Natasha Hennessy, Neighbor

Born & raised in Alexandria, Natasha began her yoga practice in 1995 in Telluride, Colorado to complement her rock climbing and outdoor activities.

In moving back to Northern Virginia in 1996, she sought out graduate school, indoor climbing and ways to keep her sanity in the DC Metro area and found Doug Keller at Herndon's Health Advantage Yoga Center. With more practice came a natural inclination to learn the history and philosophy of yoga, which was soon followed by a calling to teach.

In 1999, as she pursued her Masters Degree in Social & Organizaitonal Learning at George Mason Univeristy, she also started teaching friends and neighbors and and has been teaching Hatha based contemporary Yoga since. Natasha received her certification in 2001 as an Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, New York (www.eomega.org) led by Amba & Don Stapleton, PhD. from the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica (www.nosarayoga.com) and is registered with the Yoga Alliance (www.yogaalliance.com).

In 2003, Natasha opened Pure Prana Yoga Studio, the first yoga studio in Old Town Alexandria.

Because of her personal Kundalini Yoga practice and dedication to continuous learning and development, she completed a KRI Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training with Gurmuhk, Gurushabd, Tej and Harijiwan at Golden Bridge Yoga Center in Los Angeles, California (www.goldenbridgeyoga.com). Her classes integrate refining the breath, body & mind with a focus on lengthening, strengthening & balancing the body while awakening and rejuvenating prana (pure life energy).

She is most passionate about the practical applications of the practice and finds the mental awareness, physical proprioception, simple truths and freedom that come with the study of yoga are self-liberating and compliment a mindful, healthy life for more joyful living. She finds a tremendous amount of joy in offering pureprana as a community oasis for all to enjoy. "When you begin to touch your heart or let your heart be touched, you begin to discover that it is bottomless, that it doesn't have any resolution, that this heart is huge, vast and limitless. You begin to discover how much warmth and gentleness is there, as well as how much space." -Pema Chodron