Julia Eda Shemesh

I have studied deeply with Yoga, dance, meditation, movement therapy, and integral anatomy for over twenty years. After teaching various forms of āsana (vinyasa, 26+2, hatha) and thousands of hours of yoga teacher training programs, I found Mysore style Aṣṭāṅga Yoga. Since 2014, I’ve sustained a daily practice and have gratefully studied with Maia Heiss and Noah Williams in Los Angeles. In 2017 and 2019, I traveled to Mysore to study with Sharath Jois, Arvind Pare, Lakshmisha Bhat, Dr. M.A. Jayashree and Prof. Narasimhan. I have recently and enthusiastically been studying with Dr. Shyam Ranganathan. His research, incredible body of work and teachings are blowing my mind wide open. I am devoted to ongoing study.

Though I do not identify as either, I am a certified Pilates Instructor and Doula, and these experiences have influenced the way in which I understand the human body and her fierce ability to know how to move. I spent my twenties dancing professionally and performing on all sorts of stages. The joy I found in my physical form was the gateway to how I began sensing the subtle world--and desiring more from myself. By way of the movement language known as Gaga, I explored the limits of what my dancing body could do. But it was Yoga that allowed me entry into the deeper world of knowledge and radical responsibility.

The ecstasy I discover through the discipline of Yoga practice is unparalleled. The joy of seeing myself more clearly is constantly rife with newness, and yet, I recognize I have always had this kind of freedom. Choice is what it's about. Yoga helps me create space for myself and others to practice however and whatever we choose.

In a world where it’s easy to be bombarded by material anxieties, and subsequently, their absurd remedies, Yoga is both a shield to protect from the insanity and a doorway leading to a buried reality. Ignorance, fear, insecurity, anxiety, doubt, loss, grief, rage, confusion, violence and pain. No one is exempt. Graciously, Yoga offers a philosophical rock that we can sit on to organize and make sense of our thoughts. Yoga is a practice that helps us take responsibility for ourselves, get over our ego and get out of our own way.

I'm interested in uncovering and harnessing the curiosity and compassion within us, so that we may each continue our journey inward and onward with devotion, steadiness and ease. I bow down to my ideal self, īśvara.