ABOUT US

What started as a one-time event featuring Bryan Kest quickly grew into a larger vision to serve and connect the Birmingham Yoga Community.  Terri’s passion as a yoga student, her ability to connect people and through her relationship with a now closed yoga studio recognized that Birmingham had the ability and the community to support a more active workshop calendar and yoga-based initiatives. LeAnn, having recently completed her teacher training and having begun to venture outside of Birmingham to find additional workshop and training opportunities approached Terri at the Kest event.  It was through that chance meeting and LeAnn’s offer to assist Terri in any way that Birmingham Yoga (formerly Magic City Yoga) was born.

 

Together, Terri and LeAnn, embraced the concept of the “studio without walls”, the ability to bring in not only nationally and internationally known students of the practice but also up and coming practitioners.  The community quickly embraced this opportunity from “partner” host sites to practitioners looking to expand their knowledge base, to new students wishing to find teachers, to teachers looking to teach. Established area yoga studios also embraced Birmingham Yoga(BY) as an opportunity to connect more deeply to area students through links, updates and listings on the Birmingham Yoga website and through the BY electronic newsletter. 

 

A new need was given voice during this time to hold an area-based teacher training.  Because Birmingham Yoga had become a conduit for communication the request was soon made to us to provide this service.  This request quickly lead us to long-time Birmingham-based teacher and practitioner, Akasha Ellis.  Akasha had already established a following based on his generous heart and wealth of yogic knowledge.  Birmingham Yoga recognized his ability to lead others into the practice and provide them the tools, if they chose, to teach.  Together with Laura Tyree, Director of Dragonfly Yoga Studies, Fort Walton, Florida, the Birmingham Yoga Teacher Training Program began it’s first teacher training in the spring of 08’.  Akasha has become an integral part of Birmingham Yoga as our Director of Yoga Studies.

 

We, Terri, LeAnn and Akasha continue to listen to the Birmingham community, address ever-evolving needs and share our love for the practice, it’s ability to build bridges and ultimately heal starting one practitioner at a time.