Allison Dennis
Allison’s yoga journey began after a back injury as a performer in the off-Broadway show De La Guarda. Unable to move around at a young age, she took to the philosophy of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras for comfort and perspective. Recovery took several years and allowed for her eventual asana practice to be rooted in and emphasized by India’s wisdom systems.
A Vedic student since 2001, and a graduate of The Body Therapy Institute, Allison completed well over 1000 hours of formalized yoga teacher trainings (Sivananda, Jivamukti, Krishnamacharya) before opening Heart of Yoga School in Carrboro, NC in 2010 which is also the year she met her primary mentor K. Sridhar and began studying with him. She has a BFA in Musical Theater from East Carolina University.
Allison designed an 800-hour Yoga Teacher Training program dedicated to the foundational texts of yoga which offered textual study, introduction to the language of Sanskrit, harmonium instruction, chanting, and the development of a daily prescriptive sadhana.
As an event organizer, she focused on bringing people together at Heart of Yoga School to enjoy her favorite teachers and artists; K. Sridhar, Dr. Robert Svoboda, Sharon Gannon, Edwin Bryant, Prem Sada Sivananda, and more. She led a weekly kirtan for five years, and also organized a weeklong Classical Indian Music Festival.
- Check out her three kirtan albums here on Spotify.
- Her original music can be found here.
- De la Guarda Trailer
In recent years she’s presented with the Telluride Yoga Festival, Grand Valley Yoga Fest, and the Stroud Sacred Music Festival in UK. In 2023 she will present her research on how the ragas of Indian music can be used as Jyotishical remedies at the Vaidyagrama Healing Sounds Retreat in South India.
Allison has compiled a variety of Vedic teachings into an online library of courses on subjects like Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, Indian Music, The Ramayana, and more. These courses are offered on Teachable at Heart of Yoga School.
