At a very young age my favorite thing in the world was to go to ballet class. Unbeknownst to me a career in dance was where I was headed and I eventually found myself living in the Big Apple attending The Juilliard School. It was there I was introduced to some of the most forward thinking movement specialist in the field. I danced professionally for 12 years most prominently with the Stephen Petronio Company where I also served as rehearsal director. While touring internationally, I was honored to teach master classes in modern dance and movement theory based on the Klein Technique, classical ballet, The Feldenkrais Method and Alexander Technique. It was during this exciting time that the seed was planted for my love of teaching.
I found yoga to be an excellent complement to the demands put on a professional dancer’s body and quickly realized I wanted to deepen my practice. This led me to OM Yoga Center’s teacher training program directed by Cyndi Lee,where I became RYT200 (Registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level) and taught for 6 years. During this time I became increasingly interested in Pilates and anatomy so I went on to complete pilates mat and apparatus trainings at The Kane School of Core Integration directed by Kelly Kane. Marrying yoga and pilates seemed to be the best path to injury prevention, so I enthusiastically developed the Core Yoga program at OM Yoga Center. I have also furthered my studies in Restorative Yoga with Judith Lasater, Fitness Through Pregnancy with Debbi Goodman, and Thai Yoga Bodywork with Jonas Westring.
After 16 years of living disguised as a New Yorker, I decided to move back home to St. Petersburg, Florida where I found my current teacher Tony Ninov. Tony studied with A.G. Mohan who was the disciple of Krishnamacharya. Directly responsible for opening the eyes of yoga to the west, Krishnamacharya also taught B.K.S. Iyengar, Desikichar and Patabi Jois. I am eternally grateful to be a part of this incredible lineage and for sharing this journey with my amazing students who are also my teachers.
Shila is the owner and sole instructor at Studio Central and part of the Yoga Etc. teaching staff.