Teacher Bios

Born and raised in Milan, my first encounter with yoga was back in Italy when I was 10 years old. I used to watch my mom doing stretching poses on the floor with a yoga book in front of her.
In 1987, I moved to the US, to San Francisco. There, I did my first real yoga class; it was Iyengar Yoga. From the Iyengar practice I learned a lot about alignment, and still today in my teaching, I apply what I learned from those classes. Later on I approached Ashtanga Yoga, where I was shown the importance of breathing while flowing from one posture to another.
In 1998, I was introduced to Bikram Hot Yoga. I really loved the way I felt physically, so, after practicing for a couple of years, I took the teacher training and became a certified Bikram Yoga Teacher. With the intention to open a yoga studio, I found an opportunity here in Redondo Beach, and called it Bikram Yoga Redondo.
In 2011, we changed the name to The Hot Yoga Center so that we could offer other types of yoga as well. In 2018, when we started to offer non-heated classes, we decided to eliminate the word “hot” from our name, and we became Novo Yoga—a word that means “new” in many languages, and a word that is also part of our last name.   
One of the great things I learned from practicing and teaching yoga is the extremely useful concept of being present. 
It is about acceptance and being there, because every day our body and mind reacts differently to the practice of yoga. Letting go, and leaving the ego outside the yoga room, is the hardest part. I encourage my students to be present and accept what is coming to them. Embrace it rather than fight it. 
Two of my favorite quotes are:
“Realize deeply that the present moment is all you ever have” – Eckhart Tolle
“Yoga is not about touching the toes, it’s what you learn on the way down” – Unknown

For me, Yoga is a sanctuary where I feel free from worries, opinions, insecurities and stress. It’s a space where I am free to feel, explore, accept and love myself. I have been studying yoga with Bryan Kest for over 12 years. He has taught me many lessons, but the one I carry in my heart all the time is: “Yoga is the quality you carry in your mind while doing anything in your life.” I try to incorporate this message in all of my classes. Teaching is an opportunity to share what I like and what has helped me with people who are interested in it. 
My goal as a teacher is to provide a safe, nurturing environment where we can challenge ourselves calmly, let go of old habits that are not serving us well, and make positive changes in our lives. I look forward to meeting you in class.
 

Of the chapters in my life, yoga teacher is the least expected. 
Several years ago, I was running a pastry kitchen and gave it up to go back to school, earning a degree in financial mathematics and statistics from UC Santa Barbara.
Two years later I was teaching yoga full time. Sometimes life takes curious turns.
I have taught yoga to people from all walks of life and experience levels, boxers to bankers, from sedentary beginners to professional athletes and yoga champions.
As a yoga teacher my reward has been to work and interact with the public, and the honor to be witness to the transformative power a yoga practice can bring.
For fun I indulge my hobbies, among them: bread making, playing music, and amateur boxing.
 

I remember how I felt after my first hot yoga class in May 2005. I felt so refreshed, happy, cleansed, and yet very relaxed. Even though it was very difficult and challenging, I wanted more. I was hooked.  
I was practicing non-heated yoga before for about four years. The hot yoga offered something more, which was what I was searching for. I wanted to share the experience with others, so I went to Yoga Teacher Training.
In 2009 I got the Yoga Teachers Certification and I have been teaching ever since. 
I want to offer my students classes that are practiced in a safe and friendly environment where they can be themselves no matter what age or physical level they are in. My suggestion is to slow down and deepen the practice by focusing on the use of breath (prana) and moving meditation (asanas) to connect to their organic selves.
I also love, and teach, a nourishing gentle restorative Yin Yoga class. Yin Yoga offers the intention of cultivating peace, happiness, and balance. We all have a beautiful light within us. I encourage all of us to discover the light within and continue the journey we are on, while building a loving, kind, and caring community.
Namaste, Haesook
 

