For me, it all started with one random teacher in New York City… one teacher that is very famous but has little direct involvement with the yoga community in Los Angeles.
My first-ever yoga instructor was the ever-so-down-to-earth-yet-controversial Tara Stiles, a Manhattan-based teacher that owns Strala yoga. I’ve never met her, I just loved her simple yet YOGA-ACCURATE style of teaching in her YouTube videos.
Through Tara, however, I was referred to the glorious Ally Hamilton of Yogi’s Anonymous (they are good friends and teach together) in Santa Monica (the epicenter of all yoga in the United States). She is the master of flying and teaches some kickass Ashtanga-based vinyasa flow classes in studio and (for the locationally challenged) online.
Ally teaches with Brock Cahill, leader of arguably the most challenging vinyasa flow/power yoga classes in Los Angeles, “Flight Club,” a level 3/4 inversions-based class at Yogi’s Anonymous. He is also MY BOSS’ regular yoga teacher at Equinox.
Briohny Smyth (the infamous Equinox yogi) also teaches at the same Equinox as a regular sub for Brock, and is also MY BOSS’ teacher. She was trained under MY teacher:
the lovely and powerful Kathryn Budig. Kathryn is Giada De Laurentiis (my favorite homey Food Network chef- I now understand how she eats so much pasta but stays slim)’s private yoga instructor and also the teacher to Briohny’s fiance, who is ANOTHER one of my favorite teachers:
Mr. Vinyasa cutie, Dice Iida Klein, who was taught by yet another one of my boss’ instructors:
Bryan Kest, of Bryan Kest Power Yoga in Santa Monica, who is one of the few privileged students to study under the founder of modern Ashtanga:
K. Pattabhi Jois, the guruji of Ashtanga and the source of all modern Ashtanga/Vinyasa Flow/”Power yoga” styles in the United States. Two of his original, groundbreaking American students,
Tim Miller, who is probably primarily responsible for bringing Ashtanga/vinyasa styles to Los Angeles and longtime friend/fellow student:
Chuck Miller, one of the original founders of YogaWorks (now a chain of studios), both of whom trained many of the teachers I listed above, either directly or through generational association . YogaWorks was also the first studio I ever committed to practicing yoga in.
I can probably go on.. and on… and on… but yes. There are hundreds of famous yoga instructors in Los Angeles… and I believe they all can be traced, through a few degrees of association, back to each other. o_o Just random thoughts I had today.
(via thebadyogi)
