Alla was born and raised in St. Petersburg, Russia. In the early nineties, she attended St. Petersburg State University where she majored in finance. After working as an accountant for seven years, Alla met her husband Tony and in 1998 moved to Chicago. In 2000, she began to attend weekly yoga classes. During the next few years, Alla became increasingly dedicated to her practice. In 2007, she completed a 200-hour teacher certification program. Unfortunately, shortly thereafter, Alla was hospitalized with a collapsed lung and was forced to spend nearly a week in the hospital. While in the hospital, she read Matthew Sanford’s memoir Waking which gave her hope and also changed her perspective of both her personal practice and teaching style.
To her, yoga became not only a physical exercise, but also a method of healing. By using meditation, breathing exercises, restorative poses, and guided relaxation, Alla had a relatively short recovery process. During this ordeal, she learned how to use props and modifications to make yoga accessible to all people, regardless of their physical abilities. Today, she is continuing her education through an apprenticeship with Gabriel Halpern at Yoga Circle in Chicago. She is also a certified Reiki practitioner. In addition to her classes at Prairie Sunshine, Alla currently teaches a gentle yoga class for Cancer Wellness Center in Grayslake where she uses her knowledge of restorative yoga along with Reiki healing.
Alla has three children; Ksenia, Alexis, and Tony who also practice yoga. She has three cats, a snake, and occasionally some orphaned ducks in the spring. In her spare time, you can find Alla working in her rose garden or flipping through countless pages of both Russian and English novels.
