points in each class. Teaching a class with live music is even more inspirational! Over the past year, I have been lucky enough to collaborate with a few different musicians, the inspiring DTO included, to create a unique, one of a kind, experience for my students.

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online.: My next event is a collaboration of Yoga, Meditation, & Music, entitled “Embrace Change & Celebrate New Beginnings” I will be joining forces with Alexandria Romero and DTO to provide an evening of mindful movement, insightful meditation, and inspirational music. For more information and to register, please visit http://alexandriaromero.com/workshops-classes/

I teach every Sunday 4:15pm at Gather Encinitas and a weekly pop-up sunset beach yoga class, typically Wednesday evenings and hour before sunset at South Ponto. Follow me on Instagram @yoga.karenwiggins for the most current offerings or Facebook Karen Gallon Wiggins.

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 no longer something I do…it is what I am. I started this journey back in the early 90’s when it wasn’t so cool and popular. In some ways I feel like it saved me from myself. I was ambitious and young and very busy. Back then I was big into the fitness scene and owned a gym with my husband. Yoga was something we offered and something I enjoyed “doing”. When the teacher I hired decided to move to California to study I stepped in to teach. Funny, that I actually thought I knew enough from my fitness, anatomy, dance and group exercise background that I could teach. But, little did I know that there was a whole new world that would open up for me once I began to study and prepare my classes. Now almost 25 years later I am all yoga all the time and have dedicated my life to the study and practice. Teaching and sharing are my greatest pleasure and I am on a mission to make yoga accessible to all.

2. When did you first begin teaching yoga? What made you transition into a leadership position? I started teaching classes in 1995. Around the 10 year mark I began to feel like I had organically created a consistent presence and leadership role within my community. My students started to feel inspired and wanted to learn more so I pushed myself to step into the role of teaching and training and began my school in 2009. I have been training, mentoring and offering CEU’s ever since. The foundation of leadership for me is in living my yoga everyday on and off the mat.

3. What makes your classes unique? I teach two styles of yoga in order to meet my students exactly where they are. Some days are vigorous vinyasa, and others a long, slow & deep practice of yin yoga. It is in practicing and sharing both the yin and the yang of yoga that we find the balance we need to navigate this beautiful life. My style is organic and focused on being present. I have been known to get deep and serious just as often as I may make a joke and break through the tension that can build in the room. My gift is to be able to read the room and serve from a place that is not about me but about finding what the students need in the moment. Holding this space for transformation is truly an honor for which I am grateful.

4. How does music benefit your guidance in a yoga class? I have always been deeply affected and touched by music. It helps to create the mood in the room, so I am very careful in selecting what I play in class. If I can be moved by the music then so can my students. In the past five years I have been inviting musicians to play live for my classes and events. Yoga, like music is an expression of the soul. The musicians are creating something from deep within which can be transformative during the yoga practice. If I can connect with the musician before the class and we are on the same page then the experience we can create together for the students is MAGIC!

5. Tell me about your next event and where we can follow you online. What’s coming up for me is a 7 day Retreat and Training for Teachers in Costa Rica. Come with me Dec 8th-15th to get inspired about your yoga, deepen your practice and gain some tools that you can bring back and share with your students. You will be immersed in studies, daily yoga practice and meditation. This experience is designed for teachers that want to take care of themselves, avoid burnout, revitalize their practice and continue to study and learn. It is an incredible opportunity to connect with other teachers, be in nature and especially to be in community. 50 Hours of CEU’s will be earned for Yoga Alliance. You can get the details on my website yogajourney.com or contact bri@yogajourney to register.

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