Our Teachers

Nick Beem, studio Owner

Nick is a native of Evanston. He started practicing yoga in 2000 as an antidote to the stress of college. He found it to be a beautiful combination of spiritual practice and exercise (and a good way to spend time with Lela when they first started dating!)

Nick has a degree in Computer Science from Brown University, but also studied the theory and practice of meditation. In 2002, he spent a month in residency at the Zen Mountain Monastery in New York. Buddhism's 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 science.

Nick has extensive experience working with beginners, emerging adults, the chronically stressed, and those seeking to make yoga and meditation part of their daily routine. He is part of the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Center faculty and leads yearly Level 1 trainings. View his full resume here.

Lela Beem, Studio Owner

Lela began her yoga practice in 2001 as a way to reduce stress, fatigue and chronic back pain. She has been teaching Hatha, Vinyasa and therapeutic yoga to groups and individuals full-time for over six years. Over the years, Lela has had the fortune to work extensively with trauma survivors, cancer survivors and individuals with chronic pain.

Lela is the director for the therapeutic yoga program at the Rice Child + Family Center in Evanston, a residential foster care center for at-risk 6-14 year olds. She has also worked as a wilderness instructor for adjudicated youth, an after-school program director, and an English tutor for children ages eight to eighteen here and in Asia.

Lela has led prenatal yoga classes since 2005 and is a founding member of the Birth & Beyond Educational Network, which is dedicated to providing a trusted referral network of birth experts to Evanston and the surrounding areas. She is a graduate of UMASS Amherst and a native of Port Townsend, Washington.  View her full resume here.

The Dynamic Duo

Nick and Lela are both certified Kripalu Yoga instructors and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapists. They have also trained extensively in vinyasa yoga with Tom Gillette.  They are currently students of ParaYoga and the Himalayan lineage under the guidance of Rod Stryker. They teach full-time, and have each taught over 5,000 hours of yoga and counting. They married in July 2007.

Eliza Hofman

Eliza embarked on a yogic path when she took her first yoga class over ten years ago.  Since then she’s had the pleasure of practicing many styles of yoga, including Jivamukti, Forrest, and Kripalu.  In 2005, she completed a 200-hour training at Yandara Yoga Institute in Todos Santos, Mexico under the facilitation of master teacher Suza Francina.  She furthered her training with Seane Corn in a 50-hour Vinyasa Flow teacher training that emphasized the integration of breath, movement, and action (both on and off the mat.)  Her teaching style links dynamic physical practice with a commitment to mindful body awareness.  She believes that the student should receive practical skills to access the body, mind, and spirit, and that yoga classes should motivate practicioners to positively impact themselves and the world around them.  Eliza is also a lifelong student of Shakespeare and, from time to time, she can be found treading the boards with the Bard.  Eliza holds an MFA in Shakespeare from Mary Baldwin College and a BFA in Drama from NYU. View her full resume here.

Yoli Maya Yeh

Yoli Maya Yeh is a Yoga Therapist (VYASA, Yoga for the Special Child) and an Educator in Comparative Religions and Global Studies (MA Comparative Religious Ethics).  Yoli spent twelve years of her young adulthood studying language, yoga, tantra, healing arts and meditation in India.  A native of Evanston, IL, she blends her understandings of Indigenous wisdom teachings, mind-body science, yogic discipline, and play into innovative learning programs for all ages and abilities.  Her recent teaching adventures in cross-cultural education work took her to Jordan, Israel, India, Nepal, Thailand and Cambodia with 15-23 year old students challenging themselves to understand what it means to be a Global Citizen.  More info at: www.yogawithyoli.com