It was in Belgrade, Serbia, Gordanas home country, where she took her first yoga class. It was 1996 when she went to a dance studio to take yoga class wondering what yoga was. The book inspired her to search for the meaning of the word yoga and, her curiosity led to a three-year journey of Hatha Yoga. After this sequence of her life, she lost practice and for many years she had no thoughts of yoga. One day the circumstances of her life led her to move to the US. Desire for yoga was awakening again and, Moksha Yoga Center became her home. She practiced with different teachers there and, one of them, Jim Bennitt inspired her to continue deeper exploration of yoga through Teacher Training. In 2010, she completed Teacher Training program under the guidance of Daren Friesen. After taking workshops with master teachers like Tias Little, Aadil Palkivala, Rod Stryker, she was led to Ashtanga practice Mysore style one morning. In the silence of self-practice and Todds patient guidance, Gordana found her true practice. Daily practice was teaching her how to synchronize mind and body, overcome habits, relax within discipline, learn how to be open and fearless and find sacredness in everyday life. She discovered something that was always available, inexhaustible and impossible to posses.
In 2011 meeting Richard Freeman and reading his book The Morror of Yoga was the reaffirming moment when she decided to work towards teaching Ashtanga practice.
Gordana has been teaching since 2010 and, she feels she is just beginning. She has practiced Ashtanga for three years and, in 2013 she traveled to Thailand, India and Nepal drawn to search for the roots of yoga, meditation and Buddhism. She spent 7 weeks practicing with R. Sharath Jois in Mysore India, which helped her to reach a deeper integration of the practice. In Nepal she studied Tibetan Buddhist Meditation and Buddhist philosophy.
Gordana continues her daily practice with Todd Boman who teaches her courage, dedication, discipline and trust every day with his own example. As a teacher she aspires to inspire and guide students to go deeper within and search for more balance and depth in both yoga and life. She is interested in reaching harmony in body and enabling energy to flow freely through all channels, joints, muscles and organs. She is interested in reaching levels of oneself that otherwise one could never reach and feel who/what we are instead of who/what we think we should be. With practice, Gordana challenges both herself and her students to rethink what asana is about and potentially work on marrying asana and meditation to reach a deeper practice where it could be possible to meet stillness in movement and experience flow in stillness.
Agni Yoga is a dedicated hot yoga studio located within Sky Fitness in Buffalo Grove, IL. A wide range of classes suitable for all levels and abilities.
Description
Agni (Sanskrit: अग्नि) is a Hindu deity, one of the most important of the Vedic gods. He is the god of fire. Practicing yoga in a hot studio helps you to stretch, improve your cardio, strength,flexibility and detox.
Agni Hot Yoga Studio is a beautiful gem inside of Sky Fitness center. We offer: warm vinyasa flow, hot power hour, deep release class and our signature Agni Series. Fabulous teachers, pure, clean heat and a yoga experience you will love. Meet us on the mat.!!!
Alexia was 5 years old when she found a yoga book in her grandfather’s library. She loved playing around with the postures she saw in the photos. She would walk around the house on her knees in lotus posture while her dad scolded, “you’re gonna get hurt.” She never saw the book again but the inspiration remained in the back of her mind. Seventeen years later Alexia realized that she couldn’t deny her hunger to learn the practice of yoga: she left Guatemala, her home country, and moved to Chicago to start her teacher training.
Alexia’s teacher and greatest influence is Kino Macgregor, one of the few certified Ashtanga teachers in the country. Kino’s inspiration helped Alexia discover that her heart is in the Ashtanga yoga practice. Alexia practices everyday under the guidance of Todd Boman, who supports her practice and teaches her faith and dedication with his own shining example. She has apprenticed with Todd for the past four years in the mysore classes and continues to assist him.
Alexia has found a daily practice to be profoundly transformative, calming, and awakening to self-knowledge. It is these benefits that have given her tremendous faith in yoga and passion for the practice. As a teacher, Alexia inspires students to persevere, with enthusiasm, and discover what gifts their practice holds for them.
Alie has studied yoga and meditation for almost 20 years and has been teaching for more than 13. Alie’s passion for yoga has led her to Bali, Thailand, Hong Kong, Jamaica, Greece, and across the United States studying with the world’s foremost teachers and eccentrics.
Allison English found yoga as a teenager while recovering from serious sports injuries – she stayed with it through a dizzying array of life’s experiences, transitions, and traumas. As her Spirit Path would have it, she was exposed to Forrest Yoga first and fell in love with this methodology of practicing, teaching and healing – that was over 15 years ago and she hasn’t looked back! Allison is trained in anthropology and romance linguistics, along with chemistry and mathematics, but she began teaching yoga 10 years ago at the gentle nudge of her first teacher who saw a spark in her for guiding and inspiring others. She found her life’s passion in becoming a healer through the practices of Forrest Yoga, and has since studied many forms of yoga, hands on healing, anatomy, and energy medicine. Allison is a certified Forrest Yoga Teacher and travels the world as one of Ana Forrest’s assistant teachers and business consultants, leading her own retreats, conference sessions, teacher training, and workshops along the way. In her classes you will find a clear focus on setting personal healing intents, strengthening connections to your core, deepening the flow of your breath consciously, and playing with the power of practice to transform you. She is a healer who draws on energy work, ceremony, expert hands on assists, humor, and clear sequencing to help her students embody Spirit. Every practice with Allison is unique and tailored to all levels of students.
