Habla Yoga
Alyssa is the founder and director of Habla Yoga and has been teaching since 2007. She began teaching bilingual Spanish/English yoga classes while serving as a Preventative Health Educator with Peace Corps in rural Guatemala. Her secondary projects developed into teaching yoga and English for youth and families within the local communities.
Habla Yoga’s first classes were held in fall of 2013 at The Float Shoppe in Portland, Oregon. Alyssa is a passionate advocate for the serene, supportive nature of floating. She discovered floating to be a harmonious companion to yoga as well as helping to ease frustrations along the journey of language learning. The intentional, calm space of a float tank invites balance, clarity and creativity. She is grateful for floating and it’s facilitation in processing the beautiful challenges from working and living intimately with families in extreme poverty.
Alyssa’s fascination with culture, meditation and yoga led her to spend intentional time in SE Asia practicing with local Buddhist teachers, as well as partaking in ten days of silent meditation via Vipassana, a rather transformative experience. She feels most alive and present when being creative, traveling or simply while taking in the sun and moon as they appear and disappear. Alyssa loves to read, write, and drink coffee & tea on the porch.
She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with Yoga Alliance and studying and training mostly in Hatha & Vinyasa Yoga. However, she enjoys integrating a variety of styles into her practice including restorative, yin and power yoga. She began teaching classes in 2007 as a fitness instructor leading Zumba, cardio-sculpt, and indoor cycling.
Alyssa completed a 200-hour & 300-hour Yoga Teacher Training with The Lotus Seed School in Mexico, and a 95-hour Children’s Yoga Teacher Training in Portland, Oregon. She received continuing education with Street Yoga and The Bhakti Shop in Portland, and at Mahadevi Ashram in Guatemala. Alyssa studied and worked closely with a Portland-based Yoga Therapist, Cindy Lewis; together they taught yoga club at a high school and co-organized a local yoga collective.