I took my first hatha yoga class on the wrestling mat in the NYU gym in college and never looked back knowing I had found the connection to God and truth that had been naggingly missing thus far in my life. At 17 years old I wandered onto the mat, then off the mat, but never wandered far from the practice.  I traversed 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 my 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 by some grace, bhakti yoga came into my life, and I felt for the first time 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 work with my own noisy mind, directing it toward service. It accidentally leaked into my regular life. I was nicer, calmer, and more capable of seeing the beauty in all people.

The pranams: Many thanks to my first teachers, Sharon Gannon and David Life, for bringing it out of me upstairs at the old purple Jivamukti Yoga Center in New York in the early 1990’s. I would have given up long ago without dipping my practice in the love they started to awaken in me. Next came Beryl Bender Birch, 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 her stern but loving approach to yoga. 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 Jasmine Tarkeshi continues to surprise and delight my hatha yoga life as well. Around 2005, by my great good fortune, I read one of Swami B.V. Tripurari’s translations of The Bhagavad Gita, and was transformed. His wisdom, guidance, and living realization of Bhakti yoga have been illuminating the path for me ever since. I seek to serve the grace of all the teachers that have offered their generous help by extending their hand to me.

The practicals: I have been teaching in some form since 1995, and moved from NYC  to Portland in 2002. 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 in hatha yoga. Guided firmly by intelligence in anatomy and asana, and aided by a sense of adventure in the wild landscape of the heart, yoga comes alive for us as a living, dynamic practice. 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 and for Acupuncture visit sassyneedles.com.

I came into this life blessed, arriving with a mother and father who kept me very close to the beauty of Nature. They guided me through my early years based on the foundation that I had a relationship with the world around me.  They illuminated the way for me, and I will always hold them in my heart as my first Gurus.  

At the age of 18, I landed in a Bikram yoga class at the local community college, and in that first Savasana, I felt my own energy vibrate all the way to my fingertips and toes, leaving me completely taken by the practice of yoga.  In my early twenties, it wouldn't be the asana practice that kept me tied in, but the dive into a desire to know of the expansiveness and mystery of spiritual practice.  I had yet to see that they come together.  I fell in love with holding space in the form of an altar, meditating at the edge of the ocean, and blowing my mind open in whatever way possible.

 I dipped into asana classes here and there while living in Miami, and it was the passing on of both parents that stuck me on my mat, a few years later, at the Integral Yoga Institute in NYC.  I knew the mat was where I danced between worlds, and in this place, I was able to still feel that strong presence of my first teachers guiding me along.  Life led me across the country, and I unrolled my mat in Los Angeles.  It was at Center for Yoga where I met my teacher and dear friend, James Morrison, who led me along the path of strength, grace, and humility as I made the decision to share these practices, immersing myself in a teacher training program. This was accompanied by an apprenticeship with James, when we stood in the back of the class, weeping from the beauty of students pouring their hearts into practice.  My years in Los Angeles were full of meaning and as I steadied myself in a practice that blurred the line between  “on the mat” and “off the mat,”  my eyes opened to life as yoga. 

I longed for more external space, more nature, more green, and looked North to Portland, Oregon.  In the same day, I found a place to live, and a place to teach, which sounded like a voice from beyond saying “Land Here!”  I called Yoga Bhoga home for my slowly blossoming teaching practice, and I missed living so close to my teacher.  The beauty of the NW, and my soul's longing kept me full of inspiration, and one day a student said “you should go take Lisa Mae's class at Yoga Shala.”  I did, and by the end of that beautiful class, I knew that I had found a cosmic sister.  We spent years teaching side by side at the Shala, and eventually felt it was time to get out into the world with our own vision. 

I met her hatha yoga teachers, Dana and Jasmine, founders of Laughing Lotus in NY and SF, and was completely blown into orbit by their juicy teaching style and unwavering support of our newly hatched venture, The Bhaktishop.  Celebrating love, life, and a family of courageous teachers, we opened the doors offering a place where the community could bow down to their unfolding lives in the form of a vinyasa yoga practice. In 2008, we shared the love by offering a 200-hour Yoga School program, and it was during this humble time that I met Sanskrit teacher Manorama.  I offer my heart in reverence to my beloved teacher, and continue my studies with her, immersing myself in the language of Sanskrit, and continuing to walk the path of this life with Manorama’s guidance.

