Kelly Valenzuela
More than 12 years ago, I began my career as a yoga teacher within the walls that are now Lila Yoga. A future that I could never have predicted has unfolded as I returned to this space in 2011 to help build a new yoga studio. I am deeply humbled and grateful for the opportunity to bring Lila Yoga to you! In my life yoga has been, and continues to be, a journey of self discovery, deepening awareness, and a return again and again to my own heart. In my teaching I invite students to meet themselves exactly where they are, to balance effort and ease in their bodies and their minds, and trust their own unique process. In our time together, we work to create and maintain a healthy, strong and stable body that is relaxed and open. I remind students to cultivate loving kindness for themselves all that arises while on their mat. There is nothing that cannot be met with breath and kind attention.
I am currently studying and practicing in the Viniyoga lineage and participating in a Teacher Training program with Tracy Weber at Whole Life Yoga in Greenwood. In addition to being a Certified Yoga Teacher I am a Master’s Level Therapist with an M.A. from Bastyr University, and have teaching certificates from Mount Madonna Center and Sarah Powers, and a BFA in Modern Dance.
Emily Trenkner
Ever since I could stand on skis or hold a tennis racket, my parents have encouraged, and I have enjoyed, athletics. When I was a teenager I realized the strong connection between being physically active and feeling good. I began to exercise before school because that led to better days and also better sleep. Eventually I started running long distance, even completing one or two marathons per year, finding that running helped calm a busy mind and brought a sense of challenge and accomplishment. In my early twenties, an Ashtanga yoga studio opened near my home and became very popular. When I tried it I found my over-used muscles appreciated the stretching and relaxation. My mind appreciated the calm. As I continued to practice I found inspiration in teachers and students who had been doing it for years; their poise and grace was what I hoped for in myself.
I also realized the systematic, experiential approach of yoga had the potential to ameliorate the depression and anxiety I had been cycling in and out of since I was very young. I embarked upon a year-long teacher training course and when I met my guru, Swami Kriyananda, I felt absolutely certain yoga was the path for me. I committed to daily practice, confident and hopeful that I would find what I was looking for.
Nearly ten tears later, I still practice daily and I still feel certain yoga is the path for me. Teaching is a large part of how I learn and grow in the practice, and the community I find through teaching is a great joy.
I have been teaching in Madison Valley since 2005 and am very grateful for all of the students and teachers I have in my life. Namaste.
Jennifer Strano
The healing properties of yoga drew Jenn into the practice, almost a decade ago. Coming from a dance background, she was recommended yoga for back problems. As her practice began to positively affect all aspects of her life, she knew that this would be a piece of her, forever. Fortunate to study primarily under amazing teachers, Tami Hafzalla and Kathleen Hunt, Jenn organically found herself in a community that fosters students and teachers alike. After doing her first Teacher Training program with Kathleen and Tami in 2008, Jenn began teaching.
Jenn enjoys a holistic approach to yoga, working with all of the 8 limbs of Hatha yoga. Her classes are traditional with a rich influence from traditional and modern scripture and texts. She prides her classes on unique sequencing and nurturing her students. Her goal is to create a space where her students can let go of the past and make room for the present and future.
Jenn also loves working with moms and moms to-be. She completed Birth Doula training in 2010 and strives to be a source of support for pregnant women and new families. Her prenatal classes are a great place to find information, relax, and to prepare for relaxing during birth. As with all of her classes, breath and present moment awareness are repetitive themes. Jenn continues to deepen both her awareness and her own practice, through intensives, workshops, and classes. She is always expanding her knowledge and finding ways to share this with others.
Laura Prudhomme
Laura believes that creating space in the body brightens the light of the heart and focuses the fluctuations of the mind. She teaches a vinyasa-based class with attention to proper alignment and ease of breath. Laura addresses these principles by concentrating on the relationship of gravity and levity, base support and core strength, and the integration of the breath and intelligent movement. Her goal is to engage students in a practice that invites curiosity, playfulness, and clear intention. She has recently joined forces with the beautiful and gifted Erin Beattie to form Loving Fiercely, a teaching duo that combines the art of healing touch and adjustment with yoga asana. The structure of their classes allows for a hands on experience in a group class setting.
Laura began her study of yoga while earning a BFA in Dance. She later moved to Seattle and deepened her commitment to the practice under the auspices of Kathleen Hunt and her inspiring teachers at Samadhi Yoga Center where she completed her 200-hour teacher training certification.
Natalie Mackie
To put it simply, Natalie believes that yoga makes life better. The more you learn about yoga and practice it’s philosophical implications, the more ease you will have when dealing with the ups and downs of life. Natalie’s movement style marries the precision of Hatha with the grace of Vinyasa. Beyond posturing, in yoga class with Natalie you can expect pranayama practices, chakra awareness to explore the connection between the body and mind & meditation practices to quiet and focus the mind.
