Kara has been a dedicated yogi since 1998 when she took her first class at an NYC fitness club across the street from her first post-college job. Living in Chicago since 2005, she's enjoyed yoga all throughout the city. She completed her Yoga Alliance 200 Hour Teacher Training in March 2024. When not in Chicago, she's climbing mountains in Alaska.
Danny turned to yoga in 1991 to help settle his mind after serving in the Gulf War. Healing happened and his yoga practice stopped. He rekindled his affair with yoga in 1995 looking for a new physical challenge. The affair turned to love as he felt his physical practice turn into a spiritual awakening. This awakening has kept him connected to the mat ever since.
Maria has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. She discovered yoga at a physically & mentally stressful time in her life and the effects on her health & wellness were so profound that she made it her vocation to teach. Maria infuses her classes with passion, creativity, and a spirit of playfulness and she sees every moment as an opportunity—to embrace life, to care for others, and to love without judgment. When not teaching yoga, you can find her at concerts, cooking for friends & family, and driving her vintage 1971 Buick Riviera around Southwest Mighigan.
Wellness has always been one of Sam's passions. At the University of Iowa, she fell in love with taking yoga classes and a few years later became a yoga instructor. Appreciating the community that group fitness brings, Sam has expanded her horizons unto all types of fitness and got her NASM-CPT coaching strength as well. Outside the gym, Sam hangs with her lifelong friends, loves to read, and is obsessed with her dog.
Allie is a 500RYT, E-RYT, and part-time landscape architect whose passion for movement and people led her to a career teaching yoga. A practitioner since 2006, and a teacher since 2010, Allie has trained with Jason Crandell in San Francisco, CA. Allie uses intuitive, intelligent, and functional sequencing to create fun, accessible yoga classes for every body. She loves to teach anatomy, strength, as well as deep relaxation with an emphasis on self-care. In Allie’s classes, you can expect to take a lighthearted and unpretentious approach to a mindful practice.
Marlen started her yoga journey in 2014 with a vinyasa practice back in her home country of Mexico. After a couple years in Belgium where she studied Ashtanga, Marlen moved to Chicago in 2018 and went back to her roots, reuniting digitally with her first yoga teachers and rediscovering her love for Vinyasa. She began Teacher Training in 2021 and earned her YTT 500 in 2022 from Sadhak Yoga Institute. Now, she is happy to be part of Yodega to share her love for Asana, and take you through fun and dynamic sequences.
Claire has been teaching Vinyasa & Yin styles of yoga as well as Yoga Nidra & mindfulness based meditation. Her goal is to hold a safe space for you to find your presence and your breath. Claire is an empathetic teacher and her classes are thoughtful and intentional in each movement. Join her in class to relieve stress, find lightness, and cultivate calm, steady energy.
Anna has been practicing yoga since 2011. She earned her 200 RYT (2021), Level 1 Restorative (2022), and continues to expand her movement knowledge in her own multi-discipline practice and working as a movement specialist. Expect a mixture of intentional holds and traditional flow, increasing your body awareness, leaning into the subtleties of postures through strength work, and some good rest.
For Philip, yoga is a well rounded approach to life that encourages self-discovery & expression. All of his life, Philip has been a mover & shaker. As a former professional dancer & teacher, he often incorporated yoga to more deeply understand the body, center the mind. Philip’s greatest joy as a teacher is witnessing others discover their inner light and experience profound fulfillment. Philip's classes foster strength, flexibility, balance; cultivating a present awareness and striving towards inner acceptance & peace while letting go & laughing a little.
Olivia is a certified 200-hour trauma-informed Yoga Instructor. She's been practicing for 6 years and believes in the power of natural healing approaches for the body & mind. Olivia wants you to feel safe to explore and be present with whatever arises for you in her class. She cultivates a judgment-free zone, a space to be yourself and move your body. Outside of yoga, Olivia loves hiking, cooking plant-based recipes, dancing, and a good night out with some friends and fam.
Shan uses yoga to relieve chronic pain, increase self-confidence & process life stressors. As a social worker, she encourages connecting with inner wisdom and practice regulating the nervous systems. Shan completed their 200 hour YTT training in 2021 and is passionate about simplicity, accessibility, trauma-informed language, breathwork, gentle flow vinyasa, chair, Yin restorative practices & using the eight limbs of yoga in daily life. When feeling unmoored, she finds purpose in cuddling her dog, taking naps, teaching at Cook County Jail with Prison Yoga Chicago & writing poetry.
Rachel found yoga as a high schooler in search of spirituality. As a dancer, yoga made sense in her body. In 2016, Rachel completed her Hatha-Vinyasa 200-hour RYT Yoga Teacher Training in Rishikesh, India, & in 2021, completed her 300-hour RYT. Her training & teaching honors the origins of yoga while also focusing on the current community of practitioners, & how to apply an inclusive, trauma-informed approach to foster a safe, healing yoga space for everyBODY. Also certified in Barre & Prenatal/Postpartum Yoga, she aspires to teach dynamic yoga classes that include Pranayama, Mantra, Asana & Meditation.
