Our Ambassadors

Steve Jones

Steve Jones Yoga
www.stevejonesyoga.com

Steve Jones is a yoga teacher with over 15 years’ experience.  With a background in Vipassana meditation he emphasizes the importance of mindfulness and breath awareness to find steadiness and ease in each posture.  He teaches with a sense of humor and brings a caring and gentle approach to his classes, which can be challenging yet very rewarding.

“I would like to be an ambassador for Yoga Gives Back because I believe it is a very good cause.  It’s as simple as that.”

Dorothy Carruthers

At the age of 50, Deborah Carruthers embarked on a transformative journey by taking a teacher training course after completing a Master’s Degree in Counseling. In her words, “My dream was to open a wellness center that would include counseling, bodywork and yoga. I opened Harmony Yoga and Wellness Center 12 years ago and in that time have hosted retreats to India and teacher training which has included fundraising for local and global charities. Our value is to be inclusive and supportive of our membership and the larger community in any way that we can, which also includes India. I have been contributing to the support of sending 40 girls to school with Yoga Gives Back for a while now and I feel passionate about supporting on a larger scale.

As an Ambassador, I can encourage our community and provide fundraisers to support women in India. I know from my visits to India the hardships women face and the strength and resilience of their communities. During the pandemic, we were shuttered four times. Thanks to the power of our community of mostly women, we have survived and morphed into VI Yoga School, where we focus on offering more training and opportunities for women in our communities to lead through teaching.

“I am honoured to be join YGB’s team of global Ambassadors, and commit to generating more awareness and support for YGB and the women they serve.”

Lucas Varella

Lucas Varella is a genuinely unique movement, health and wellness practitioner. His coaching style encompasses mindful yoga practice, nutrition counseling, and Ayurveda and fitness training. He holds a Master’s degree in exercise and health promotion from Penn West and had the opportunity to study in India at Amrita University as part of his Ayurveda Wellness program from Southern California University of Health Sciences.

Additionally, Lucas has accumulated several fitness and nutrition credentials and is a licensed massage therapist. He was a key subject matter expert in the certification committee meetings for the American Council on Exercise and mentored several fitness coaches at Equinox.  What distinguishes his wellness coaching style is the well-rounded blend of academic achievements and work experience as a fitness trainer for the past 15 years and a Yoga teacher for the past 6 years. Lucas is the founder of ToLiveWell.com

“I want to support YGB by serving and contributing to an important cause, helping to provide a better life for women and children. It is my honor to serve and help out.”

Lizbeth Vázquez

Los Angeles, CA
https://www.yogicmethods.com/

Lizbeth (MA., MS., IAYT-800., E-RYT., YACEP), is a multicultural practitioner from Mexico who took her first yoga class at age 18 while living in the US and shortly thereafter she started teaching at her local studio. After finishing college she was accepted to the Graduate Yoga Studies Master’s degree program at Loyola Marymount University where she received a Buddhist fellowship. During her studies, she taught yoga with the Los Angeles County and Federal Prison population, as well as foster care institutions, and halfway houses for women in transition.

While in graduate school, Lizbeth traveled to India to study, completing advanced yoga teacher training, and acquiring several trauma-informed yoga certifications. Her graduating thesis focused on the applications of yoga for women and

health at the Los Angeles South Central Family Health Center. Captivated by medical yoga she finished a Masters in Yoga Therapy Degree from the Maryland University of Integrative Health in 2021.

Lizbeth’s work has taken her to open her home studio in Los Angeles, back to India to work, and a plethora of collaborations in Mexico and alongside experts in the US.

“As a woman who continues to pursue higher education, as well as an individual who continues to support women around the world through yoga and sound healing, I am honored to be part of the YGB community. For a long time and without knowing, I have stood by the ethos of the Yoga Gives Back Foundation, for all the aforementioned, and for working selflessly for many years giving back to targeted communities in need of yoga.”

Marico Iwai

Nara, Japan

https://www.facebook.com/marico.iwai

https://instagram.com/kirtan.circles

While studying yoga asana, Mariko was introduced to and began practicing kirtan.  This led her to the study of Sanskrit, which she continues to study along with the yogic scriptures and Veda.  Immersing herself in the study of yoga, kirtan and the scriptures has greatly enhanced her life.  Mariko offers kirtan events in the Nara Prefecture so that more people can learn about kirtan.  She is happy to collaborate with YGB to share kirtan while supporting YGB’s beneficiary communities in India.

Karina O’Connor

New York City
yogaalliance.org

Karina discovered her love for yoga at a very young age while growing up in Mexico City, thanks to her beloved first yoga teacher, her mom. She firmly believes that having this auspicious start in life shaped her into who she is today. Karina completed a 200-Hr TT at Yoga Heaven with Betsy Kase, 500-Hr Ashtanga TT at Pure Yoga, a 200-Hr Ashtanga Intensive TT with Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor, a 100-Hr Mindfulness Meditation TT through Tibet House NY, and numerous seminars and workshops in Philosophy, Buddhism and Meditation with wonderful teachers and mentors like Robert Thurman, Richard Freeman, Sharon Salzberg, Ram Dass and Miles Neale, who have helped her deepen her knowledge of the practice as a holistic way of life and as practical tool to elevate her humanity for the service of others. In her classes she invites students to find a deeper connection with the breath and to always listen to their own bodies; she strives to make them feel seen, welcomed, and respected. Always a student, her motto is “the real yoga begins once we step off the mat and into the real world.”

“Every day, with every action, YGB embodies the true nature of the human spirit… to Love and Serve all. It’s an honor to be part of this incredible community whose impact on the world, like a butterfly, has a ripple effect on all of us.”

Larissa R. Noto

Pennsylvania
Owner and Founder of  The Lovely Little Lotus
Co-founder of Kids Yoga Storytime For a Cause,

Larissa (PYT, YACEP, PYI Yoga Therapist Candidate), has been practicing yoga,and meditation for 24 years, and teaching yoga, meditation and mindfulness for the past 8 years. She took her first class in 1998, while fulfilling a gym requirement in college. Then she became hooked — not just by the physical practice, but also with the way yoga helped her body, mind and soul feel both on and off the mat.

She is a former secondary school teacher and lawyer, turned 800+ hour Yoga Alliance Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500, YACEP), 95 hour Registered Children’s Yoga Teacher (RCYT) and 85 hour Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT) with Childlight Education Company. Larissa is two practicums away from completing her I-AYT certification from Prema Yoga Institute. Larissa has taught and trained all over the world in various yoga modalities, with a specialty in trauma informed movement that is accessible to all ages and abilities.

“Much of my work revolves around giving back to the varied and diverse communities I support. Many of those communities cannot access or afford classes in traditional yoga spaces, for a variety of reasons.  Therefore my work involves bringing yoga to those who could use it most, in a trauma-informed and accessible way. This is at the heart of my work, and it aligns so beautifully with the work that Yoga Gives Back puts into the world as well. I look forward to contributing further to that mission in my role as ambassador with YGB and to give back to those communities worldwide who could benefit from YGB the most.”

Joseph Armstrong

Miami Life Center

Joseph is an authorized level two teacher of Ashtanga yoga. He discovered yoga in 2008 and has been visiting India regularly since 2009. Currently he is the director of Miami Life Center, where he also teaches daily mysore style practice.

“I support YGB as a way of honoring the traditions of yoga and the beautiful country they originated in. I’m grateful for the opportunity to participate in this program which helps women in such meaningful and transformative ways.”

Edgar Navarro

Miami Life Center
Director

Edgar Navarro, Director of Miami Life Center has studied under esteemed teachers such as Sharath Jois, Kino MacGregor, Tim Feldmann, Eddy Stern, David Swenson, and numerous others. In 2019, he completed the rigorous 200 Hr Ashtanga Intensive at MLC, further enhancing his knowledge of Yoga and has successfully completed Trainings on adjustments with David Swenson and a Pranayama Training with Eddy Stern and Robert Mosses.  Edgar’s passion lies in restorative practices and meditations, which he diligently cultivates at the Shala. He also imparts his wisdom through teaching Pranayama at MLC. Edgar Navarro continues to inspire and guide students on their transformative yoga journey at Miami Life Center.

“This beautiful practice has given us so much and I love the work that YGB does to show that the teachings of Yoga can be used to change lives and support the future of India’s youth and mothers”

Salma Othman

Founder
https://www.ohmilluminated.com/

Salma Othman is an interdisciplinary worker of integrated somatic trauma-release therapeutics, yoga, energetics, and bodywork. A benevolent investigator with a Jungian curiosity, Salma’s personal journey has been and will continue to be a dance within dualities. By learning from the teachings of esoteric Taoist and Buddhist practices, Shamanism, Bodywork, Reiki, Psychomagick, Tarot, and teachings of the Munay Ki,the PsychoSomatic understanding is a baseline thread throughout her work and practices; allowing an integrated trauma-informed approach to healing the mind, body, and Spirit.

“Supporting Yoga Gives Back mirrors being a voice that echoes the call for equality and support needed for women and children around the world; a call that deeply drives Salma’s work in personal and professional fields. Thank you YGB for creating an avenue from which we can do the mending work”

Davin Jones

Davin is a senior 500 E-RYT teacher. Over the past 10 years of teaching yoga Dav has accumulated 8,000 teaching hours and has taught in over 10 countries worldwide. His teachings are from the traditions of Hatha, Ashtanga and Iyengar Yoga. Davin combines these styles to create classes which can be challenging on occasion, with the awareness to adapt the practice to different levels of practitioners.

With a deep love of functional anatomy, Davin guides classes with clear instruction on how to adapt postures to the individual allowing the practitioner to create a fundamental understanding of their ownphysical body through yoga asana. His classes are known to be vinyasa based with dynamic flows through the postures and longer holds to create depth and deeper understanding of one’s own individual yoga experience.

