About Dana

Dana Levy (CIAYT, CLMA, RSME, RSMT, MA) holds a long list of certifications, registrations, etc., but none is more important than the experience she has had working with the individuals she has served throughout her career.

Thank you to each person who walked through the door of the studio, video screen, and building. I appreciate your presence.

• IAYT (International Association of Yoga Therapists) certified Yoga Therapist

• ISMETA (International Somatic Movement Education and Therapy Association) registered Somatic Movement Educator (RSME) and Somatic Movement Therapist (RSMT)

• IMS (Integrated Movement Studies) certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA)

• International Aikido Association Nidan (2nd-degree black belt)

• M.A. in choreography and performance, The Ohio State University

Dana has worked as, with, and through the body for over 40 years. From her first modern dance classes in high school in Nashville, Tennessee in the 1980’s to receiving her M.A. in Choreography and Performance from The Ohio State University in 1992, Dana was deeply involved in the field of modern and post-modern dance as a performer and choreographer. She worked with rising and established artists in not only modern dance, but also visual/performing arts, theater, mime, and Butoh in Columbus, Ohio, until 1997. From 1993-1997, Dana was also training in the Japanese martial art of Aikido under the supervision of Paul Linden and Peggy Berger, head instructors of Aikido of Columbus.

In 1997, Dana moved to Tokyo, where she continued studying Aikido, receiving her nidan (2nd degree black belt) rank in 2001. From 2002-2003, Dana taught weekly bilingual (English/Japanese) aikido classes at the dojo where she trained. She also trained in Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo, a classic Japanese martial art pairing wooden sword with wooden staff, from 1997-2003 under Phil and Nobuko Relnick, and received her sandan (3rd-degree black belt) in Jodo from the Japan Kendo Association in 2002.

In 2002, still living in Tokyo, Dana began her formal practice of alignment-based yoga in the Iyengar tradition under Dominica Serigano, head of SHIZEN Yoga Studio. She was drawn to Iyengar Yoga for its depth, precision, clarity, challenge, and mental, physical, and spiritual alignment. She began teaching bilingual (English/Japanese) Hatha, Prenatal, and Postnatal yoga classes at SHIZEN in 2004. Dana continued her study and practice under Dominica’s mentorship for over 10 years. During her time in Japan, Dana studied with senior Iyengar instructors Gabriela Giubilaro, Marla Apt, Paul Cabanis, Ramanand Patel. Dana is grateful to Dominica, who has always been a teacher, guide, friend, mentor, inspiration, and collaborator.

In 2005, in cooperation with the esteemed Italian leather goods brand FURLA, and with SHIZEN Yoga Studio, Dana opened FURLA Yoga, a boutique yoga studio in Aoyama, Tokyo, offering quality yoga instruction to both Japanese and international clientele. As Studio Director, Dana managed, taught at, and developed curriculum and programming for the studio from its early years until its closing in December, 2017. Dana is ever grateful to the teachers, students, and staff in Tokyo who made this wonderful project possible, even after she left Japan in 2013!

In 2013, Dana relocated to beautiful Salt Lake City, Utah with her husband and son. She taught yoga classes, workshops, and retreats in the area, worked one-on-one with clients as a yoga therapist, and was faculty for local yoga teacher training programs. Dana taught at Avenues Yoga, Mindful Yoga Collective, Inbody Academy, Salt Lake Community College, and the University of Utah.

In 2020 at the start of the pandemic, Dana joined the Huntsman Cancer Institute’s Wellness & Integrative Health Center teaching yoga for patients, caregivers, and staff, under the umbrella of the University of Utah.

As a member of one of the largest cancer research institutions in the U.S., Dana is honored to serve as co-chair of the Yoga Therapy Special Interest Group (SIG) for the Academic Consortium of Integrative Medicine and Health (ACIMH).

During COVID, from 2019-2022, Dana regularly taught online classes and private sessions, supporting students to continue their yoga and movement practices from the comfort of their own homes.  Creating this online community was vital to the health and wellness – mental, physical, and emotional – of the individuals who joined. Dana is forever grateful for the dedication and flexibility of the wonderful students who joined classes!

In 2021-22, she participated in the Integrated Movement Studies program and is a certified Laban Movement Analyst (CLMA).

Since late 2021, Dana has supported the cancer survivor community at Survivor Wellness (founded in 1997 as Cancer Wellness House), a local nonprofit organization providing free and reduced cost cancer wellness & integrative health care services to those affected by a cancer diagnosis, as well as their immediate support team of family members, loved ones and caregivers.

In October, 2021, Dana designed a somatic movement program for cancer survivors at Survivor Wellness.

In January, 2022, she stepped in to rebuild programming as the pandemic subsided, as Program Director, and in January, 2023, became executive director.

Dana is honored to lead Survivor Wellness, a remarkable cancer care community in the heart of the city. (Survivor Wellness also provides education and training for bodymind practitioners who work with cancer survivors.) Survivor Wellness helps cancer survivors thrive, inside and out.

