Lee Edgren, MS, RYT, owner and director of River Light Yoga

I have been "doing yoga" for more than 30 years! I was an on-and-off-again practitioner from 1970 to 1986, until taking care of my father prior to his death in 1988 made me a daily practitioner and then a teacher. I began teaching in 1989, when Swami Rama said, in my first personal interview with him, "You will teach, and I will teach you." I taught my first class on the banks of the Ganges and have been on or near a river ever since. I was certified in another system in 1991.

In addition to annual work with many internationally-known and quite a few obscure yoga instructors, I completed basic and advanced trainings entitled The Spirit of Self-Regulation with the Center for Mind-Body Medicine in Washington, DC; have participated in the seven-day professional training offered at Omega with Jon Kabat-Zinn and Saki Santorelli; and was recently certified (2003) by Judith Lasater, Ph.D., PT as a Relax and Renew trainer. I completed my MS degree in Wellness Management at Ball State University in 1998, with a Dean's Citation for Academic Excellence. I am the technical editor of Power Yoga for Dummies, by Doug Swenson, the co-author of a study on yoga and breathing (Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine, November, 2000); as well as the author of smaller articles on yoga that have appeared in yoga-related newsletters. I have taught yoga in universities since 1992--nine years at Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana in the wonderful program started by Dee Ann Birkel, and the last two at IUPUI. I am currently on the Board of Directors of the Indiana Yoga Association and have served that organization as Chairperson and Communications Chair.

In my classes, I stress awareness, grounding, extension, radiation, pliability of the body, the joyful exploration of sensation within the pose, looking for the lines of energy, looking for the edge, and respecting what you find. Each pose presents an energy state to contemplate and each pose has symbolic value. What arises symbolically and energetically become clues that we can follow in developing a softer relationship with the small self, as well as directions for the work (or play) that will take us deeper in our knowledge of the transcendent Self.

I am indebted to many, many teachers, especially to Swami Rama, who told me to become a teacher. Of the nationally and internationally known yoga teachers with whom I have worked, I am most drawn to the teachings of Angela Farmer and Victor van Kooten, Donna Farhi, Judith Lasater, and Erich Schiffmann.

Dona Robinson

Dona has also practiced yoga for about 30 years!  She was a dancer before she became involved in yoga, and practiced when she could, while raising a family and working with her entrepreneurial husband in creating three successful businesses. She is probably one of the few yoga teachers in the United States who is also a CPA.  She returned to yoga with enthusiasm several years ago, completing the certification offered by All People Yoga Association here in Indianapolis. She continues to study as often as she can, recently with Rodney Yee and Judith Lasater and soon with Erich Schiffmann. She is a heart-centered teacher who radiates good will, love, and abundant patience.  Dona leads the early morning practice that includes flowing asana, pranayama and meditation. She also teaches the gentle class at 8:00 a.m., a perfect class for beginners, as well as for those who have limitations in mobility.   

Barbara Kazanjian