Having led workshops, retreats and teacher training courses worldwide, Davin continues to share his love and teaching of yoga to guide practitioners of all levels. His hope is to see practitioners receive the same benefits from yoga that he has received, with the help to provide insight into the more deeper philosophical teachings and practice of the yogic lifestyle.

“Supporting Yoga Gives Back is a charity that strongly resonates with my own values in how I wish for women and children to be treated. Equality, and freedom of autonomy are prerequisites that are required to live a life of contentment. YGB is an avenue I see which supports these values and is actively aiming to make this a reality for both women and children in India and worldwide. Thank you YGB for creating an avenue to where this is possible.”

Brieanne K. Tanner

Trauma informed E-RYT 200, B.A. Psychology,

Brieanne infuses her knowledge of trauma informed best practices, psychology and spirituality into her teachings. A Bhakta and Ashtangi yogi, she has been practicing yoga for sixteen years and teaching for thirteen. Prior to moving to Michigan in 2012, she worked for Yoga Alliance in Arlington, Virginia. She was a devoted student and teacher at Hamsa Yoga-a Vedanta Bhakti Yoga Shala in Lake Orion prior to the pandemic.

Brieanne has a passion for helping those most affected by trauma and sharing the intrinsic benefits of yoga. At the end of 2022, Brieanne made her first pilgrimage to India and felt the healing powers of the motherland of yoga. Brieanne has a B.A in Psychology from George Mason University, and a Master’s Certificate in Human Resources Management from Marymount University. However, recently she changed her focus to Social Work; she is enrolled at Madonna University’s Social Work Program. Brieanne is passionate about helping others heal through the modalities she has learned in this lifetime.

“Without the ancient practice of yoga, I wouldn’t be who I am today. Yoga has changed my life immensely and been a lifeline for me for the past 16 years. In a country that has contributed to my spiritual growth, it was hard for me to forget about those suffering. In a country that has contributed to my spiritual growth, it was hard for me to come home and forget about those suffering. Recently I visited India and saw the suffering amongst the women and children. I felt compassion and since my trip, I found Yoga Gives Back and finally found a way where I can help women and children build sustainable livelihoods.”

Julia Gräßer

Copenhagan, Denmark
www.warriorprincessyoga.com

Julia’s (E-RYT500, YACEP) yoga journey started late in life after moving from Germany to Denmark and suffering mental challenges during the dark, grey winters in her new home. Yoga quickly became more than a physical practice to her, and today she embraces all 8 limbs (ashtanga yoga) in her life. She aims to live yoga on and off the mat and hopes to inspire and educate others to do the same. Julia, who founded Warrior Princess Yoga, teaches a variety of classes including private therapeutic classes and Office Yoga, a chair-based class she developed during the lockdown. She further shares what she learned open-heartedly in her international teacher training courses with the next generation of teachers.

“I always saw my teachings as something that can change the world. To empower people near and far. YGB gives me the opportunity to touch even more souls and empower women and children beyond my classes. I am honored to be their ambassador and I hope I can inspire more yoga teachers and students to use their gift to support others in need.”

Carolina Goldberg

Pasadena, CA
https://carolinagoldberg.com/

Carolina teaches classes to share the healing art of finding balance, health, vitality and spiritual awakening and deepening. Carolina has been a yogi and yoga teacher since she fell in love with the practice 1997. She has taught over a decade of yoga teachers trainings for Yoga Works, and took her first Teachers Training with Maty Ezrati and Lisa Walford in 1999. Carolina has always been a seeker of the mystical and spiritual, she has had many such experiences since childhood and now a spiritual intuit and yoga teacher. She is a certified QHHT hypnotherapist and has her practice in her Yoga Shala in Pasadena.

“I am honored to give back to the children of the world. Whatever I can do in service would be my very pleasure. I believe that being able to give and raise funds that can help the children of YGB is ONLY my purest joy. I know that giving is actually receiving, and if I can help even one human soul on this planet then I am the lucky one. I am just so very grateful to be part of this community that is established and that reaches the beautiful children in India.”

Junko Hisamura

Nagano, Japan
https://www.yoga-flow-yatsugatake.com/

After graduating from college in Japan, she moved to Australia to become a media coordinator, where she fell in love with nature and surfing. Junko returned to Tokyo and had a busy life working for a corporation when she started Ashtanga Yoga which changed her life. She studied under Kaori Ywarku and Ken Harakuma and began teaching classes.

After the big earthquake and nuclear disaster on March 11, her family moved to Nagano, seeking a truly rich life.

Junko has been teaching yoga in various locations under Yatsugatake Mountains and started writing for web media “Hachiomtto.”

“I believe in the spiritual goal of yoga. Yoga Gives Back offers a platform to practice ‘by giving, we receive.’ I feel this happiness already in my life.”

Kyoko Tsuchimoto

Kobe, Japan

After completing Masters Degree and studying in France, Kyoko became a translator. It was during this time she started yoga to heal body and mind. Kyoko received E-RYT500 and has continued to teach at yoga studios, hospital and teacher trainings courses as YACEP (Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider) over a decade. Her aspiration as a yoga student is to share yoga as a tool to live a happy and healthy life every day, through our practice.

“I learned about YGB from a former YGB Board member. I also learned that the founder is a Japanese woman with a brilliant vision who continues working on it. I was very inspired and felt proud as a Japanese woman. I started an online yoga platform BhagaYoga with colleagues and continue to donate the entire profit to YGB.  I want to help share YGB’s wonderful work more widely in Japan.⁠”

Darren Marc Levene

California
www.awakenwithdarren.com

Darren Marc Levene is a reiki master teacher, sound healer, mantra musician, wellness expert, and retreat/workshop leader. For over 20 years, he has inspired thousands of people to find inner peace, and live healthier, happier lives.

“I am grateful for the opportunity to support Yoga Gives Back and the wonderful work they are doing to help empower women and children in India.  It is an honor to be able to contribute to a cause that is touching the hearts of so many people in a beautiful, loving way.”

Chie Omori

Chie Omori, Tokyo

大森千恵　（Chie Omori）
https://www.kotori-lab.com/

Chie has realized how yoga and mindfulness practice can bring body-mind balance while working for Japanese Home Appliance Company, Start Up, Global Corporations. Chie has certifications including: RYT-200. Chair Yoga Instructor, Medical Yoga Instructor, Medical Aroma Instructor, Atha Yoga Student Teacher Training, International Singing Bowl Player.

Chie support the mission of Yoga Gives Back and started Bhaga Yoga online yoga classes to donate 100% profit for YGB. Chie also teaches yoga classes in Tokyo, Karuizawa as well as wellness programs and retreat for corporations.

“I am grateful to have this opportunity to give back with Yoga Gives Back, as I have received so much from yoga in my life. My goal is to empower women and children in India, while sharing the benefit of yoga to live one’s life to the fullest in Japan and around the world. I would love to share the wonderful work of Yoga Gives Back with more people.”

Cristi Christensen

Los Angeles, California
https://www.cristichristensen.com/

With her best-selling book Chakra Rituals: Awakening the Wild Woman Within, and two decades of experience in helping students transform their lives, she has become a leading voice for women’s awakening and liberation.  Her powerful teachings have brought her to more than 20 countries around the world. She has created an international 500-hour school of yoga called Kirana and is the co-founder of Deep Exhale, a transformational yoga and dance experience with her creative partner Marques Wyatt.

Cristi has graced the covers of Yoga Journal, La Yoga, Om Yoga, and Asia Wellness. She has been featured in publications such as The Los Angeles Times, Harper Bazaar, Marie Claire, Mantra Magazine, and Publishers Weekly.When she isn’t teaching, writing, or empowering others, you’ll likely find Cristi dancing and doing backflips on Venice Beach. Cristi has been fortunate enough to study with some of the world’s best — from Dr. Lorin Roche, Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, and Laura Amazzone, to Sianna Sherman, Brenda Rose, and Toni Bergins. IG: cristi_christensen

“The practices of yoga (asana, mudra, mantra, pranayama) along with the ancient map of the chakra system have been some of the greatest gifts to my life.  They have and continue to support and transform my life, my work, and who I am as a person. Supporting Yoga Gives Back is a way I can say thank you to a country, a culture that has given me so much while also making an impact in the lives of women and children in India.  I am so inspired by the fact that Yoga Gives Back was started by an empowered woman with a central goal to empower women and children via education and digital resources to make lasting changes in their lives.”

Kay Epple

Traverse City, MI
https://dharamsalatc.com/

Kay was first drawn to yoga, like many of us, through the physical practice of asana. The yoga postures themselves served as a gateway to the deeper practices of yoga, where she later noticed how the physical practice offered mental and energetic benefits as well. As a busy mother of four, yoga brought a sense of peace and calm that no other practice had done for her before. With four children and 12 grandchildren, Kay’s devotion to her yoga mat soon sparked an idea: yoga can be a practice for all ages. And that’s when her mission to offer yoga to kids and adolescents began.

In 2019, Kay opened a studio space called Just Bee Yoga + Well-being that was devoted to kids’ yoga, from babies all the way up to teens. That studio, in partnership with her daughter, Hilary, has since flourished into a full-blown yoga studio, Dharamsala TC, that offers kids yoga, adult yoga, trapeze yoga, yoga teacher trainings, and specialty workshops and events.

“I am humbled and proud to be an Ambassador for Yoga Gives Back.  This amazing organization supports women and children of India in instrumental ways such as providing a safe home and education for children, menstrual equity empowering women and girls, and providing micro loans for mothers.  I honor their mission and hard work and am thankful to be a part of Yoga Gives Back.  I look forward to serving their community and am grateful for all that yoga has brought to my life.”

Sally Parkes

Sussex, UK
sallyparkesyoga.com

Sally began her journey in the health and fitness industry in 1998 after qualifying as a personal trainer and gaining a bachelor in Sport Science in the year 2001. Soon after, Sally certified as a yoga and pranayama teacher, training with Paul Dallaghan and Sri Tiwari at @centered-yoga in Thailand, in addition to studying at K Pattabhi Jois The Ashtanga Yoga Institute in Mysore.

