Namaste. My name is Elizabeth Olive Bolla and I have been practicing yoga since 1996. I found yoga due to major trauma that I experienced. A wonderful therapist taught me how to do breathwork and meditate to get me present and out of PTSD. He then recommended I start the phys...
Namaste. My name is Elizabeth Olive Bolla and I have been practicing yoga since 1996. I found yoga due to major trauma that I experienced. A wonderful therapist taught me how to do breathwork and meditate to get me present and out of PTSD. He then recommended I start the physical practice of yoga a year later. I began with Kundalini and had an awakening that hooked me into yoga for the rest of my life. I practiced Kundalini yoga but then tried Hatha, Vinyasa and Bikram. I continued with my Kundalini practice the entire time and stayed with the same teacher I began with - Premdev Kaur. I also continue to practice with Kia Miller since I first took a class in Joshua Tree with her in 2012. During the first few years of starting my yoga journey, I was injured in a car accident so I had to learn how to modify my practice. I was able to rehabilitate my body with the practice of modified yoga. It was incredible! I decided to get teacher trained in 2009 with YogaWorks as I loved their philosophy and some of my favorite teachers taught at the San Francisco Yoga-Works. I had a strong Vinyasa flow practice but complemented it with a gentle Yin practice led by Dina Amsterdam that helped balance my very athletic, competitive nature. I was an avid athlete my entire life and rowed in college. I loved to lift weights and work out hard so the Yin practice was exactly what I needed. During my 200 Hour Teacher Training in Pacific Palisades, I discovered Restorative yoga which also changed my practice and my life. Romy Phillips was one of my teacher assistants in my one-month intensive training along with Gigi Snyder and they both helped me excel to another dimension in my practice - thus the teaching of the path. Since my certification in 2009, I have continued to train and learn from many great teachers. I have attended Bhakti and Shakti Festival 7 years in a row in Joshua Tree, California. I organized my own yoga retreat in the desert whilst owning my own yoga studio from 2015 - 2018 in Long Beach, California. My studio also hosted monthly sound healing events with Reiki healers. I organized new moon and full moon yoga events as well as many specialized yoga workshops (and I continue to do so on Zoom and in person). I hosted donation classes to support Mental Health of America and was in charge of kicking off the month long events for Mental Health Awareness month in May with guided meditations. I also donated my studio to the Long Beach Unified School District high school students for their events related to young entrepreneurs. I taught over 26 classes a week creating my own ,specially designed, Fusion Flow classes that incorporated different styles of yoga. I also created my own Yoga Alliance approved 200 Hour Teacher Training Intuitive Yoga Flow program. I was able to train students to become teachers. My passion is sharing the path that saved my life. I became Trauma Informed certified in 2019 with Jane Clapp in Toronto. I also became First Level Reiki trained in Scotland during 2020 and Second Level Reiki certified in 2021 whilst in Switzerland in an online training - since lock down would not let us do in person training back in Scotland at Lendrick Lodge. I now infuse Reiki into all my offerings to assist in the healing power of yoga. I am currently offering a Chill Chakra Series on Sundays (on Zoom) to learn how to balance the energy centers in these troubling times. I have private clients and teach kids yoga as well. I am honored to share the path. I am a student for life to be a better teacher.
