...to spirit and truth that had been naggingly missing my whole life. On the mat, off the mat, but never far from the practice, I wandered the studios of New York City and then many parts of Asia, searching for what would eventually become the practice that I love. I knew it was out there.  Early on, in the Ashtanga days, I really thought that yoga was this strict, rigid thing that was just what you DID everyday, not something that you LOVED everyday. Then I found bhakti yoga, the yoga of devotion and service and love, and all of it made sense! I learned to sing kirtan, to express my heart and prayers on the mat, and to sit with my own noisy mind. It accidentally leaked into my regular life. I was nicer, calmer, and more capable of seeing the beauty in all people. Many thanks to Sharon Gannon and David Life for bringing it out of me at Jivamukti Yoga in New York in the early 1990’s. I would have given up long ago without drenching the practice in the love they awakened in me. And then there was Peter Rizzo, who really brought me face to face with myself time and again, forcing me into more and more honesty in my practice. I am forever grateful for his stern but loving approach to yoga, and to all beings. Dana Flynn of Laughing Lotus showed up for me sometime around 1999, and she literally turned me inside-out. I had never practiced with the freedom, ecstatic grace, and deep soulful connection to all that is before she rocked my world. She first blew my mind with the idea of moving like yourself, and blows my mind on a regular basis to this day. I will, and do, travel great distances to simply be in her wacky, wild, and free presence. My pranams could not be longer, deeper, or more full of gratitude for her wisdom and enthusiasm.

I have been teaching in some form since 1995, and moved to Portland in 2002. I began teaching at the beloved Yoga Shala of Portland in 2003, and loved every moment of my time there. I believe in our own innate wisdom to move and flow with the rhythm of our divine breath, in exactly the way we feel we need to at any given moment. Sharing this colorful and ecstatic practice is what I was born to do, and every day that I get to wake up and breathe love, I am infinitely grateful. I am honored and blessed to share my vision of the ultimate yoga love-shack with you in the bhaktishop. Thank you all for making it a reality, as well as a daily pleasure. Contact me at lisamaema@thebhaktishop.com

Yoga first showed up in my life as a Bikram class during the summer of 1989 in Key West. Life carried on, and while living in New York City and moving through some tremendous personal challenges, I found myself back on the mat. I found a sanctuary at Integral Yoga. After a few years of a dedicated asana practice, I moved to Los Angeles and connected with Center for Yoga, a beautiful studio that housed many lineages of yoga under one roof. Through a more dedicated practice, I began to reveal more of my truth, and soon knew that I wanted the world around me to do the same. In 2004, I stepped into their teacher training program with a hungry mind and an open heart.

I apprenticed with James Morrison, who inspired me with his admirable teaching style, a sweet combination of strength and grace. My first opportunity to teach came from his simply leaving the room while I was assisting one of his classes. My turn. I began teaching at Center for Yoga, and realized that as I found stillness on the inside, my outside environment needed to change. I moved to Portland and, after a few months, walked into Yoga Shala . I knew from my first class with Lisa Mae Osborn, that I had found a Friend on the path.  I am filled with gratitude for my two years at the Shala. I was able to practice with wonderful people and allow my journey as a teacher to humbly blossom.  This is the moment that I bow down to Dana and Jasmine at Laughing Lotus.  And now, The Bhaktishop.  I am blessed to be able to rock it out with Lisa Mae and create a community that nurtures everyone's ability to shine.   I continue to teach what I practice. Inspired by intentional movement with the breath and embracing the freedom of soulful vinyasa sequencing, I believe that our practice is a way for us to reveal what is already there, our truth, our connection to the environment and our capacity for love.

I offer my practice up to my first gurus, my mom and dad. Om Guru Om.

I continued to study with my Iyengar teachers there for the next five years, falling deeper and deeper in love with both the physical practice and the inevitable life lessons that follow diving deeply into that practice.  It was after waking from an inspirational and vivid dream involving a "yoga teacher test" that I decided to follow the calling and become a full-on yoga teacher myself.  I now work and play full time as a painter, and find great joy and balance in having the opportunity to share this transformational practice of yoga with others, all the while creating my art!

My infectious passion for dance, partner movement, massage, community connection and art all infuse my classes with creativity and a sense of celebration for the present, ever changing, ever beautiful moment. Please come join me in this celebration!

Seeking refuge from the stresses associated with working in the often-strenuous restaurant industry, I decided to take my first Yoga class in 2003.  After an hour and a half of moving and breathing with intention, I realized that I had found a practice I would dedicate myself to for years to come, if not the rest of my life.  While I was confused by the names of all the poses and a little frustrated by the limitations that my body presented, I left feeling refreshed, invigorated, and with the sensation one gets in their stomach when they are first falling in love.

