Yoga Asana

My History & Approach to Teaching

In 1999, I began practicing in the Ashtanga tradition and was immediately in love. The practice of yoga began to transform life on physical and emotional levels. I have studied many styles over the years, learning from various traditions — such as Kripalu, Bikram, and the Mysore method — but I found my home in the authenticity of the living, breathing, ever-changing flow of Vinyasa.

I began teaching yoga in 2008 after completing a 200hr training with Tom Gilette at Eyes of the World Yoga in Providence, RI. Within two years of teaching I found my voice and realized that teaching was my path and my main work in this world. When my son was born, I left my day job and eventually began to add more and more classes to my schedule as teaching yoga took center stage in my life. 

In 2010, after I’d been teaching for two years, it started to become clear to me that teaching and holding space for others is my main work in this world. I began to consider it my craft and calling and steadily added classes to make the shift to a full-time teacher.  I completed my 300 hr training with Theresa Murphy in 2015 and continue to pursue teachers, methods and practices that inform my work as a yogini and help me to grow as a teacher. 

My Teaching Style

In class, I focus on linking breath to body, integrated alignment, strengthening, and deepening awareness of the Self. Classes are heartfelt and the pace flows with intention, slow motion, and intensity. I feel deeply committed to helping students cultivate a practice that is authentic and powerful while challenging them to find the lessons that asana presents. I embrace ancient yogic scriptures and teachings and use these principles to guide through class, allowing for evolution both on and off of the mat. I love the Sanskrit language and chanting, and I weave these elements into class. 

I teach from my heart. I aim to make each class an experience and I work to offer an environment for each yogi to explore what it is that needs attention for that class, whether it be physical, mental, emotional or spiritual.

My classes are physically challenging while nourishing. I believe that pace is important and we need to slow down in our practice since our lives are fuller and faster than ever. As yoga has popularized in the West, the speed has dramatically increased. I like to give students an opportunity to spend time in each pose so they develop a better understanding of the shape and how it works in their bodies. I feel like there is a misconception in yoga and in life that if it isn’t fast, then it’s not challenging or you aren’t working hard enough. But when you slow down in the poses, you begin to demand much more of the muscles, body awareness increases, and you begin to tap into the subtle body and the true nuance of yoga asana.  

I definitely teach the anatomy of asana, knowing that every body is different and I help students to make wise and safe choices for the practice. I love to work with props and at the wall during longer classes to give practitioners more tools to deepen their asana practice. But asana is just one element of yoga. In class, I speak to the connection of the postures and how they apply to our lives. My goal as a teacher is to help my students be strong and graceful yogis, but more importantly to be strong and graceful humans, navigating life with as much ease and kindness as possible. Yoga asana is practice for life off of the mat.

Yoga Pod: Small, Stable Cohorts for Asana

Find your Yoga Family! Yoga Pods will be limited to 6 people who are committed to practicing in-person once a week for 6 weeks. Classes will have themes and be built around each groups’ interests from poses and antatomy, to breath work and philosophy. During this 6 week session, there will be guidance to help you with your home practice between sessions so that you can grow a personal relationship with the poses in your own home.

The next cohort will be held on Monday mornings, beginning mid-November. Investment is $25 per class, in-person with 6′ distance and quality air filtration for safety. Space is very limited. If you are interested, please contact usha@ushabilotta.com.

Class Schedule

Crow’s Nest in Hope Valley RI – Monday morning yoga pod

Classes at All That Matters in South Kingstown:

• Tuesday 9-10am, heated vinyasa
• Wednesday 5:30-6:30pm, yoga immersion
• Fridays 5-6pm, heated quiet flow (formerly mysore flow)

ZOOM Asana :

• Select Thurdays at 8am – reach out if you’d like me to email you the schedule

Bhavana School Trainings

If you are interested in deepening your study of yoga, becoming a yoga teacher, or supporting your current teaching practice, please visit the pages on Bhavana School 200hr YTT and our Bhavana School 300hr YTT.