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LOVE IS THE MOST POWERFUL FORCE ON EARTH.

About me

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Like many expeditions, the route that took me towards yoga was full of unknowns--many personal excursions are consumed with stunning peaks and secluded valleys. Overcoming the odds and graduating from a highly acclaimed college in California demanded suppressing thoughts of doubt, trauma, and intense anger over obscure family support. My relief and joy upon arriving to adulthood with a degree was suddenly overcome with cloudy and uncertain thoughts about the future, again. Knowing that a connection to the human condition was an overriding personal goal—it was something I yearned for all my life yet never had. I also wanted to make a difference and create a life where giving was the lifeblood of daily actions and the meaning of my existence. My brother recommended public school teaching with at-risk students in Southern California.

Inner-city schools, places like Compton, Long Beach, and South Central were taking anyone with a pulse, college degree, and who were brave (or stupid) enough to enter into the battlegrounds of Title I schools-it was Social Darwinism as only the strong-willed survived let alone thrived. At 22 years of age, I found myself as a special needs Algebra I teacher in one of the most violent high schools in Long Beach, California. With no formal training, let alone any formal guidance with how to manage a classroom bursting with teenagers gang members, I went for it. My caseload was full of incarcerated (many multiple times) juvenile delinquents who had zero interest in the curriculum I was required to teach. Maslow before Bloom—these young adults were traumatized from their upbringings, their neighborhoods, and a system that had long abandoned them so math was not something they wanted to learn. 

About Me
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This was the beginning with appreciating the POWER of learning. It didn’t matter what the content was; learning requires us to become vulnerable, strengthen those in front of us, and ultimately illuminate our pupils with new knowledge that can empower the world to thrive.

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-xox T P

While being fully immersed with teaching, learning, and finding ways to reach damaged young adults I was a student myself. I found a thirst for yoga, a longing to the path to spiritual peace, and practicing daily as often as possible-there was an insatiable appetite for yoga . Every moment I had outside of the classroom, I was in the yoga studio trying to understand the mind, body and soul connection.

This was the very thing I had been craving my entire life. Little did I know that this journey would lead me to a healing path that is an integral part of my life today, and it forever changed me.

I have been teaching yoga full time now for 15 years with over 10,000 hours of practice- through privates, retreats, teacher trainings, and mentorships in both Hong Kong and New York City teaching yoga is what I do. I currently live in the Hamptons with my lovely husband, rescue dog, and four beautiful stepchildren. A family that I love dearly-the inner and outer love and peace surrounding me was only possible because of yoga. The path led me here, yet the journey continues…

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"TANYA IS ONE OF THE BEST YOGA TEACHERS OUT THERE. NOT ONLY DOES SHE STEADILY RADIATE HER OWN EXPERIENCE OF COMPASSION AND LOVE - BUT SHE ALSO INTRODUCES AND GUIDES OTHERS INTO THAT EXPERIENCE. I ALWAYS FEEL GROUNDED, OPEN-HEARTED, AND GRATEFUL AFTER HER CLASSES." 

- CLAUDIA WHITNEY, TRANSFORMATIONAL HYPNOTHERAPIST + LIFE COACH

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