From family and friends to the blossoming lotus that grows out of the murky waters, I owe many thanks to all the teachers who have helped me along my path.  A special round of pranams, however, must go out to those who taught those first few classes attended, Jody Kurilla and Char Rice. Of course also to the Reverend Lisa Mae Osborn, who introduced me to the wonderful, heart-opening world of Bhakti Yoga and, in the fall of 2006, took me under wing as an apprentice.  With her patience and ever-watchful guidance, Lisa Mae offered me the opportunity to cultivate my own personal practice so that I can now share what I find with others.  As with so many things in the world of yoga, Lisa Mae is also responsible for introducing me to Jai Uttal, a sweet bhakti yogi whose musical talents and devotional practice inspire me on a daily basis.

As a teacher I strive to emulate my many teachers by sharing my passion and enthusiasm for yoga while also offering a safe, devotion filled classroom where students can honor their bodies and move with freedom and self-expression.  By learning to listen to our bodies with compassion and patience, it is my hope that all seekers on the yoga path will learn to integrate their practice outside of the walls of their yoga studios and into their daily lives.

Early on I was inspired by the ideas of seva (service) and bhakti (devotion), and I leaped into monastic life at the ripe old age of 20. I lived in ashrams in the NW and India over the next two years and had the great fortune to have bowed my head to, and taken instruction from many saints and sages.

I emerged back in the NW hoping to live a more thoughtful, progressive life centered on the incredibly profound and basic ideas of devotion and service. After eight years of yoga practice I finally knew it was time to begin my amazed journey into teaching. I've spent three years training with beloved local Hatha yoga teachers and studying asana, anatomy, pranayama and meditation.

Teaching yoga has given me new eyes to see this practice and its enlivening nature, each breath showing up as another opportunity to connect to the vast ocean of bhakti. I seek to serve and honor all of the great teachers who have helped me along the way, most importantly my guru Swami BV Tripurari, without whose words of wisdom I would be lost.

Yoga is a practice of love and truth. Each movement is a prayer and a gift we give ourselves. I come to the mat to celebrate life, to take the time to feel whole, to feel full of love and grace. Yoga doesn’t mind if I’m grumpy or if I feel less than perfect in my jeans- it simply provides me a place to show up and be embraced and nourished, and brings ease to my mind and heart.

I studied at Kripalu in Massachusetts, and have been blessed to be teaching yoga in Portland since 2004. Every day is a gift! My teaching encourages you to move into the physical practice in your own way, honoring your own truth with every choice you make, as well as the choices you make off the mat. Asana practice allows us to let go of the future and the past alike, and to live fully in the moment, receiving every one of the gifts this human life has to offer.

“The present moment is the only aperture through which the soul can pass out of time into eternity, through which grace can pass out of eternity into the soul, and through which love can pass from one soul in time to another.” Aldous Huxley

As a kid when asked what I wanted to be when I grew up, I always responded "a choreographer". I spent many days creating and showing my work to family members, friends, neighbors, and at the occasional talent show. The creativity in movement just seemed to flow endlessly from within me. Unable to afford dance classes, I took up cheerleading, color guard, theater, etc., anything that allowed me to express my creative flow. The slightest taste of movement was enough to keep me going. Well, that and the unshakable support and encouragement from my incredible mother.

I without a doubt knew that I was going to college for dance, regardless of the question, "Dance? What are you going to do with Dance?" Four years and many, many dance classes, performances, workshops, and festivals later I graduated from William Smith College with a BA in Dance. I have since taught at Cappuccio Dance Academy, The Peace Full Soul, the Girls' Leadership and Development Program, Sabin SUN School, the Yoga Shala of Portland, and now at the Bhaktishop!

Regardless of any ridicule or hardship, I have never harbored an ounce of regret for following what I believe to be my path in this life. I have simply always known that I am a dancer and I love to share this passion with others. Everyone has a mover inside, and my goal is to gently coax it out. Knowing what it is like to walk into a dance class for the first time feeling so insecure and petrified that I will make an absolute fool of myself, I aim to create a comfortable and supportive environment for all students. I want my dance classes to be fun and full of movement exploration and compassion for ourselves and each other.

One of the greatest gifts that I can offer is to give someone the tools to better understand and express what lies within. It is this love for movement that guided me gently and slowly into my yoga practice, eventually leading me to my teachers Diana and Lisa Mae, and subsequently changing my life. I am so very grateful to be a part of this wonderfully supportive and loving yoga community! It just feels like home.

I am honored and so happy to teach with all the family at The Bhaktishop. I have been enthralled with the joys of yoga since the age of 16, when my first teacher talked about purple auras and chakra wheels. Since then, I've studied with numerous teachers, but found a home at Jivamukti Yoga while living in the crazy frenetic city of New York.

I craved the sanctuary of yoga in the city—the asana, the chanting, and the meditation all felt like home to me. I also discovered kirtan and Bhakti yoga while studying there and fell in love with every Ma, Shiva Shambo and Hanuman uttered in the presence of Bhagavan Das, Krishna Das, Jai Uttal, and other kirtan wallahs.

