Ashtanga Yoga Instructors

 Charisse Hayes

When I found Ashtanga Yoga, or it found me, I was in need of direction and discipline. I have always been a diligent worker but most of the time without pure intention or recognition of myself. With this system I have learned how to focus and get to know myself through constant practice and devotion. I have developed stronger, more meaningful relationships in the world because of the internal work that I have finally taken responsibility for. I wish to serve people on their journeys of self knowledge and awareness. I believe Ashtanga Yoga offers direct experience of one's own mind, body and spirit. To this I have devoted my life.

I practice Ashtanga six days a week which includes asana(form), pranayama (breath control), seated meditation and study of Indian philosophy and methodology. I have completed Roga Chikitsa (illness purification, primary series), Nadi Shodhana (nerve purification, second series), and am working on Stirha Bhaga (steady grace, third series). I traveled to Mysore, India for three months to study and pay respects to my Guru, Sri Krishna Pattabhi Jois(Guruji) and his grandson R. Sharath.

While in India, through classes and intense practice, I deepened my understanding of the history, philosophy and practice of Pantanjali's eight limb yoga. For two weeks, I also studied with Guruji and R. Sharath during their world tour in San Francisco. I have studied numerous times with Tim Miller, one of Guruji's first American students, down in Encinitas, California. I also hosted and attended an in depth weekend workshop with Tim, earlier this year in Portland.

Casey Palmer

I am a student of the South Indian Yoga Acharya, Sri Pattabhi Jois. I met Jois in Mysore, South India in 1999 and took three months of training in the method of Ashtanga Yoga Vinyasa Krama from him.

Since that time I have practiced his teachings with devotion, dedication and discipline. I traveled again to India in 2004 for additional training and have taken 3 weeks of seminar from Guruji in the U.S. Thanks to Jois, I have become firmly established in the daily study and practice of asana, pranayama, meditation and yoga philosophy and have learned and continue to practice the vinyasa techniques of Roga Chikitsa (illness purification), Nadi Shodhana (nerve purification) and Stirha Bhaga (stability and grace). In 2001 I began to instruct others in the Jois vinyasa yoga technique of Roga Chikitsa. In 2004 I began to teach exclusively in the Mysore Style, a self-paced method of practice. I am also an aspiring Kirtan Wala (devotional singer) and a student of the ancient spiritual language of Sanskrit. My passion is to help others discover that with regular practice they can come to know the benefits of yoga.

Yoga Teachers are other yoga practitioners acting in service to the willing aspirant. They present technique and hold floor space- The real teacher is the practice and the persons dedication to it. We each have to take personal responsibility for our practice if we want to know what yoga is. I look forward to serving any willing practitioner of yoga regardless of experience.