Teachers (click the "continue" links below to view the entire biographies)
yoga teachers | breathwork leaders | meditation leaders | other workshops
yoga teachers
 From the age of four, I love to move my body. My mom tells a story of taking me to the Ice Capades, and how, throughout the show, I was leaping and spinning in the aisle. At 10, after years of pleading, mom enrolled me in my first ballet class. That was it. I'd found my path. Whenever home or school felt oppressive, it was dance that allowed me to connect to a place of joy within and helped me to fall in love with life. After high school, I was fortunate to study and earn my B.F.A. at the country's premier dance school, the Juilliard School in New York City. At Juilliard, I discovered more styles of movement and fell in love with modern dance; Graham and Ailey were my favorite styles. continue >
Then, I just fell in love and got married. Just shy of 20 years ago, while pregnant with the oldest of my two daughters, I discovered yoga and meditation - pursuits that were to guide my inner journey and define my professional life. My journey into yoga led me to the renown Siddha Yoga meditation teacher, Gurumayi, who awakened my awareness of the subtle energy that dwells within each of us. Another key teacher, John Friend, came into my life a few years later, and, after studying with him at workshops and teacher trainings over many years, I became an Anusara yoga teacher, a style of yoga that helps students connect to their heart and spirit, as well as to their bodies. My long held dream of opening the Hub includes sharing the practices that so profoundly enrich my own life and help me cultivate greater peace of mind, light-heartedness, and vitality. The same giddy feeling that I had as a girl twirling in the aisle at the Ice Capades washes over me as I watch my vision of the Hub take root and blossom. My intention is for the Hub to serve our community by creating a place where students and teachers can come together and study yoga and movement in a playful and uplifting atmosphere. I'm honored that you've chosen to learn about us, visit, or attend classes. I also feel blessed that we have such an amazing staff of talented and devoted teachers. it is our intention that students at all levels of practice, no matter one's age or body type, feel at home at the Hub. My wish is that our classes and workshops contribute to your vibrant health, peace of mind, and sense of community.
 Hello Yogis! I've worn many hats throughout my life, but none so rewarding, intriguing, and fun as my service helping others feel good in their bodies through yoga and massage. I love everything yoga has to offer: movement, meditation, eastern philosophy and poetry, breathwork, music, and chanting. I have learned first hand how powerful the science of wellness is to create balance in our busy world, especially in my years as an entertainment lawyer in Los Angeles and New York City. I appreciate that you, the students, know your bodies the best, which is why I customize each class to fit your individual needs, as well as the energy of the class as a whole.
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In our practice together, yogic postures wake up the senses, ramping up the breath to support proper joint alignment and expand the respiratory and circulatory systems, all of which harmonizes us physically, mentally, and spiritually. As a licensed and certified massage therapist specializing in sports massage, pregnancy massage, and passive joint mobilization, I use my hands-on adjustment during class to safely release unnecessary tension often identified with certain yoga postures. I hope to create a space to help you advance your practice and discover your own unique beauty. I also like to incorporate music into the classes. My classes are focused and fun!
 I became a yoga teacher because when I was pregnant, yoga was a godsend. Pregnancy was awe-inspiring. Like science-fiction. Looking down at my ballooning belly, there was definitely an alien life form growing inside me, and I had no control of the process. The beauty and the essence of pregnancy is that we cannot control the process. But we can learn to honor our bodies and let them do what they are perfectly designed to do. Pregnancy Yoga can transform these feelings of helplessness into the weightlessness of complete surrender, of pure bliss, and of letting go. I want to help the pregnant mother to consciously connect with her growing baby.
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Her relaxed breath and her regular heartbeat are music to her unborn child’s ears. Through the practice of conscious breath, visualization, gentle movement, and meditation, new mothers will develop confidence, strength, and the ability to relax and go deep inside themselves. They will learn how to focus on their breath so that they can move fearlessly through the challenges of childbirth and into motherhood. My hope is that the lessons learned in this class will be life lessons. A happy, healthy, and conscious mother will bring into this world a happier, healthier, and more enlightened baby.