When I moved to Portland, it took a few months to find the right "yoga home", but finally the Yoga Shala appeared in my life. That’s where I met Lisa Mae, Char, Diana, Mary Jo and other amazing teachers, and it was then I finally decided to answer the call of teaching. I have been teaching since 2005, after a two-year teaching training at the Yoga Shala, in which I studied Asana, Sanskrit, Anatomy, Philosophy, Pranayama and Meditation.

My classes are inspired by my love of nature, poetry, music, life and singing Kali Durga to the full moon. It also gives me so much joy to sing and lead kirtan with the Om Girls at the Bhaktishop! My love of yoga is contagious, and I intend to be responsible for more and more people catching the yoga bug. I offer unending pranams to my many teachers, students and yoga family for their support, blessings and inspiration.

Upon returning from living abroad in Europe, I came back to my last year of college searching and yearning for more, something more than I already knew. I was bored and yearned for the passion and love for life I had experienced abroad. Something awakened in me while traveling, and I truly needed more in my life.

Sensing this, a dear friend of mine invited me to a yoga class at the tiny dance studio at my college. As foreign as the language was and the movements felt to me, I left feeling so peaceful and alive. This practice was what I was missing! Slowly from there yoga became my focus and commitment. The same woman that taught me that first class became my teacher for the next 5 years. Each day that I practiced I felt more alive. I didn’t need to search any more, because the practice had found me! I had no idea how passionate I was to become and how deeply this practice would be ingrained in me. I still am amazed, every day!

I though I was going to “exercise”, and yet again that mentality quickly shifted as I realized yoga was becoming my way of life.  And as life is constantly changing so did my practice. I found myself shifting from this strict physical practice to a practice infused with love and devotion. I learned that the real yoga was done outside the studio. It was how I related to people, and how I functioned in my everyday life. I soon found another beautiful teacher who introduced me to Kripalu. Here I found a new intense depth and relationship to yoga. This was what I wanted and needed to be sharing with others. Upon completing my training I moved to Portland from the east coast.

As everything felt so unfamiliar, I was able to stay very present and open to whatever showed up in the moment. With very little searching I found a studio that was already teaching Kripalu! From there sweet Sarah Pagliaro helped get me in the doors at the Yoga Shala of Portland, where my path has become so much deeper and clearer. And now, this journey that has been so amazing continues to be, as I am blessed to be a part of this new and beautiful yoga community, The Bhaktishop, alongside so many other beautiful teachers. Thank you for being a part of it.  

When I first stepped onto the mat more than six years ago I was convinced that yoga was going to help me gain flexibility in my overuses muscles. I had no idea that it would stretch my mind, and more importantly my heart, wide open.

An avid and competitive athlete, serious outdoor enthusiast, and mother to two young children, I surely didn’t need anymore activities or hobbies in my life.  But the more yoga classes I attended, the more I felt the need to explore this practice.  Yoga complimented my athletics, giving me better recovery time and the flexibility I was seeking. Then a few years into a somewhat steady practice, most likely deep and flat-out in some painful hip-opening pose, I was so moved by what was opening in my body that I felt tears on my face. Not tears of sadness or even joy, but of relief…or release. A release of old stuff I was holding onto for years. I realized that yoga was not going to be another workout for me, but truly a work-in. I saw insight to my true nature that I could find nowhere else.

After practicing for a few years under the competent eye of Jody Kurilla at the Yoga Shala, I then found the graceful and amazing Char Rice also at the Shala, and spent even more time with her.  Then shortly after her arrival in Portland to the Yoga Shala from New York City, the woman that would really offer her hand out to me in so many ways, showing me how to find my true path, Lisa Mae Osborn showed up like a rockin’ beam of light into my life. Her love of yoga and deep devotion were infectious to me, as they are to any student that crosses her path.  Thanks to her encouragement and guidance, as well as that of Diana Hulet and other teachers, I took on the Yoga Shala’s teacher training program. Currently in my third and final year of that intensive program, I am apprenticing with Lisa Mae and beginning my teaching for The Bhaktishop with great enthusiasm and joy. A deep bow to Matt Huish, the director of teacher training at the Yoga Shala, for really making me “do the work” needed on myself to further my journey on this yoga path. He continues to influence my teaching and practice daily.

Yoga has made me a better wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend, student, teacher, athlete, and all around human being, all by showing me that ultimately we have all we need inside our own hearts. Once we are no longer afraid to spread the love that lives within us to all beings, we are able to walk through our lives with true compassion, lightness, and contentment.

I am so grateful to be part of this amazing Bhaktishop family, and humbled to be able to begin my teaching journey among such great teachers. I will forever be a student of yoga, but truly look forward to be sharing what I love as I am blessed to lead the way for others.