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Ellen Johannesen - Personal Biography

Ellen Johannesen, born in Norway, has been a professional dancer and a yoga teacher for more than 20 years. She took up Ashtanga yoga during a tour to New York in 1994, where she had her first Ashtanga class with David Life at Jivamukti. This was the beginning of her lifelong practice and yoga journeys, which brought her to Eddie Stern, Danny Paradise, Karen Haberman, Louisa Sear; and in 1997, to Mysore and Pattabhi Jois, where she spent three months practicing the intermediate series. In 2001, she spent three months with Louisa Sear in Byron Bay learning the advanced A series.

In 2002, she co-founded the first Ashtanga yoga studio in Oslo, Norway--Ashtanga Yoga Oslo--where she was the principal teacher in charge of the Mysore program. The studio hosted many internationally recognized teachers such as John Scott, Tim Feldmann, Kino MacGregor, David Keil, Prem Carlisi and others. In 2005, she started a two-year TTC/internship with John Scott and Lucy Crawford Scott in Cornwall, UK. Inspired by John and Lucy, she then returned to Mysore five more times and holds a level II authorization from Sharath Jois.

A growing interest in Buddhist philosophy and Tibetan language brought her first to Bylakuppe, South India, where she spent two years living in a Tibetan monastery, and then to Kathmandu where, after completing a Tibetan translator training course, she earned a degree in Buddhist studies and Himalayan languages from KTM University. She currently works as a yoga teacher for Pranamaya Yoga, Kathmandu, conducts yoga treks and retreats in Nepal and teaches Ashtanga yoga in her home-based yoga shala. Ellen is a dedicated teacher who uses her in-depth knowledge of body and mind to approach each student individually. She also has a keen interest in sharing her knowledge of Buddhist philosophy and practices. Quoting one of her teachers, she says, "There is only one Yoga. . . ."