Sally has gone on to train as a Doula with Michele O’Dent and a Pilates teacher with A.P.P.I.  (Australian Pilates Physiotherapy and Pilates Institute), and has established her own yoga teacher training school The Sally Parkes Yoga Academy in 2010, training over 1500 yoga teachers to date.

“Over the years, I have been aware of YGB and the work they do, and have always admired them as an organisation that consistently does what it sets out to do. I am very grateful for the opportunity to work with YGB so I can also help give back to the motherland that generously gave us the gift of yoga.”

Manisha Mehta

Edmonton, Alberta
https://www.sunyogaedmonton.com/

Manisha’s desire to be a yoga teacher took  her to Sivananda Yoga Farm in Grass Valley, California where she received training in a gurukulum setting, under the esteemed yoga gurus of Sivananda lineage. She  found my calling! Her education background in Pharmacy and MBA did not give her as  much satisfaction. With God’s grace, Manisha’s quest for something more profound has been fulfilled. Serving through yoga is now her path to self realization.

In August 2013, SUN YOGA studio was founded! Since then, sharing the knowledge of yoga with people who have been coming to the studio has meant the world to Manisha! Every student on the mat, is an opportunity to see one thread running through all of us and teaches the real meaning of Yoga.

  “Seeing the same divinity in the young girls/ladies in India as in me, it’s my heartfelt desire to reach out to them through Sun Yoga and YGB. If any contribution from Sun Yoga can help them access basic needs of life, I will feel blessed and fulfilled. “

Go Sato

Go Satou, Hayama, Japan
https://www.radhikayoga.com/

Go Sato focuses on sharing mindfulness yoga. Go has participated in numerous yoga events throughout Japan, organized by the Government and medical associations, as well as appearing on tv, radio programs and in yoga related publications and media.  His projects are a  fusion of traditional yoga and street culture in collaboration with street dancer, DJ, and musicians.

Go has supervised teacher training programs for over 2000 instructors at YMC and created “Male Yoga.”

He is the founder of Radhika Yoga Hayama in Japan, as well as advisor for the  International Holistic Therapy Association and Lululemon Legacy Ambassador.

“I am so grateful for YOGA in my life and believe that sharing YOGA is a way to express this gratitude. Yoga Gives Back has taught me other ways of giving back. I will be so happy if I could contribute to saving the lives of women and children in India.”

Nikki Slade

Nikki Slade, UK
https://nikkislade.com/

Nikki Slade is a leading pioneer in the field of chanting, core voice and sound work in the UK for over 30 yrs. Nikki has inspired thousands of individuals to chant and has led chanting and voice workshops in a wide variety of settings including corporations such as M&C Saatchi, Deutsche Bank and Cisco and Wandsworth men’s prison.

Nikki has worked extensively, privately with sound and voice work for leaders in their fields including Business leaders, Therapists, Yoga teachers, School teachers, writers and Performing artists. Nikki has released 4 successful mantra and chanting recordings. Nikki is the founder of the first in the UK 200hr Learn To Lead Kirtan Foundation Training, accredited by The Yoga Alliance Professionals in 2016. She completed leading the 5th training, after a 2 year gap, in November 2022.

“I support the mission of YGB as I am passionate about improving the lives of women and children in India which has been something close to my heart for 30 plus yrs. My earliest years of chanting mantras was in the South of India in Maharashtra where I came face to face with the deprivation of poverty particularly with children where I spent one Xmas chanting with children in an orphanage there. These children had been rescued from railway tracks where they had been abandoned. I was also deeply moved by one young Indian mother I met who had no money to pay for her son to go to school. I was struck by her hair which was strikingly short and stood out as all the other women in the village had long braided hair. She told me that the only thing she felt she could offer to God was her hair, which she lay at the feet of the deity in her rural village temple. She prayed that in exchange she would be blessed with funds for her sons education!
Chanting mantra has blessed my life and it is really important to me to give back to India all that I have received in whatever way I can and YGB is a wonderful organization for offering.”

Katsu

Japan

Katsu was raised in New York, Shibuya (Tokyo), London and Bangkok. He has 18 years of  experience practicing YOGA.  10 years of  YOGA teaching and  8 years of chiropractic treatment. During this time he has experienced various styles of YOGA and has studied anatomy, pathology, and nerves.  In addition to YOGA instruction, he also provides meditation instruction and muscle, nerve, and lymphatic massage.

“Through yoga I learned to love myself, love others, love nature, and feel a part of the earth and the universe. My wish is to make a contribution to India, the root of yoga, as a way to to give back to Yoga which has had a great influence on me and the people around me.”

Dylan Bernstein

Dylan has been exploring various worlds of yoga since 1989. His intense curiosity brought him to study and practice worldwide. Having taught on five continents, Dylan continues to be influenced by many teachers and living wisdom traditions. The most inspiring inspiration comes from his inquisitive students. With a background in education and activism, Dylan seeks to support and empower individuals regardless of background. Dylan has volunteered in schools in India, Nepal, Cambodia, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand, Philippines and the USA. He continues to seek opportunities for betterment.

“I love to support YGB because of the organization’s commitment to integrity and actual service. I have been heartened to see YBG’s strong work over the years, bringing relief to communities most in need, regardless of religion or culture.”

Erika Hawks

Key West, Florida, USA
https://www.keywestyogasanctuary.com/

Erika has hosted a series of fundraising events this year at her Key West Yoga Sanctuary, and became Empowerment Sponsor at YGB’s annual campaign “Global Gathering for India” with its generous community’s support.

Erika Hawks has been practicing traditional ashtanga yoga as taught by Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois since 2008. She has studied in Mysore, India and began her teaching career in Ashtanga yoga at Miami Life Center over a decade ago, with the blessing of her teachers Kino MacGregor and Tim Feldmann.

After moving to Key West in 2014, Erika found her home at the Key West Yoga Sanctuary, where she took the helm in 2021. Erika is a certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor and continues her studies at SAI Ayurvedic Institute. She holds a 200 RYT since 2010 and is currently working towards 500 RYT with her teacher Greg Nardi of Ashtanga Yoga Worldwide.

Christine Hoar

Montauk, New York
www.ashtangamontauk.com

Christine has been a practitioner and teacher of the Ashtanga Yoga System for over 25 years. From 1997–2014 she served as the founder and director of Vermont’s only dedicated Ashtanga studio, Bristol Yoga. Her love of surfing then brought her to Montauk, NY where she has created a new practice space and yoga community, Ashtanga Montauk. Specializing in the integration of the Ashtanga system of asana with the principles of Ayurveda and the depth of Yogic philosophy, Christine offers students unique insights into discovering greater joy, freedom, and self-transformation. She has made many trips to Mysore, South India to study with the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and the Jois family and is honored to have received his blessing and authorization to teach the Ashtanga Yoga system. She is a direct student of Pandit Rajmani Tigunait and is a Certified Ayurvedic practitioner through the Kripalu College of Ayurveda.

“I feel tremendously honored to be part of Yoga Gives Back. Over the years, I have gained so much by my travels to India. It has given me the gift of a practice that has served me so well over the past 25 years. I am also acutely aware of my privilege and I do not take for granted how lucky I am to have benefitted so greatly from my experiences in India. As the Dalai Lama says, “we must recognize that the suffering of one person is the suffering of humanity.” We all have an opportunity and an obligation to “give back.” I am happy to invest my time and energy into supporting an organization that affirms and builds up one of the greatest resources in India, its women.”

Masumi Chakra Ma

Bali-Indonesia/Japan
https://chakrawork.jp/masumi/english/

Masumi is the Founder and Director of Chakra Work Association. Chakra work focuses on the techniques to awaken the energies of 7 chakra, which helps one understand their purpose in life. These techniques and mysteries of Himalayan Kriya yoga learned from Pilot Babalji, combined with breathing techniques, meditation, movements and mantras make up the core of her teaching.

For the last two years, Chakra Work team has been focusing on online distribution. Chakra work online class has been offered every week with  more than 1000 simultaneous viewers participating each week.

“I am moved by the work of Yoga Gives Back. YGB shares valuable information from India, how vulnerable women and children face unimaginable hardship in their lives on a daily basis. With Kayoko’s leadership, I am inspired by the bright positive energy of YGB’s volunteers team. I pray that more women and children are provided education and opportunities to build independent lives. I am grateful for this opportunity to be a part of YGB’s work and hope to contribute with our yoga and music.“

Farzaneh Noori

Pasadena, California
Yoga House

Farzaneh Noori is the co-founder and owner of Yoga House, the oldest and largest center for yoga in the San Gabriel Valley area. She is a certified
ERYT 500-hour yoga instructor with over 30 years of practicing and teaching to a broad range of students.

Farzaneh focuses on the various healing aspects of yoga in all her teaching—freeing the body, the breath and the flow of energy through practicing with awareness and compassion. She is also a board-certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor. Her intention is to make Ayurveda accessible and adaptable in modern day living.

