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GERALD DISSE
Gérald has been practicing
yoga for over 20 years and teaching for
14. He discovered Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga
in 1991 with Sri K Pattabhi Jois in Mysore,
India. He spent 8 years traveling to Mysore
spending 4 – 6 months per visit
to learn more of the system, then going
off to some other exotic location to practice
daily what Guruji had taught him. Gérald
was taught up to the third series and
was one of the first French students to
have been personally authorized to teach
by Sri K Pattabhi Jois. As he had learned
directly from the Guru at a time when
there were not so many yoga students in
Mysore, he started to give workshops around
the world. He gave Ashtanga workshops
in Australia, New Zealand, and around
the USA and Europe.
Gérald has also studied extensively
with Ron Reid and Marla Meenakshi Joy.
In addition to his Ashtanga yoga practice,
he is also a student of Sri O.P. Tiwari
and is able to teach kriyas and pranayama.
Gérald has done extensive stays
in Vipassana silent meditation centers
in India and Australia and continues to
cultivate a daily meditation and pranayama
practice.
During his travels he visited Auroville,
an international spiritual community in
Tamil Nadu, South India. He related with
the place immediately. It was a way for
him to remain connected to the spirituality
of India and also still have connection
to the west, so he decided to build a
house and a yoga shala and become a part
of the Auroville community. Gerald spent
5 years there teaching daily Ashtanga
Mysore style classes in between his workshops
around the world; until 2004 when he decided,
after being away for 17 years, to move
back to France. Gérald is now settled
in Paris where he has founded a beautiful
community of yoga with Linda and their
children.
Gérald has also studied extensively
with Ron Reid and Marla Meenakshi Joy.
He is also a student of Sri O.P. Tiwari
and is able to teach kriyas and pranayama.
Gérald is an Experienced Registered
Yoga Alliance teacher.
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| LINDA
MUNRO
Linda was first introduced to yoga in 1996
in Toronto, Canada with Ron Reid and Diane
Bruni. She had been in a car accident in
1995 and was in physical therapy when she
became interested in yoga as a way to compliment
the therapy. Soon after she realized that
the yoga would be a life time practice.
A practice of asana, pranayama and meditation
but also a practice of being truthful, a
practice of being kind, a practice of being
fearless, peaceful and happy. She believes
that the practice of “yoga”
is continuous; the practice does not stop
when you roll up the yoga mat. The practice
of yoga includes the way you live your life,
the way you relate to your family, friends,
co-workers and to the strangers on the street.
This is the life long practice of developing
yogic awareness.
In 1997 she moved to New
York City with her work in the fashion business
while continuing a daily ashtanga practice
studying under Eddie Stern. The year 2000
brought her to Paris, France. After thirteen
years in the world of fashion she decided
it was the time to move fully into the direction
she had been moving since her first yoga
class. She felt a strong desire to strive
to give to others what her teachers have
given to her; so she started teaching yoga
as her own study and practice continues.
Gerald and Linda opened Ashtanga Paris in
February 2004.
She studies yogic scriptures and philosophy,
having completed a 250 hour study program
of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutra, and a 120
hour course on the Bhagavad Gita under the
supervision of Georg Feuerstein. She now
is one of his 10 mentoring students and
continues studying the Sutras and the Gita
under his guidance. She is also a student
of Sri O.P. Tiwari and is able to teach
kriyas and pranayama.
Linda’s completed teacher trainings
with David Swenson, Mark Darby and two with
Ron Reid and Marla Meenakshi Joy. In addition
she has studied with Sri K Pattabhi Jois
in Mysore, India as well as twice in New
York City.
She considers Ron, Marla, Tiwari and Georg
her yoga teachers from a far. And her husband,
Gerald, along with their two young children,
Amaya and Jonathan, her primary daily yoga
teachers!
Linda is registered asan experienced registered
yoga Alliance Teacher.
See an online interview with Linda.
Click here to read about how she found yoga.
Click here to read What
Is Yoga to Me |
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AGATA WASKO
Agata became interested in Indian culture
and yoga around 14 years of age. However,
growing up in the country sides of Poland,
there was no access to yoga instructors. So
she immersed herself in books about yoga and
India and even followed yoga classes on television.
