From the beginning of its ancient origins, yoga served as a preparatory path for higher meditation—a way of quieting the mind and dropping awareness into the present moment. Intended as a daily training, the most daunting challenge lies with committing to your practice and yourself. Bumping up against frustrations and fears while learning to stay focused with your breath; surrendering the mind chatter of your day and discovering the language of your body—these represent the true goals of yoga. Aligning breath with movement, and awareness with the here and now, yoga can teach you to tap the wellspring of personal power we all possess and few use.

Shannan Donovan - Shannan is owner and principal teacher at Thrive Yoga in downtown Sebastopol. Shannan’s approach to her students and herself is to develop gradually. Promoting the mantra "practice not perfect," Shannan’s manner balances playfulness with discipline, openness with boundaries, and stretching with integration. She considers herself first and foremost a student. Shannan strives on a daily basis to discover and incorporate new insights and wisdom into both her personal practice and her role as a model and guide. She borrows perspectives from other teachers and her students, as well as from philosophy and scholarship. Shannan continually experiments with the dynamic dialog between physical patterns of holding and release, inner truth, and the content and boundaries of our life experiences.