“The ancient Yoga Sutras, which serve as a guide for many modern-day yogis and yoginis, advises practitioners to live life with “loving kindness, joy, compassion and equanimity” toward others. I believe these so-called “Four Immeasurables” find an authentic and impassioned expression in YGB—helping women and children in India—and I am honored to be a part of it. ‘

Hiroyuki Matsuhisa

Japan-Bali
https://www.hiroyukimatsuhisa.com/hiroyukimatsuhisa-en

Hiroyuki Matsuhisa is a Japanese musician, singer and songwriter, specializing in classical Indian instruments and sounds. He studied the satvik veena, a rare instrument that combines the sitar and guitar, with its creators – Grammy-winning Hindustani classical instrumentalist Vishwa Mohan Bhatt and his son Salil Bhatt. Hiroyuki tours all over the world, actively collaborating with kirtan artists and other performers in many styles, genres, and disciplines. He has co-created with Yogis, dancer, and visual artists. Through the meditative tones and the elegant timbre of the satvik veena, Hiroyuki’s melodies underscore the preciousness of life and transmit a sense of peace and happiness

Hiroyuki has performed solo and accompanied others at concerts and festivals worldwide, including at the Korea Experimental Art Festival, Bali Spirit Festival,Thailand Yoga&Art Festival(in collaboration with Daphne Tse), China Maysore Yoga Culture Art Festival,Greece Sound and Silence Festival, and with Fujieda Mushimaru’s performance company Nongrata on their European tour in Germany, Sweden and Finland.
Joined the recording for CD with KIRTAN singer “Kevin James”

“I love India and stayed eight times already to learn ancient musical instruments and yoga. I have benefited deeply from its culture and wisdom. When I learned about YGB from a friend, I was especially moved to know how its mission is to empower underserved women in India. Its mission “to give back to India” is wonderful.  It was a very natural for me to join YGB’s efforts as I pray peace of the world wholeheartedly. I pray that this work will save more lives from suffering.”

Mary Kirkendoll

Lawrence, Kansas
www.yogaofkindness.com

Mary Kirkendoll has been a student of yoga for over 15 years. She began her yoga practice hoping to attain physical benefits and quickly realized that yoga offered so much more. Mary began teaching yoga asana about 5 years into her practice and at the same time became a student of meditation, yoga philosophy, and Sanskrit. She opened the Eudora Yoga Center in 2015 and has since renamed the business “Yoga of Kindness” in honor of her mother who transitioned in 2019. “Sweet Mama” Marie lived her final 15 years with Alzheimer’s Disease and became a vessel of love and purity that was felt by everyone around her. The great wisdom of Sweet Mama & Yoga as well as bringing a community together around kindness is what Mary hopes to offer through Yoga of Kindness. As of 2022, all profit is donated back to the community.

“The mission of Yoga Gives Back is congruent with the mission of Yoga of Kindness. Kayoko and the impressive team of staff and YGB ambassadors are working together to support the backbone of yoga’s foundation: India’s women and children. Mother India and all cultures are remembering and realizing that when women and children are supported, encouraged, and elevated–the community thrives. Humans have the utmost potential to grow, serve, remember, wake up, and give back. What a joy to be a small piece of this web of kindness!”

Michelle El Khoury

Richboro, Pennsylvania
yogamazia.com

Michelle El Khoury, PhD was personally drawn to yoga whilst pregnant with her second child and noticed the positive mental and physical effects it had, not only on herself but later on with her children. Her journeys led her to become a certified yoga teacher and after a rewarding 20-year published career in the healthcare industry, she followed her dream and incorporated her background and learnings into the passion she had for yoga and founded Yogamazia.

“Yoga is a powerful vehicle for creating a fairer and more equal world and, women and children are vital ambassadors for this change. This is why I am grateful to support Yoga Gives Back and join in their mission to collectively demand positive social change to have a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive world for everyone.”

Naomi Ishida

Japan

Naomi has been teaching yoga for the last 15 years. Naomi teachers in Kobe, Osaka area of Japan sharing the true beauty and happiness gained from yoga, so each person can live to one’s fullest potential.

She grew up with yoga due to her mother’s regular practice. She had a successful career as a apparel buyer, which also led her to total exhaustion physically and mentally. She resumed yoga practice which deepened her appreciation of the benefit of this practice and decided to become an instructor and eventually taking on the responsibility for teacher training programs.

“I was moved to learn that my purchase of YGB Tee shirts helped underserved women and children in India. My students started asking me about YGB when I was wearing them. Eventually I wanted to get more involved as an Ambassador. I admire and believe in YGB’s mission and support YGB  in creating a brighter future for women and children in India. I feel privileged to be a part of this global effort to elevate pain and suffering and change lives.”

Andrea Marcum

Los Angeles, CA

Andrea Marcum is a yoga teacher and author who leads retreats and workshops around the world in both intimate and conference hall settings. Teaching for over twenty years, she has a unique ease and familiarity about her, weaving accessible philosophy into the poses appropriate for a variety of experience levels.

Named one of LA’s Best by a number of sources including Culture Trip, Andrea loves guiding the most unassuming newbies to yoga and mindfulness. She has prepared celebrities for the Oscars, worked with athletes (Matt Kemp, LA Dodgers – NFL Network , U.S. Tennis Association) collaborated with global brands (lululemon, Vogue, Equinox, Travel & Leisure, NBCUniversal, Well + Good), created content for Medicare’s Silver & Fit, and built her own internationally recognized platform at andreamarcum.com.

Her critically acclaimed book Close to Om is available from St Martin’s Press/Macmillan.

“I support Yoga Gives Back because I want to reciprocate, in some small way, the profound impact yoga has had on my life. I believe that to give back we must pay-it-forward, empowering women and girls in the motherland of these practices and philosophies to step into their true potential. I’ve also got two young nieces whose mother is from Bihar. They are gorgeous, inspired students who visit India every year, and who I believe will give back in ways that I can only dream of.”

Lisa Rennie

Scotland

Lisa is a GP based in the Scottish Highlands. Her education at Aberdeen medical school was a privilege and fueled by inquisitiveness in yoga.  She currently teaches one vinyasa class per week at NV2 fitness and does “pop-up” classes in her local area and online. All her profits are donated to charity.

“As yoga benefiters we must acknowledge the source and history of yoga and give back to India in a meaningful way. Supporting YGB is my duty as a yoga teacher and student.”

Nubia Teixeira

California
https://www.nubiayoga.com

Author, yogini, teacher trainer, and Odissi dancer, Nubia Teixeira has devoted herself to teaching different aspects of yoga for almost 30 years. Perceiving yoga as a healing art, Nubia’s refinement and unique style overflows with sacred meaning and heartfelt inspiration. Nubia leads workshops, teacher trainings and retreats locally and around the world.

“I support YGB because this organization supports in a very personal and meaningful way, many of our brothers and sisters in India. I, myself, have been benefiting from Yoga’s legacy since my teenage years and cannot express enough gratitude towards this spiritual heritage. So, YGB supports me to give back to the people of India and for that I am grateful.”

Anjali Deva

Los Angeles, CA
rootedrasa.com 

Anjali Deva is an Ayurvedic practitioner and teacher in Los Angeles, CA. Her private practice, Rooted Rasa, specializes in an integrative and trauma-informed approach to Ayurveda. Her compassion-based approach is useful in alleviating anxiety, depression, PTSD, digestive disorders, and women’s health issues with a holistic framework. Anjali has been greatly fortunate to have been introduced to Ayurveda and Yoga at a young age by her father and mentor, Arun Deva. Her clinical experience began at Hope Integrative Psychiatry overseen by Omid Naim, MD. Her familial lineage is rich with the desire to preserve and maintain these healing arts. Anjali is dedicated to sharing the Wisdom of Ayurveda for the benefit of all living beings.

”I support YBG because I believe we should give back to the motherland of these teachings that have offered us so much wisdom and compassion. Spending summers in India as a child, I was often saddened by the hardships I witnessed in India. Knowing now the systemic imbalances in place that have led to this marginalization, I want to do as much as I can to help bring balance to my motherland.”⁠ 

Joss Jaffe

https://www.jossjaffe.com/
Los Angeles, CA

Joss Jaffe is a vocalist, tabla player, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer. His critically acclaimed albums include Dub Mantra, Svaramandala and Echosystem. With his new album Meditation Music, Joss delves fully into the world of ambient, soothing and brain wave entraining music for spa, relaxation, yoga and meditation. He is a regular performer and workshop leader at premiere yoga conferences and transformational festivals including Bhaktifest, Beloved, Wanderlust & Korea Yoga Conference.

“As a child learning about yoga, meditation, chanting and mantra music of India I was instilled with the concept of Seva, selfless service. This is a very important part of yoga and spirituality. There are many ways to give back, it can be deeply personal, one-on-one, or in large events such as the events YGB puts on. YGB is a great group of people with lots of BIG hearts. It feels good to be a part of such a good cause.”

Forrest Yoga

Ana Forrest and Jose Calarco, Forrest Yoga
Australia

Ana Forrest has been changing people’s lives for over 45 years. She is an internationally recognized pioneer in yoga and emotional healing.

Forrest Yoga is an exquisite collaboration between Ana and her husband Jose Calarco. He is our Musical Shaman, embodying and bringing alive ancient spiritual technologies, like Aboriginal culture through stories and song. He also teaches on the intelligence of the Vegan lifestyle and is the creative director of Forrest Yoga.

Today Ana and Jose are at the forefront of the Yoga world, guiding its future and evolution. Together, Ana and Jose teach people how to use the tools of Forrest Yoga to move out numbness and connect to the rich spectrum of feeling and purpose.

“India has enriched our lives on so many levels , as well as being the home of Yoga , we have been captivated by its extraordinary  culture, philosophers, saints, poets, food, artists & architecture: We want to see India thrive,  as it is the Earths Spiritual Hub. Giving back to India at the grass roots level ensures the countries well-being on all levels.”

Janice Strand

https://www.beyoga.no/
Norway

Janice’s teaching comes from her knowledge from Teacher Training and studying with several different teachers and styles of yoga. Her home practice is meditation and asana practice Vini Yoga.

Janice’s credentials include 20+ years of yoga practice, E-RYT 500, Yoga Nidra and Meditation teacher, Vini Yoga Teacher, Certified YogaWorks Teacher / 200 hour & 300 hour Teacher Trainer and Mentor. Teachers that have inspired her over the years have been. Maty Ezraty, Anne Van Valkenburg, Kausthub Desikachar, Bernie Clark, Chad Hamrin, Jeanne Heilman, Judith Lassater and Tiffany Cruikshank. “I am so grateful for all the knowledge they have taught me, they will be forever in my heart.”

