Intentional Living for People + Planet
MY PROFESSIONAL BIO
A LIFE OF SERVICE + STUDY
Līlā (Leela) Lolling is an accomplished Yoga Philosophy + Hatha Yoga instructor with over 20 years experience studying ancient yoga wisdoms and living with monks from the Saraswati lineage. Specifically, she has studied classical Yoga including Advaita Vedanta, traditional Hatha Yoga, Raja Yoga, Bhagavad Gita, Ayurveda, and various other scriptures and paths of Yoga. Her Guru is Swami Sivananda Maharaj (1887 - 1963) and her teachers include Vedic scholar Prem Sadasivananda and numerous Swamis (monks) from the Sivananda organization.
Lila presents the wisdoms in a grounded, easy-to-understand way that effortlessly weaves classical yoga teachings with the nuances of living and teaching yoga in today's environment. In recent years she has added eco-psychology and climate activism to her studies, teachings, and life.
She is author of Walking the Ancient Path of Yoga, a study-guide for yoga teachers + enthusiasts who wish to take Raja Yoga off the mat and into everyday life. She was co-director of the DeafYoga Foundation, a non-profit she founded in 2008, which since closed its doors in 2019. Lila continues to offer yoga classes, retreats, and trainings in English and American Sign Language.
TEACHING PRINCIPLES + POINTS OF FOCUS
MY FOUR DIRECTIONS
East
WISDOM
Ancient Yoga includes many branches of knowledge; philosophy, psychology, spirituality, ecology, medicine, numerology, and more. Yoga wisdoms include both theory and practices to live in harmony. When we embody these wisdoms, we are empowered to be advocates for positive change.
North
REVERENCE
Living with a sense of awe, wonder and deep gratitude offers many benefits + gifts. Reverence is the essence of a living heart-forward which brings presence, authenticity, connection, and love into daily life. Reverence is living with the attitude that all life is sacred.
West
REWILDING
Usually used to describe placement of a wild species back into their natural environment, rewilding here is meant for humans. We spend 93% of life indoors and an average of 8+ hours a day on a device. We have been striped from our natural habitat and live an artificial, domesticated life. Rewilding is a return home, and a process that reconnects you with the natural world.
South
TRANSFORMATION
The heart of Lila's teachings is transformation. She advocates for ongoing personal + planetary refinement. Her lineage-rooted, earth-honoring content stimulates growth inside, out. Nature is always changing. And we are nature. Let's blossom into a flower of optimism, joy, unity, and transformation.
MY TWO MAIN SERVICE PASSIONS
CLIMATE ACTIVISM + SOCIAL JUSTICE
AN INVITATION FOR PURPOSE + HEALING
YOGIS FOR CLIMATE ACTION
Right now we are at a precipice of change. Human disease rates and stress levels are on the rise. Carbon emissions, sea levels, forest fires, and global temperatures are also rising.
At the same time, there is an uprising of hope and action. Millions of people are standing up for environmental, social, and economic justice. Millions are demanding peace, equality, and regeneration.
Scripture claims Hatha Yoga, the Bhagavad Gita, and the Vedas were reverently handed down for this exact moment in time. They offer humans insights to solve the discords many discords of today.
We are ripe for change, and yoga is a path that can lead us to a (r)evolution.
TEACHING DEAF + HARD OF HEARING YOGIS
YOGA IN SIGN LANGUAGE
At a young age, I read Helen Keller, and was immediately struck with a feeling of connection to the Deaf community.
At 15, I took my first ASL class taught at a local Deaf club. It was there I fell in love with Deaf people, their culture, and their language ASL [American Sign Language].
In 1996, I graduated college with a Sign Language Interpreter degree, and in 2008, I founded DeafYoga Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization. DYF trained over 50 Deaf people to become yoga instructors and hundreds of ASL interpreters on the vocabulary and nuances of interpreting yoga. In 2019, the foundation closed.
My passion to create ASL content for my Deaf friends, and yoga teachers & practitioners, is in my heart. I am honored to be an ally within the Deaf yoga community, advocating yoga events and online classes include ASL interpreters and subtitles.
EDUCATION + CERTIFICATIONS
A PEEK INTO MY JOURNEY
CONTINUED EDUCATION + AFFILIATIONS
Pachamama Game Changer Intensive 8-week course, 2020
Pachamama Drawdown Online Course, 2020
Drawdown Conference on Climate Crisis, 2019
Omega Institute's Ecological Literacy Program, 2018
Bhagavad Gita Studies with Prem Sadasivananda, 2015 - 2017
Sadhana Intensive (2-week Hatha Yoga Immersion), 2013
300hr Sivananda Advanced Teacher Training Course, 2011
Advanced Bhagavad Gita Course 40 hours, 2011
Advanced Advaita Vedanta Certification 100 hours, 2010
200hr Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training Course, 2000
Accreditations + Affiliations
Yoga Alliance, ERYT-500
Yoga Alliance, Continued Education Provider (YACEP)
IAYT: International Association of Yoga Therapists
Hope Springs Institute, Board Member
MEDIA + COLLABORATIONS
Sacred Space Ritual, Pachamama Alliance Collaboration, 2020
Kingston Radio Interview & Podcast Collaboration, 2019
Yoga Journal: Good Karma Awards DeafYoga Foundation, 2018
United Nations Speaker, International Day of Yoga 2018 (37:14)
Whole Living Magazine Cincinnati, October 2016
Yoga Journal Teacher Feature, July 2016
Yoga Journal Article (Yoga in ASL), December 2011
NY1 TV Station "New Yorker of the Week" 2009
WellWoman Radio Interview, 2009
American Hearing Research Foundation Article, 2009
Yoga Journal Article, 2008
ABC7 News Interview Chicago, 2006