Our teacher for the month of September is Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, founder of Golden Bridge Yoga.

Gurmukh first began practicing in 1970 after meeting Kundalini master Yogi Bhajan and receiving her name, which means, “one who helps people across the world ocean.” After studying with Yogi Bhajan, she started teaching, and after the birth of her daughter in 1982, Gurmukh used her knowledge of Kundalini to launch a childbirth education program called “The Khalsa Way.” Now, with her husband Gurushabd Singh Khalsa, she travels the world bringing her amazing instruction to numerous students.

In 2002, Gurmukh founded Golden Bridge Yoga in Los Angeles, and they later expanded with centers in Santa Monica and New York City. Golden Bridge Yoga promotes Gurmukh’s vision of developing a yogic community and inspiring students. They have been a valued wholesale customer of Barefoot Yoga since 2003 and offer many of our products, including yoga mats, silk eye pillows, zafus and practice rugs.

Posted under Yoga Studios, Yoga Teachers

This month we’re highlighting one of our favorite long-time customers, Rainbow Grocery in San Francisco. When we were starting out more than 15 years ago, Barefoot Yoga was also based out of San Francisco, and we began selling our yoga mat bags at Rainbow Grocery in the early days. We’re happy to say that we’ve been working with them ever since!

Rainbow Grocery is a worker-owned cooperative that focuses on health, sustainability, and fair labor practices. They first operated in the 1970s as a bulk food-buying program for a local ashram. After establishing themselves as a non-profit organization, the co-op expanded their product selection beyond food, and became a sort of general store for the health and eco conscious consumer. Over time they’ve blossomed into a renowned Bay-area store with a great selection of vegetarian foods, bath and body products, housewares and gifts. They set themselves apart from chain health food stores by remaining authentic to their founders’ vision of locally sourced foods, community outreach, and providing a living wage to their worker-owners.

If you’re in the Bay area, visit Rainbow Grocery to check out their amazing selection of products including Barefoot Yoga eye pillows, yoga rugs, and yoga mat bags.

Posted under Yoga Studios, Yoga Supplies

Our teacher of the month for July is Farzaneh Noori, co-founder of Yoga House in Pasadena, California. She has been practicing and teaching yoga for over 20 years, and has studied with a number of influential yogis in the process, including Tias Little, Paul Grilley and Jill Miller. She focuses strongly on the healing properties of yoga, and some of her most popular classes include Prenatal Yoga and Therapeutic Yoga for Cancer.

Farzaneh began her Therapeutic Yoga for Cancer classes in 2012. After her own cancer diagnosis and treatment, she attributed her recovery in a large part to the practice of yoga, and wanted to share its healing benefits with others coping with the disease. The classes are offered free of charge as a service to the community, and over time attendance has blossomed from a few participants to 20 or 30 per class. According to Yoga House’s website, “Each class offers a synthesis of several natural healing modalities: restorative yoga; gentle yoga; breath work; meditation; and hands-on healing, all of which promote a state of deep relaxation which enhances the body’s ability to heal itself.”

Yoga House was co-founded by Farzaneh Noori and Bruce Schwartz in 1997 and they’re a valued long-time customer of Barefoot Yoga, offering our yoga mats, bags, eye pillows and more. To experience Farzaneh’s inspiring and healing classes for yourself, visit Yoga House in Pasadena!

Posted under Health and Fitness, Yoga Studios, Yoga Supplies, Yoga Teachers