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Samantha Tollinchi |
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Samantha first experienced yoga as somewhat of an accidental tourist. Approximately 10 years ago, a friend invited her to try a yoga class and she immediately fell in love with this ancient tradition. Before practicing yoga, she lived with constant anxiety that would strangle her breath and cause her chest to ache. After that first class, she felt she could finally breathe. She remembers feeling amazed that although yoga had been available her entire life she, literally, had no idea of its existence or profound transformative powers. Samantha has been practicing yoga ever since and it has led her on a path of expanding her yoga practice to study holistic approaches to health and well-being. Samantha was initially drawn to a yoga teacher training program as a way to deepen her own practice. But she soon realized she wanted to share all she was learning with others. In the spring of 2003, Samantha became a certified yoga instructor through Alan Finger's ISHTA Yoga (the Integrated Sciences of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda). Today, as a certified yoga instructor, Samantha feels her practice and studies help her connect with her students. She loves seeing how yoga positively affects those around her. "Sharing what I've learned over the years about yoga with my students is priceless." Her classes combine both the dynamic movement of vinyasa style yoga (moving with the breath) with a focus on detailed alignment instruction in each pose. She has a warm, approachable teaching style, which allows students a place in any asana where they can personalize their practice by finding the openings they need. In July 2007 she completed a kids yoga teacher-training program at Karma Kids Yoga and learned how to make yoga fun for toddlers through teens. |