Alyson is back in Los Angeles after having lived and taught yoga in Amsterdam and India the past 7 years. It was in India where she met her teachers: Josta Van Dam and Patrick Vermeulen of Svaha Yoga Amsterdam. Her experiences in India along with her teachers brought her closer to the devotional part of Yoga. Known as “Bhakti”, singing the Divine names and connecting with an inner-most joy, bliss and love, which is our own true nature. Her love for travel, different cultures, yoga and music take her back to India every year where she continues to give retreats in South India. In class, Alyson brings together Bhakti Yoga combined with a dynamic flow of Asanas, vinyasa and detailed alignment. Be prepared to breathe, sweat, laugh and let it all go.

Byron de Marsewas introduced to Yoga when he was 17 and took to it right away. After practicing it for a number of years and taking his Teacher Training, hid Vinyasa classes are known to be dynamic and physically rigorous. He stresses 4 points: proper alignment, mindfulness of physical limits, deepness of breath and calmness of mind. He has worked with all levels of practitioners and offers modifications to everyone. Yoga has dramatically improved his physical wellness as well as his mental and emotional stability. This is what he wants all to experience in his class along with all the health benefits Yoga has to offer.

First off, you should know that Dan is very into yoga. He likes it quite a lot.. and even though he can’t put his foot behind his head, he’s found a nice practice of his very own. It all started when he walked into Gabriel Halpern’s Iyengar class on his first day of college. Intrigued and overwhelmed, Dan spent half the time loving it and the other half wishing he could roll up his mat and head for the hills. After graduating, Dan moved to Santa Monica Californina with his then girlfriend, now wife, Lesley. It wasn’t but a few weeks into residing oceanside that Dan discovered Bryan Kest’s poweryoga class. It was what he likes to call a lifequake. Bryan’s intense style of vinyasa yoga freaking blew his mind. Somewhere in there, an idea sprouted: maybe he could spread his love for yoga through teaching. Dan hooked up with a long haired Hawaiian maniac named Tamal Dodge and received his teaching certification from the Tamal Yoga School not too long ago. His classes are nurturing, challenging, fast moving, and hopefully, a little fun. www.danwardyoga.com

Born and raised in Portland, Oregon has spent the last two years in the Bay Area where she established a career as a Power Vinyasa Yoga Instructor and a professional, freelance, contemporary dancer. Dance has been a passion and guiding force through out her life. After receiving a BA in Dance from UofO she completed her 200 Power Yoga certification with CorePower in Portland. Her career in yoga instruction started in 2012 with CorePower in Berkeley, and various other studios in the bay area, as a means of grounding and physical maintenance for dance. Since then, it’s become her main focus and the sole source of physical and mental ease and serenity.

Along with teaching, she was an official mentor for teacher trainees. Having recently moved to Santa Monica, February 2014, Emily is excited about its vibrant and welcoming yoga community. She loves teaching yoga because she gets to inspire people to feel better on a daily basis by gaining a deeper understanding of themselves on a physical and mental level. Guiding others to higher ground motivates Emily to always be her true, best self and for this she is extremely grateful.

Kim has been practicing yoga for over 12 years. She initially started doing yoga because of a running injury and never looked back. After spending 4 months living at Kripula in Lenox Ma completing the Spiritual Lifestyle Program in 2001, she completed her first 200-hour certification with long time Iyengar teacher Kim Valeri and has been teaching ever since.

While living on the East Coast, she fell in love with the flowing pace at Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga, where she earned another 200 hour certification. Always looking for a challenge and coupled with her pure passion for yoga, Kim completed a 2-year Yoga Therapy program at LMU in 2007 which is classified a 500-hour certification with the Yoga Alliance. Kim’s classes combined her love and appreciation for alignment with her deep gratitude of flowing, breathing, and being that the essence of yoga.

Lauren Eckstrom is a yoga teacher based in Santa Monica, California. During her time as an executive in the fashion industry, Lauren felt the constant drain of helping clients superficially solve their problems through fashion. Through her yoga practice she realized she could have a lasting impact on clients by guiding them to reconnect with themselves through the mind-body practice of yoga. Inspired to help create a more loving and grounded world, Lauren took the advice of her supportive teachers and began teaching full time, transforming her career to a life of health and wellness.

Leslie has been exploring movement her entire life. From ballet to boxing, her exploration brought her to yoga 17 years ago. Over that time, she has practiced many different yoga styles and has traveled to India to study with the masters of Ashtanga and Iyengar, Pattabi Jois and BKS Iyengar. She found the practice so transformative that she became a walking billboard for yoga, which inspired her to become a teacher. She did her teacher training at Yoga Works in 2001 and assisted that training in 2003. She has studied and practiced therapeutic yoga for years and has witnessed its healing transformation in her own body and life as well as in her students. In 2009, she completed a two-year certification program in Yoga Therapy through Loyola Marymount University, which deepened her understanding of the body’s systems, what occurs in dis-ease and how yoga can be used safely to effect a greater sense of ease and well being. And she is currently furthering her studies at LMU in the Yoga Philosophy program. Her belief that yoga is a healing art led her to teach a National Institutes of Health funded medical study through UCLA on the benefits of yoga for seniors with hyper kyphosis , a pilot study through the biokinesiology department at USC on the benefits of yoga for people with Parkinson’s Disease , and will be leading another NIH-funded study in conjunction with both UCLA and USC entitled YESS, Yoga Empowers Seniors Study, beginning in January of 2010 at TruYoga. Leslie believes the practice of yoga starts with the breath. By connecting to the breath, you connect to your self. By expanding and freeing the breath, you expand movement and create freedom in the body, in your self and in your life. She infuses her teaching with her joy of life and irreverent sense of humor as she guides students along their personal journey, meeting them wherever they are.

Molly grew up on the East Coast with a background in gymnastics and dance. Looking for a new experience, she moved to Southern California and discovered yoga while on a quest for alternative healing. Molly believes yoga is more than a mere workout – it is a way of life; a path that transcends the physical into the spiritual.

Molly’s yogic journey took her to India where she completed 300 hours of training with Swami Santhiprasad. There she learned the ancient theories behind Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga Yoga, and Kundalini Yoga, but most importantly, how to live a meditative, yogic lifestyle. Her goal is to carry the torch, exemplifying this way of life through her practice each and every day.

I teach a Vinyasa Flow yoga style with emphasis on alignment and breath, with variations for students at all levels. I got my 200 hr. certification at YogaWorks, under senior trainers David Kim and Jesse Schein. Internationally known teacher, Sara Ivanhoe, has also mentored me for the past 4 years. Prior to teaching yoga, I was an ACE certified personal trainer and have been a working fitness model for the past 6 years.

Born and raised in England, Steve started travelling at an early age, arriving in Los Angeles over fifteen years ago. His journey into Yoga began with an extended stay at a Buddhist Temple in northern Thailand studying Vipassana meditation. After returning to Los Angeles Steve stumbled upon Bryan Kest Power Yoga and my journey continued from there. Wanting to deepen his practice, Steve decided to go to India where he spent almost a year studying the many layers of yoga before heading back to Thailand to begin teaching.

His classes are intended to be strong, challenging, calm and gentle all at the same time. Focusing on alignment and connecting with our breath to help us find that meditation in motion.