Until finally in 2001 she moved to Wroclaw
for university where she found teachers and
she experimented in different styles of yoga,
eventually deciding that ashtanga was the
style she wanted to pursue. In 2009 she moved
to Paris and started studying with Gerald
and Linda, with whom she did her Yoga Alliance
certified teacher training. She has also taken
workshops with several other internationally
known ashtanga teachers to further her knowledge.
Agata is a dedicated student of yoga and a
warm, caring and gifted teacher! |
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ANTOINE SUPLISSON
I started practicing hatha yoga in
2005. Friends had recommended it to me, saying
it should help fix my knees from repeated
dislocations and help me soften my uncompromising
personality. It was a revolution in my life
and a spiritual revelation. I very quickly
adopted a daily practice, first on my own
and then taking many classes.
I started practicing meditation while I attempted
to stop smoking and participated in my first
Buddhist retreat. Two years later, after having
experimented with several practices (among
which aikido and taichichuan), I came upon
ashtanga yoga with Laura Pero in Toulouse,
and then decided to go on a long trip to India
to discover Ashtanga in its traditional form.
I came back only for a few months, before
leaving again for India, then Canada, then
India again... studying with R. Sharath in
Mysore, Rolf and Marci Naujokat in Goa, and
Ron Reid in Canada.
Along the way I discovered Yin yoga, and today
it has become a necessary compliment to my
ashtanga practice, acting as a bridge between
asana practice and meditation.
I came to Paris in March 2011 to live with
my partner and have been teaching here since.
Together we have a blog yogantoinesophie.com |
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AMELIE DUVERNAY
I’ve always been passionate about the
movement arts. From an early age I performed
as a ballet and modern jazz dancer. After
studying foreign languages I moved to London
where I lived and worked for 4 years to discover
the world of musicals and auditions.
Back to France: my desires and goals started
to change so I left the dance field to work
in different cosmopolitan places in Paris.
Slowly I entered into a dark period of my
life. During medical treatment I was advised
to try Ashtanga Yoga to help me find light
and happiness again. I was immediately fascinated
by the precision and subtlety of the practice
and the benefits showed themselves quickly.
I realized that contrary to dance, everything
happened from within with the yoga.
My regular yoga practice lifted me and taught
me a lot about life, without end and brought
me stability on all levels. Also, meeting
Linda and Gerald changed my life. Today, I
do everything to keep inner strength and balance
with the exterior world. This is why little
by little I have decided that Ashtanga yoga
would be a lifestyle for me, and I want to
transmit the benefits to everyone who desires
to try this practice.
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CORINA BAUMANN DOEBELI
10 years ago I walked into my first yoga class
in Boston. I didn’t expect much, but
at the end I felt like I was walking on a
cloud and fell in love with yoga. Since then
I have practiced Vinyasa and Ashtanga yoga
at different frequencies, from several times
a week to none at all. After moving three
times and having two kids, I landed in Paris
in 2008. I started practicing with Linda and
Gerald several times a week, which took my
practice to another level. Yoga is part of
my everyday life and every aspect of it. It
helps me be at peace with myself and my surroundings.
I am looking forward to teaching this amazing
practice and hope to be able guide others
towards the benefits of Ashtanga yoga.
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NAHO OHWADA
The very first time I did yoga was in 2001
on Moreton Island near Brisbane in Australia.
It was outside by the sea and I still remember
that experience; I felt great and I loved
doing yoga from that moment onwards. I discovered
Ashtanga yoga in 2005 and I knew this was
the yoga for me.
I finished an Ashtanga yoga teachers training
at IYC in Tokyo with Ken Harakuma in 2006
and the same year I finished a Vinyasa yoga
teachers training with Basia Lipska. In
2008 I took chanting classes with Govinda
Kai.
From 2006 I took many yoga workshops in
Japan and I also interpreted yoga workshops
from English in Tokyo until 2009. Through
these wonderful experiences, I am grateful
to have met
many great teachers. Yoga is self practice
but I believe that without great teachers
and their teaching we wouldn't be able to
truly learn the art of Yoga.
Since I was a child I have had many food
allergies so my health journey started about
the same time as the yoga. I studied Macrobiotics,
Raw food, Aryryveda and I did an 8 day fasting
course in Thailand. It was natural as Yoga
is the practice of finding balance in life.
Our senses are constantly influenced by
the outside world and yoga practice helps
me to bring back the focus within myself
and build awareness. I also think that yoga
helps us to rediscover our true abilities
which we already have inside ourselves.
I arrived in Paris 2009 at the end of September.