The best and most important activity I do each day is my Yoga practice.  This time I spend alone or in the company of fellow practitioners reminds of me of both who I am and the great potential that lies within everyone’s hearts.  I am an individual with responsibilities as a father, as a husband and as a member of the greater community, but it is the time I spend meditating, chanting or practicing asana that allows me to fulfill those obligations with as much love and generosity as I am capable.

I am indebted to so many people who have helped me during my evolution as a practitioner and as a person since I took my first Yoga class in 2003, but a few people deserve a bit of extra public gratitude.  I was ever so fortunate to decide to drive cross-town a few months after I first started practicing to take a class with a teacher I knew nothing about, Lisa Mae Osborn.  Her enthusiasm for Yoga and her fun-loving asana sequencing helped me cultivate a sincere love for practicing Yoga.  After several years of taking as many classes as I could with her, she began to teach me how to share Yoga with others.  Shortly thereafter she presented me with my first opportunity to teach.  From making a playlist to sequencing with intelligence, her advice continues to be inspiring and helpful.

Matt Huish and Shandor Remete of the Shadow Yoga School deserve special mention as well.  Their stern but caring approach, and their far-reaching knowledge of asana and pranayama served to fine-tune my understanding of Yoga. 

Most importantly, there are no words that can express my gratitude for Swami B.V. Tripurari and all the advice and wisdom that he shares.  Finding him as a guide has been one of the greatest blessings of my life.  His humility, grace and luminosity serve as a beacon, shining the way into ever-deeper depths of service, devotion and love.

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 first entered my life in the year 2000, via the doorway of my love for movement. At the time I was pursuing a degree in dance and movement studies, and I had no idea how dramatically these practices would change my life just a few years down the road. I have always had a keen interest in the way the world moves; its continuous oscillations filling me to the brim with wonder, inspiration, and love, and encouraging me to slow down long enough to look closer and go deeper.

As Jacob Needleman so sweetly says "All through my life I've experienced a sense of wonder that has to do with something that's out there but also touches a place within me. It feels as if I'm part of something bigger." It was when I had the good fortune of connecting with Uma Diana Hulet and Lisa Mae Osborn shortly after moving to Portland in '05, that the seeds that had been planted so long ago finally began to take root. I knew I had found my home with these women who also  happened to be incredibly gifted hatha yoga teachers, and who seemed to strike a chord in my heart in each her own way. I was introduced to the practice of kirtan (call-and-response chanting) the following spring, and have been participating in this beautiful devotional practice with Mala (our house kirtan collective) ever since. I had been cracked wide-open, and I've never looked back!

I have been teaching movement now (everything from children's dance to therapeutic private yoga classes and many things in between) since 1999. I have had the honor of being a part of The Bhaktishop Yoga Center since its inception, and I am currently enrolled in The Bhaktishop Yoga Grad School 500-hour program, as well as a part of the teaching staff for the 200-hour Yoga School program. When I am not teaching or studying yoga, I am doing my work as a licensed massage therapist, where I am able to spend valuable one-on-one time with those who are looking to find ease, balance, and wellness in their bodies.

It is my goal as a practitioner and teacher to serve and honor each individual that I encounter, whether on the mat or off, in the best and truest way that I know how. Movement of course is still endlessly fascinating to me, but it is truly the connection to Source that we may encounter while engaged in yoga practices, that has me hooked.

I bow in deep gratitude for the guidance of all of my teachers as I continue to walk this path, but most especially I am humbled and ignited by the generous teachings of Swami B.V. Tripurari, whom I have had the immeasurable blessing of encountering in this lifetime. By the grace of God I hope that I might serve others to the best of my ability, and that my sadhana (practice) and bhakti (devotion) may permeate and inhabit all aspects of my life.

I believe yoga really CAN change the world.  I see proof of it in every amazing soul I meet at the Bhaktishop!

I am honored and so happy to teach at this incredible pink palace of Love. I have been enthralled with the joys of yoga since the age of 16, when my first teacher told us to get in touch with our auras and chakras. 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. I studied with some incredible teachers while there and 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. I continue to study and learn something new each day about practice, patience, and most of all, love!

My classes are inspired by my love of nature, poetry, music, life and singing Kali Durga to the full moon. I find absolute joy in teaching beginners and watching their beautiful curiosity and excitement for this practice unfold. I am also so blessed to sing and lead kirtan with Mala every second Sunday!  I offer unending pranams to my many teachers, students and yoga family for their support, blessings and inspiration.

