Meet Yvonne Lai

“In my life so far, I have likely biked more miles than driven them.”

 
Yvonne began exploring ashtanga yoga in 2008, and has practiced ashtanga daily without break since October 2010.

Angela Jamison is her teacher, and she considers AY:A2 in Ann Arbor, Michigan, to be her ashtanga home. Since moving to Nebraska, she has made 7 trips back to Michigan to continue study with Angela. In Lincoln, her main shala is a bedroom where she lives. She will continue to make trips to Michigan to practice with Angela, so as to deepen her understanding of the ashtanga method.

She discovered ashtanga yoga through Jonathan Tyman’s Primary Series class at the Inward Bound Studio in Ann Arbor. This community supported her initial exploration of the form. Through Mysore-style practice in the AY:A2 shala, she learned awareness within the ashtanga practice beyond physical form. In Nebraska, she most recently found support through Jenny Bindrum Mason’s Sunday morning practice sessions at the Lotus House of Yoga in downtown Lincoln. When these sessions moved to Omaha, she began exploring other options for building ashtanga community within Lincoln. She co-started and co-coordinates the Empower Yourself ashtanga morning self-practice sessions because one critical foundation of ashtanga practice is practice in community.