In 2010 I took teachers training with Linda
and Gerald; it shifted my perspective of
yoga and I am so grateful to be able to
share this Ashtanga yoga with others.
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BENOIT
PERON
I first discovered yoga as a teenager.
I was passionate about Indian philosophy
and read all the classics of yoga and anything
I could find on the subject: Mircea Eliade,
Vivekananda, Desjardins, Daniélou,
Van Liesbeth etc.…
But it was difficult to find a teacher
who was able to channel my explosive temperament.
It was in the theater that I was able to
express myself for a number of years. But
the egocentric aspect of theatre among other
reasons, lead me to decide to leave it behind
me.
In the meantime I explored tantric studies
and Taoism; the therapeutic force within
was rekindled. A true desire to help others
had never left me; it had manifested in
different paths. I started chi-kung, a Chinese
energy art. However, once again I wasn’t
able to find the level of teaching I was
looking for. Within the search, the yoga
resurfaced; during a visit to India a friend
suggested I try Ashtanga. Initially I didn’t
take the idea seriously however my curiosity
brought me to it. A year after beginning
Ashtanga I rediscovered my self-confidence.
I decided to go to the source of Ashtanga;
Mysore in India but I returned home a bit
disappointed with the feeling that I had
arrived too late. Finally, it was in Paris
where I found a teaching which was sincere
with Linda and Gerald. I completed their
teacher training and today I’m fortunate
to teach all that they taught me and to
be reunited with my true nature.
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SOPHIE FABRE
In 2005 I discovered ashtanga with a modified,
progressive approach focused on alignment,
learning with Sabine Naud and Renan de Germain
in Paris. As yoga became a daily practice
for me, it gradually changed everything
in my life, without my deciding it consciously.
I began to look less and less outside -
Less and less trying to accumulate knowledge
about arts, or politics… and more
and more trying to look inside and understand
myself.
I travelled three times to India, where
I studied Vinyasa and Pranayama with Vinay
Kumar and ashtanga yoga with Louise Ellis
and Rolf and Marci Naujokat. During this
time, I also learned Yin Yoga which became
part of my regular yoga practice –
I find it immensely helpful, on a physical
level to release tensions in the hip joints
and on a mental level to learn about being
in the present without striving to go anywhere.
In 2010 I spent three months in Canada
practicing with Ron Reid and completed the
basic certification teacher training (200hrs)
at his school in Toronto.
Recently, I started studying and practicing
Buddhism, which I found easier to integrate
into my daily life than classical texts
on yoga and Hinduism. I truly believe that
though ashtanga can sometimes seem like
a mere physical workout, it gradually leads
us on a path towards self development and
transformation.
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CATHERINE TALLEU
After several people asked me if I was practicing
yoga, I decided to sign-up for a weekly class
in 2005. I was already physically strong and
flexible at the time but had no Idea what
yoga was.
At first puzzled by the different aspects
of it, I slowly became fascinated when I understood
that there was a lot more to it than just
exercise.
I completed a 200 hours Vinyasa teachers
training with INSPYA yoga +120 hours hot
yoga in Shanghai in 2008, then went on teaching
there for several months.
A (nearly) daily practice helped me to progressively
improve my confidence, self-esteem and life
style, giving me the courage and discipline
to leave my comfort zone and always try
harder.
When I went back to Europe I was missing
working with children as I had been a Nanny
for several years so I did a 3 days kids
yoga teachers training in London with Rainbow
kids yoga, which I’ve done again this
year in Paris as a translator. I especially
want to share my love of yoga with children
because I believe it’s a fun way for
them to develop important skills to grow
into healthy and happy adults. The kid’s
classes interweave story, games, songs,
and poses; there is also a lot of exchange
letting children participate actively bringing
their own ideas and creativity, so it’s
fun for everyone!
Having an artistic background, I am also
writing a fairy tale that introduces yoga
to children, aiming to give them the chance
to discover the joys and benefits of yoga
at an early age. |
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| PAOLA LA FALCE
My first encounter with yoga was about
23 years ago when I came to Paris to work
for major record companies (promoting French
artists abroad). Yoga soon became my tool
to keep balanced in a very busy and hectic
life.
I felt the urge to go deeper in the understanding
of Yoga and in 1998 enrolled for a Teacher
Training with the Sivananda School. Once
back from the training I felt there was
so much to learn that, while I was still
working for Sony Music travelling around
the world, I would never miss the opportunity
of studying with all the inspiring teachers
I would find in the countries I was travelling
to. Ashtanga and all the more dynamic styles
of yoga appealed to me but I often felt
that they took me into a ‘competitive
zone’ which I was trying to master.
