OPEN TO GRACE
Open to Grace is the invitation to live our lives to the fullest breadth of our innermost desire. It is the first principle of Anusara yoga and calls each of us to our attunement with the truth and beauty of our own nature. It is all the ways we say a radical Yes! to our embodiment as a gift and all the ways we choose to align our individuality with the Universal flow.
In opening to grace, we recognize the generous possibilities of our existence and that what we choose to do with our lives actually matters. It is the calling for deep presence and the gathering of community where each person steps forth into a sacred convergence of vision with clear, loving action.
Open To Grace Family
Chantal Russell
"Frenchy"
Chantal
Russell is an Anusara Inspired teacher based in Vancouver, Canada. She
has had the great privilege of assisting and apprenticing with Sianna
since September 2010, and currently manages her 2012 tour, Evolve Love.
Having studied yoga since 2003, Chantal is passionate about infusing
loving awareness into her everyday life. She desires to integrate the
healing power of yogic practices into meaningful relationships off the
mat, and is continually humbled and grateful to all her teachers on the
path of awakening, including Sianna Sherman, Hareesh Wallis, Douglas
Brooks, and her beloved Gary Russell.Shakti Sunfire
"Sparkles"
Shakti Sunfire
is a leader of the world-wide hoop dance movement and a dedicated
student of life. Founder and creator of Radiant Hoopdance™, she draws on
her own diverse experience and her endless participation in community,
to encourage and mentor unfettered self-expression through various
artistic mediums. Shakti teaches workshops, leads retreats and performs
internationally. She is currently featured in 2 published books on hoop
dance, two instructional DVDs, and countless online videos and articles.
She was voted 'best performance group 2008' and 'firehooper of the year
2009' by popular vote in Hooping.org. Shakti is featured in the August
2011 edition of Yoga Journal as a leading light in the fusion of yoga
and hoopdance - a marriage of two worlds that is, to her, a spiraling
journey into the heart and the basis for her dance philosophy.Marni Sclaroff
"Nibbles"
Marni Sclaroff teaches
Anusara Inspired Yoga and Bellydance. With over 16 years of study and
practice, and 11 years of teaching, Marni has devoted her life to
cultivating a diverse and deep well of wisdom to share with her
students. In 2000, she received a Masters in Art Education, which
helped shape her unique perspective on the art of teaching yoga. As an
artist, she is inspired by the way that yoga attunes us to the creative
pulse of the Universe, and how it gives us the tools to awaken to each
precious moment of our lives. Her teaching is also influenced by her
love of nature and music, her many years of performing as a professional
bellydancer, and her own process of healing and awakening. She is a
devoted student of both Sianna Sherman and John Friend. When Marni met
Sianna in 2009, she knew that she had found her Heart Teacher and that
she would spend as much time as possible with her to learn and expand
her gifts as an act of service to the community. Marni now resides in
Encinitas, California and travels all over the world teaching, learning,
assisting Sianna, and sharing yoga with the global community.Melissa Morehead-Green "Sprite"
Melissa Morehead Green is
a versatile and accomplished senior finance leader with an underlying
mission to spread love and consciousness around the world. She has a
record of achievement as a former CPA, MBA from MIT, investment banker
at Goldman Sachs, finance director for a startup non-profit, and senior
officer in investor relations at Merrill Lynch. She has helped companies
achieve strategic business objectives through astute financial
management, and she is uniquely qualified to promote a business and its
mission to the investment community. Melissa discovered yoga in 2004
and was deeply transformed by the expansive physical and spiritual
experience that Anusara Yoga offered. Thanks to yoga and her awakening
process, Melissa resigned from Wall Street in 2008 and founded a
consulting practice to share her diverse business expertise with
companies focused on solutions to climate change and broader human
impact issues. She continues to practice and study Anusara Yoga
primarily with Sianna Sherman and Tantra philosophy with Douglas Brooks
and Christopher (Hareesh) Wallace. She is honored to support Sianna and
her heart-opening endeavors, and she is deeply inspired by each member
of the incredibly talented Open to Grace team. Melissa now resides in
Sebastopol California with her husband Todd and beautiful baby Gabriella
Anjali.
Yoga
connects us to all beings everywhere, starting with ourselves. So that
we see the light in each other's eyes, live the love in our hearts and
take flight on the joy of being alive. In 2003, Jeremy began his
practice and intensive study of Anusara Yoga while living in Los
Angeles. Through this practice he experienced
a revelation - with right effort life can be easier, more aligned with
our true desires and delightfully fun. Totally inspired, he completed
his first Anusara teacher training in 2005 and taught his first public
yoga class not long after. In 2007, Jeremy became an AcroYoga
teacher. He is
so grateful for Acroyoga, it's the first practice that has holistically
provided a safe, sacred space to explore trust and deepen connections
with all beings. Jeremy currently teaches Anusara-Inspired and AcroYoga
classes and workshops at Yoga Tree San Francisco and around the
country. Jeremy
offers immense gratitude to all his teachers that have shared their
love and light so that he can take flight: Sianna Sherman, John Friend,
Ross Rayburn, Jenny Sauer-Klein, Jason Nemer, Janet Stone, Ajan Supron
Mukomla, Master Lu Yi, and so many more. www.lovelightandflight.com
Amanda Giacomini is a yogini, artist, children's book illustrator, and an honorary member of Open to Grace's creative team. Amanda is the co-founder of Yoga Toes Studio in Point Reyes Station, CA as well as the wife and creative partner of MC Yogi. Amanda creates the visuals for the MC Yogi live show and tours all over the world performing and teaching yoga. Her mission is to uplift the world through yoga, music, and art.
www.amandagiacomini.com, www.yogatoesstudio.com, www.mcyogi.com
Chris grew up in New Haven, CT as an athlete playing
football, basketball, and baseball before moving to Portland, Oregon in 2000.
He began studying yoga in 2005 and is certified through Yogaworks NYC in an
aligned Vinyasa teaching style and credits his teacher there, Jeanmarie
Paolillo with schooling him in the classical yoga tradition. Since beginning
Anusara Yoga studies with Annie Adamson and Todd Vogt at Yoga Union, Chris has
been deeply inspired by the tradition's combination of therapeutic
biomechanics, Tantric philosophy and vibrant community. In September 2011 Chris
completed the 100hr Anusara Immersion with Sianna in San Francisco and will be continuing
his studies with Sianna throughout 2012. Chris has an MA in Counseling Psychology
and practiced as a Child and Family Therapist in the Portland community for
four years before pursuing yoga full time. He is a devoted music and yoga geek
as seems them as complementary paths toward the heart. Always studying and
reading, Chris has deep gratitude for all his teachers including Sianna, John
Friend, Rolf Gates, Paul Mueller-Ortega Annie Adamson, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Swami Chetanananda,
Christopher "Hareesh" Wallis, and many others. You can read more at www.chriscalarcoyoga.com