 I'll tell you what: I've been practicing yoga for eleven years and martial arts for another ten years on top of that, but I've never been able to figure out how to touch my heart center to the heavens or reach my roots down into the ashes of the Earth. Yeah, my feet are a little dirty sometimes. But roots? What I have been able to figure out with the help of Bryan Kest and many other instructors over the years is that yoga has made me a little more familiar with my body. It has made me a little more accepting of my weaknesses, and a little more comfortable with my life. At the very least, I just want to be able to pass some of that juicy goodness on to you.
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At most, I want to send you off after savasana with a yoga coma that hangs with you long after you leave the room and never quite goes away. My classes are open to all levels. Sometimes, the room will feel strong, and we'll roll a little more intensely. Sometimes, it'll be one of those days, and we'll cruise a little more gently. We'll feel it out, go with the flow, and let the sweat drip where it may. Whether or not you decide to come and see me, I wish you well in the development of your practice. There are so many great instructors out there that can help guide you as you explore yourself physically, mentally, and spiritually. Keep at it. You'll be amazed at what you're capable of the more you learn to just get out of your own way. www.savasana.info
 Yoga quickly became a way of life for Sarah when she noticed that the most significant impact of her practice was happening off the mat. Sarah began practicing in 2000 in North Carolina where she was completing her B.A. in Psychology. After graduation and upon returning home to her native Santa Monica, Sarah decided to take a different route and explore the film industry. While she was successful, Sarah constantly felt that something was missing. After many years and many Down Dogs, Sarah finally decided to listen to her heart and pursue her true passions- Yoga and Psychology. continue >
Life is just too short not to. Sarah now teaches yoga and is completing her Master’s in Clinical Psychology at Pepperdine University. In her schooling, Sarah is exploring the mind/body connection and hopes to one day marry the two practices. Having been trained in Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, and Power Yoga, Sarah’s strong and fun classes explore breath-linked movement within intelligent sequencing. Sarah has been blessed with truly amazing teachers and is now honored and humbled to impart the gift of yoga to her own students. www.sarahezrinyoga.com
 Stephanie is excited to be a part of the Hub. Born into a family of medical doctors and scientists, Stephanie grew up with a commitment to service and community health. A former Ivy-League champion women’s soccer player at Dartmouth College , Stephanie’s athletic training fueled her inquiry into what allows the body to move, heal and thrive. Her quest for optimal health led her to become a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor and attain National Certification in Therapeutic Massage and Bodywork. She has since pursued in-depth trainings in therapeutic yoga, Egoscue™ postural alignment; Continuum™ movement; structural bodywork; Somatics; Sensory Repatterning; Watsu, continue >
Biodynamic Cranial Sacral therapy; colon hydrotherapy; Visceral Manipulation, dynamic breathwork, meditation and mindfulness practices. Beyond her training, Stephanie brings a true passion and spiritedness to her work and her connection with clients. After years of working in various clinics, Stephanie found that combining techniques to restore health was more effective than any single method. This personalized approach allows clients to listen to their own bodies, tune into how they feel, and realize what works best for their life situation and goals.
“My goal is for people to know, feel and live health through personal experience,”
says Stephanie. “Alignment First centers on the premise that the human body has the innate potential and capacity to heal and thrive.”
Chad started martial arts in 67' and that was his love until the early seventies when he started taking yoga at the local YMCA. From there on it was the two studies, yoga being the more dominant. Iyengar was the main style and kundalini and ashtanga were of minor study/interest. Chad's study of bodywork came in the late seventies: polarity therapy, shiatsu, trigger point, Trager work, neuru muscular/deep tissue and much more. These have been his three points of interest ever since.