“I have been and am a devoted student who travels to India for deep study often. India has given me so much and I want to give so much more back! I have seen the needs of its people, and I always want to help. I know that even the smallest effort makes a big difference. I am honored to be part of this project, I am honored to be an ambassador for Yoga Gives Back.”

Makiko Kobayashi

Hokkaido Japan.

Makikoe was born in Tokyo and has lived in Hokkaido since April 2017.  She first encountered yoga while living a busy life working for an insurance company.  She discovered that by continuing to practice yoga, there was a virtuous cycle not only in physical changes but also in daily life and work.

Makiko completed her RYT 200 in March 2020 in Rishikesh.  After returning to Japan in September 2020, she established the yoga circle “yoganowa tokachi.” In June 2021, she was sponsored by “International Day of Yoga Tokachi 1st”.  Makiko continues to look for ways to enjoy yoga with participants through online morning yoga, outdoor yoga and studio lessons.

“I have benefited a lot from my daily yoga practice and feel very fortunate.  And under the influence of the coronavirus 2020,thanks to the teachers, staff, and many people, I finished a fulfilling learning time in India and returned home safely.  I would be happy if I could give back many benefits I received.”

Lee Grane Maranan

Philippines
Yoga Sadhana Journeys
Visionary of Roots of Wisdom.

Lee Grane has the uncanny ability to tune in to the living breathing element of sound and share its healing resonance with others. Her voice and music evokes an ethereal quality that has the ability to transport and captivate listeners deeply into the world of sound.

Lee Grane offers 17 years of professional experience in the field of music. Trained with the knowledge of the Yoga of Sound & healing frequencies, sacred chants & sound meditation. Co-Founder of Yoga Sadhana Journeys, curating intimate retreats in sacred lands weaving yoga, culture, adventure, ritual
and ceremony. Passionate about the exploration of higher consciousness, the 13Moon Dreamspell teachings of the ancient Maya. A practitioner of ancient shamanic energy medicine, dedicated to the activation of our Inner Remembrance of Who We Truly Are.

“I am in solidarity with YGB’s efforts in contributing to the wellbeing and empowerment of women and children from India. I support their cause as a way
give back to the people of the land that gifted us spirituality & their yoga tradition for the benefit of all.”

Nadine McNeil

Aimee Echo

Ashtanga Yoga Long Beach

Aimee Echo lives in Long Beach CA with her musician husband and 90lb pit bull. She is the owner and primary teacher at Ashtanga Yoga Long Beach. She is the only KPJAYI Authorized Ashtanga Yoga teacher in Long Beach, CA. She is also a graduate of Institute of Integrative Nutrition and a Certified Massage Therapist.

“I am so inspired and moved by the work that Yoga Gives Back does supporting Indian women and families in need. Yoga has been a consistent source of support for me for over 21 years. I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to give back in this way- a way that honors the roots of Yoga and the hard work of so many Indian practitioners who were stewards of these old practices and traditions and their generosity in sharing them.”

Don Henry

LiveYogaWellness

In addition to teaching Yoga classes in the Los Angeles area, Don is a certified Yoga therapist. He completed his training at Loyola Marymount University where he now is an adjunct professor in the Yoga Therapy program, as well as a mentor to Level III and IV Yoga therapy students. He is certified through the International Association of Yoga Therapists and is also a certified Chair Yoga teacher.

Don has been teaching Yoga-related topics at the Esalen Institute for the past several years and was also awarded Prime of Life Yoga® Teacher of the Month by Samata International. He has been working closely with Yoga pioneer, Larry Payne, for many years, and served as Larry’s book editor and photographer for his new book, “Yoga After 50 for Dummies.”

I first became aware of YGB when I attended a live event in Santa Monica. Since then, I’ve learned a lot about the organization and Kayoko’s mission. As a student and teacher of so many Yoga practices and principles, I also feel deeply indebted to the contribution India has made in terms of so much culture and tradition. By helping the women and children of that country, arguably among the most vulnerable, I feel that we at least begin to repay a debt and, moreover, show respect in a way that so many well-intentioned Yoga leaders in the American community fail to do. As for me, I only had sisters growing up, and as an adult only shared my life with a wife and daughter.  Women have always been some of the most important people in my life, and I am particularly drawn to an organization that seems to show such reverence for the women and children of India.

Kyona

San Diego, California
ky-veda.com

Kyona is a Board Certified Ayurvedic Health Counselor, Certified Yoga Therapist, Auriculotherapy Practitioner, Vibrational Sound Therapist, and Pelvic Steam Facilitator. With a holistic practice that spans over two decades specializing in conscious self-care and longevity practices, Kyona empowers individuals to take an active role in their health by elevating awareness of their unique constitution and restoring balance through dietary guidance and lifestyle management designed to meet and often exceed personal wellness goals.

Kyona is located in San Diego, CA and is a professional member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, National Ayurvedic Medical Association, California Massage Therapy Council, and American Cannabis Nurses Association.

I have truly benefited from the wisdom of Ayurveda and Yoga in my personal and professional lives, and supporting Yoga Gives Back is my way of expressing gratitude and honoring the rich culture in which these self-care disciplines emerged.

Theresa Herrea

Philippines
https://www.globalmalamanila.com/about-1

Teresa Herrera began exploring yoga at the age of nineteen years old as a way to understand the sacred movement of breath (“prana”) and body. Under the generous guidance of her teacher, Shiva Rea M.A., Teresa is trained in Prana Vinyasa Flow TM and Yoga Trance Dance TM.  Her intuitive and fluid teaching style nurtures each student as they explore their bodies on the path of yoga. Her studies in Dance, Meditation, Buddhism, Yogic Arts, World Cultures & Scuba Diving infuses her approach to teaching and living the “flow” that is yoga.

I support Yoga Gives Back because I believe in the power of Women Supporting Women.

Tara Mitra

taramitrayoga.com

Alexandra South

Dallas, Texas
http://www.connectingyoga.com

Alexandra South was first introduced to Yoga in 2001 and began teaching Yoga in 2006. She became certified to teach Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga by Paul Dallaghan, Harmony Slater, Neil Barker and Jeff Lichty.  She is also certified to teach Prenatal Yoga, Postnatal Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Yoga for the Pelvic Floor. She tailors her teachings to support people in time, place and circumstance, while also focusing on supporting women through life transitions. Alexandra practiced and taught Yoga in London (UK), Sydney (AUS), Los Angeles (CA), and now Dallas (TX). Throughout these times she’s been encouraged by the practice and by her teachers to deeply listen and to value her internal rhythms, adapting the practice as needed to cultivate balance. Yoga has continuously created a nest for healing and a place where she can unravel.

Her greatest teachers are her children, who constantly remind her of her forgotten self and that yoga is the connection to life.

Yoga Gives Back is an inspirational non-profit organization who has given me the opportunity to live Yoga off my mat and to transform my practice into action. I am continuously thankful to YGB for globally raising our awareness and being the bridge for us to help those in need. When mothers and children rise, we all rise.

Andrew Hillam

Encinitas, California
https://joisyoga.com/

Andrew has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga since 1994. During the last 20 years, Andrew has travelled to Mysore more than 20 times and traveled widely throughout South India. Apart from studying yoga at KPJAYI and now the Sharath Yoga Center, he continues to study Vedic chanting, Vedic philosophy, Sanskrit and Carnatic music with various teachers in Mysore and Bangalore.

“The richness that I have received in India has come from these teachers and their guidance but from my every  experiences with local people that I interact with on a daily basis. To me India always feels welcoming and like my home. I am very happy to do whatever I can to help YGB, as I know that they are directly helping and impacting the lives of so many in India, helping them to become self sufficient through their many programs. Whatever I can do pales in significance to what I have received.”

Jeanne Heileman

Los Angeles, CA
https://jeanneheileman.com

MA, 500-ERYT, YACEP, Founder of Tantra Flow Yoga™, was introduced to yoga as a dancer and actress. Facing ongoing pain from scoliosis, yoga allows her tools for physical realignment and acceptance of difficulties. In her quest for a deep and meaningful connection to all that yoga has to offer, she has studied extensively. Jeanne brings together more than 36 years of yoga study with over 25 years of teaching into a style of yoga inclusive of asana, Ayurveda, Pranayama, meditation, and the added focus of cultivating energy. She has held the certificate of ParaYoga Level II for 8 years, and also studied extensively in Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, ParaYoga, Vini and Tantra Yoga with many masters in each tradition. Jeanne teaches with sensitivity, generosity of spirit and a lot of humor. She specializes in discovering the needs of an individual and gently guiding students to their own grace and balance. Based in Los Angeles, Jeanne is often traveling the globe with her teacher trainings, workshops and master classes.

I have known Kayoko for years and have been so impressed with her drive to build an organization that is directed to people in India. As a former fundraiser I knew I wanted to be part of her vision. As a devoted student who travels to India for deep study often, I see the needs of its people and know that even the smallest effort makes a difference. When we give of our funds, our time or our talents, we create a circle of abundant energy that can only continue flowing. I am honored to be part of the abundance that yoga provides for all people.

Danica Lynch

Santa Clarita, CA
https://danicalynch.com/

Drawing from multiple disciplines, Danica Lynch teaches real-world applications of ancient healing philosophies and modern mental health education to help her community create a deeper sense of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellness. With a variety of modalities and certifications under her belt – including yoga, mindfulness, meditation, somatic wellness, trauma-informed teaching, Ayurveda, she founded Mindful Bliss Ayurveda in 2016, and more – Danica designs unique programs tailored to the specific needs of the individual, group or community she’s serving. Though each program is different and her scope of expertise is constantly evolving, for Danica, the goal is always the same: to help students access their innate healing tools and wisdom, so they can serve themselves and their communities with a stronger sense of belonging, purpose and compassion.

