John Wilson

 

 A teenage back injury  became a chronic and potentially disabling condition by the time I was 40, in 1978. Traditional medicine approaches had neither helped to restore good health nor to stop the decline toward disability. A magazine article about yoga brought me to an Iyengar class in Berkeley and eventually to the Iyengar Institute in San Francisco. Since then I have practiced almost daily.

Over the years I have had many wonderful teachers. I am a slow learner and needed them all. The American teachers who have had the greatest impact and taken me past personally insurmountable obstacles are Arthur Kilmurray, Tracy Weber and Richard Schachtel.

I would never have had the opportunity nor the nerve to teach were it not for Tracy Weber. I studied with her for the 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification and recently completed the 500-hour certification. I am amazed at my good fortune to have found her this late in my life.

It is my incredible good fortune to teach yoga to the people working toward personal transformation at the Recovery Cafe in Seattle. The combination of asana and pranayama -- two practices that heal the body and nourish the soul -- cannot be overestimated. I have seen the results over and over again.

The yoga that I love, study, practice and teach is The Eight Limbs of Yoga as taught in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Because we only scratch the surface of yoga, most teaching time is spent with the basic postures (asanas) and breathing (pranayama).

I believe it is the responsibility of a yoga teacher and a studio to provide solid and clear instruction in all yoga practices. In time we hope to add more devotional and knowledge-seeking practices at Eastlake Yoga.

 

Sally Carley

 

Sally is a graduate of 8 Limbs Yoga Teacher Training and Advanced Teacher Training, and also The Samarya Center Yoga Teacher Training. She is grateful for the opportunity to have done further study with many nationally recognized teachers. Her teaching has been most influenced by Paul Grilley and The Samarya Center, a non-profit wellness and yoga center in Seattle. At Samarya, Sally has taken workshops in Integrated Movement Therapy, a yoga-based clinical therapy developed at the center.

Having happily found yoga in her early 40’s, Sally credits yoga with having brought her acceptance of the realities of aging, as well as the strength and flexibility to face the challenges of mid-life with grace and ease.  She wants to help get the message out that yoga is for everyone, not just the young, the fit, the flexible.

Sally is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance, and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She offers private yoga therapy sessions to people dealing with a wide gamut of physical, emotional and mental issues, including back injuries, chronic pain, grief, cancer, anxiety and depression.

Her lighthearted teaching style and understanding of anatomy, physiology and the healing benefits of yoga, combine to make her classes fun, safe, and a gateway to all that yoga has to offer. 

 

Dorothy Poulsen

Dorothy began yoga when she was 56. She experienced a profound transformation of mind, body and spirit. In her teaching she cannot help but share this joy of strength, flexibility and balance.
She is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance in the Viniyoga tradition.

Whether you are a longtime yogini/yogi whose practice is now less athletic or are early in your discovery of this wonderful thing called Hatha yoga, her knowledge of postures and adaptations of them will help you find the essence of each moment.

 

Ellen Liang

Ellen has had a lifelong interest in yoga and began practicing regularly in 1992. She has studied various lineages, including Viniyoga, Iyengar and Ashtanga. She completed her teacher training course at Whole Life Yoga in 2007. Her focus is on stabilizing the core and strengthening the back, as well as cultivating balance, clarity and awareness. For her, yoga is a lifelong, ever-changing and evolving practice and study.

 

 

 

Jill Shelby

Jill loves yoga.  She has practiced  different traditions with skilled teachers: Bikram yoga with Maude Pauletto, Iyengar yoga with Theresa Elliott, Ashtanga yoga with Carola Schmidt  and Viniyoga with Gary Kraftsow and Tracy Weber.

She began teaching in 2004 and was certified at the 500-hour level at Whole Life Yoga, Seattle, in  April 2009.

 

Ai Endo

Ai Endo is a KRI-certified Kundalini yoga teacher, Naam yoga teacher and harmonyum healing practitioner.

She holds two B.A.’s in English and Japanese from University of Washington, and an M.A. in Counseling from LIOS/Bastyr University.  She is currently opening a psychotherapy practice infused with yogic technology in Seattle.

Ai took her first hatha yoga class in 1995. In 2002 she moved to New York City, where she took her first Kundalini yoga class. Since then she has centered her life around being a student and teacher of Kundalini yoga.

"Its unfolding wisdom and beauty continually amazes me," she says.


Liziah Woodruff

Liziah is a certified yoga instructor, creative artist and humanitarian. Liziah completed her 500-hour yoga teacher training in the spring with Tracy Weber.

Liziah's passion is to inspire people through yoga to connect with their unique and powerful selves by bringing greater balance, happiness and new possibilities to mind and body. Liziah is ecstatic to teach yoga to both adults and children.

She has a BFA in Performing Arts, has recorded a CD "Fire Inside a Kiss" and has recently filmed a children's yoga video, " The Changing Star", that can be seen on YouTube.

To learn more about Liziah go to www.liziahyoga.com.  

 

Laura Bulchis

Laura’s personal yoga practice of nearly a decade has exposed her to a wide variety of yoga styles, including Iyengar, Vinyasa, Power and eventually, Classical yoga.  She received her 200-hour teaching certification while living on California’s Sivananda Yoga Ashram, where she developed an understanding of the four paths of yoga as not just physical exercise, but a way of life.  Also influenced by Buddhism and psychology, Laura’s classes create a safe space for learning and unraveling from the inside out.  Embracing the meaning of “yoga,” – union, she offers modifications and creative variations suitable to all.    

 

Jessica Lynne Witty

Jessica grew up in Denmark and has lived most of her life in Copenhagen, the capitol. She first started practicing yoga as a form of exercise in 2004 but it was not until 2009 that she truly realized that yoga was so much more than that. In the spring of 2010 she fell in love with the Sivananda practice and took a life changing 200-hour teachers training. She has been compelled to teach, having had classes every week since her training. She feels humbled and blessed to be able to pass on these ancient teachings to others. Recently moving back to her childhood town Seattle, she is delighted to carry on her teaching. Jessica is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance.

 

Andrea Thein

 Andrea trained at Red Sun Yoga with Jeanne Laslo in 2007, where she adopted many traits of Integral yoga philosophy and practice.
Before teaching yoga, Andrea completed training with Global Family Yoga and began teaching yoga classes to children ages 5-12.

An easeful body, peaceful mind, and  useful life is the motto that 
Andrea admires most of Swami Satchidananda, the founder of Integral  Yoga.

Andrea's classes open the whole body through gentle asana, breathing  practices, and deep relaxation, all within an atmosphere that encourages 
students to let go of ego and become open and peaceful. Teaching people new to yoga is a special honor for Andrea. She continues her education with courses in Classical Yoga, and Thai Yoga Therapy.