 Vicki found yoga over 14 years ago and has been teaching it with passion and compassion since 2000. Her classes emphasize the union of breath and movement in a sort of "dance" that calms the mind and allows one's spirit and self expression to emerge more fully. It is Vicki's intention to set a playful tone and to weave life-enhancing philosphy into every class as well as to recognize and encourage the deep individuality of everyone of her students. For further information check out Vicki's website: www.sacrdblissyoga.com
Doug Keller came to teach hatha yoga by way of the yoga of meditation and years of academic study of philosophy, both eastern and western. In the School of Foreign Service at Georgetown and in my graduate fellowship studies at Fordham University, Doug gravitated toward the senior Jesuit scholars whose excellence, openminded intellectual zeal and personal spiritual fervor gave their work an integrity that inspired him to dig deeply into his own studies, particularly of the classical philosophers and Christian mystics. But as he completed my coursework for my PhD and taught at several colleges, he was increasingly aware that he was looking for more than ideas and systems -- he was looking for the experience the mystics were talking about. continue >
At the time he was finishing my coursework, Doug met the meditation master Swami Muktananda during his last tour of the west, and he gave me the connection, the practice, the awakening and the understanding Doug was seeking. With that, it was up to Doug to step through the door he had opened, not through concepts and theories, but through yoga. Doug halted his academic career and went to India in 1986 to practice yoga at Muktananda’s ashram and to offer his service. Doug spent a total of 7 years in the Ganeshpuri ashram, Gurudev Siddha Peeth, and 14 years of service overall in Siddha Yoga ashrams in the US and abroad, studying and practicing yoga, working in the kitchen and gardens, and teaching hatha yoga. Doug focuses on the yoga of 'Swatantrya,' the yoga of one's own inner expansion and awakening. Yoga concerns our own relationship to the Self from whom we came. It is deeply personal, experiential, and ultimately unmediated by any system of conceptual thought. The teachings of yoga simply provide us with the introduction to our own Self. Our philosophies provide the contemplation and focus that help us to aim more deeply into the experience. In the end, the 'breakthrough' we experience is what the Christian mystic Meister Eckhart described as the breakthrough into our own heart, where the Divine most fully dwells. This is the teaching Doug wants to share, along with the practices and means offered by yoga to support that inward journey. Doug travels nationally and internationally offering workshops and teacher trainings, including teacher trainings and workshops in England, India, Switzerland, Germany and Italy. Doug’s home base is at the Health Advantage Yoga Center in Herndon, Virginia, near Dulles outside of Washington D.C. There, Doug teaches upper level classes and co-teach in the year-long Teacher Training program at the Health Advantage Yoga Center with Susan Van Nuys, its director. www.doyoga.com
As a Yoga Teacher, Life Coach, and founder of her own wellness company, Amy has spent the last decade of her life creating opportunities to restore the birthright of wellness to all people, regardless of their circumstances or background. Her Yoga students have ranged in age from 2 years old to 103, and her classes have ranged in size from 1 person to over 300 at a time. Trained extensively in Anusara Yoga, Amy has also received significant training in the Vinyasa, Hatha, and Yin styles of Yoga, as well as Tai Chi, mindfulness based stress reduction, aromatherapy, kinetic awareness, and empowerment and leadership techniques. continue >
With her dynamic background, Amy’s classes become an innovative experience in self discovery that can engage even the most apprehensive individuals. She regularly works with special needs populations, including elderly afflicted with dementia and Alzheimer’s; disadvantaged youth-at-risk; caregiver populations at nursing homes and hospitals; ADHD children; pregnant women; and many more.
In addition to her love for Yoga on the mat, Amy is also a long time Karma yogi and dedicates a lot of her personal and professional time to the “Yoga of service.” She is Co-Founder and Co-Director of Karma Krew, a yoga-based non-profit that sustains a nationwide grassroots network of socially conscious yoga studios and practitioners in 30 cities, with more signing on each day. She also helps train and hire teachers to implement yoga-based empowerment programs in underserved settings like children’s shelters, nursing homes, and prisons. Grateful for the opportunity to share the beauty of Yoga with so many, Amy hopes you’ll join her in celebrating the profound interconnectedness we can feel through this great ancient tradition and help spread the love! For more information about Amy and her offerings, please see www.truenaturewellness.com or www.karmakrew.org.
James MacDonald was introduced to Anusara yoga in 2001, and was immediately enchanted. It was what he had been seeking—technique for using the body to access deeper parts of himself—and was fortunate to be introduced to John Friend early in his yoga journey, for which he is grateful. Here was technology that used the body as a conduit for understanding deeper aspects of being. James loved the challenge of using precision of physical alignment to playfully create beautiful forms.