Lisa Revelins

Australia
https://www.healthywealthywild.org

The owner of Healthy Wealthy Wild – Lisa Revelins has had a strong Ashtanga yoga practice for at 15 years.  She has been a yoga practitioner for 25 years. She is registered with National Yoga Alliance 5-star accredited at the highest level.

Lisa is Australian and grew up on a remote farm in Western Australia along the coast surrounded in natural beauty.  She has travelled extensively around the globe with a love in particular for eastern culture.  With her life experiences, she can empathize and be an example of strength and fitness.  She believes yoga has been a powerful tool to tackle life’s challenges big and small.  To keep up your regular yoga practice to try stay healthy and strong in body and mind. To have yoga and a community of friends and family and being grateful is the key to a happy, fun and loving life.

Ashley Rideaux

yoga-with-ashley.com

Lara Land

New York, USA
https://landyoga.com/

Lara Land is a yoga teacher and spiritual coach with 20 years experience guiding seekers to set and achieve their highest goals and potential and weave those personal missions into world betterment. She has worked all over the world teaching yoga and mindful living and developing programs to heal and empower. In 2008-2009 Lara spent three months in Rwanda bringing yoga as healing to survivors, and from there went to India where she worked with HIV positive children bringing yoga and meditation to their treatment room. In June 2011 Lara opened Land Yoga, a ground floor Yoga, Arts, & Wellness Center in the heart of Harlem. In 2014 she founded non-profit, Three and a Half Acres Yoga to inspire community healing and activism through yoga. Lara is the founder of SOULFest Revolution a wellness festival which highlights diversity in fitness. She leads retreats worldwide, is a public speaker, spiritual coach, and writer with contributions to the Health Magazine, Apartment Therapy and the Huffington Post. Lara is the author of My Bliss Book life-purpose planner and is currently working on her first book with Shabhala publications on trauma informed yoga. Lara has been recognized by and featured in The Wall Street Journal, the Daily News, Fox5, NY1, Yoga Journal, Health Magazine, Sirius Xm Radio and New York Magazine.

I support YGB because when women are supported, the whole community rises.

Karena Virginia

www.karenavirginia.com New Jersey, USA

Karena is an internationally celebrated yoga instructor, author, spiritual mentor and speaker known for her open heart, gentle spirit and accessible teaching style. You can see your writings online with Yoga Journal, Sounds True, Mind Body Green and Huffington post along with her own personal blog. Karena is featured in many online courses, podcasts and wellness TV shows. She is the co-author of “Essential Kundalini Yoga” which has been a bestseller on amazon. Karena dedicates her free time to helping children all over the world with her family’s nonprofit organization and various fundraisers. She lives in the suburbs of New York City with her husband, daughter and son as well as their princess puppy, Gracie.

Karena has had a passion for helping children since she was a child herself. She is an advocate for equality and an activist for justice for mothers and children around the world.  Karena is so grateful to be a part of Yoga gives back because she feels the world needs our support and service now more than ever, and she knows that when the world comes together with love or above, heaven will come to earth. We are the change. God is the doer and is calling on us to share our gifts with all.

Vikram Jeet Singh

wanderingmat

Vikram has been actively teaching at various Modo locations in North America since 2008. Over the course of the years he has accumulated over 11,000 hours of teaching experience and has continued his Ashtanga studies with Sharath Jois in Mysore, India. His passion for all things yoga led to pursue studies in Ayurveda as well and is an Ayurvedic practitioner. A strong advocate of the Ayurvedic lifestyle Vikram shares his knowledge and passion in various workshops and yoga teacher training. Vikram is part of the YTT faculty with Modo Yoga where he teaches yoga history and philosophy.

Having grown up in India Vikram is no stranger to the impoverished conditions the majority of the country live in. He strongly believes that the future lies in education and employment for women in rural and developing India.

I am passionate about being a yoga teacher because of the difference I am able to facilitate in someone’s life by sharing the wisdom of the yogic teachings and lifestyle. I am very proud of my ethnicity and the role that India has played in the history and development of Yoga. YGB is the bridge that helps me use my passion and express my gratitude. Yoga is so much more than asana and this opportunity to provide selfless service is a great way to live your yoga off the mat.

Cat Stuijt

Tru Dru Yoga UK/Wales

Cat trained initially with the British Wheel of Yoga before discovering DRU Yoga and trained with the school of DRU Yoga for 8 years, Yoga, Meditation, Kids and Teens Yoga and Yoga Dance. Her passion for teen yoga continued with a diploma course with Teen Yoga Foundation UK.  Cat is now the Teen Yoga Foundation Ambassador for Wales. During lockdown she qualified as a Qi Gong teacher – Qi Gong is a beautiful and gentle accompaniment that enhances her yoga blend. She is driven by her own personal yoga journey to bring the plethora of gifts it brings, to others.

Privileged to have trained with the wonderful Yoga professionals (now true friends) at DRU and TYF Cat continues to grow and learn on her own spiritual path with their support. Originally from Wales Cat settled in London and completed all studies. She is now relocated back to Gwynedd, North Wales. She practices and teaches amongst the beautiful landscape of the mountains and sea which has been a revelation after the hussle and bussle of the capitol city. Her favorite passion is teaching outside in the surrounding nature.

I was first introduced to YGB at the OM Yoga and was truly inspired. At the time I was unable to follow this up but now my life has changed and I am able to. The very thought that just 1 class would change a life is inspiration enough for me. When you have a lightbulb moment you know it’ll reflect and bring light to someone else in the world.

Heather Thompson

Scotland, U.K.
www.yoga-bythesea.co.uk

Heather’s journey into yoga began when she returned from a soul searching Ayurvedic trip to India in 2017.

She arrived in India lost and in despair as her inability to hold onto a child or start a family over many years had worn her down. It had left her feeling ashamed of her body spiritually broken. The retreat gave her insight and a spark of light. There was more to Heather than becoming a mummy.

Heather returned from India with a deep hunger for more knowledge of yoga and a great new sense of who she was. She trained as a 200 hour Seasonal yoga teacher in 2018. Her teachings infuse Seasonal yoga, Qigong and the 5 element eastern medicine system (TCM) She plans to do her 300 hr soon!

Heather is a compassionate teacher who brings joy to her guidance, she loves helping others find their own beauty and true nature through yoga, mindfulness and movement.

Heather lives in a little coastal town called Dunbar near Edinburgh, Scotland with her husband and 2 fur kids. She is trained in Clinical Reflexology, Seasonal yin and is very passionate about all things yoga.

I can always remember that first time I realized, through the teachings of yoga, how beautiful life is. My inner light was ignited back then and I will be forever grateful to the creators of the yoga system. I believe we all need someone or something to give us a hand up in life, a spark of hope, wherever we find ourselves.

When I came across Yoga Gives Back, the team shared videos of each individual women, all different, with their own story and challenges, which most of us can’t even imagine. I saw the positive changes and light in the women’s faces. It was instantly heart felt and I was inspired to help. I felt the sincerity and genuine care from the team and supporters of Yoga Gives Back and I’m honored and grateful to of found a charity with a mission to lift and support women sustainably. As Kofi Annan says “When women thrive all of society benefits.” 

Deepika Mehta

Deepika Mehta, India 

Deepika Mehta is has been on the forefront of Yoga, fitness and wellness in India since 2001. Deepika is known for her motivational and inspirational style of teaching, believing that anyone can achieve what they want if they put their mind to it. She has had several television shows of her own like Yoga City on NDTV Good Times,Tata Sky Active Fit, Biggest Loser. She has been featured in various publications in India including Vogue,India Today,Elle Magazine etc.Been on the cover of India Today. She has given a Ted talk at the Un Headquarters in NYC. Because Deepika Used Yoga to heal herself from an accident she had several years ago,she believes deeply in the power of the healing process of the practice. Deepika Loves to incorporate dance into her teaching mix.

The reason I support YGB is because I want to take my Asana/ Yoga practice beyond the Mat and contribute in my small way back to helping people who are in real need.

Linda Keys

www.lindalovesyoga.co.uk
@lindalovesyoga

Linda had been practising yoga for over twenty years when an experienced teacher whose class she had recently joined suggested she explore teacher training. Despite never having considered such a thing, it was a pivotal moment in her life where everything else just fell into place around this clear path ahead! She started her training with Seasonal Yoga just before her 40th birthday, having found new levels of harmony unfold in her life after attending a local seasonal yoga class. Seasonal yoga blends Hatha with wisdom from traditional Chinese medicine, referring us always back to the cycles of nature and the five elements.

Linda’s background was in community arts, inclusion and facilitation; the skills and qualities she used in that career have fed into her role as a yoga teacher (and celebrant). A priority for Linda is creating a nurturing and inspiring space, where people are welcomed to come as they are. She loves incorporating gentle and accessible ritual, as well as creativity, into her classes.

Linda completed her 200 hr TT in 2018. Since then she has trained in pre- and post-natal yoga, and is currently undertaking her training in Seasonal Yin.

I end each of my classes with a moment of gratitude: “Gratitude for the yoga system, for our practice together today, and for anything else that brings you joy.” I have done this since my earliest classes, acutely aware of the benefit that I derive from yoga practices as well as from teaching and being part of a yoga community in Scotland. I am also aware that I have never yet visited India, and that there is much suffering and poverty in the home of yoga. It feels extremely important to me, this honouring of the yoga system and the origins of something that brings such healing, nourishment and inspiration to my life. I feel humbled by (and to be honest at times uncomfortable with) the fact that I am a white woman in Scotland making a living from the yoga system.

An opportunity to give back to the country that created this system is exactly what was missing from my role as a teacher. I am also a feminist and am aware that women have been treated poorly in some corners of the yoga community, particularly historically. YGB supports women and children to find security and thus a sense of power in their own lives.  It sounds a bit OTT, but everything in my teaching feels more authentic, connected, and purposeful now that I know I am a YGB ambassador!

