Lanita Varshell s the owner of A Gentle Way Yoga & Joyful Movement.
Her home base is San Diego, but she loves traveling and helping yoga students, teachers, and studio owners worldwide.
Founder of: MIMSY® - Meditation in Movement Soft Yoga, and Aalamba® - Yoga with Support, Lanita has taught full-time (over 14,000 classes) since 1996. She was one of the first trauma-informed, plus-size, and body-positive teachers in the United States and owned a successful physical Yoga Studio for twenty years.
Since 1998 Lanita has trained and certified yoga teachers in Stress Management, Mindfulness, Hatha Yoga, and Large Body Yoga. She continues teaching students and teachers live on Zoom and retreat-style settings.
Lanita is passionate about helping students who never dreamed they could do yoga get started and helping those who are now aging and less able to deconstruct classical asana to work for their bodies.
She continues to specialize in helping those living with trauma, central nervous system disorders, and life-threatening illnesses find peace, pain relief, and healing.
Lanita has taught over 14,000 classes and 800 private sessions. In addition, she mentors students and teachers individually in small, apprentice-style training and online workshops. She is a Soft-Gentle-Classical Hatha Yoga teacher, stress management expert, and inspiring motivational speaker who modernizes yoga while staying true to yoga philosophy and principles.
Her Classes & Trainings:
Due to her unique MIMSY-Meditation in Movement Soft Yoga® technique, she is known fondly by her students as the "queen of relaxation." Also known for her work with the very stressed, depressed, and those in chronic pain, Lanita has a beautiful ability to help her students tap into their own powerful self-healing.
In her classes and trainings: Traditional yoga students will experience deep stretches with intimate body connection and learn to practice traditional poses safely with her MIMSY® and Aalamba Yoga® techniques. Don't be deceived by the slowness of Lanita's style; this may be some of the most accessible yet profound yoga work you have ever done! She has been called one of the best teachers for students new to yoga and one of the most advanced teachers for experienced teachers.
More History:
Lanita began teaching yoga full-time in 1996, primarily to help deal with the pain of her life, which included severe back pain, depression, Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, fibromyalgia, and childhood trauma. Her goal was to self-heal and to help others who were also suffering. She evolved from a very sick "couch potato" who could not work to a busy business owner and loving, joyful teacher. Lanita is living proof that the many benefits of yoga can be experienced by anyone, any size, with almost any challenge and an inspiration to others.