Om Namah Shivaya Gurave

Om and salutations to the the goodness within myself, known as lord Shiva, who is the true teacher.

Saccidananda Murtaye

This essence inside takes the form of truth, consciousness, and bliss.

Nisprapancaya Shantaya

Niralambaya Tejase

This essence inside is completely free and sparkles with divine luster.

(Anusara Invocation)

 

Laurel Thomsen was first introduced to yoga as a young child and has practiced regularly since 1996. Over the years her practice has evolved through various stages and has included study in a variety of styles, including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, and Bikram. In 2005, feeling disenchanted by the competitive focus of many yoga classes and desiring to find a style that could present yoga holistically and accessibly, she came across Anusara Yoga and in the early months of 2006, completed a year long training in this style at Yoga Kula in Berkeley, California.

 

Developed by John Friend, Anusara Yoga (meaning “to flow with Grace”) inspired Laurel with its ability to seamlessly combine the physical and the spiritual, the anatomical and the philosophical. Philosophically based in non-dual Tantra, the central belief of Anusara is that everything is supreme Consciousness. This view sees everyone and everything in the creation as sacred vessels through which the Divine flows. Diverse forms of life are seen as contracted, but in no way separate, expressions of the Divine. The One Consciousness becomes the Many, simply to delight in the cosmic dance of creation, and to experience and know itself. The highest intention for yoga (which literally means union) is for the practice to be a means for one to realize one’s own Divine nature - to align with the Divine through alignment within. All of the asanas in Anusara Yoga are taught using the Five Universal Principles of Alignment and from a heart centered orientation, meaning that poses are evolved from within. Though the outer expression of a pose can and does influence the inner body, the focus of Anusara is for the inner world, the attitude and the intention of the student, to inform the outer gesture.

 

Laurel looks forward to deepening her experience of yoga through sharing her knowledge of yoga in group classes and through private instruction. She encourages her students to discover their individual expression of mind, body, and spirit.

 

Laurel currently offers beginning through advanced level private and small group instruction in your home or in her’s.

 

Private One-On-One Yoga Sessions:

 

$60 for 60 minutes

$80 for 90 minutes

 

Rates for group lessons may vary with the number of students. Additional travel fee will be assessed for lessons out of studio.