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In 2005, James became a teacher and enjoyed teaching full time for the next three years. However, he began to feel his grip loosening on his own practice. A few years ago, he made the decision to take a hiatus from teaching in order to focus and re-dedicate himself to his individual practiced. James immersed himself in studentship. He wanted to question, re-evaluate, explore and celebrated his own asana practice. The hiatus created the space he needed for his personal evolution, and to take a break from teaching was one of the strongest decisions he has made. During that period, he learned how to soften, to be receptive, to listen to the wisdom within. His practice is stronger for softening.
He is grateful to Anusara yoga for teaching him to appreciate dichotomy, and to use the paradox to create something beautiful, which is always the invitation. James expresses his deepest gratitude to his teachers: John Friend, Desire Rumbagh and Sianna Sherman.
 Meagan found yoga during one of her biggest transitions and is thankful to the practice for its loving support and acceptance as she has grown into the beautiful young woman she is today. She loves Anusra for its incredibly uplifting philosophy, playful practice, and knowledge of the body. Her classes are light-hearted and fun, yet challenging for all levels as she seamlessly weaves personal stories, shared insights and philosophy throughout. A very hands-on teacher, Meagan seeks to empower her students with the knowledge to align themselves, step fully into the currents of grace and recognize their own inner beauty. A student first and foremost, Meagan is grateful to all of her teachers and students for what they graciously offer as she continues down this incredible journey, also known as life.
 Charu Morgan has dedicated her life to Tantra. Over the past 10 years she has studied and shared Tantra worldwide. Best-known for her candid Memoirs of a Tantrika blog and her down-to-earth approach, she is committed to educating modern minds on the ancient secrets of Tantra through events, sessions & home-study courses. If you would like to discover how Tantra can Transform your life, register online for the Memoirs of a Tantrika weekly ezine at www.embodytantra.com and receive your free audio report Better Sex, Richer Life through Tantra.
Charu leads workshops about once a month.
 Matt Pesendian has navigated life’s path as a hatha yoga practitioner, acupuncturist, herbalist, and teacher of medical qigong and Shadow Yoga. His depth of knowledge, holistic approach to teaching and love for this practice offer his students a unique opportunity to learn and grow according to their individual constitution/needs. “Shadow Yoga sounds dark, but it’s actually in reference to the harmonization of light,” he explains of this style of hatha yoga — one rooted in yoga asana, ancient martial arts, South Indian dance and ayurvedic medicine. Pesendian continues to present his findings on energetic anatomy and the art of the yoga in workshops and retreats worldwide. For more info: Bodhimanda.com.
 Cass offers workshops globally and holds a private practice working with clients with complex neurological disorders such as cancer, autism, brain damage and paralysis. His clients are students, facilitators, creative artist, actors, singers, writers, directors, teachers, healers, CEO’s, corporate coaches and inspired souls from all walks of life. Cass has been around the Sun 37 times, is a certified Reiki master, Sound Healing therapist and musician of 13+ years. He has been creating and performing movement-performance “Works Of Art” for the past 5+ years. His unique approach to sound and movement unifies the creative and healing arts as ONE. continue >
A strong sense of humor and laid back style helps to deliver the awakening transmission: ALL Is Within.
“Shadow Yoga sounds dark, but it’s actually in reference to the harmonization of light,” he explains of this style of hatha yoga — one rooted in yoga asana, ancient martial arts, South Indian dance and ayurvedic medicine. Pesendian continues to present his findings on energetic anatomy and the art of the yoga in workshops and retreats worldwide. For more info: Bodhimanda.com.
 Tad began practicing yoga in his local gym. As fun as that was, it wasn't until he found Anusara yoga that he fell in love with yoga and discovered the world of possibilities that yoga had to offer. Tad has studied with some of Anusara's most beloved teachers, including Sianna Sherman, Noah Maze, Darren Rhodes, and John Friend, the founder of Anusara. It was his teachers' extraordinary generosity that inspired him to begin teaching yoga. Tad believes that the strength of yoga is in the people that practice it and the supportive community that surrounds them. His goal is to guide students in the discovery of their own strengths and to inspire them to make an openhearted offering back to their communities outside of the yoga studio.