I was raised in Long Island, New York. Most of my earlier years, I had a strong involvement in sports and exercise, with wrestling being my main focus. As I got deeper into my teens, weight training became a big part of my life. After college, I took my love for exercise to a higher level by becoming a full time personal trainer, working in New York. In 1999, I moved to Los Angeles, where I continued my personal training career, and for the first time, I stepped into the world of hot yoga. My first hot yoga class was at the Bikram studio in Beverly Hills. Needless to say, I got hooked immediately. I couldn’t believe how doing these ancient yoga positions in a hot room could make me feel so good. The feelings of relieving stress and bodily functionality were unreal…
I knew I had found something special. It was only a short time later that I got my first Yoga Certification in the Bikram style. Subsequently, I began my yoga teacher career, which, at that point was 2003. I have been teaching ever since. A few years after that I also integrated other styles of yoga into my experience, especially Kundalini Yoga. I practiced kundalini for a solid seven years.
I have taught yoga over the years at about six different studios and have settled here in the South Bay, at Novo Yoga. Shortly after, I got certified in Novo Core yoga, a style that was developed by the owners of Novo Yoga, which was then called The Hot Yoga Center.
Hot yoga, for me and so many students that I know, gives healing and stress relief benefits that are unparalleled. Learning how to breathe properly while doing the asanas (physical positions) greatly diminishes stress, while at the same time allows you to get amazing physical health benefits, let alone shaping up your body. The feeling of the heat that penetrates the body during the physical compression/stretching of bodily tissues intuitively allows you to recognize the incredible flow of circulation that penetrates every area of the whole body. Every single class you take, you just know that you’ve flushed the body of toxicity and nourished every tissue, right down to the bone.
 

I have been practicing yoga for 15 years and have been a Montessori teacher for the past 11 years. I’ve taken multiple Kids Yoga teacher trainings, as well as a 200-hour Power Vinyasa and a 50-hour Flow Sculpt training. 
Teaching yoga to kids is something I’ve always incorporated into my Montessori classroom and I currently teach weekly yoga classes to children ages 18 months to 12 years old. At Novo Yoga, I teach a Kids Yoga class on Sundays specifically designed for ages 5 to 12 years old. 
 

I was born and raised in Philadelphia where I raced horses and show jumpers. It’s also where I damaged my knees and have had 4 surgeries on my left and 2 on my right. I went to Johnson and Wales University in Providence Rhode Island where I studied equine studies. I met my husband there at 18 years old. After college I moved to North Scottsdale, AZ. I bought a house, opened a restaurant and had a son in 2002. I moved to California in 2010 and started practicing yoga soon after at another studio that my friend practiced at. After 9 months there I realized it wasn't the studio for me and found Novo Yoga thru Haesook. I loved everything about it from the minute I came into the lobby. I started practicing 5 days a week many times doing doubles. There were so many different classes to take and I loved the variety. I knew I needed to know more about the practices, benefits and had the desire to teach others. It wasn't enough for me to keep my hip down in standing bow, I had to know why. I started watching yoga videos, reading books and started to consider teacher training. I wanted others to love this practice as much as I do. I went through teacher training in January 2013 at Novo Yoga and have been teaching since April 2013 and I've loved every minute of it!! Since then I've been certified in Hot60 ,Hot90 ,Novo Core and Novo Sculpt, Kids Yoga, Restorative Stretch and became a Personal Trainer. Yoga has done more to heal my knees than any surgery or rehab every did. When I first started I couldn’t put my knee on the floor let along go back on it. If It wasn't for this studio I probably would have stopped practicing all together. I'm so grateful to have the studio and this practice in my life.

“Only look back to see how far you’ve come”

I was born and raised in Tokyo, Japan, and came to the US to learn English in 2002. I started practicing Bikram Yoga in 2005, and I struggled a lot in my first hot yoga class. Although I wasn’t flexible or strong at all, I knew yoga would be good for my health. I kept practicing yoga and started to have the feeling that I would love to help other students, like all my wonderful teachers helped me. I took Bikram Teacher Training in the spring of 2007, and since then, I have taken several other trainings, including hatha, vinyasa, and Power Yoga. 
I love teaching and practicing yoga, and my classes are fun but challenging. I also understand how my newer students can struggle, since I was like them before. My goal in teaching yoga is to help my students enjoy class and not worry about a lack of strength and flexibility. They should have as much fun as possible from every class I teach. Hopefully, I can serve our students and share my skills of teaching yoga and positive energy with many more students.
Lokah Samastah Sukhino Bhavaintu
(May all beings everywhere be happy and free, and may the thoughts, words, and actions of my own life contribute in some way to that happiness and to that freedom for all.)

