WHY YogiChocolate? And a little about the founders...

 

Press Release:

YogiChocolate.com is gearing up to launch on July 9! Marcus & Sara LeVere, the husband and wife team who are behind this online yoga studio, say that they are looking forward to finally seeing the site in action offering audio downloads of yoga classes on donation. They have a pretty close relationship with all the teachers who will be seeding YogiChocolate. Sara spends hours taking yoga classes, talking to teachers, making meetings, sending out emails, and connecting through teacher and student referrals. Marcus & Sara want to provide a wide variety of classes through YogiChocolate so that all voices can be heard. So far they've got some Anusara, Power Yoga, Forrest Yoga and Jivamukti in the mix including a couple of classes in Spanish and a little bit of Kirtan.

Sara has always felt the desire to know more about the many ways hatha yoga can be expressed.

"People naturally gravitate toward a style of yoga that fit their body, their lifestyle, their emotional construct, and what they need to move through or learn next in their life. For me that was and still is Power Yoga. But I enjoy exploring other styles and also find my own practice and teaching shifting into more of a yin approach. It's just what personally feels good to me. And that's what it comes down to--what feels good to an individual. Some days chocolate makes you feel good. Other days it's a hot pot of tea and a book. If a person can tap into what really feels good intuitively for the body and the mind and be guided by that...it's a beautiful thing. It's not about what style a person practices, but honoring that all are valid yoga practices because all thought and human experience is valid."

Upon launch you'll notice that many of the teachers hail from Bryan Kest's Santa Monica Power Yoga (including Bryan himself!). Sara comments, "We want to offer as many kinds of yoga classes in as many languages as possible, but what better place to start than from home?" She has strong roots to Santa Monica and Bryan's teaching. Originally from Fairfield, Iowa she was brought up by parents in the transcendental meditation community so she knew what yoga was from a young age. But the balance came in her early 20s when she moved to Santa Monica and really fell in love with beach life, the city, her husband, and her yoga practice. (You can befriend her here on Zaadz at www.sara.zaadz.com!)

It was Sara who was always talking, thinking, eating, breathing yoga, especially as an assistant manager of Bryan's studio and internet store. But it was actually Marcus who came up with the concept for YogiChocolate. Originally from England & Ghana, but making his home in Santa Monica for several years now, Marcus worked his way to the top of the visual effects industry in a short time. His spirituality is rooted in his delight for technological advancement and his love for playing in the physical through skateboarding, snowboarding, and tai chi. He began learning yoga out of books more than a decade ago in England at a time when it was considered more than a little weird, especially for a young black male. So Marcus, being the more tech savvy of the pair, enjoying a home practice more than going to the studio, and who travels often, was blessed with the idea one sunny day while they were taking a stroll to the beach with a meditation teacher. It started out as one of those "What if you could...?" conversations that never ended.