Instructors:     

Debra Johnson  
J. Michael Taylor

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 therapeutics 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. Here in the United States, she has regularly attended workshops with such senior Iyengar teachers as Manouso Manos, Laurie 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.

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Mobile: 708.205.4489

Testimonials

J. Michael Taylor is a certified Iyengar teacher and has practiced yoga since 1987. Having played sports all his life, yoga helped him develop flexibility and heal his injuries. He is one of the most experienced and knowledgeable yoga teachers in the western suburbs. He started apprenticing with Gabriel Halpern at Yoga Circle, Chicago in 1989 and began teaching soon after. He has studied for many years with Senior Iyengar teachers, Lois Steinberg and Laurie Blakeney. His teaching places a strong emphasis on alignment and the use of props to facilitate learning. Michael’s great sense of humor keeps his students laughing. Yoga gives him the energy to teach photography at College of DuPage and play music, dance, and enjoy life to the fullest.

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