About the Instructor
Welcome to a place dedicated to nurturing your Life's Journey. My name is Aneesah Lionheart. I love warm humid environments, a dish with fresh fish, and the smell of jasmine Flowers.
I created this space out of a passion for peace and happiness for all. As a young person of 6 years my mom tells me I begged to go to church. My paternal grandmother is a chaplain, and my maternal grandmother was a intuitive medicine woman. There is a strong cord of spiritual wisdom that has been passed through my blood.
In the middle of 2019, I was enjoying my "COVID vacation," but I had a strong feeling that it was time for me to embrace my heritage, and begin my spiritual practice in earnest, on behalf of my community. I saw many people suffering, and I knew that the events that were unfolding would persist long after the crisis was over. I felt compelled to act. It was clear to me that my gifts can create value that will serve humanity long after my body is returned to the earth.
On Creating Blue Lotus Yoga
When I was 17, I started doing Pilates. Every day after school, I would pop in a DVD that I found in my stepdad's collection, challenging my body for an hour. I wanted to see what I would look like if I tried a little sculpting. After the first month the results were not obvious to me, but I felt more coordinated, and balanced. It was enough motivation to continue through the rest of my sophomore year. Growing up Evangelical Christian, I was always warned that Yoga was evil, so I avoided it with suspicious curiosity.
When I graduated high school, and I was away in college, I joined a gym. My first group yoga class was at LA Fitness. I enjoyed it very much. The class way pretty spiritual anesthetized, but there was something about the practice that resonated with me deeply. I began to seek out spiritually oriented yoga teachers.
In the Winter of 2019, I began doing Yoga with Adrienne for exercise and bodily maintenance. My next teachers were Bre and Flo of the YouTube channel, Breathe and Flo. They challenged me on what I could do with my body. By 2020 I felt the call to teach, and I started looking for teachers to train with. I began a training with someone who's methodology was questionable and represented a way of teaching that was unresponsive to feedback and failed to respect my body as it was at the time.
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In the winter of 2020 after agonizing over my options, I chose to pursue my 200hr YTT from a school in Rishikesh, India for a complete and authentic exploration of the practice. One of my student studies was a man around 60 years old whose body was tight. His practice required a considerable bit of modification, but after 3 months of practicing with me, 3 days a week, his hips and knees began to both soften and grow stronger. He would tell me about how confidently he was able to approach his work, and challenges with his wife who was ill.
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Transformations like his are why I began Blue Lotus Yoga. I firmly believe that Yoga is for every body. It's more than just asanas, it is a vehicle for joy, satisfaction, and self-realization. I look forward to coming alongside you, as I continue to find deeper love for this practice. I hope encounter you, so that we can enjoy it together.