Mayuko Okai

Los Angeles
mayukookai.com

Mayuko is an Intuitive Eating Coach who helps women heal their relationship to food and body. Mayuko previously worked in healthcare as a Clinical Dietitian and then in management. Through her yoga studies, she became more and more aware of the misalignment in career path. In 2017, Mayuko left healthcare to follow her truth. She now integrates her yoga studies and Intuitive Eating, which she believes is “yoga for eating.”  Mayuko is now a practitioner of Ashtanga Yoga, since 2019.

As a receiver of India’s gift to the world, I am honored to be able to support Yoga Gives Back’s beautiful mission to support and empower women and children in India. As an ambassador, I hope to spread the awareness so that we can collectively give back to the country that has provided us this invaluable gift.

Radha

Ashtanga Yoga Bali, Indonesia

Radha began her Ashtanga practice in 1990, at the age of 20, when she was a sophomore at Pepperdine University in Malibu, CA. She wandered into a primary series class at Yoga Works, after looking up “Yoga,” in the Yellow Pages. The teacher was renowned Ashtangi, Chuck Miller. She considers herself very blessed to have had such a profound teacher from the first day! After that first class, she knew this practice was meant to be a lifelong one, and that it was the beginning of her journey.

Radha continued her study with Chuck, K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India, late Maty Ezraty, Richard Freeman, Manju Jois, Tim Miller, Dena Kingsberg, Annie Pace, Dona Holleman, Gabriella Guibilaro, and many others.

In addition to studying Ashtanga Yoga, Radha has a passion for the science of Ayurveda. She has studied with Maya Tiwari, Amadea Morningstar, and at The American School of Complimentary Medicine in Los Angeles, as well as with her husband, Prem, an Ayurvedic doctor who studied with Dr. Vasant Lad.

I want to see yoga available for all people everywhere, and particularly want to support other women and children, who deserve the same opportunities that I have been blessed to have in my life as yoga shaped my entire life.

Ximena Cortés

Beijing, China

Ximena discovered the practice of Ashtanga Yoga in 2009.  In 2014 she traveled to Mysuru to study at KPJAYI, and returned yearly to India to further her studies. In 2016 she received the blessing to teach Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga and in 2019 to teach Intermediate Series.

In 2015 she started teaching Ashtanga Yoga and in 2016 she moved to Beijing to start a Mysore program where she teaches traditional Ashtanga Yoga.

She has participated in Yoga Journal events and hold several workshops and charity events in China where she had the opportunity to teach hundreds of students.

Yoga and India have transformed my life. My asana practice helped improve my health, overcome my fears, develop self-confidence, healing a lot of wounds, made me question myself, ask for the first time What do I want? What makes me happy? Those questions made me make a lot of changes in my life, and finding the answers has been a beautiful although sometimes difficult journey.

Once I stepped in India for the first time I understood in a second why it is commonly referred as Mother India. Every time I am in India I volunteer and try to give a little bit of what it has given to me but it feels like it’s not enough. In 2019 I organized my first fundraising event for YGB #OneMillionYogis campaign in China, the response of the students was overwhelming. The students shared their gratitude for being part of the event, cultivating the spirit of love and being able to help others. I want to support YGB to keep cultivating that spirit, and to try to give back just a little bit of what Yoga and India have given me.

Erika Trice

Erika Trice, Northern California

Erika’s journey with yoga began over 30 years ago and she has been a yoga teacher and teacher trainer for the past 20 years.  Erika is known by many students as a creative and skillful teacher whose own training includes many different disciplines from yoga, meditation, qigong to psychology. She is a Yoga Alliance E-RYT500 certified teacher. Currently; Erika teaches at Yoga Works in Northern California.

She is passionate about the importance of a daily spiritual practice as a way to reclaim a strong and compassionate sense of self in a challenging world.  Erika supports others to develop a way of living that includes practice each day that is supportive to the individual’s way of living.

I was inspired by the mission of Yoga Gives Back to support the country that gave yoga to the world.  Having traveled in India many times and seeing first hand the poverty that most of the country lives with, I love YGB’s philosophy of supporting mothers and young women to develop businesses of their own so that they can take care of their families and their communities. One of my trips to India included a fund raising effort with some of the students who joined me there for a yoga retreat.  Once we were back in the US, we were able to raise enough funds to buy a school bus for some of the local schools.  The children no longer had to walk miles to school. It is so important to remember as yoga practitioners that service or Karma Yoga is an integral part of our yogic path.

Annette Pettersson

Chad Hamrin

Chad Harmin Yoga
Los Angeles, California

Gopi Ona-Ali

Long Beach, California

When she was just 4 years old, Gopi Ona-Ali was blessed with the holy water of the Ganges; since then she has walked closely with Krishna, and held a special place for the children she played with in the land of her second birth.

Today, Gopi Ona-Ali is a yogini, artist, writer, lecturer and teacher based in Long Beach, California, where she is one of four women who run an intentional community. She learned the Yogas of the Bhagavad Gita from  her Guru, Sri Donato; it has become a focus of her ongoing study and teaching.  Gopi Ona-Ali is a student of Srivatsa Ramaswami of the Krishnamacharya lineage; she teaches traditional Vinyasa Krama asana style with pranayama and chanting.  

“I am honored to work with Yoga Gives Back to help express gratitude for how Yoga has shaped her life; and specifically to provide direct opportunities for women and children in her cherished India. I am inspired by the commitment of Kayoko Mitsumatsu to provide the opportunity for Yoga teachers around the world to express their gratitude for all that Yoga has given us.”

Deepa Chemery

Los Angeles, CA

Deepa’s yoga practice started in Bangalore in Bihar school of yoga style. Deepa is an RYT-500 and prenatal yoga instructor who presently lives in Los Angeles and teaches at CSUN, local studios in Woodlands Hills and the local Indian community.  For Deepa Yoga is a way of life whe shares this through her Pragathi Yoga classes.

“Yoga is excellence in action. ‘Yogah Karmasu kausalam’. For me yogagivesback is karma yoga. When I found a group of yoga teachers doing their excellent selfless work towards a wonderful cause I looked no further. I joined the one million yogis by hosting fundraising events.I saw an idea that was in my mind since my teenage years put into action.Thank you YGB. I am honored to be part of this family.”

Sayaka Damlara

Tokyo, Japan
https://smart.reservestock.jp/menu/profile/18444  (Japanese only)
or https://www.instagram.com/dambarabanda/

When Sayaka was 10 years old, she was introduced to yoga by her mother. Prior to becoming a yoga instructor she studied yoga, Ayurveda, aromatherapy and nutrition.

By incorporating yoga into child development Sayaka found that children responded positively, became open to cooperation and communication became more effective. Sayaka occasionally instructs yoga at nursery schools and elementary schools.

Even though, Japan is doing well economically, the suicide rates of minors are high and truancy rate increases every year. Sayaka would love to educate the children that being born is the most wonderful thing in the world. She is putting great effort into introducing yoga into school programs all over Japan.

“Last year I went to Nepal as a volunteer and was impressed by the children’s positive attitude towards life, though they live in extreme poverty. I thought that there were many children around the world who need help. But even when I wanted to do something, I did not know what to do. I heard about YGB’s International Yoga Day Campaign and reached out to YGB Founder Kayoko to extend her my support. I am very happy to be part of such beautiful cause.”

Brittany Bijan

Brittany Bijan, Sonoma, California.

Brittany Bijan reside in Sonoma, Ca with her husband and 4 children. Yoga has been a huge love of Brittany’s for a long time. She’s taken long breaks from the Asana side of yoga, but she’s always carried the philosophies of yoga and the true meaning of yoga with her in all she does. Brittany wanted to dive deeper into yoga, and took her practice a little bit further, so she completed a 200 hour teacher training program from Yoga Works. She fell deeply in love with teaching. She takes her teaching role to heart, giving her students a chance to breathe, to pause and truly be in their bodies is something she will never take for granted. She is so dedicated to her role as a teacher and her students that she signed up for an additional 300 hour training with Yoga Works that begins this Fall. Brittany hopes to be a forever student. She’s so grateful for the beautiful practice of yoga. She feels indebted to yoga and wants to give back as much as she can.

I found out about YGB from my incredible teacher and mentor, Sarah Ezrin. I was immediately inspired by YGB’s mission and wanted to do all I can to help raise awareness and funds for this beautiful mission I’m fortunate enough to be a part. I am dedicating my practice to this amazing organization. I’m so honored to be a part of this mission. Thank you!

Dena Kingsberg

dena.net.au

Melisande Turpin

Mont-Tremblant,  Quebec,  Canada
http://www.karmashala.ca/

Trained in Ashtanga Vinyasa. Yoga. With Kranti Yoga in India, Advanced Yoga Teacher Training with Erin Evans, Aerial Yoga TT with Circasana and many other workshops with Kino McGregor, Brian Miller,  Dharna Nittra and Sean Crone, Melisande owns her Karma Shala Yoga. Melisande believes it is her dharma to share YOGA with as many as people possible,  to share the same transformational effects she has received from the practice. Her goal is to inspire others to believe in themselves the same way her teachers have inspired her.

“I support YGB because I want to give back to the mother land that brought us a practice that enriches our lives today. It is hard to put into works my experience of travelling around India and seeing the poverty, injustice and cruel world so many face every single day. My hope is that I can use this amazing life I was blessed to be born into to help those that did not receive the same privilege I did.”

Jocelyn Solomon

Jocelyn Solomon Yoga
Santa Monica, California

Jocelyn is a 500 RYT through YogaWorks, Lead Teacher Trainer for both 200 and 300 hour YogaWorks Teacher Trainings, and teaches public classes at YogaWorks and Equinox on the westside of Los Angeles. Jocelyn is also a recovery and health coach, folding in her own twenty-two years of recovery.