I softened my practice and got very keen
on understanding the mechanics of the human
body (thanks to Blandine Calais German for
her inspiring anatomy classes) and also
tried to understand the body on a more energetic
level (thanks to Angela Farmer for her beautiful
way of using Iyengar knowledge mixed with
her 'shamanic feminine' way to better unfold
into a living piece of art). And then back
to Ashtanga with a different approach. While
exploring, testing, studying and practicing
different styles of yoga I have enjoyed
teaching corporate and private classes for
the last ten years.
I was very happy to go through another
Teacher Training with Gerald and Linda and
started teaching at their school last year.
In my 12h30 Monday class at Ashtanga Yoga
Paris, I wish to give the tools to safely
and joyfully start the journey into Ashtanga
and get to the point where this demanding
practice becomes like a moving meditation
,when the sequence of well aligned postures
feels effortless and the mind gets quiet
and refined by the melody of the breath. |
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| MICHAELA STAPLETON
Training and working as a classical saxophonist
in London, I was in search of some sort
of ‘discipline’ to balance the
hectic and sometimes stressful lifestyle
of a musician. I tried out several different
styles of yoga at different locations in
London over the years, but it wasn’t
until I arrived in Paris in 2008 that I
came across Ashtanga with Linda and Gérald
at Ashtanga Yoga Paris. For the first time
I felt ‘at home’ in Paris and
I immediately realised that I had found
what I had been looking for all along –
a practice that would offer great physical
challenges, yet also help me to ground myself,
looking inwards to find inner peace and
stillness.
My morning practice slowly started to feel
like the most precious and meaningful part
of my day. Over time the yoga practice has
gradually filtered into the rest of my life
and my music, helping me to work on being
mindful and present in everything that I
do, not just during those two hours on the
mat. I really enjoy the way that yoga and
music complement each other and I find many
interesting parallels between the two disciplines.
I took part in the teacher training with
Linda and Gérald at Ashtanga Yoga
Paris in 2011 and I am really excited to
have the opportunity to share this practice
with others.
I truly believe that through a mindful
and dedicated yoga practice we can begin
to uncover our true potential in our work,
relationships and as human beings.
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BLANDINE BOUCHEROT
I was 15 when I took my first Kundalini Yoga
class with Guru Ans Singh. Since then yoga
has slowly entered into my life and has become
indispensable. The daily practice of Iyengar
Yoga, for 4 years, a discipline based on correct
alignment of the body, has healed my back
from 2 herniated disks. But I wanted to come
back to a more dynamic practice so I studied
Vinyasa yoga for 3 years. I discovered Ashtanga
Yoga in Thailand with William Holtby, Yogasala,
Chiang Mai. I fell in love instantly with
the Mysore practice. I was trained in Ashtanga
Yoga by Gerald Disse and Linda Munro.
The yoga, for me, is a tool of deep transformation
that allows to free oneself from past conditioning.
The yoga changed my physical posture and my
relation to the outside world. The way you
behave in life starts with the body. Waking
the body, which is a reflection of our thoughts
and past emotions, one works with its impossibilities.
Yoga is always with me because it helps me
to gather myself, to be in the present moment.
The awareness of the breath spreads awareness
to all the body parts, the mind is suspended
and it finally stretches as well.
Along the years, yoga practice has become
quite obvious. Because I’ve felt the
benefits of yoga for many years, I now want
to share this teaching with others.
Blandine is also a Shiatsu and Thai Massage
therapist. |
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| STINA DAAG
I was introduced to ashtanga yoga when
I was living in Sydney Australia 9 years
ago. But it was not until I met Linda Munro
in Paris that I started to build a personal
practice. Yoga is "key" to me,
I can bring it with me anywhere in the world,
do it on my own or with others. It calms
me down and gives me energy. Yoga keeps
my body and my mind in balance. I love the
athletic aspect of Ashtanga and how strong
it has made me.
I have studied with Linda and Gerald for
6 years and view them as my teachers, and
my inspiration.
I completed my teachers training at Ashtanga
yoga Paris with them in 2009 and have been
teaching at the shala since then.
"As a teacher i want to inspire other
people to see the great potentials in themselves
and to be the best they can be."
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