I thank God for the little sandwich board sign on the sidewalk that read "Orlando Yoga: First Class Free". That was enough to lure me in, and towards the end of class I remember having the strangest realization that I hadn't really TRULY been breathing…my whole life! Initially, I was attracted to the physical benefits of the poses and how relaxed I felt after class, but my practice waxed and waned for several years. Then in 2003 I was blessed to cross paths with teacher Jeannie Laslo, who alluded to the deeper aspects of Yoga in her classes. The more committed I became to a regular Hatha yoga practice, the more curious I was to find out about Yoga as a way of living. In 2004 I completed my teacher training with Jeannie at Red Door Yoga in Winter Park, Florida in the Integral yoga lineage. I began teaching at the studio right away, and am forever grateful to Jeannie for her support, guidance, and love.

In 2005 I moved to Portland, and have taught in Milwaukie, at Portland Community College, and through the Living Yoga program. It makes sense to me that in this beautiful city, so full of life and outside- the-box living, my own practice has grown in ways I never could have imagined. This evolution is due in large part to Lisa Mae Osborn. Lisa Mae showed me that yoga doesn't have to be a somber, serious matter. At the same time, I've never been more serious about this practice. Lisa Mae's soulful, creative style has influenced my own practice and teaching; she and the rest of the Bhaktishop crew continue to be my guides in transformation. I am forever indebted and grateful to them.

For many years I thought something was missing from life. Through my practice I've come to understand that there isn't anything missing, we've all just become really good at covering ourselves up, at getting lost. For me, Yoga is the path back home. It is this personal experience of reconnecting with Self, breath, spirit and love that informs my teaching.

Lisa Mae adds:
"Marianne is an instrumental member of our community of managers, holding down the fort as the manager of The Bhaktishop's Yoga School, as well as being the managing board member of the Bhakti Soul Fund. She is dedicated to seeing that the community is served in the form of donations and immediate help from the Fund, as well as staying true to the highest vision of our Yoga School Program. I am SO grateful for her thoughtful and loving approach to the ties that hold these two programs dearly to our heart, and her dedication makes everything easier!"

My yoga journey began 7 years ago in a small crystal shop in Pittsburgh, PA, appropriately named “Journeys of Life”.  This new age magical retail store exposed me to a community of people who were active in their spiritual quest and day to day connection to the divine.  I had been pulled towards mysticism and Asian philosophy since I was a young girl in middle school, and later, I began my self study in nutrition and yoga, buying any videos and books I could get my hands on. 

Movement with breath is innate within all of us.  It is what our body wants to naturally do.  I finally experienced my first real exhale as a young adult.  One yoga class a day was not satisfying my thirst, so I left my life in Pittsburgh and ended up at the Himalayan Institute.  I received so much direction and knowledge in my short visit with solitude and silence, that I decided to go back to school, and moved to Flagstaff, AZ. There I enrolled in the Anthropology and Asian Studies department at NAU.  Yoga and dance were my saviors during that time of academia overload.  My practice was the only stability I had in my life and the mat became an extension of my Self and my thoughts.  It was, and is, a sacred place for expression, excretion of unwanted baggage, and creation. 

I became attached to my teachers as well as the community there, which made the move to Portland very difficult.  After a few weeks of searching Portland yoga studios I was about to give up, and then I went to Lisa Mae Osborn’s class at the Yoga Shala.  After class I said to myself “Thank God!”  and immediately began to study with her and the lovely Diana Hulet. 

With their grace I was able to complete the first Bhaktishop Teacher Training program in 2008, and Jai Ma! I’m forever grateful for their open hearts and words of encouragement this past year.  Thank you both for asking me to pour myself empty and for sharing the light.  Many offerings up to my father, my first guru.  I feel you in every breath, and I’m blessed by your daily guidance.  Also to my grandmother, a true bhakti yogini.  I finally caught a glimpse of the love and devotion you had cultivated for God on this earth.  All memories of you bring a huge smile to my face.  Finally, thanks to my family and friends for giving me the freedom necessary for this awesome journey of self discovery and life……

Om shanti shanti shanti 

Not long ago, I was visiting with my mom on her couch when she handed me a few pages from a journal she used to keep when I was young. I was three years old on the day of this particular entry, and we laughed as we read the probing questions I was asking, such as this one that would drive my life for many years: "Mom, when I grow up, will I make sense?"