Prior to her career teaching yoga, Jocelyn was a criminal and civil rights trial attorney for many years until she became a mother. Jocelyn brings the same passion, drive and commitment to her students as she did her clients. Jocelyn loves to equate fighting for the physical freedom of her law clients with the same liberation and freedom her students seek from yoga. Understanding that everyone has a story, Jocelyn’s classes, though strong and demanding, are welcoming, loving, and a place for every person to create and curate her own perfect experience.

“I support the mission of Yoga Gives Back wholeheartedly. The practice of yoga has carried me through so many times in my life, so it makes complete sense to give back to the women and children of the motherland of a practice that has quite literally been a life saver to me and so many of my students. Service and philanthropy is a core value of mine and my familiy, and I am thrilled to become a part of YBG.”

Daniel Taylor

Daniel found yoga, himself, and the power of service and never ceases to exemplify all that is good in the world of yoga today.

Vinyasa E-RYT 200, Alignment RYT 500, Restorative Level 1 Certified, and Yoga Gives Back International Ambassador. Daniel Taylor, born and raised in Colorado, has an extensive background in resistance strength training and Yoga Asana/Postures. In three years Daniel Taylor has taught over 1500 studio classes and has rapidly immersed himself in multiple yoga methods as a career yoga teacher.

“Yoga Gives Back is an organization that provides the beautiful ability to connect communities across the globe. Having personal experience growing up in local communities centers within the US alongside my single mother, it means the world I have the opportunity to give back to those in a similar struggle who have worse circumstances. I’m grateful for Yoga Gives Back’s ability to streamline help for women and children in need with Nobel Peace Prize Recipient Dr. Muhammad Yunus‘ financing development. It’s a beautiful time to make some positive change, to be a bright light amidst so much darkness.”

Sarah Williams

Brighton, UK
Sarah Williams Yoga

Sarah is a yoga teacher, musician and writer. An eternally grateful student, she teaches a mindful alignment-based style of Vinyasa flow that encourages self-exploration and body and mind awareness. Sarah is passionate about sharing the benefits of movement as well as stillness. Her primary teacher is Jason Crandell who she assists on advanced training. Sarah teaches classes, workshops for students and teachers, and retreats in the UK and internationally.

“I am so proud to be an ambassador for Yoga Gives Back and to be a part of a community who have a vision to empower women with micro loans, and children with much needed educational funds.  It’s an honor to get students looking beyond their own practice to raise much needed funds for this wonderful organisation through yoga.”

MARC HOLZMAN

Marc Holzman

As a pioneer for deep change, Marc has dedicated most of his own life to unraveling this great mystery. An avid Truth-seeker and playful risk-taker, Marc is passionate about refining the art of living and empowering his students to do the same.

Marc is a certified Ayurveda practitioner and Amrit Yoga Nidra teacher with over 18 years’ experience teaching Hatha Yoga and Meditation. He currently lives in both L.A. and Paris for greater access to the workshops, teacher trainings, and retreats he teaches across the globe. He can also be found across the ethers via his many classes streamed on Yogaglo.com. His signature Ayurveda health coaching program, Evolutionary Habits, has been accelerating the wellness path of students since 2012. In 2007 ago, Marc founded Guerilla Yogi, a donation-based community class, to encourage students of all economic circumstances to experience the joy of yoga. Guerilla Yogi continues to thrive in Paris where it has gained tremendous momentum. Because Marc firmly believes that the highest form of teaching is leading by example, he strives to live with integrity and kindness.

I am a Yoga Gives Back ambassador not out of mere generosity, but because it is a duty and responsibility, as someone born into privilege, to look after the least amongst us. India is the motherland of Yoga – and Yoga is a gift that both enhances my life and has saved my life.  My gratitude is immeasurable. Yoga Gives Back is dedicated to raising awareness and funds to alleviate poverty in India.  If you are enjoying the riches of Yoga in your life, won’t you join me in channeling your gratitude into action.

“…we are privileged, and the duty of privilege is absolute integrity.” ~  John O’Donohue 

Erica Morton Magill

Erica Morton Magill is the co-founder of Los Angeles Yoga Club and Ardor Apothecary in Downtown Los Angeles. She has been practicing yoga since she was a teenager; the practice acting as a thread that has stitched together her adult years. She is trained as a social scientist in Medical Anthropology at the University of California, Berkeley; and spent over a decade at the intersection of yoga and social justice teaching yoga, mindfulness, meditation, writing and art to incarcerated and at-risk teenage girls in the San Francisco Bay Area. Erica has written a guidebook on teaching trauma-informed yoga; and in collaboration with neuroscientists, artists, teachers and activists has crafted an extensive curriculum on teaching yoga in prisons and schools. She has had the great privilege to study with and continue to learn from Johnny Smith, Paramaguru R. Sharath Jois, and his mother Saraswati Jois.

“Supporting Yoga Gives Back, an organization that uplifts women and children in India, is a simple and full-hearted way to serve my fellow humans, and to care for humankind. I believe that education is a form of revolution and that an empowered, educated woman is a woman who can effect change not only for herself but also for her community. I am honored to be able to support YGB, giving back to India and its people, who have illuminated my own life and path in deep and meaningful ways.”

Jill Simpson

United Kingdom
Ebb & Flow Yoga 

Jill is the Managing Director of Ebb&Flow, a start-up small Yoga Studio in Surrey, UK.  She’s not a Yoga instructor herself but works together with her daughter Katy (a Yoga  instructor) and Julee (the current YGB – Ambassador of the Year) to grow the business.

She has run many businesses before, including hotels, corporate event companies and art galleries in her career.  Jill is very proud to be able to work with her Yoga community to come together and donate to YGB by attending Yoga classes in her studio and with her partners, the various retail companies in the town where Yoga is taught in their shops.  All the Yogis love to hear about this wonderful charity and feel really rewarded to know that they are helping so many women and their children in the process of enjoying Yoga.

“When YGB Ambassador Julee (Yew-Crisjns) told me about this charity I connected to it immediately. I knew we could help”

Elina Lim-Sandulescu

Queenstown, New Zealand
Comes Naturally

Elina is a certified yoga & mindfulness facilitator, wellness warrior from Singapore who now calls New Zealand home since 2016. She is grateful to be able to receive a world class education as a woman in Singapore which has allowed her to work and travel the world. She believes that the work of Yoga GIves Back is crucial to help alleviate poverty and to give mothers and daughters  in India a chance to be educated and financially independent. Elina first met Kayoko from YGB in 2014 and has helped organize YGB fundraisers in SIngapore & Puerto Rico.

MAKIKO TAKISHIMA

VIVICA SCHWARTZ

KIA MILLER

MARK ROBBERDS

ELISABETTA RICCI

GUMI NAKAGUCH

JOAN HYMAN

KINO MCGREGOR

CHAZ RUSS

SOPHIE HERBERT

ADRI KYSER

BIRGITTE KRISTEN

LORRAINE LAU

KATHLEEN KASTNER

MANON SIMONIS-BRUENS

CHAMA

BEATE SCHOLZ

DAVID KIM

MIA TOGO

DANA TARASAVAGE

NINA HAYES

AMI PATEL

CATIA LEITE

SOL BARROS

MARIKO HIRAKAWA

SARAH PLATT-FINGER

DANA BLONDE

MICHAEL BUDD

ALESSANDRA PECORELLA

KERILL EZZY

Pranidhi Varshney

yogashalawest.com

DAVID MILLIOTIS

PETE GUINOSSO

SIMONA SCHIMANOVICH

KIYOMI TAKAHASHI

STEPHANIE CROCHET

AMANDA JACKSON

GISELLE MARI

MARTI NIKKO

APARNA KHANOLKAR

LAUREN PETERSON

HAIDAR ALI

NEA FERRIER

SEANE CORN

MARYSIA DO

Kali Basman

DJ DREZ

STEPH CHARLWOOD

ELIZABETH R. SITZLER

DAPHNE TSE

MARICHA DUMONT

MICHIKO MINEGISHI

NEVA INGALLS

ANJAN KUNDU

ANRI SHIGA

TIM FELDMANN

Sarah Ezrin

sarahezrinyoga.com

GWEN TAN-WYNNE

MALAYSIA

In 2015, while living in Beijing, Gwen saw YGB FILM “My Mother’s Dream” and was immediately inspired to be part of YGB. Being a mother of three growing boys did not stop her from organizing her first YGB event at the International School in Beijing, engaging teachers and students successfully. This March, Gwen successfully organized a YGB Fundraiser at the Habitat Penang Hill, engaging 200 local yogis and community.

Gwen’s teaching is shaped by her first teacher, Wanda Hewitt, whom she feels a deep gratitude to, draws inspiration from the wise and knowledgeable Judith Hanson Lasater and learning so many therapeutic tools in healing herself and helping others through her advance teacher training with Tiffany Cruikshank from Yoga Medicine.

“When I first heard of Yoga Gives Back, I was so inspired by its mission empowering women and providing education to children that I plunged straight into organizing an event. I am very blessed and honored to be a YGB Ambassador. “>Yoga is part of me; and being able to give back through yoga, using it as a medium, as a vehicle, is paramount as it holds a space close to my heart. My hope is to inspire others who have embraced yoga as a journey to give back in other creative ways.”

DENISE WOODS

HEEKI PARK

SHARDA TEN HOVE

Bali
Diaforlife, Now You Shine

Sharda teaches yoga privately in London where she also guides individuals into an ahimsa lifestyle through veganism and self/ social awareness.

“Some years ago I shared Yoga with women who have been victim of human and/or sex trafficking. Since then I am committed to find ways to help make a difference in the lives of women and children who have been traumatized. I am so thankful for YGB through which I get the opportunity to be part of a positive change in the lives of women and children and what better way to do this than through the gift of Yoga. I look forward connecting with many other ambassadors and YGB team members to join forces and be part of this inspiring fast growing movement to give back to the country where Yoga originates from. Namaste.”

Maya Gross

ashtangayoga.co.il

MINA LEE