As it is women’s history month, we here at the Wild Yoga Tribe wanted to continue to shine a light on the incredible women on the path of yoga. While yoga is a deeply intimate, personal journey, it’s not often that we walk the path alone. A yoga student needs a teacher, and often dozens of teachers will arise in our lives.
Right student. Right teacher. Right time.
Or so the saying goes. Female or female-identifying yoga teachers have impacted yoga since the very beginning— with Shiva’s partner Parvati. If you’re curious about the role of women throughout history in yoga, please read our blog here.
We wanted to reach out to yoga teachers in our community, and beyond, to ask them if there has been a woman who has impacted their path of yoga?
The answers were beautiful.
We wanted to begin by sharing our founder, Lily Allen-Duenas’ thoughts on which women have played a role in impacting her yoga practice.
“While I haven’t had as many female-yoga teachers as I would have liked during my travels and studies in yoga, I have been incredibly fortunate to have been inspired by dozens of fellow female yoga teachers on the path of yoga. Through my podcast, I interview bright and beautiful women from all around the world, and their words and their stories inspire me and off the mat. To get more specific… a woman yoga teacher who I was fortunate to study under was Kate Mandlik with Yoga Point in Nashik, India. She led my prenatal/post-natal yoga teacher training, and she did a beautiful job transmitting the teachings. I also feel grateful to Kira Sloane, a lead teacher at Yoga Anytime, for the hundreds of hours I’ve spent online with you— learning and growing alongside your words! I am also enormously grateful for Celest Pereira, a physiotherapist and yoga teacher who continues to teach me more and more and more about the physical body!”
Let’s hear more from other yoga teachers, about how their journey was changed by the incredible woman yoga teachers on the path!
A woman who has made yoga therapy more accessible
“I would love to nominate Anna Passalacqua as one of the amazing women in the world of yoga. Anna has devoted herself to helping others through yoga. In 2006, she started providing yoga therapy, concentrating on eating disorders, body image, and weight loss. Today she is a co-founder, director, and teacher at Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy, the yoga therapy training school we run together as a husband-and-wife team. She has helped hundreds of students on their path to becoming yoga therapists and helped drive our mission to make ethical, practical yoga therapy more accessible.” – Brandt Passalacqua, The Founder, Director, and Lead Teacher at Breathing Deeply Yoga Therapy, trained at the Integral Yoga Institute in structural yoga therapy. For more information on Anna Passalacqua, follow this link.
A woman who has bridged yoga from India to the West
“I would love to tell you about my beloved teacher, Uschi Gibson. She helps to bridge yoga from practitioners in the West to the true traditions of India. She studies not just asana, but the full practice of yoga and helps others to experience the authenticity of India. I have traveled with her, taking groups from my yoga studio, three different times.”- Jill Loftis, the former owner of Uttara Yoga Studio in Roanoke, Virginia. She received her training with Yoga Kriya. Connect with Jill Loftis. Connect with Uschi Gibison.
A woman whose yoga sequences nourish the body and cultivate strength
“Carling Harps is a Seattle-based yoga studio owner, yoga teacher trainer, and online yoga platform owner. Carling is a powerful, grounded woman with a presence. She has been instrumental in my yoga journey and someone I admire because her unique teaching style makes yoga inclusive and accessible to all. Carling’s style focuses on functional movement and mobility. Carling’s playful classes are challenging in unexpected ways. They slowly unravel the body organically and take you on a movement journey while testing the body/brain connection. Importantly though, she is relatable, knowledgeable, and inclusive. Her classes are not about getting into fancy poses; they are about nourishing the body and cultivating true strength.”- Heather, creator/owner of The Yogatique. Her training was at Aligned Yoga. Connect with Carling Harps: carlingnicole.com
A woman who brought yoga to NYC youth with “Namasteens”
“Lara Benusis is someone who has greatly impacted my yoga path. She was one of the first teachers that I truly admired at Pure Yoga on the Upper East Side of NYC, and she introduced me to the practice at the age of 8 years old in her “Namasteens” class. I had the opportunity to interview her on my podcast years later, where we talked about how she helped develop my interest in the practice and her work bringing greater wellness and yoga to young children and adolescents.” – Stella Stephanopoulos, Teacher at Core Power and Founder of Everyday Endorphins. Her training was with The Peaceful Warriors. Connect with Lara Benusis.
A woman who uplifts other students and teachers
“Linh James is one of the most beautiful, creative, loving souls I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and practicing with. She has an inclusive and creative teaching style that helps bring the poses and the practice to life and makes it relatable, meeting the yogi where they are. She is also a gifted musician, leading powerful and incredible breathwork sound bath workshops and classes. Her retreats (local and global) are one-of-a-kind, powerful, fun, and adventurous experiences. I will forever be grateful for her open heart and willingness to lift me up and give me a chance to find my teaching voice.”- Amy Sullivan, Yoga teacher with CorePower and runs myaspirezen.com. She received her training with Yoga Teacher Training Program – YogaWorks. Connect with Linh James at LINH JAMES Kundalini Yoga or Linh James (aka GuruMitar) (@linhjamesxo).
A woman who is a walking permission-slip to be joyful
“Clio Manuelan is one of the most devoted yoga teachers I’ve ever learned from. As a private yoga instructor to women in Austin, devotion is something that I take extremely seriously. To truly live and breathe yoga through your bones as a lifestyle is much different than merely teaching a workout class. The passion and devotion Clio holds, definitely inspired me to deepen my path of yoga and share the philosophical side of yoga with my students. She also was a walking permission-slip of how joyous you’re allowed to be as a yoga teacher. It’s not just about peace and accessing that calm, placid state. The JOY that radiates from Clio felt like an invitation for me as an instructor to share my deeply-seated joy with my students.” – Natalie Raphae, Founder of Modern Yoga. She is a certified RYT-500 Hour Yoga Teacher. Connect with Clio Manuelan here.
A woman who helps others’ accept their asymmetries
“The woman who impacted my yoga path is Elise Browning Miller. Miller has paved the way for teaching and writing about yoga for scoliosis. Her teachings help people live with less pain and work with their bodies as they are–one of the central tenets of yoga. She has changed the way I practice yoga and care for my body and has helped me find more acceptance of my own scoliosis and body asymmetries”. Zethyn McKinley, of 360-Yoga. She received her yoga training from Siddhi Yoga. Connect with Elise Browning Miller here.
Women who have impacted peoples’ yoga path
The journey of yoga is beautiful and these women have continued to spread the idea of bringing one’s mind, body, and action into harmony to help people discover who they are and unite with nature.
The Wild Yoga Tribe wants to thank all these incredible women for continuing to encourage those on the path of yoga. We also want to remind you that the importance of Women’s History Month is not just to highlight these women’s achievements during March but to make sure these achievements are noticed and highlighted every day of the year. Thank you to all the strong and magnificent women (and female-identifying individuals) who have made sure that practicing yoga and teaching it establishes a safe and supportive atmosphere to inspire others.