Though posed with all the depth a three-year-old can muster, not much has changed in terms of what I'm still asking and am interested in understanding. I have always been drawn toward spiritual practices and have explored a variety of spiritual traditions along my way. I spent many years being inspired by the teachings of Dr. Marilyn Sewell, who encouraged me to develop my own understanding of life and the driving force of Love as the source of it all. I was simultaneously taking yoga classes at the "big gym," but yoga didn't become a main part of my spiritual practice until stepping into The Bhaktishop in 2008.

It was here that I first encountered the idea that becoming who you are isn't always a process of adding on, but is often a process of letting go. That everything already makes sense, and my task is to discover and release all the obstacles I have put in the way of experiencing this truth. I LOVE this.

In the following months I began to change my trajectory, to make room in my life for practices that help me to turn inward, to open outward, to stay inspired, and to be of service. I was especially inspired by the use of music and mantra in class and began exploring how to integrate these into my own practice at home. I applied to The Bhaktishop’s Yoga School program to further develop and deepen my understanding of all the practices of yoga, and to study the texts from which they originate.

Following graduation from teacher training in the summer of 2009, I began teaching level 1 and 2 asana classes as well as the restful, quiet restorative class that is offered on Thursday evenings. I have also been offering classes in sign language to the Deaf community, and have so much appreciated the enthusiasm and support that has surrounded this teaching and learning experience. I am so humbled, honored and blessed to have been welcomed into the teaching family here at The Bhaktishop. I am forever grateful to Lisa Mae, Diana, and the many amazing people I have met in this community; there is no part of my life un-touched by what you have shared!

Lisa Mae adds:
"Jeannie is the center's manager, and a dedicated member of The Bhaktishop team. Her presence is an instrumental heartbeat of our studio in everything from the down-and-dirty details to helping bring The Bhaktishop's highest vision into reality, step by (often annoying) step. I LOVE that she is with us, this group of skilled teachers, as well as with this community of individuals, who playfully and steadily transform together along their unique paths. I am honored to have her here, and the center is forever better for her presence."

Yoga has been a practice of coming home—home to my body, my spirituality, and to my truest self. I have spent most of my life believing in something greater; something that not only was outside of myself but that also came from within. And yet I lacked the words, knowledge, and practice to be able to understand what that might mean. When I finally started to dive deeper into the practices of yoga, slowly pieces began to merge together bringing into focus a clearer vision of what it is that I have longed for all this time.

Coming to The Bhaktishop for the first time in 2008, I immediately knew I had found a place to belong. I felt the love, warmth, and devotion that I never knew had been the missing piece from my prior years of asana practice, and quickly realized that there was a whole lot more to learn. I took my teacher training in 2009 with Lisa Mae, Uma, Hari bhakti, and Tasha at The Bhaktishop, and apprenticed with Uma following graduation. I feel truly fortunate and blessed to have found my own practice, and to have the opportunities of study that have been presented to me. As I began to venture into the practice of teaching in 2009, I discovered yet another way to learn and enliven my own study. Teaching is one of the greatest ways to learn and a wonderful blessing in my life. It informs my own practice and keeps me connected, grounded, and inspired. Some days, I honestly cannot believe how lucky I feel to be able to work in something that I am passionate about and that is so important in my own life. My style of teaching is a fun and loving devotional vinyasa flow that incorporates mantra, pranayama, and meditation. I try to infuse my classes with a mix of humor, education, love, and lightheartedness.

I continue to work towards my 500-hour certification at The Bhaktishop with Lisa Mae and many other incredible teachers. It is an honor to be a part of such an inspiring group and an amazing community of yogis. I strive to continue to study, soften, love, and bow down to all that is divine around me, knowing that all I ever needed is already within me.

When I walked into my first yoga class, I had a feeling that yoga and I would be growing old together, and after over a decade of yoga studio dabbling, I finally landed home at The Bhaktishop.  Here, my practice began to fly off of my mat and into my life.  Inspired by these changes I enrolled in The Bhaktishop School of Yoga 2011. 

Although I wasn’t attached to the idea of being a teacher at first, I fell in love with the experience of sharing yoga.  Teaching has shown me that it is not only okay, but absolutely necessary to be a perpetual student.  As I continue to study and practice the line between yoga and the rest of my life has softened and blurred, affording me the opportunity to offer up my love each day.  I feel truly blessed to be a part of this amazing community of teachers and students.