If you had approached me 12 years ago and mentioned teaching yoga, I might have chuckled in disbelief. My venture into the realm of healing movement commenced in 2009, guided initially by NIA and yoga. In 2018, I completed my 200-hour Sivananda TTC. My goal is to always keep yoga accessible to all body types. I do this by combining creati
If you had approached me 12 years ago and mentioned teaching yoga, I might have chuckled in disbelief. My venture into the realm of healing movement commenced in 2009, guided initially by NIA and yoga. In 2018, I completed my 200-hour Sivananda TTC. My goal is to always keep yoga accessible to all body types. I do this by combining creative sequencing with a playful spirit. My ultimate aim is to nourish the body, mind & soul of my students, leaving them feeling refreshed, balanced & deeply connected.
Ray has always woven yoga practices and philosophies into her life, art making and art teaching. She was certified in 2013 at Focus OM in Brookfield, under Judi Harvin & Daren Freisen of Moksha and then certified in Reiki 1 from Sat Nam in 2017, Yoga for Trauma and Justice in 2021 and Core Power in 2023. Ray believes yoga is a tool to hel
Ray has always woven yoga practices and philosophies into her life, art making and art teaching. She was certified in 2013 at Focus OM in Brookfield, under Judi Harvin & Daren Freisen of Moksha and then certified in Reiki 1 from Sat Nam in 2017, Yoga for Trauma and Justice in 2021 and Core Power in 2023. Ray believes yoga is a tool to help with anxieties, depression, stress and body pains. It is also a means of community and communication with your own body and mind. Using the lunar cycles for grounding and guidance are crucial to Ray’s teachings and personal life. She also incorporates tantric philosophies, restorative asanas and some flowy, dance-like movements. Ray pulls from her studies of mental health and her own body image issues and how to cultivate inner confidence. She enjoys hosting moon circles, displaying her artwork and working with teens.
Grace has loved practicing yoga since she was 4 years old- as soon as she could put the Yoga Kids cassette into her family’s VCR. As her practice deepened, she discovered yoga was far more than a fitness regimen: it was a lifestyle grounded in love, ritual, and community - a lifestyle she wanted to be a part of. She completed her 200HR TT
Grace has loved practicing yoga since she was 4 years old- as soon as she could put the Yoga Kids cassette into her family’s VCR. As her practice deepened, she discovered yoga was far more than a fitness regimen: it was a lifestyle grounded in love, ritual, and community - a lifestyle she wanted to be a part of. She completed her 200HR TT & Group Apprentice Program at Zen Yoga Garage. Grace is determined to include equitable, accessible, and trauma-informed approaches to her yoga teaching.
Ariel has been a yoga fan since a 12 years old in a summer camp yoga class. As an adult, she discovered it's so much more than a cool way to stretch. After moving to Chicago and finishing her undergrad degree during the pandemic, Ariel found yoga to be a beautiful, spiritual lifestyle & community to find calm within the storm. She complet
Ariel has been a yoga fan since a 12 years old in a summer camp yoga class. As an adult, she discovered it's so much more than a cool way to stretch. After moving to Chicago and finishing her undergrad degree during the pandemic, Ariel found yoga to be a beautiful, spiritual lifestyle & community to find calm within the storm. She completed 200-HR YTT at Zen Yoga Garage in 2024 and now aims to bring something for you to connect to as you move through her funky sequences as well as take with you off the mat.
Johanna came to Yoga to learn how to manage Anxiety in 1999. A few years later when an instructor didn't make it to class she offered to lead. Obtaining a 200 hour certification in traditional Ashtanga Yoga in 2011 helped focus her instruction. Since then Johanna has taught and practiced a wide variety of styles from Hatha to Yin to Vi
Johanna came to Yoga to learn how to manage Anxiety in 1999. A few years later when an instructor didn't make it to class she offered to lead. Obtaining a 200 hour certification in traditional Ashtanga Yoga in 2011 helped focus her instruction. Since then Johanna has taught and practiced a wide variety of styles from Hatha to Yin to Vinyasa inspired classes. She is also a Certified Wine Consultant and enjoys going to Brunch and spending time with her Niece.
For the last 5 years Hanna has been teaching various forms of yoga- vinyasa, chair, yin, prenatal, and children's yoga- in both Ohio and Illinois. Her class is for beginners and advanced practitioner's alike. It focuses on bringing students into the present moment through breath and movement. In her spare time, Hanna enjoys running, crafting, and performing standup comedy.
Lakshmi has been a Logan Square resident for the past 5 years. She has been a Heartfulness meditation practitioner for the past 15 years and is a Heartfulness certified meditation trainer.
Born & raised in Logan Square, Maya is in the Visual Arts Conservatory at the Chicago High School for the Arts. Outside of high school, she will be helping her mom as our Studio Assistant.
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