About Laurel Hodory
Laurel Hodory, M.S., E-RYT 500 was the owner and Director of It’s Yoga Columbus for seven years. During her teaching career she has trained and certified more than 120 yoga teachers through her 200-hour Yoga Alliance Teacher Training program, and introduced yoga to more than 6,000 students. Laurel has been an avid student of yoga since 1992 when one of her dance instructors, David Beadle, first introduced her to yoga. When she discovered yoga, she felt she had come home to her true path. Among other miracles, yoga has supported her and many of her students in recovery from physical injuries, addictions, personal loss, and more. Her body wisdom has been informed by her experiences as a top-performing athlete, dancer, yoga teacher and by her studies with renowned teachers in the field of yoga, psychology, bodywork, and eastern/western medicine.
Laurel has spent six of the last 18 years deeply studying the Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga system, traveling to India and studying with master Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, working her way up to the Third Series. During her years of studying Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, she became well known for her powerful, graceful practice and her skillful hands-on adjustments. She obtained her certification in Ashtanga Yoga in 1999.
After years of practicing and teaching students the Ashtanga Vinyasa System, Laurel saw a pattern of repetitive use injuries emerging. Out of a desire to help her students heal, she immersed herself intensively in the study of biomechanics and yoga therapeutics. She studied closely with Paul Grilley (Meridian Theory, Fascia/Skeletal Anatomy), John Friend, Sianna Sherman (Anusara Yoga), Dr. Robin Hunter, D.C. (Chiropractor to the OSU Buckeye sports program and Balletmet), and Arnold Coleman, personal trainer specializing in sports injury rehabilitation.
Laurel left her professional career in the environmental field in 2000 to teach yoga and empower her students to live in harmony with the environment of their body. In teaching thousands of hours of yoga, she has observed many of her students become empowered in areas of their lives that were previously lost. Always a student first, Laurel continues to fortify herself with skillful knowledge so that she may better assist others to live with purpose. She has attended training at the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland, Polarity Therapy Training in Columbus, and has studied Ayurveda apprenticing with her teacher Sonam Targee over the last seven years.
Among her accomplishments, Laurel was selected as an SNP (Suburban News Publications) American Business Woman and was featured as a select business woman in Business First. Her teachings have been published in Yoga Chicago and she was a guest speaker at the 2006 OSU Addictions Conference. She has also instructional yoga CDs and videos available for purchase online.
As the founder of the first dedicated yoga center in Columbus, Ohio, Laurel is both a leader in the community and an example of embodied wisdom. She is a lover of life, indulging in the beautiful outdoors, delicious food, friends, and music and spending time with her beloved husband. She empowers her students to heal, grow and align with their fullest potential by teaching them self-reflective practices and inspiring them to transcend their limitations.
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