Check back in the coming weeks for additional information and updates.

Emodied practices include individual and group work for Yoga, YogaChi, Self-defense, and Massage Therapy

Check classes/workshop link or calendar listing for events.

Private sessions by appointment. Call 805-275-1803. Email: terrawise@gmail.com

To be grounded and embodied, solid and as calm as a rock appears--yet fluid like the water...

Yoga, Women's Self Defense, Embodied Practices

I have experience of teaching yoga in private session, small and large groups, and for large international cconferenes.

iI've worked in association with yoga studios, healing retreat centers, one-on-one yoga coaching for athletes, corporate training, specialty therapeutic workshops, and as a presenter at international conferences. I have twenty plus years of hands-on experience in private practice as a cross-cultural teacher, healer, and counselor in Canada and the U.S. For the past two decades I have worked therapeutically with private clients and workshop groups in both embodied and psycho-spiritual modalities.

My teaching background includes years as an instructor in Laguna Beach CA, for teens and adults for the city's recreation department, for the Yoga Place studios in the county, and other sites. I have led workshops as a presenter and yoga instructor for the International Transpersonal Conferences in Brazil and in Palm Springs, the Esalen Institute in Big Sur California, the Omega Center in New York, the Hindu Cultural Center in Toronto Canada, and for the PCC graduate students in the Philosophy, Cosmology, and Consciousness program, at the California Institute of Integral Studies in San Francisco.

I have a great appreciation for the martial arts, my previous studies include some karate, kickboxing, plus training in Wen-Do, a Canadian women's self-defense technique. I am also a self-defense instructor, certified by Defend University, and RAD.

I am trained in a range of counseling and healing modalities, including, bodywork, massage, Reichian breath work, Thai Yoga therapy, dance-kinetics, and clinical hypnotherapy. I am a certified instructor through the White Lotus Institute, and received instructor certification in Da Dao Chan Gong, from Grandmaster Fu (a Wuji focused form of qigong). My backgound also involved dance, African dance, free flow trance dance, and a mix of yoga styles including Kundalini, Sivananda, Vinyasa, Yin, and therapeutic restorative yoga.

My approach to teaching is accessible to many people, reflected through my interpersonal skills and counseling background, and expressed in the warm ambiance I provide for new and seasoned practitioners alike. I enjoy teaching a range of forms, from the Yin style of holding each asana with focused attention on deep meridian stretch and yin/yang energetic awareness, to a flowing vinyasa style. Class examples include; a soft nurturing stress relief class held in a peaceful candlelit room, with focus on healing imagery, pranayama, meditation, self massage and deep relaxation—to a more playful energetic and upbeat class with world music, to a chakra attunement class that journeys through the energy centers of the body with intention for healing blockages and freeing energies.

Specialty classes for women include an exciting and empowering mix of self-defense, qigong, and yoga, a class that teaches how specific asanas can improve self-defense strategies and strengths. I also teach womb-nurturing classes that focus gently on attending to the feminine considerations of premature menopause, loss, and other transitions.

My intuitive teaching style is approachable, warm, and supportive. New and experienced students are encouraged through a positive tone of lightness and gentle humor, without harsh dogma or intimidation--novices feel included, safely guided, and eager to return. All classes, workshops, and private lessons, including those for therapeutic or specific needs, reflect this compassionate tone.



Terra Wise, 805.275.1803