Nick and Lela are certified Kripalu Yoga instructors at the 200-hour level. They have taken another 100 hours of training in vinyasa yoga with Tom Gillette, Tantric yoga with Rod Stryker and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. They teach full-time, and have lead over 2,000 classes in total (and counting). They spent 2004 studying yoga, meditation (and life in general) in India and Southeast Asia. They married in July 2007. You can read some of their travel stories on the Writing page.

Nick is a native of Evanston. He has been practicing yoga since 2000, primarily a mindful, flowing style that focuses on synchronizing breath, posture, and attention in a moving meditation. Recently he's been slowing down to give the poses time to sink in more deeply. He believes that while yoga postures can and will create vibrant health, they are ultimately vehicles for growth and self-discovery that go far beyond acrobatic accomplishment. His classes include breathing practices, precise alignment cues, potent pauses, creative flows, philosophy, deep stillness, and at least one joke. Nick has been a student of Buddhism for seven years, and its emphasis on mindfulness and compassion shows up in his teaching. Other influences include a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, improvisational theater, West African dance, whole food nutrition, and a love of brain science. He graduated from Brown University and trained to teach yoga at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. He does small-scale web design in his spare hours.

Lela began her Vinyasa yoga practice in 2001 with Tom Gillette in Providence, RI as a way to reduce stress and fatigue. She received her yoga teacher training at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, MA and has gone on to specialize in prenatal, postnatal and kid's yoga. She primarily practices and teaches a slower, mindful form of Vinyasa yoga, a method that focuses on linking breath, movement and asanas into a thoughtfully structured sequence. Lela works with students of all levels and abilities in her group and private sessions, placing equal value on both gentle and more vigorous forms of practice. All of Lela's classes aim to emphasize the connection between mind and body, leaving time for stillness, introspection and meditation. Expect detailed alignment instruction, as well as space for you to discover your own expression of the pose.

Lela has led prenatal yoga classes in Northfield/Wilmette since June of 2005, and currently co-facilitates Birthing From Within childbirth classes featuring yoga and meditation for pain-coping. You can read more about her prenatal yoga background and philosophy here. She has also worked as a wilderness instructor, after-school program director, and English tutor for children ages eight to eighteen. She is a graduate of UMASS Amherst with a BA in Multicultural & Experiential Education, and a native of Port Townsend, Washington.