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.
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.
Emily Light began her study and practice of yoga in 2001 after training in classical dance for 7 years. She has completed Moksha Yoga’s 200 hr. Foundational Training Program and most recently studied under Swami Tureyananda in Southern India. She has taught group classes, private and semi-private lessons since 2007.
Within her yoga instruction, Emily incorporates the eight limbs of Raja Yoga, and infuses creative movement to a wide variety of music, encouraging a dynamic exploration into one’s true nature. Complementing her guidance in the art of yoga, Emily is a practicing Holistic Nutritionist, offering full spectrum support in finding a life of balance and harmony on all levels.
She completed her undergrad in Holistic Nutrition at Clayton College of Natural Health and apprenticed with the herbalist, author and teacher, Matthew Wood. She is currently working on her Master’s degree in Holistic Nutrition. Off the mat you will find Emily dancing, crafting, pedaling and finding freedom in the flow of life.
Eugene's passion is movement, preferably outdoors, and supporting others in their activity of choice - through yoga, massage and leading outdoor trips. Eugene has been teaching yoga for twelve years, studying with Indian yoga master Aadil Palkhivala and Yoga Journal's anatomy expert Julie Gudemestad. He works as a massage therapist at Centered In Motion, and leads climbs for the largest mountaineering organization in Oregon. He and his wife Sarah are blessed with two busy teenage children. For more about Eugene, see his website yogawitheugene.com
From JP: "I’ve been studying yoga postures, breathing, chanting, and meditation since I found a Bhagavad Gita in a park at ten years old, and informally celebrating the organizing principal of the universe since before I can remember, convincing my family to convert from Judaism to Buddhism so they’d drive me to meditations when I was 9. I’ve studied many styles of yoga in-depth in the US and India, including Vinyasa, Power, Ashtanaga, Iyengar, Hatha, Kundalini, Nidra (deep relaxation) and Nada (the yoga of sound), achieving my 200-Hour Yoga Teacher Certification through Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, yoga’s birthplace in the Himalayan mountains and a Yoga Alliance International-registered course.
I attended the University of Arizona with a double major in biochemistry and nutrition and continue passionate studies of physics, biochemistry, religion, nutrition, permaculture, vedanta, bacteriology (the study of the life forms that quite literally run the Earth) and both eastern and western medicine, looking for evidence-based, practical wisdom that can be applied to everyday life. A life-long student, I’m currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Yoga Therapy with Gary Kraftsow at the American Viniyoga Institute.
I started an npo called “OmInvasion” in California, teaching yoga, ethics, and coping skills in at-risk populations, addiction recovery centers, and youth and adult correctional facilities nationwide. In Los Angeles, there was a meditation group working in prisons but as far as I know I was the only one doing anything like this with kids in detention. One of the first things that put Portland on my radar is that in this ‘little’ town there are TWO organizations doing stuff like this! Since moving to Portland, I’ve aligned with Street Yoga, working in the Multnomah Juvenile Detention Center and Teen Drug and Alcohol Recovery Unit and training Street Yoga Teachers in the use of mantra, meditation, and sound in trauma and recovery treatment. www.OmInvasion.org
I’ve recently finished my first book: “Kitchen Sink Farming - Easily and Cheaply Grow and Ferment Your Own Food for a Healthier Now and Greener Future” (look for it on Amazon.com in the summer) and have started my second work: “PURE: Be Who You Were Meant To Be with Yoga Cleansing Practices for the Body, Mind, Heart, and Soul”.
I’m also a raw food chef and caterer, fermenter (my probiotic beverage bottling company is called SOMA), and Ayurvedic nutritional counselor.
I’ve taught athletes, kids, the elderly, the incarcerated, and returning soldiers suffering from PTSD, and my classes and workshops draw from a wide variety of traditions to achieve observable and quantifiable positive results in all aspects of students' lives. Accessible to all and tailored to individual needs, strengths and weaknesses, my teaching style has been called “simultaneously irreverently fun and deeply spiritual, fostering playful curiosity, community, and self-discipline.”
In my free time, I enjoy long walks on the beach and sarcasm".
From Judy: "My life and my yoga have both evolved dramatically from the day I walked into my first class. Yoga started as part of process of healing from serious illness, but it blossomed into a something much more. Today I feel stronger and healthier, as well as more grounded, serene, and happier, than I was 30 years ago.
Finding ways to move, balance, stretch, and strengthen in yoga postures is a really a mirror for the mental and emotional benefits we receive from a regular practice. I've explored many styles of yoga, as diverse as Iyengar, Tri-yoga, and Ashtanga, and I've taught for 20 years in studios, hospitals, and corporations. I teach primarily a vinyasa style, but I love making it the right practice for the individual student, be that more gentle or more challenging.