Born and raised in Flint, MI Amber is a world traveler, animal and music lover. She has overcome serious physical injuries, including fractured vertebrate, through her yoga practice. Amber has also experienced peace of mind from anxiety and PTSD through the practice.
Amber’s class focuses on the subtle aspects of the practice by incorporating meditation, alignment, breath, and mindfulness in a vigorous class. She uses intention as direction with an emphasis on cultivating the student’s awareness of what they personally need from their practice. Through practice, Amber believes passionately that yoga reveals one’s true nature and purpose for being (dharma). With this awareness, the student opens up to experiencing the world in a more honest and joyful way.
Angie shares the gifts of yoga through creative, challenging and accessible vinyasa flow. Her teaching style is heavily influenced by her primary teachers Alyson D’Souza, Daren Friesen, Sara Strother and Danielle Dickinson.
As a very fortunate 15 year old, Angie was required to take a yoga course to fulfill a physical education requirement – little did she know that this requirement would quickly become a lifelong practice that cultivated fitness for her in body, mind and spirit.
Ten years later, in early 2012, Angie had an epiphany: she held the key to her own happiness and yoga was that key. She felt the call to teach others how to unlock happiness through their own yoga practice. She completed her 200hr teacher training with Daren Friesen at Moksha Yoga Center and continues to study at Moksha. She has been honored to study with master teachers Sadie Nardini, Kathryn Budig, Jason Crandell, Tias Little, Aadil Palkhivala and Seane Corn.
Through intelligent sequencing, each of Angie’s classes aims to honor a specific intention – like opening the heart or opening the hamstrings. Angie’s classes focus on utilizing the physical tools we are given by yoga asana – movement and breath – to unlock the mental and spiritual gifts that the yoga tradition offers. No matter the initial intention of a class, the outcome is always the same – you leave feeling stronger, lighter and happier!
Deepen your practice in a safe and exclusive environment.
Maureen’s passion for yoga and enthusiasm for life creates a class experience where students can harness their inner strength, find stillness within and become more self-aware, opening the individual to what is truly possible.
Awaken Yoga offers private, small group, and corporate classes. We welcome all levels, from beginners to more advanced yogis, who want to deepen their practice. Awaken Yoga stands apart, offering custom programs to fit clients’ capabilities and objectives and monthly progress reports to measure success and development. This type of individualized and intimate attention allows each student to grow at their own pace. Our mission is to not only help people heal and stay healthy, but to help them foster the best in themselves and achieve a new level of self-awareness, awakening them to their inner light. We would be honored to hold a space for you.
Bare Feet Power Yoga is your friendly neighborhood yoga studio. We opened in June 2012 and are located in the West Loop on Monroe and Morgan. We teach Hot Power Vinyasa Yoga classes that will take you to your edge, calm your mind and leave you inspired! All of our classes are heated to 90 degrees and we welcome all levels to any of our classes.
Betty Olson (500hr CYT) began her journey as a dancer/choreographer and it did not take her long before she was determined to find a deeper understanding in the movement.
Her path led her to Chicago from Kansas City in 2001 obtaining a MA in Dance/Movement Therapy from Columbia College Chicago. Upon graduation she found a lot of joy working in an in-patient psychiatric unit bringing movement, meditation and body awareness to the patients.
Devoting her time to understand movement Betty enrolled in Moksha’s exceptional Teacher Training program under the guidance of Daren Friesen and was certified in the fall of 2010. She continues to further her studies through workshops with Master Teachers, such as Tias Little, Ashley Turner and Leeann Carey.
Betty’s classes focus on the individual, brining awareness to the mind-body connection. Through vinyasa, breath-syncronized movement, she supports the student’s individuality and helps facilitate growth with non-judgment.
Betty donates her time by teaching a yoga class to help sponsor the Ride for AIDS Chicago. She believes in supporting her community and does a fundraiser yearly. Betty did her first ride with RFAC in 2010 and is excited about the next ride and fundraiser in July 2012.
Blanca began her training at Moksha Yoga Center in 2003 at the young age of 18. It was her mother who first inspired her to to pursue the path of yoga and has supported her journey ever since. From that point on she has studied with master teachers Shiva Rea in Vinyasa flow, and aliginment based Iyengar from Aadil Pahkivala. Her recent study with Astanga teacher Kino Macgregor has sparked a passion for the astanga practice. She has dedicated her daily practice to this traditional form.
Blanca has a degree in dance from Columbia College Chicago and also intensively trains the Brazilian martial art capoeira. It is no surprise to experience a blend of these beautiful practices within Blanca’s creative vinyasa flow classes. Her priority as a teacher is to offer a space where her students can deepen their practice, receive a balanced practice of pranyama, asana, and meditation and leave class with an overall feeling of ease and wellbeing.