 Sarika first came to yoga after sustaining a shoulder injury in early 2001. She looked to yoga as a healing modality. She began taking yoga classes in various studios, finally stepping into her first Anusara class in 2007 and immediately fell in love with this style of practice and its teachings. She found Anusara yoga to not only be transformative and healing to her body, but also to her mind and spirit.
The life affirming teachings of the Anusara principles led her to delve deeper into her own practice and compelled her to share its gifts with others.
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She is deeply grateful to her teachers, family and friends, whose continued support has helped to carry her on this path. She gives loving gratitude to John Friend, Sianna Sherman, Noah Maze and to her many teachers for inspiring her to always reach for the highest.
Sarika dedicates her ongoing practice, studies and teachings to the Anusara style. She strives to inspire her students in helping them discover their highest purpose. Sarika’s passion for life combined with a playful spirit and skillful attitude creates a warm and welcoming environment to cultivate an empowering, transformative and healing yoga practice.
 Nita Rubio was born and raised in Southern California in a liberal household. Nonetheless, women’s rights, women’s studies, and female empowerment were not things inherently included in this liberalism. Luckily, spirituality and creativity were highly regarded and served as the pathway for self-discovery and deep personal inquiry. At the age of 18, Nita began to read authors such as Carol Christ, Luisah Tesh, Riane Eisler and more. This impacted her deeply and it was incredibly exciting to know of these women who viewed the personal as political and that even the paradigm of patriarchy needed to be extracted from our spiritual beliefs.
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Following this new way of perceiving her walk in the world, Nita was formally ordained as a Priestess through Woman Mysteries of the Ancient-Future Sisterhood, a mystery school based in Goddess Herstory, ritual, shamanic work and subtle body energetics. Although this mystery school teaches many spiritual arts, its rare inclusion is that of the need for its Priestess’s to fully explore the extent of misogyny held deeply in the feminine body. Nita has been teaching the core work of the lineage, The Tantric Dance of Feminine Power for the last 13 years. At this time, Nita is passionate about learning and teaching the matriarchal and tribal roots of Tantra and helping women to explore the depths of power viscerally held in their bodies.
Nita Rubio teaches Tantric Dance of Feminine Power on Tuesdays 7pm-9pm.
 Edward Yu is a Certified Feldenkrais Practitionersm, former runner and triathlete, and founder of Radically Transformative Running (RTR) and Radically Transformative Fitness (RTF). After receiving his Bachelor of Science degree from Penn State University, he worked in Japan as an English and Chinese teacher. In 1996, he moved to China to study Traditional Chinese Medicine, Taichi, Bagua and martial arts. His interest in how people learn through movement has led him to bring disparate fields such as Taichi, martial arts, dance, kinesiology, Feldenkrais®, psychology and cognitive science into his teaching. continue >
The impetus for RTR and RTF came years after he quit running and triathloning and in the meantime discovered that trying harder doesn’t always work so well to make you a better athlete, though it can work very well to make you extremely tired, discouraged and neurotic.
Edward studied authentic movement and contact improvisation with Stefanie Cohen and Mark Koenig; Continuum with Cass Phelps and Impro Theatresports(TM) with Lorne Greene.
These days you can find him trying to roust up groups of people to play with breakdancing, storytelling and dance-martial arts collaborations.
Edward Yu teaches Tai Chi Wednesdays and Fridays 7:15am-8:30am.
breathwork leaders
 Guided by his devotion to serve others through his work as a healer, Michael Baker has dedicated his life to facilitating transformative breathwork in order to help people grow and transition through life’s invariable rough times.
Having been introduced to the work of David Elliot in 2007, Michael began working with the breath as a means to find balance within his own life as a successful mortgage banker hosting his own radio show, which offered advice on the turmoil of the banking industry.
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“I felt lost and was seeking guidance by traveling to the Far East and India, and low and behold this form of breathwork, practiced right here in Los Angeles, was the rocket fuel that sparked profound change in my life,” he affirms. “Through this simple practice, I felt congestion, sorrow and pain leave my body.” With almost no effort at all, the breath helped Michael to released guilt, shame and judgment that he had been carrying for years. “I was finally connected to the enormous well of truth and gentleness within. The breath helped me to realize that I wasn’t broken, that I was whole,” he adds.