In my other life, I am a licensed counselor, and I teach psychology, facilitate trainings, and integrate psychology and yoga in workshops. I love travel, my family, my dogs, and being back in Portland".
The heart-centered practice Julianna has built over more than a decade is the foundation for her teaching. She is inspired by the rich potential Yoga has for health and healing for individuals, families, community and the world. After years of her own dedicated Yoga practice studying a blend of traditions, Julianna began teaching vinyasa and hatha Yoga in 2002 and was inspired to pursue a career as a helping/healing professional. In completing a Master’s degree in Counseling Psychology, she dedicated her studies to finding a way to integrate the healing benefits of Yoga with Western psychology.
Since having the first of two daughters in 2007, she’s been joyfully exploring the ways in which Yoga transforms with each stage of life. Teaching prenatal, postnatal, couples, and hatha classes for everyone, she helps to create a space where one can relax, strengthen and connect with the heart of their own practice in a safe and nurturing environment.
Julianna believes that Yoga is an invaluable practice; far more than a physical workout, it is both a window into our relationship with the world and an opportunity to develop clarity, compassion, balance, vitality and strength. It is her hope that through Yoga she can help others cultivate a true awareness, acceptance and authentic change.
For more information about Julianna and her work as a counselor and Yoga teacher, please visit www.juliannavermeys.com or contact her directly at juliannavermeys@gmail.com.
Louise Botterill now continues her apprenticeship w/Todd and is now teaching the Mon 12:30 Easy Does It. 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"...
With over 20 years of yoga and meditation practice and 28 years of teaching English Language Learners in public and private schools, Louise brings her own unique approach to the teaching of yoga. She acknowledges and honors her main teachers, Todd Williamson and Erich Schiffmann, who taught her to trust herself and who inspire her to bring their wisdom and knowledge to the yoga she teaches. Louise also brings to her practice her knowledge of several styles of yoga...Ashtanga, Bikrham, Kundalini, Iyengar, Yin and Vini.
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. Louise has been able to live well with a debilitating disease thanks to her yoga practice.
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, seniors with age related issues, people with injuries or those who simply want a gentle, slow paced class. She completed 2 teacher training sessions In December 2007 and August 2011 with Erich Schiffmann.
In his words Erich Schiffmann says, “Louise is "a natural." I call her Brave One because she has been courageous enough to follow inner guidance, even when it seems difficult.” This inner guidance is what supports her practice and influences the classes she teaches. Louise has been mentored over the last ten years by Todd Williamson and continues to follow his teachings.
She was recently featured in an article in the Jewish Review.
For more insight, read this interview with Louise.
Shaina teaches Vinyasa yoga with a strong emphasis on alignment, breath, spirituality and self-awareness. She sets a classroom environment that is nurturing and challenging, leading her students to gain both inner and outer strength. It is due to her extensive training in yoga, bodywork and healing that she is able to safely and skillfully guide people through a process of self-discovery.
After graduating from Samadhi's esteemed Yoga Teacher Training Program in 2003 Shaina served as a mentor for the program two years in a row. She has studied with countless inspirational teachers over the years in the U.S. and in India. In April of 2010, Shaina completed a 200 hour Ashtanga Yoga teacher training in Rishikesh, India with the famously loved and respected Kamal Singh.
Shaina has an eight-year history of experience and continuing education in the field of massage therapy. Her passion for bodywork highly informs her yoga teaching abilities. Shaina is not shy about her geeky love for Anatomy. With a deep understanding of the body, her classes are an education on human anatomy and how the body functions, as well as remaining rooted in yogic philosophy and spirituality.
Shaina is the founder of Yoga Behind Bars, a thriving non-profit organization that brings yoga and meditation classes to incarcerated youth and adults as well as those at risk of entering the criminal justice system. Shaina has been featured in Yoga Journal and Conscious Choice, on King 5 news, on NPR (National Public Radio) and in various local publications.
It has been through yoga that Shaina has experienced profound healing in her life. Her primary goal as a yoga teacher is to share with others the tools that have offered her immeasurable amounts of clarity, strength and peace of mind.
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. To hear his meditations, visit his blog.
And here's an interview with Todd.
Vittoria Palazzi is a Health Coach in training, a Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki II practitioner and yogini. Yoga for the past 21 years now has been helping her transform her life, and she continues to enjoy
learning about a variety of modalities, appreciates the wonderful and incredible benefits of what yoga can do for our bodies and minds.
Vittoria thrives on her on-going studies which have included yoga classes & Teacher Training with some of the most 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 (fall 2011) a student at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and is directing her focus into becoming a Health & LIfestyle Coach.
She is co-owner of Om Base along along with her husband Todd and is honored to share the space with the community and help create an envirnment that is used, lived and loved by so many.
For more insight, read this interview with Vittoria.