julie rappaport

Julie has practiced yoga her entire adult life and has been teaching since the 1990's. She has pursued in-depth study of yoga in India where she also leads Bespoke retreats. She draws on the principles of traditional vinyasa krama, breath-based asana, bhakti (devotion) as well as alignment based- hatha yoga, and other movement systems (Body Mind Centering, Yamuna rolling.) She is influenced by many systems both within and outside the yoga tradition from the Indian yoga lineages of Krishnamacharya (Ashtanga Vinyasa, T.K.V. Desikachar), to musical study of North Indian Raga. She aims to teach dynamic, replenishing and fun classes from the inside out with modifications that are right for each student. She has years of personal and professional experience using yoga & somatics to heal chronic pain.

Julie is also a licensed psychotherapist (MFT) in private practice in Berkeley, a Somatic Experiencing Practitioner (SEP), and writer. She's the author of "365 Yoga: Daily Meditations," ( Tarcher/Penguin) and she teaches in the graduate program for Somatic psychology at the California Institute of Integral Studies. Her fluid, creative and intuitive teaching draw inspiration from pioneering teachers: Angela Farmer, Bonnie Banbridge Cohen, Amy Cooper, Mark Whitwell and others. She’s deeply appreciative of the work of pioneer yogini Vanda Scaravelli.