Debra Johnson: Debra, director of Yoga Vidya, has been studying yoga since 1998. She holds a degree in social work from Loyola University and was working as an advocate for domestic violence victims when her mother was diagnosed with cancer. This experience ignited a new passion in her for physical and emotional well-being. Because she believes in Iyengar yoga's profound power to heal its practitioners, she opened Yoga Vidya as a gift to the community. Debra is a certified yoga teacher, which in the Iyengar method takes 8 years and includes intense study with senior teachers and two rounds of rigorous examination. She has studied closely with world-renowned senior Iyengar teacher, Lois Steinberg, in Urbana, IL since the spring of 2000, and continues to apprentice in her therapuetics and women's class. She also apprenticed with Gabriel Halpern at the Yoga Circle in Chicago. She has made three trips to Pune, India to study with the Iyengar family. Two of those visits included month-long stays at the Iyengar's institute (see a photo of her in Viparita Dandasana and Janu Sirsasana). Here in the United States, she has regularly attended workshops with such senior Iyengar teachers as Manouso Manos, Lauri Blakeney, and Chris Saudek. Yoga is a practice of studying oneself. Each pose teaches us something about ourselves, and those lessons can affect everything from eating habits to thought patterns while building balance, health, mental poise, clarity, and true strength. Email Debra. Testimonials "I began studying yoga with Debra in 2006 after a lengthy search to find the 'right' teacher for me. Debra is a dedicated and skilled teacher, who is both knowledgeable and able to transfer what she knows by clear prompts to her students. Debra explains not only how to do the pose but also the many benefits of the posture. I am convinced of the benefits to strength, flexibility, and balance. I plan to practice yoga for the rest of my life!" -- Andrea "Debra is an amazing teacher who is constantly working on improving her instruction of yoga. She is an honest, well-educated instructor who makes it her goal to understand the needs and the level of mastery for each of her pupils. It has been an honor and a pleasure to be a student of Debra's for over 10 years, and I thank her for all the healthiness I feel as a result of her attending her classes." -- Vicki I started focusing on Yoga as a part of my fitness program about five years ago. I had spent five years in the practice of Shotokan Karate with an excellent Sensei, Enzo Ortega. I had appreciated his teaching because he demanded that every move be executed precisely - from the position of the toes to the head. I did well in karate, but learned that I am not motivated by the inherent violence of the practice, and the risk of injury was substantial. I started reading Yoga books and attending a variety of classes. It was not until a ventured into a Iyengar class lead by Debra that I finally found the practice that would fit me. Like Shotokan Karate Iyengar Yoga demands exact placement of each part of the body, literally from the toes to the head. Unlike karate, yoga invites you to bring the mind into the body. Iyengar Yoga brings the mind and the body together - unlike our usual state of the body in one place and the mind thinking about the future or the past but rarely integrated together. As one focuses on the specific position of each posture in Iyengar Yoga one is becoming more in tuned with their entire self - and NOT thinking about all the other cares one carries with them at all other times. For those who question the strengthening aspect of yoga - do a hand stand for five minutes, or the cardio of yoga, do Sun Salutation for thirty minutes. Iynegar Yoga has strengthened me in ways I did not know existed. Like most things of value Yoga must be practiced, you indeed get from Yoga what you put into Yoga. -- Donald