Karen Dorfman
When Karen was five years old she took her first dance class, and so began her lifelong journey into movement! She continued to dance and perform through college. In her 20s she became a fitness enthusiast and she shifted into running, aerobics and weight lifting. Over several years the intensity of these activities resulted in shoulder and knee injuries, a blessing in disguise because this ultimately led her to yoga! While training for a marathon in 1998 her knee gave out and she soon found herself in physical therapy and yoga classes. When Karen stepped onto her mat for the first time she knew she had found something special. She found something she didn't even know she was looking for and it took her on a soulful journey she could never have imagined. She practiced Ashtanga Yoga for several years, learning from Adele Gail at Atlanta Yoga, then immersed herself in Iyengar Yoga with Kathleen Pringle at Stillwater Yoga, and ultimately found her way to the vinyasa flow practice that inspires her today. In 2006 she received her 200 hour yoga teacher certification from Graham Fowler at Peachtree Yoga Center. Karen teaches Vinyasa Flow classes that are dynamic, playful and challenging. She stresses the importance of alignment and linking the poses through the breath to create strength, flexibility and balance. Her students enjoy her improvisational style and sense of humor, encouraging them to have fun and let go. As much as she loves the physical yoga practice she has a deep connection to the spiritual practice that came to her through mantra chanting and breathwork. The combination of which led to the creation of Aum Tala Yoga. She is passionate about inspiring her students to grow both on the mat and in their daily lives. She believes that every person deserves to live a heart-driven life full of love, truth and joy.
Karen teaches private yoga instruction to students who want to develop their personal practice, she has taught at various spaces around the city including the Georgia Aquarium, and currently teaches at Yoga Samadhi and directs the yoga program at Cuong Nhu Martial Arts Studio. She is also a Massage Therapist and the owner of Firefly Massage Studio in Atlanta. During her free time she is most likely to be found playing out in nature with her dog Darby. She loves the outdoors, hiking, camping and sailing. And yes she is still dancing! The 5Rhythms, tribal dance and freedom through expression.
Live life from your center and move, move in any way that moves you, just move!
Darby
You'll meet me at your next Aum Tala Class!
My favorite poses are Down Dog and Savasana.
Woof!
Ian Boccio
Ian discovered (or was discovered by) Mantra Yoga and sacred sound practices in 2005 and has been chanting ever since! He has been a musician for over 20 years, with skills on a wide variety of instruments, and he has also worked as a session player, recording engineer and music producer around the Indie Music scene in Los Angeles. In 2003, Ian received a Master of Fine Arts degree from UC San Diego, where he specialized in non-objective painting in oils and acrylics. After being awakened to the bliss of kirtan by his teacher, Clair Oaks, Ian quickly became a fixture in Philadelphia's chanting community, playing bass guitar with noted artists such as David Newman, Bhagavan Das and Shyam Das as they passed through the city. It was during this time that Ian had several experiences that changed the course of his life, art and spiritual practice. A weekend immersion in Sanskrit pronunciation with Vyaas Houston from the American Sanskrit Institute brought a latent talent for singing to the surface that has led some to speculate that Ian may have been a Vedic priest in a former lifetime, since he naturally improvises melodies and vocal ornamentation that bear a great resemblance to those of trained Indian temple singers. In 2007, Ian discovered (or was discovered by) the Hindu saint Shri Karunamayi, and began attending meditation retreats and spiritual discourses to gain a deeper insight into his own true nature. Through the teachings of Shri Karunamayi, he learned about and experienced the power of mantra practice and was inspired by her to share this divine gift with others.
Ian moved to Atlanta, GA, a few months later and offered weekly mantra chanting sessions at a local yoga studio. It was after one of these sessions that he met up with vocalist/guitarist Phil McWilliams and percussionist Brihaspati (Joey Dukes) and they formed the kirtan ensemble Bhakti Messenger, which travels around Georgia bringing devotional chanting into many different communities. In 2010, Ian also became one of the founders of ChantLanta, an interfaith sacred music festival that raises money for both international and local charities. He continues to serve as the sponsorship coordinator and in-house graphic and web designer for the festival. Ian met Karen Dorfman when they were both on the organizing commitee for ChantLanta and soon after that they began collaborating on ideas for combining mantra and asana practices into a new style of yoga - Aum Tala!