With a background in yoga, mediation and yogic science, Michael has the unique ability to break down potent spiritual principals into simple, user-friendly techniques that help clear past traumas and limiting beliefs. During the Introduction to Breathwork Dynamics, students are nurtured into the practice in a loving, safe environment where they are encouraged to free their minds and enter their hearts. The results speak for themselves.
Private sessions facilitated by Michael are focused on the individual’s specific needs. The foundation of the work is that most forms of addiction, disease, trauma, illness and pain are energetic and are symptoms of un-addressed issues that are often, through this practice, easily cleared. For more information about private sessions, classes, workshops and events with Michael, please visit www.thebreathcenter.com
 "I help people heal by listening into their souls," he says. "I sense the many emotions and fears they're holding inside, which allows me to help them unblock and release the negative energy holding them back."
As a clairaudient healer, David "hears" purely through his senses. "Sometimes it"s sound and speech like in a regular conversation"mostly it"s a perception and awareness that lets me focus on the energy a person has locked up inside. By unburdening individuals of their negative energy, David creates an inspiring moment when they wake up from their spiritual crisis with "a bright new clarity about their lives," he says."
 Jenny has felt a deep connection to spirit from a very young age. She has had many different spiritual teachers along the road, but it was the work of David Elliott and the pranyama breathwork meditation that opened Jenny's spiritual side and led to her desire to go out into the world and share this practice with others. Jenny has gone through the four levels of David's 'Healer Training' series, as well as attended numerous retreats led by him since 2005. She began leading breathing circles when she lived in Chicago and now has a following here in LA, where she has been living since January 2008. continue >
The pranayama breathwork is a three part breathing meditation which allows the mind to relax, energy in the body to move, and the essence of the soul to be opened, realized and felt. Jenny brings to her circles nurturing teachings of compassion, love and light.With these gifts she is able to guide others to experience the light they carry within themselves. She sees this work as being a vehicle to experience the love of who we really are and open doorways to what we are each here to do. When that love is felt within, it can be shared with others and suddenly this planet becomes a better place.
Jenny is also an artist and interior designer weaving her healing work into both of these creative avenues. For inquires contact jmiller7775@mac.com.
 Nyei Murez is a certified healing breathwork facilitator, holding the David Elliott Hummingbird Healer Training Certificate; and she is an instructor of Tensegrity, the modern form of the shamanic practice from ancient Mexico known as the warrior-traveler's path with heart, which Yaqui seer don Juan Matus taught Carlos Castaneda, Florinda Donner-Grau, Taisha Abelar and Carol Tiggs.
 Katrina has extensive experience as a Spiritual Teacher and is a gifted intuitive healer. She has been certified by David Elliott to both facilitate and teach the breath work. Katrina leads groups and workshops throughout the U.S., including Los Angeles, Chicago, San Antonio, Mendocino, New York and San Francisco.
“Katrina is a passionate healer with a big appetite for truth and clarity. She has an immense inner fire that birns through skepticism, confusion, and fear. Spirit moves in a big way with Katrina; expect an exciting ride when you work with her!” – David Elliott
 When I was a kid in Rochester, NY, I was taking out books from the grammar school library on hypnosis, e.s.p., magic, and Dr. Seuss (it was the 70's!). I was "off to the races", and would become a voracious reader of anything that smelled like freedom and awakening (though I didn't know what was driving me back then). When I reached my freshmen year of high school I got really involved with the local Methodist church, running the youth group for a couple of years, going on regular mission trips to rebuild homes for disaster victims and poverty stricken areas. This was a really formative time in my life, when my self esteem started expanding. I saw that I could make a difference in the world.