A lover of all things active, Natalie has a rich background in dance, and can be spotted weekly communing with nature on Washington’s trails by summer & slopes by winter. Natalie wholeheartedly agrees with Albert Einstein when he said, if you look at nature you will understand everything better. So she keeps in tune with the natural world and shares what she has learned from the seasons, her teachers and her personal practice. Natalie has a B.A. in Psychology and is a RYT 200 Level Instructor of Yoga.
Sonia Weirich
Throughout my life physical movement has always given me peace in body, mind, and spirit. In my teens I was involved in all kinds of sports particularly running, swimming, and cycling. In my early twenties, inspired by my spiritual practices, I studied martial arts and obtained my black belt in Shotokan karate. In my early thirties my spiritual practices drew me to the familiar practices of yoga which I had been exposed to by my mother in my childhood. My study of yoga intensified over a number of years and in 2007 I began teaching Hatha yoga.
I have explored many forms of yoga including Vinyasa, Asthtanga, Iyengar, Kundalini and Bikram. I am currently inspired by Viniyoga, a style of yoga originating from Sri. T. Krishnamacharya. In this style of yoga the breath plays a central role, guiding and inspiring each movement. Poses are explored through repetitions and stays, as well as adaptations to suit the unique needs of the individual. Sequences are designed with safety in mind as the body is properly prepared and restored before and after each yoga pose.
I am a Viniyoga 200 RYT. I recently moved to Seattle to deepen my studies with my spiritual teacher. I am honored to be a part of the Lila Yoga community. The name, Lila, resonates well with me as I feel my life is and has been a Divine Play unfolding with each breath. What will the next breath bring?
Corinne Manning
Corinne Manning was first drawn to yoga for the way it assisted her writing practice. Not only did yoga assist her sore writer muscles but it enabled her to get to the heart of what she wanted to communicate more effectively. As her studies deepened she began to explore the therapeutic benefits of yoga both physically and emotionally. She completed her teacher training in 2009 at Seaside Yoga in Wilmington, North Carolina, which focused on the Law of the Five Elements and Therapeutics with roots in Anusara. She continued her studies through a Thai Yoga Massage training at the Vedic Conservatory and Reiki trainings with Samantha Fey. She also has an MFA in writing. Corinne strives to offer a thematic practice that is deeply based in aligning with what’s going on around us. Her approach to asana is structural and innovative and her goal is to work with students to find the fun that’s always present even in the most familiar poses.
Shana Robbins
In my evolution from swimmer-of-lakes and climber-of-trees I have passed through shades of dancer, martial artist, kayak-paddler, mountain-hiker, personal trainer, swimming instructor, Montessori guide, physical therapy student and Pilates and yoga instructor in an attempt to gain a deeper understanding of the human machine, not just in terms of levers, angles, and neurotransmitters but on a level less easily translated into words. These lessons are only available to those who give themselves over to the exploration of movement and their poetry is equally new and different and amazing to each seeker of truth, focus, well-being, and invincibility. I seek to blend what I have learned of the unspoken wisdom of the body and my own passion for scientific experience in order to teach others to safely and fearlessly explore their own potential.
Veronica D’Orazio has practiced yoga since 1993 and has seen this practice continue to change both her own life and the lives of her students. She daily experiences and witnesses the subtle yet powerful benefits of yoga: increased vitality and mental clarity, physical flexibility, strength and balance, as well as a deepened respect and compassion for not only oneself, but for all beings everywhere. Her classes are varied: she teaches traditional hatha courses, vinyasa flow and restorative yoga, providing a quiet, safe and challenging space for her students to grow. Veronica has been teaching for over 10 years, having graduated from Samadhi’s 2001 Teacher Training. She has studied with master teachers rooted in a variety of disciplines: Iyengar, Anusara, Sivananda and Ashtanga. She also works as a florist and writer, both of which nourish and require her abiding commitment to her yoga practice. She is grateful to be a new addition to Lila Yoga’s teachers, staff and students.
picture coming soon…
Erin Beattie
I took my first yoga class at 14 in 1995, it planted the seed and I have been exploring the world through movement and touch ever since. Yoga has shaped my life, leading me to become a massage therapist, yoga teacher, and a certified Hellerwork practitioner. In my classes and sessions I emphasize the process of finding and honoring your body’s structural alignment. Like snowflakes, no two bodies are alike, so finding steadiness and comfort (‘sthira sukham asanam) in each pose is truly a different path for each person.
I love working with people, am so inspired by the body and the being. My goal is to facilitate connection to the self, with physical and emotional integrity through heart centered teamwork. We’re all teachers and students, in every second, every relationship, with every interaction, we are in it together, learning.
Ellen McCown
Ellen has been practicing Insight Meditation since 1985, including completing several intensive retreats and serving on the staff of the Insight Meditation Society. Ellen is a long-time yoga practitioner, a founding board member of Seattle Insight Meditation Society and actively participates in sangha life. She works in research at the University of Washington and is currently in chaplaincy training.
Solveig Toft
Solveig teaches the Sunday evening Community Class for just $8. Please come and enjoy a class for half the price!
Bio coming soon…