Credentials
Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500)
Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist
Certified Level 1 ParaYoga Instructor
Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT)
B.A. in Experiential Education from The University of Massachusetts
Work and Training Resume
- 2001
- Worked for Alternative Youth Adventures, a wilderness therapy program for incarcerated teenage boys in the Utah desert.
- Began regular study and practice of yoga with Tom Gillette, director of Eyes of the World Yoga, Providence, RI
- 2002
- Graduated summa cum laude from The University of Massachusetts Amherst with a self-designed major in Multicultural & Experiential Education and a minor in Spanish.
- 2003
- Americorps job in Woonsocket, RI as an after-school program director for Latino kids in public housing
- 2003-2004
- Travel; study of yoga and Buddhism; teaching English in India and Thailand. Completed 10 day silent Vipassana meditation retreat at Wat Suan Mokkh in Thailand.
- 2005
- Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training, 200 hours
- 2005-2007
- Yoga teacher at White Iris Yoga, North Shore Yoga, Crate & Barrel Corporate HQ
- 2005-2010
- Yoga teacher at the Heartwood Center for Body Mind Spirit; prenatal yoga and private instruction
- 2007-2009
- Yoga teacher (Hatha and Prenatal) at Generations Yoga
- 2007
- 10 day Vipassana silent meditation retreat
- 2008
- Advanced anatomy training with Ellen Heed
- 2007-2009
- Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy training, Bristol, VT; 700 hours
- 2007-Present
- ParaYoga Master trainings with Rod Stryker in Tantric Hatha yoga and meditation. Completed all nine five-day trainings and received level 1 certification in 2012.
- 2009-2012
- Director of Therapeutic yoga program for high-needs foster kids at the Rice Child + Family Center; member of the leadership board; yoga instructor for kids and staff
- 2010
- Attended Yoga Therapy Conference at Kripalu in Lenox, MA
- Opened Grateful Yoga of Evanston with co-owner Nick Beem
- 2013 Co-led The Pregnant Practice prenatal yoga teacher training at Moksha Yoga, Chicago, IL
- 2013 Co-founded The Amala School of Prenatal Yoga, training teachers to specialize in prenatal and postnatal yoga, providing childbirth education and mentorship.
The yoga therapy components of Lela's practice are based on her training from the Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy school, not derived from her status as an RYT with Yoga Alliance Registry.