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It was also the time that the "New Age Movement" started getting more traction, and my attention. Every weekend, I'd go to the local new-age bookstore and pore over the books for hours and hours. It was like getting real nourishment after decades of subsisting on processed foods. Arriving at the State University of New York at Buffalo, I began sitting with a local meditation group every week for the next four years, continuing to read everything I could get my hands on.... everything from past-life regression and all kinds of healing techniques, to meditation and enlightened teachers. In the summer of 1994, after graduating from university, my life took another major shift, I took my first Siddha Yoga Meditation Intensive at a stunning ashram in the Catskill Mountains just outside of New York City. The intensive is the program where I felt the lights come on inside, and stay on. After the intensive whenever I would sit and close my eyes, there would always be a noticeable and sometimes quite strong feeling of Presence and energy moving inside of me...and it felt great! I felt more alive than ever. This is when I took my first formal teacher, - Swami Chidvilasananda. Within a couple of years I was living in suits in New York City as a personal banker for Chase Manhattan Bank by day, and chanting and meditating by night in the Manhattan Ashram for Siddha Yoga. It's this amazing little brownstone on the Upper West Side that I called home for the better part of a year. Once my contract with Chase was up, I moved up to the Catskills ashram to join the Siddha Yoga Staff for the next two years. In this time, I felt like I got to grow up all over again, from the inside out. And while I'd say I'm still growing leaps and bounds every year, this period of my life was instrumental in creating a foundation for the rest of my life. During this whole last ten years, I was doing healing work on the side and learning various modalities; deep-tissue massage, shiatsu and reflexology, Reiki Master, Holographic Repatterning, Coaching, and more. After years in the entertainment business in Los Angeles, I finally found my true calling. I became an entrepreneur, and within a short period of time was getting a lot of press on my bodywork from Allure to Lucky to Variety to Daily Candy. About two years later, the business coach I had hired encouraged me to go see the healer she worked with. She said he'd help me get out of my head. I didn't know whether to be insulted or laugh at how spot-on she was. I called the number she gave, and heard a spritely Southern accent say "Hey-lo...". I wasn't sure if this was for me or not just yet, so I said, "What exactly do you do?". "Exactly?" he said. "There's nothing I can say that will ever satisfy that part of your brain. It's experiential. But I'll tell you this, what we'd be working on with you specifically is getting you out of your head and clearing fear so you can trust yourself." Something actually moved through my body when he said those words. I got goosebumps moving over my skin and made the appointment. I had no idea what to expect, other than that I would be doing some kind of breathwork. At that first session with David Elliott (author of The Reluctant Healer), lightening struck. In the way that the Siddha Yoga Intensive was a major shift in my life, this was the next one, and it was MASSIVE. It was the single most profound spiritual experience I'd ever had in my life. Every cell vibrated. The energy moving through my body and spirit was like being hooked up to the power station for the city of Los Angeles. It was that strong. I knew I had to learn to do this work with my clients. In that first session, David said two very formative things to me that would become some of the bedrock of my work: 1) "I'm not looking for followers, I'm looking for leaders." 2) "The breath is a tool of the Work, it's not the Work." Within a short period of time, I took all the Healer Training Classes he'd created, went on several of his retreats, firewalked, and started offering the work to my clients, transitioning from bodywork to the breath. I decided after that first session to put myself wherever David would be so I'd soak up everything . I became his assistant on the book tour in a number of cities for the launch of The Reluctant Healer, workshops, retreats, and healer trainings. And more recently have been teaching his Level 1 Healer Training class in NYC, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.
Laurence Walsh discovered Pranayama Yoga Breathing meditation while following her passion for writing. A television writer for the last eight years, Laurence has written for such shows as CSI: Miami, NCIS and The Dresden Files. continue >
Graduating from master healer David Elliot’s Healer Training in 2008, she quickly created a private practice to help others free themselves from their issues and recapture their joy of life. Laurence now writes features in co-creation with spirit and joyfully guides people through the breathwork toward their own magnificence.
Here’s what a few people have said, “Laurence is that kind of being who, with her own privileged connection to the spirit, puts you naturally in contact with the core of your own being. Healing flows from her pure intent, powerfully and sweet.”
“The breath work that I did with Laurence resulted in a profoundly healing experience. For the first time I was able to really comprehend and release some old, deeply rooted beliefs and issues which allowed me to open up to some needed physical and spiritual healing. It was defiantly an “aha!” moment- very cleansing”
For more information, please check out her website: www.healingthroughbreathing.com/ or call (213) 804-4116.
