Adriana has an extensive background in dance and creative movement. She began to study yoga over 10 years ago and after experiencing a deep transformation in her own life, she had a strong inner desire to become a teacher and share yoga’s healing potential with others. In December of 2002 she received her Hatha Yoga Teacher Certification from the Yoga Studio in Toronto, Canada. She has devoted her life to the path of yoga. Her main practice and teaching style is that of Classical Hatha but realizes that in essence all paths are the same and should integrated the whole being; body, mind and spirit. Adriana studied yoga & meditation in Rishikesh, India with Swami Veda Bharati of the Himalayan Tradition. As well, she took part in a two-month karma yoga program at the Expanding Light Yoga & Meditation Center in Northern California. This lineage is based on the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, author of Autobiography of a Yogi. Adriana is very much inspired by Yogananda’s teachings, which has had a profound and humbling effect on her.
Her dance and yoga training serve as interchangeable components in her teaching where she continues to share her life pursuit- connecting with others through Body, Mind and Spirit.
Please see her website at www.blissfulbelly.org
For more insight, read this interview with Adriana.
Adriana teaches the Tue 6 pm Yoga Flow. She also teaches the Prenatal (Sat 10 am) and the Yoga for Moms (Sat 12 pm) classes and facilitates a monthly event called Blissful Birth Bellydance. To find out more about that, see our Events and Special Classes page.
Alissa Lesperance s a strong background in dance and fitness. She began her journey into yoga over ten years ago and continues to evolve her teaching style as her personal experience grows. She is certified through YogaFit and the American Council on Exercise and has been teaching yoga and dance for 6 years. In this time she has studied various styles of yoga from Hatha, Iyengar, Anusara, Power Vinyasa, and traveled to India to study Ashtanga yoga in Mysore. Her teaching style combines her personal experience with the needs of the students in order to help them achieve their own personal balance.
Alissa teaches the Yoga Flow on Thur at 6 pm
Cass started her yoga journey in 1987 with teacher Diane Wilson. After studying with her for several years she took Erich Schiffmann's teacher training and some workshops. She began teaching in 1991 and continue to do so." Yoga is my journey of life. I enjoy sharing what others have shared with me as well as my own insights".
For more insight, read this interview with Cass.
Cass teaches the Wed Easy Does It at 12:30 pm
Emily Trinkaus comes to teaching yoga with so much background as a teacher and facilitator that she slipped right in and we hardly noticed. It was way overdue! Emily teaches very popular workshops and series at Om Base.
Emily is a writer and astrologer with nearly a decade of experience facilitating workshops. She founded Portland Women Writers and writes for Tarot.com and other astrology websites. See virgomagic.com to learn more about her work. Emily is also a BodyTalk Certified Practioner, practicing at Om Base.
Louise Botterill is now facilitating the Free Range Yoga class on Thur at 11 am and continues her apprenticeship w/Todd. Louise has a background as a hairstylist, animal lover and yogini extra-ordinaire. She brings her enthusiasm and love of yoga to her practice every time.
"After having ridden horses for over a decade, the last three years with a sprained back, I found yoga at 19. I found Todd. I couldn’t breathe into my back and the awareness he helped bring to my body transformed me and the way I looked at life. I have practiced with Todd now for almost 8 years. His approach to yoga in an energetic way resonated with me. I watched videos of Erich Schiffmann, and his Freedom style yoga inspired me. I am currently also studying w/Erich. After 5 years I started to practice my own yoga more and more. & explore what yoga really meant to me. Tuning in and listening and then having the courage to follow the guidance that is given in my yoga and in my life"...
Louise Lorente is a retired school teacher. With over 15 years of yoga and
meditation practice she has been able to live well with a debilitating
disease. Louise acknowledges and honors her main teachers, Todd Williamson
and Erich Schiffmann, who taught her to trust herself and who inspired her
to bring their wisdom and knowledge to the yoga she teaches. Her goal is to
share her understanding of yoga and meditation with other mature adults who
may have physical and emotional challenges and who want to experience the
healing benefits of yoga in a safe, supportive, and gentle class. Her
classes focus on learning to work with and listen to the body and on
developing a balanced practice, internal strength and wisdom. For several
years, Louise has been teaching yoga to Alzheimer's patients, stroke victims
and seniors with age related issues. In December 2007 she completed a
yoga/meditation, teacher training course with Erich Schiffmann and has been
mentored over the last ten years by Todd Williamson. She was recently
featured in an article in the Jewish Review.
For more insight, read this interview with Louise.
Louise teaches the Easy Does It class on Mon & Fri at 12:30 pm and she offers private sessions.
Todd Williamson is co-owner of Om Base along with his wife Vittoria. Todd teaches Body Learning
Integration System Yoga. BLIS Yoga is a blend of Laya (energy), Hatha
(physical), Nada (sound), Bhakti (devotional) and Jnana (knowledge) Yoga.
Unlike many forms of yoga taught today, the focus is on learning to work
with your body and to listen to your body. Uncovering and tuning into that
innate balance that is your essence, your wholeness.
The yoga path took Todd from Hawaii to Encinitas CA, then to Los Angeles and now to Portland, Oregon. His background as a runner inspired him to start his yoga practice with Ashtanga yoga. Over the years and much more yoga, especially with Erich Schiffmann, his style and his own pratice has shifted into an 'energetic' type of yoga, which includes visualization, meditation, energy medicine and yoga asanas.
Todd also offers readings and healings, and teaches energy medicine in a class format. To read more about his story, visit blisyoga.org.
And here's an interview with Todd.
Todd teaches Blisyoga several days a week, as well as the Yin Yoga class on Wed at 7:15 pm. He also offers a Yoga Immersion several times a year, The Yin series and the Blisyoga series, as well as offers intuitive readings and healings on a private basis. To read more about that, go here
Vittoria Palazzi is a Licensed Massage Therapist, a yoga instructor, and Reiki II practitioner. She has had a passion for yoga for almost 20 years now, and continues to enjoy
learning about a variety of modalities, appreciates the amazing power of yoga and feels she is just at the beginning of her path.
Her focus is working with women at any stage in their lives, and after 12 years of working with women in the pregnancy and postpartum stage, she's handed over (fall 2010) that part of her life to Adriana, who is teaching Prenatal Yoga, Yoga for Moms, and more at Om Base. Vittoria continues her yoga teaching part time, focusing on the needs of the studio as a whole.
Vittoria thrives on her on-going studies which have included yoga classes & Teacher Training with some of the most of the prominent teachers in the LA area as well as her Massage Training Program at East West College of the Healing Arts. Her studies over the years have include Spiritual healing courses, Reiki I & II, Gemstone Therapy; pregnancy massage training with Carole Osborne-Sheet, Craniosacral Therapy for adults and infants, Postpartum Doula training, and certification as a Infant Massage instructor.
She is now co-owner of Om Base along with her husband Todd and is honored to share the space with the community. For more information about Vittoria please see her site birthwisdom.org. For more insight, read this interview with Vittoria.
Vittoria teaches the Deep Stretch class on Mon, and Sun and starting in April 11 on Thur at 7:30 pm. She has a private practice as a massage therapist and Reiki practitioner at Om Base. You can go here and here to read more about that.