Prairie Sunshine Yoga Studio

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Alla

       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.

Allison

Allison teaches alignment-based, Iyengar-inspired hatha yoga. She apprentices in therapeutic applications of Iyengar yoga with Gabriel Halpern at Yoga Circle in Chicago. She has an E-200 registration with Yoga Alliance and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Allison teaches group and private yoga sessions throughout Lake County.

Beth

Beth has been studying yoga and healing arts since she left home at age 18. She was introduced to her guru Ammachi, the hugging mother, which sparked a lifelong interest in bhakti yoga (heart centered) and raja yoga (meditation). She is inspired by many masters of Hatha Yoga, and considers each learning experience with every yoga instructor a blessing, even if just a single class. Beth's teaching has evolved much over the past 5 years from simply creating a sequence plan before class, to opening herself up to the needs of the students at the present moment. She loves to blend the styles of Vinyasa, Restorative, Ashtanga and Kundalini, and will include pranayama and meditation in her class as well.

Geri

Geri is our Pilates and Zumba instructor and has been with us since the very beginning. She has a continuing STOTT Pilates certification in Essential, Intermediate, and Advanced Matwork. Geri is also continuing American Red Cross CPR Training and AFFAA Group Exercise Certification. Her classes provide both a fun and challenging workout for the entire body. ZUMBA is an upbeat and exciting aerobic/dance workout set to Latin music.

Maryann
I took my first yoga class in 1995 at a local community college and was hooked. Through the years I continued to take yoga classes and briefly thought about teaching but never gave it serious thought until I moved to Round Lake in 2005. The more I learned about the rich history of this ancient practice, and the more I applied these techniques to my life, I knew I found my passion and purpose in life.
Watching my own life improve in so many ways when I practiced yoga, I enrolled in a teacher-training program to share yoga with others. Having had a body full of toxins from food and chemical sensitivities and slowly watching my life improve as these toxins were released I wanted to share my knowledge and help others on their path towards health.

Olga
I took my first yoga class in 2004. After 3 years of practicing on my own, I decided that I was ready to go off my home yoga mat and learn more. At that point I knew that yoga only can give, not take. In 2007 I got registered with Yoga Alliance as a RYT-200. Being a teacher gives me an opportunity to share my passion for yoga. It also gives me the luxury to help, to support and listen to people. I feel very grateful to have yoga in my life. I see it as a great form of art that with appreciation helps you to discover the innermost Self -- the Beauty. This discovery changes your perception of yourself and the world around. Yoga connects body, mind, and spirit, so we can have a balanced life. It teaches us how to forgive and be more confident. For me yoga became an incredible tool for living a healthier and happier life. So I am willing to take this journey to the end, step by step, breath by breath...

Terry
Terry Crews is an Assistant Professor of Dance at the College of Lake County. She earned her M.F.A. in Dance from Temple University in Philadelphia and her RYT yoga certification from the Temple of Kriya Yoga in Chicago. She has taught dance and yoga at many schools and universities, most notably at the University of Chicago, where she developed the budding dance program. Terry is interested in the integration of yoga into dance training and into higher education; on this topic she teaches and talks at dance conferenes around the country. She is also a student of meditation and Eastern Philosophy. She loves yoga and movment for its abiltiy to keep her in the present moment, whether it be the heightened moment of performance, or the simple mundane moments of life itself. Terry lives in Praire Crossing with her husband Julian, and her children Julia and Tony.

Lisa

I happily attended my first yoga class in 1995 after a few of my friends raved about it. I feel very fortunate to have experienced my first class with Daren Friesen who is a wonderful teacher and who really got me hooked. I found at first that it kept me very fit, and then gradually realized that there was more going on than simply the physical aspect of the practice. There were days when I would walk in stressed out and crabby and would leave peaceful, clear and centered. This is yoga for me. I really committed to my practice after having done a workshop in Maya Tulum with Johnny Kest in 2001. I had never felt so good in my body as I felt after that week. I completed Moksha's teacher training program with Daren in July of 2002 and started teaching that same month. I've had the pleasure of studying with many master teachers and feel most influenced by Lourdes Paredes and Eric Schiffman. I love sharing what I know in my body and helping others to realize the same awareness in their own bodies.