 Suwon's passion is to see beauty of the highest potential expressing itself in the journey of self-discovery. She did her first yoga teacher training in 2001 with Robert Birnberg in the Desikachar tradition, an approach that takes into account each student’s needs and adapts yoga to the individual student. Since then, she has been deepening her quest to enrich life in the here and now, learning from various meditation disciplines and well-respected teachers, as well as studying Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Vedic chanting and Reiki healing energy. Suwon is currently an instructor of a "Gentle Yoga" class for every body type at a local studio, teaching her students to trust and listen from the heart. continue >
Suwon sunk deeper into the spiritual journey by studying with healer David Elliott, and becoming certified in his Healer Training program. With the breathing meditation immersion, her Spirit expanded the seeking heart of an innovative artist. In her breathing circles she emphasizes fun, listening inward to the true voice, seeing true beauty and radiant joy and, Love, self-Love, loving all sides---even the shadow, being fearless. Suwon finds inspiration everywhere: from mother earth, nature (hummingbirds, crows, hawks, owls, rainbows, etc) shamanic work, the Divine Feminine, poetry, writing, the arts, all types of music (bhajan to Grace Jones), Vipassana meditation and even fashion (i.e. rockstar Karl Lagerfeld). She gently guides her students to bright, happy light and joy, allowing them to lose self-consciousness or anything else that doesn't work in order that they can be whole, complete, confident and full of love. In the words of her teacher, David Elliott, students learn to "out-create" doubt or negativity. It’s a path worth taking.
meditation leaders
 With a Masters Degree from The Graduate School of Psychology at Pepperdine University in California, Lee Konecke (MA, MFTI) has immersed himself in aggressive self-study programs to deepen his understanding of the mind and human behavior, including the “Creative Mindset” and the field of “Deep Practice.” His endless curiosity for alternative paradigms offers him a unique and forward thinking approach to his work, which integrates the best of Western and Eastern psychologies, along side with peak performance modalities, to establish creative ways for people to “touch more deeply” their highest self.
After dropping out of law school in 1994, and enrolling in Dr. Jon Kabat Zinn’s Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction program, Konecke felt his perception of the world become more expansive and creative than ever before. continue >
Since then he has continued participation in life-experience retreats with some of the leaders in the field of psychology and human potential: Chodron, Canfield, Sigel, Hahn, Hicks, Williamson, and The Hoffman Process. Konecke aims to make the experience of learning Mindfulness Meditation as simple as possible, and creates a relaxed, fun, creative and interactive educational environment open to questions and conversations.
other workshops
 Baylen Slote is a California-licensed acupuncturist with a specialty in psycho-emotional processing. His practice includes counseling, acupuncture and guided meditation, depending on the needs of his patients, and he often uses essential oils, moxibustion, cupping and medicinal massage in conjunction with acupuncture therapies as needed.
While receiving his undergraduate degree at Bennington College in Vermont, where he studied music and acting from the perspective of personal and spiritual growth, Baylen became involved in the practice of Tai Ji and movement arts, including Qi Gong, Dao-In (Chinese yoga) and meditation. Sparked by an... continue >
interest in the I Ching, he was then led to pursue and complete his Master’s degree in Acupuncture and Traditional Chinese Medicine at the renowned Yo-San University in Los Angeles.
Additionally, Baylen has three years of training in the Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT), which uses the Chinese Meridian Theory of acupuncture channels and neurobiology to retrain thought and emotional patterns. He also has eight years practice and experience in New Identity Process (NIP), processing emotional issues.
Empowered as a member of the 39th generation of physicians in the Ni family lineage, an unbroken lineage of Taoist masters, Baylen continues his development under the personal mentorship of Dr. Maoshing Ni.
From Baylen:
"Taoism is about the study and embodiment of nature. With practice and without the intervention of meddling human minds, nature tends to create bio-dynmaically diverse, stable and healthy environments. The dynamic interplay of these forces has created the human consciousness in the middle with the capacity to be a fully present participant in the journey. Through healing traditions passed down from the sages I seek to assist people in returning to their natural state and letting go of troubling health challenges."
Register for his acupuncture circle directly with Baylen at medicinecirclewla@gmail.com.
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