The Yoga Center of Minneapolis

Instructor & Staff Information


Tanya (Boigenzahn) Sowards, RYT-500, RTT, CHTP Tanya is a certified yoga instructor with over 15 years of dedicated practice. She is one of the senior teachers at the Yoga Center and facilitates the 9 Month Teacher Training/Yoga Study Program, and offers many workshops and trainings to help students deepen their practice. She also operates her healing arts business, Thai Yoga Bodywork, LLC, at the Dharma Wellness & Spa at the St. Louis Park studio which offers Traditional Thai Massage, Healing Touch, Reiki, private yoga lessons, meditation/pranayama privates and programs to learn the basics of Thai Yoga Bodywork. From 2001-07, she served as the Marketing Art Director of the Yoga Center designing the logo, website, brochures, ads, and creating the look and feel of the Yoga Center. Tanya devotes her life to sharing the gifts of yoga, wellness and well-being with clarity, ease, and joy while keeping in mind the constant evolution of the soul. On the side, Tanya runs her web/print graphic design company, Soleil Studios, that works mainly with small businesses related to health and wellness. She also enjoys cooking, rock climbing, quality time with friends and family, and of course, chocolate! She wishes to express her deepest graditute to all of her teachers and mentors who have guided her on her path including Rod Stryker, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, Ajahn Pichest Boonethame, Dharma Mittra, Julie Laurence, Bhagavan Das, Carol Schoenecker, Jonas Westring, Jennifer Gray and Sigal Kemnitz. Yoga Teacher Training & Background Tanya has travelled and worked in a variety of foreign places from London to Wyoming to Portland to San Francisco, and has studied yoga with many respected teachers. In 2005 she met her teacher, Rod Stryker, and has been initiated into the 5000+ year old Himalayan tradition that includes the lineage of master teachers such as Swami Rama, Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, and Bengali Baba. Rod's style of yoga, known as Para Yoga, blends the three rivers of Tantra Hatha Yoga, Ayurveda and the Yoga Sutras into one comprehensive study. Through this wisdom, Tanya specializes in helping students create a therapeutic practice based on their physical, energetic, mental, emotional and spiritual needs. She continues to study under Rod, and is close to completing her Para Yoga certification which takes several years of dilligent study and practice. She completed her 500 hour Yoga Alliance teaching credentials through Para Yoga and The Yoga Center of Minneapolis. Her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training was completed in 2001 through the It's Yoga Ashtanga Teacher Training Program in San Francisco with Larry Schultz. Tanya also has teacher training certificates in Prenatal Yoga through Jennifer Gray's JAI Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training Program as well as with Janice Clarfield's Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training program of Vancouver, BC, plus a wide variety of other teacher trainings from many other recognized teachers including Dharma Mittra, Judith Lasater, Paul Grilley, Seane Corn, Tias Little, David Swenson, Doug Swenson and more... Tanya blends her studies of Tantra Hatha Yoga, Ashtanga, Iyengar and Vinyasa Flow in each class. Focus is on aligning the physical with the subtle by using breath, awareness, alignment, and ancient yoga techniques including meditation, pranayama, kriya, bandha, chakra work, mudra, and mantra. With a reputation for creating physically challenging classes, she also strives to help students uncover their sva dharma (highest potential) though tapas (purification & discipline), stiram (steadiness in body/mind) and sukham (maintaining a healthy sense of humor or ease during practice). Thai Yoga Bodywork/Thai Massage Training & Background Tanya holds Instructor status with Thai Healing Alliance International (THAI) and has in the past served on their Executive Council. Her first certification in Thai Massage came from Jonas Westring of Thai Yoga Healing Arts in Bennington, VT. She currently studies with Master Teacher Pichest Boonethame of Chiang Mai, Thailand, and other respected teachers in the field, at home and abroad. Tanya visits Thailand often where she continues her study of Thai Massage, as well as Buddhist meditation, Thai Shamanic Healing techniques, traditional Thai herbal and medical practices, and other cultural delights. She practices her healing arts and teaches yoga classes at the Dharma Wellness & Spa at the Yoga Center of Minneapolis. Motivated to help expand the knowledge of the traditional practices of hands-on-healing through bodywork, Tanya began teaching her Thai Yoga Bodywork Certificate Program that merges Traditional Thai Massage with the subtler work of Energy Medicine. Thai Yoga Certificate Program info \| Thai Massage appointment info Energy Work: Healing Touch/Reiki/Qi Gong Training Tanya, a Certified Healing Touch Practitioner, is also a certified Reiki & Seichem Practitioner. Her training in Healing Touch is endorsed by the American Holistic Nurses' Association. For continuing study, Tanya is training in Qi Gong with Master Chunyi Lin. Energy Work appointment info Favorite Poses: • Vrschikasana (Scorpion - see above) • Eka Pada Rajakapotasana (one-legged king pigeon pose) • Adho Mukha Vrksasana (Handstand) • Tittibasana (firefly pose) Back to Instructors & Staff Info page		Classes Tanya teaches at the Yoga Center: Beginning Vinyasa & Ashtanga Vinyasa Workshop Chakras & Healing Energy Pranayama & Meditation NEW! Personal Practice Dev. Teacher Trainings & Workshops 230 hour 9 month program Advanced Teacher Training Yogi Date Night Workshops Chakra Workshops Thai Yoga Bodywork RTT Training & Certificate Program Program Details \| Intro Classes Level 1 \| Level 2 Level 3 \| Level 4 Dharma Wellness & Spa Services: Thai Yoga Bodywork Energy Work Private Yoga Lessons Meditation/Pranayama Privates 3 Things That Make Her Happy: 1) Travel to mountainous places to rock climb and hang out with her husband, Jason 2) Watching her 2 year old son, River, dance to bluegrass music 3) Cooking & chocolate!


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