About

I have been teaching and practicing yoga for over 25 years. I’ve taught and practiced as a mom, as a student, as a teacher, as an entrepreneur, as a life coach, but most of all as a friend. 

It was my dream to become a yoga teacher. I met my teacher, Ananda Adams, in the Fall of 2001. Ananda was stunningly beautiful, funny, and kind.  I signed up immediately. 

At that time, I was a full-time lawyer and a single mom—overworked, malnourished, and tired.  My very authentic and loving friend Ana Maria saw me and suggested we take a road trip, a wellness trip, to the D’Adamo Institute in Portsmouth, New Hampshire.  Here’s what they  recommended - change your diet and start a daily yoga practice. My friend Brenda knew Ananda. She was one of five teachers authorized to teach Ashtanga Yoga in NYC by the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. 

We began working together twice a week. She led me through the entire Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga on day one—no English, only Sanskrit, and no breaks. I was hooked. I practiced every day—before or after work, with or without Ananda, and with the help of a VHS video of the Primary Series starring my one and only, David Swenson.

Shortly thereafter, my brother, at the age of 28, was diagnosed with cancer. Roger battled leukemia for the next four years, and my daily Ashtanga Yoga practice sustained me throughout that time. Roger eventually lost his battle with cancer in 2006.  I lost my only sibling but I learned this: 

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Life is short. 

You can never get back time. 

Your health is first and foremost. 

Treasure those you love.

My brother’s last request? 

"Make it count." 

These are my mantras to this day.

After my brother’s death, I started living in a way that made me feel whole again. I immersed myself in the yoga community and spent all my free time with every iconic yoga teacher that would have me. 

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Then, on December 11th, 2008, my yoga practice saved me again. I lost my identity. I lost the family I had known my entire life. And I had lost my home.

Married just over a year and 6 ½ months pregnant, we moved downtown to Battery Park City, and, as life would have it, yoga was there for me again.  Kula Yoga Project was based in Tribeca, just six short blocks from our little apartment. I spent the next four years training with Nikki Costello, David Regelin, Raghunauth, and Miles Borrero.  This die-hard Ashtangi became a full-fledged Iyengar and Vinyasa flow student. I also became certified to teach the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga with David Swenson.

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I started teaching Ashtanga Yoga at PURE Yoga in NYC and it was there that I continued teaching privately, completed another 200 hours of Yoga Alliance training, and started teaching Mysore Style Ashtanga Yoga (another dream come true).  I was so honored to be asked to write and co-lead two Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Trainings at PURE Yoga with the incredibly talented Scott Harig.
Then, in 2016, we moved again. This time to Westport, CT.  My older daughter, turning 16, enrolled in Staples High School and my youngest in Long Lots Elementary School.

​I began teaching at the Shala in Ridgefield and shortly thereafter, I was given the space to teach at Kaia Yoga. After three amazing years, I knew I was ready and in November 2019, I opened my own yoga studio, Yoga. by, Shana Swanson in downtown Westport, CT.

We were a small, dedicated group of yogis, practicing privately and in small groups. My NYC teachers all came—David Regelin, Miles Borrero—and then Bryan Kest, the founder of Power Yoga. On March 16, 2021, Bryan taught a 45-person evening yoga class, mat to mat, from 8 p.m. until midnight and on March 17rh, the state of CT asked all yoga studios to shut their doors.  COVID made it clearer than ever we needed community.  yoga. by, Shana Swanson officially went online and our community met every day. We practiced Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Mysore, and I maintained my one-on-ones. David Swenson, Eddie Stern, and Miles all did workshops for us, and by July of 2021, we were back in the studio.
 

What did we learn?

Life was infinitely better when we were connected. 

45 minutes of movement was all anyone needed to stay strong, healthy, and feel complete.

I am so grateful for my yoga practice and the people it has brought to me. 
I created and uphold Studio45. to provide the space for us as humans to connect- through movement, energy, and breath.

Whether it’s yoga, barre, Pilates, or dance, Studio45. classes are simply vehicles for health, wellness, strength, and community. 

All of us have the opportunity to rewrite our story.

Mine continues every day I have the opportunity to practice and teach yoga, 

45 minutes at a time.

Your story matters.

You matter.

Just bring yourself to the mat.

Studio45. is there to guide you back to your true self.

 

Thanks for listening.  See you soon!

​With Love,

Shana