TEACHERS

Prana Yoga Center was founded in 2001 by Gerhard Gessner, a long-time La Jolla resident and Yoga instructor of 28 years who fulfilled his dream of offering his love and passion for Yoga in a beautiful, light-filled space in downtown La Jolla. Prana Yoga has been voted "Best Yoga Studio" by La Jolla Light and La Jolla Village News for several years.

Gerhard E. Gessner, E-RYT 500, Owner/Director - Vinyasa Flow, Yogaworks Teacher Trainer & Mentor
Gerhard is founder and director of Prana Yoga Center. He has been a student of Yoga for over 28 years and is trained in a variety of different styles of Hatha Yoga, including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Ananda and Contact Yoga. His non-dogmatic and unique Vinyasa style combines these different influences and is tailored to the needs of his students. More...

Alexandra Oehmigen-Gessner, Owner/Manager
Alexandra is a certified Yoga instructor and has been practicing Yoga since 2000. Together with Gerhard she manages the everyday business of Prana Yoga. Her professional background is in writing, marketing, PR and business management.

Please contact her at info@prana-yoga.com with any questions or inquiries.

Amy Jo Hearron - Vinyasa Flow
After seeing subtle transformations through her own practice, Amy Jo began studying the philosophy and benefits of yoga. She teaches a Vinyasa Flow Yoga class which focuses on healing the body and nurturing the spirit through breath, mindfulness and unconditonal love for self. More...

Angela Salemme - Vinyasa Flow, Hatha Yoga
Angela has been practicing yoga for the last seven years and took her first several classes at Bird Rock Yoga and Prana Yoga Center. She instantly fell in love with yoga and received her 200-hour Yoga Alliance teacher training certification in 2007 and has been teaching ever since. More...

Arati Lane - Happy Back Yoga, Prenatal Backcare
Arati Lane has been teaching Yoga since 1989 after living and studying Yoga and meditation in India and Southeast Asia for several years. After teaching and studying Jivamukti, Ashtanga & Vinyasa Yoga, she now focuses on teaching Hatha Yoga, Pre-& Postnatal Yoga, Happy Back Yoga, Flow Yoga, women’s Yoga, Yoga for kids & infant massage, More...

Carolina Vivas, R-YT - Power Vinyasa
Carolina has spent the last eight years studying and practicing a variety of yoga styles, integrating numerous methods into her own classes. She stumbled onto Yoga while working on Wall Street in New York, seeking some balance in her life.

After seeing the powerful effects of Asana practice and meditation, she knew her path was shifting. More...

Fredrica Syren - Prenatal Yoga
Fredrica Syren is a 500 hour certified Yoga teacher and has been teaching pre- & postnatal Yoga since 2004. She is also trained in Reiki healing and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. In her classes she teaches students about breath awareness and how to combine breath with movements to bring peace a d healing to mind and body in a caring, nurturing setting. She draws from her experience as a mother and from healing herself through Yoga after a back injury.

Hanna Shoen - Yin Yoga
Hanna is originally from a fusion of Arizona, the Northwest and Germany. She is registered at the 200 and 500 hr levels with Yoga Alliance and especially likes teaching Yin Yoga. She's been teaching Yoga for about four years to students ages 4 - 86. More...

Hari Das Kaur (Mimi Trotter) - Kundalini Yoga
Mimi is a Certified Kundalini/Meditation Instructor Level II, trained directly by Yogi Bhajan, the world-acknowledged Master of Kundalini yoga. Mimi has been practicing and teaching Kundalini yoga and meditation for over 20 years and is also known by her spiritual name "Hari Das Kaur", which means Servant of God. More...

Heather Fenwick - Vinyasa Flow
Heather Fenwick first practiced yoga on the beach in 2002 after migrating to San Diego from the East Coast. Her first teacher training in 2005 (Yoga Works) sparked a deeper interest in the art of yoga. She has since traveled solo though India and Thailand, diving into the roots of the tradition, as well as studying meditation, massage and holistic medicine. More...

Ingrid Yang, E-RYT 500 - Vinyasa Flow, Cancer Therapy Yoga, Yogaworks Training Mentor
Ingrid embarked upon her yoga journey in 1999 at the Jivamukti Yoga Center in New York City, where she studied directly under David Life and Sharon Gannon. Having been drawn to yoga due to multiple injuries from long distance running, Ingrid began to discover the healing powers of yoga extend beyond the asana practice. More...

Jeanne Cummings - Vinyasa Flow
Jeanne left the corporate world in 2004 to pursue full time study of the body mechanics and teaching disciplines of Pilates and Yoga.

In February 2005, Jeanne continued Pilates training under Romana Kryzanowska and Jay Grimes, protégés of Joseph H. Pilates which led her to open up her own studio in Del Mar, CA. More...

Laura Sparaco - Vinyasa Flow
Laura Sparaco has been a student of yoga since 1995. Certified through Yoga Alliance, she began teaching in 2000 and has had the opportunity to study with many highly regarded yoga teachers including Tim Miller and Ana Forrest. Laura’s love and passion for yoga shines through her teaching. More...

Laxmi DeLeo - Vinyasa Flow
Laxmi was introduced to Yoga by a friend in 1990 at a very stressful and pivotal point in her life. Seated meditation had always been a challenge for her and finding that Asana practice was actually a moving meditation was very appealing. This created a very profound change in her outlook. In 1992 Laxmi began practicing and studying Yoga Philosophy and also became very interested in the Healing Arts. More...

Rachel Krentzman, RPT, E-RYT, CPI - Happy Back Yoga
Rachel Krentzman is the founder and director of Embody Yoga and Physical Therapy Centers. She received her degree in Physical Therapy from McGill University (Montreal, Quebec) in 1996 and has worked in a variety of acute care, rehab and outpatient facilities. More...

Roberta Albert - Vinyasa Flow
We are excited and grateful to welcome the former owner & founder of Bird Rock Yoga to Prana. Born and raised in Italy, Roberta brings her Italian flair and passion to Yoga. She is a very enthusiastic teacher and decided to teach Yoga to offer others the wonderful experience the practice creates physically, mentally, and emotionally. More...

Robin Oleata - Hatha Yoga
Robin Oleata has been a Holistic Health Practitioner since 2003 and a Certified Yoga Teacher since 2004. She began studying yoga while in college at UC Berkeley. She has explored many different styles of yoga and enjoys blending different traditions to create her own unique yoga experience. More...

Sara Deakin - Vinyasa Flow, Intro to Vinyasa
Sara has been practicing Yoga since 1999. Like so many people Sara began Yoga for physical benefits. With numerous knee and shoulder injuries from competitive tennis and running, she turned to Yoga for rehabilitation. The therapy went far beyond her joints, and started to resonate in her mind and spirit. From surfing, to traveling, to being a student of natural medicine, she has been able to integrate yoga philosophy into all aspects of her life. More...