As a dance and yoga teacher, certified personal trainer, Barre teacher and fitness educator, l simply love to share my knowledge with others.” 
I am a native of the Czech Republic and began my career in dance by mastering the art of ballet, modern dance and choreography while earning a bachelor’s degree from The Dance Center of Prague. 
I’m also YogaWorks certified as a 500hr alumni, ISSA certified as a Personal Trainer, and I hold certifications for Pilates, Ballet Bar, TRX and Group Exercise Instructor. I am committed to my lifestyle as an artist, teacher, motivator, and trainer. I try to live life to its fullest while constantly challenging myself to provide an example of health to all those I meet.
“Per Aspera Ad Astra” (Through hardships to the stars...)

Hi! I'm Randi! I've been practicing yoga since 2001. I have always been interested in sharing my love of yoga with others, but was never sure of how I could fit into the seemingly impossible world of teaching yoga. I was shy, lacked self confidence and didn't believe I 'fit in' in the yoga community at the time. As a woman of color, I felt that there was a need to represent the underrepresented community of women of color that do, love and live yoga. I felt that I needed to give women of all shapes, sizes and colors the space to find themselves.

After years of listening to my inner critic, I decided, with the help of friends and close family, that it was time to live my dream and share this enriching and self developing practice of yoga with any and everyone I can.

As a natural healer, it was only fate that I receive reiki atonement in this life. In June 2016, I received my reiki master/teacher atonement and implement my reiki teachings in some of my classes.

Yoga teacher training changed my life. Not only am more in tune with myself on a spiritual and physical level, I am more mindful in all aspects of my life. With hard work and dedication, I completed my first 200 hour yoga teacher training April 12, 2015 and kept going.

As an E-RYT 200, I have completed over 750 hours of training, with well over 1,100 hours of classes taught. I strive to give the best knowledge to those I hold space for, so continuing education is a must. I am always a student, regardless of how much I learn. Yoga is a constant teacher. I feel it is my mission to spread yoga in its varying forms to as many people as I can.

I want to inspire people to connect with our Earth and see how awesome she is, and to appreciate how she cares for us. If I accomplish that at least once a day, I am on the right path. I look forward to meeting new people and sharing my love of yoga and travel with you.

My yoga journey began in 2009 as a way to improve my physical health, mental clarity, and creative drive. After experiencing the physical and mental benefits of an asana practice, I delved deeper into the study of yoga and meditation, as an art form, a science and way of life. The practice of yoga in its various names and forms has transformed the internal landscape of my mind into a simpler and more peaceful space. My continued yoga practice allows me to live in balance and harmony within myself and with my surrounding environment.
As a yoga teacher, I simply wish to share with others what is closest to my heart. My aim for each class is to guide students on an inward exploratory journey, utilizing the tools of breath, postures, mantras, and concentration. No matter where you are on your journey, I invite you to come experience the tranquility and beauty that resides within.

My name is Leslie and I am a 200 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher. Yoga completely transformed my life when I began practicing in 2010. Not only has it created positive changes in my body, it has helped me to remain centered and self-aware throughout life’s challenges.

I was a practicing nurse for seven years prior to completing my teacher training with Briohny Kate Smyth & Dice Iide-Klein at Absolute Yoga Academy in Koh Samui, Thailand. My nursing background has allowed me to take a holistic approach to teaching. It is my strong belief that everyone has the ability to heal themselves and manifest what they want to experience in their lives.

I want everyone who practices with me to leave feeling strong, energized, and totally blissed out. Now let’s get into the flow!