WORKING WITH DANA:

Dana’s yoga/movement teaching and therapeutic work are influenced by the Iyengar yoga tradition, as well as her background in a variety of somatic practices, including: modern dance, bodywork, movement analysis, anatomy and kinesiology, and martial arts. Using yoga as a vehicle for transformation, she works to develop ease, efficiency, and alignment of body, breath, and mind. Focusing on precision of  body mechanics, structural awareness, and intelligent practice, Dana’s yoga classes are challenging, innovative, fun, and instructive, with an emphasis on meeting each student’s needs.  Using props such as blocks, belts, bolsters, chairs, and walls, Dana creates asana (posture) and movement practices for every body, regardless of age, size, or ability, and encourages practitioners to move with power and love through all phases of life.

As a certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT) and a somatic movement educator, Dana works one-on-one or in small group lessons with clients to address issues beyond the scope of a regular yoga class. She works through the body: to resolve trauma & PTSD (based on the work of Paul Linden, Being In Movement®);  to aid in injury prevention and recovery; to aid in back pain prevention and recovery; to address pelvic floor issues; to address “what’s holding you back”, and more.

Dana worked extensively with Paul Linden, founder of Being in Movement ® Bodymind Education, to educate, teach, share, spread, preserve, and embody the principles of this body-based method of addressing trauma, developing power and love, and creating a more peaceful and just world. “By experiencing that actions built on a spacious, compassionate, powerful body are more effective than behavior stemming from contraction, fear and anger, people can find more ease and effectiveness in whatever is important to them.” (Paul Linden)

See below for opportunities to study with Dana and with Paul, or visit this page!

Dana is a certified teacher of Embodied Yoga Principles (EYP), a contemporary method for gaining insight into personal values through the postural yoga practice, and transferring those insights off the mat and into one’s daily life, work, play, home, and relationships!

For a look at Dana’s yoga practice, teaching, and presentation style, have a look at this 20-minute video taken in Sept., 2018 at the University of Utah’s 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training Program.   The sequence is the 2017 International Day of Yoga sequence provided by Geeta Iyengar. Watch to the end, for the engaging question-and-answer session with students.

UPCOMING & RECENT CERTIFICATIONS, TRAININGS & EVENTS:

MORE BACKGROUND DETAILS:

  • Dance & movement studies: Dana holds a B.A. in Dance from Denison University, and M.A. in Choreography and Performance from The Ohio State University. From 1982-1997, she choreographed and performed throughout the Midwest as a modern dancer. During that time, she studied various bodywork practices (Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, Body-Mind Centering) and performance styles (theater, mime, butoh, performance art). At O.S.U., Dana delved deeply into Laban Movement Analysis and Bartenieff Fundamentals. She studied and performed at the American Dance Festival in the late 1980’s, working with avant-garde choreographers such as Steven Paxton, Simone Forti, Eiko and Koma, Pooh Kaye, Ray Eliot Schwartz, Toby Vann, and more. In 1991, “Whammy”, Dana’s explosive 2.5 minute duet with Eoin O’Brien, set to Screaming’ Jay Hawkins’ “She Put a Spell on Me”, was selected for an award at the Midwest College Dance Festival.
  • Martial Arts: From 1994-2002, Dana studied and taught aikido, first in the U.S. and then Japan, receiving her nidan (second-degree black belt) in 2001 in Tokyo.  Her first aikido teachers, Paul Linden (see above) and Peggy Berger, were great influences on her current style of teaching. She also practiced and received ranking in Shinto Muso Ryu Jodo during her early years in Japan (1997-2002).
  • Japan: While in Japan (1997-2013), in addition to raising her son, and teaching and managing FURLA yoga, Dana was published and featured in “Being Abroad” and “YOGAYOMU” magazines, led workshops in using yoga to reduce workplace stress for international financial firms and for FEW (Foreign Executive Women/For Entrepreneuring Women), assisted classes at Tokyo Yoga Festa, was an ambassador for LuluLemon Tokyo, assisted in teacher trainings for local studios, and organized and led yoga retreats at Myogetsubo Temple in the sacred mountain town of Nikko with the organization, Yoga Nikko. She is fluent in Japanese, is grateful for the experience of diving deep in the Japanese culture, and will always consider Japan her second home.

OTHER TIDBITS:

Dana grew up in Nashville, Tennessee before Nashville was cool, and worked for her dad at Levy’s Menswear as a teenager. She started learning modern dance in high school, although she really wanted to learn tap dance (it was way  too hard). She also trained in pantomime and worked as a mannequin model, too. She worked in the first Japanese restaurant in Nashville (Kobe Steaks) in the early 1980’s, never imagining she’d spend 15 years in Japan as an adult. For five years, she worked in the North Market in Columbus, Ohio, where she honed her baking skills, practiced making change without a cash register, and generally smelled like cinnamon. While there, she contributed her tips to a fund which created the foundation of the Highlands Nature Sanctuary, dedicated to preserving the “Arc of Appalachia” in southern Ohio. Dana is grateful to her mother, Ellen, who is still her biggest cheerleader, to her husband for the adventures, and her son, who will create the future.

Find Dana on Facebook and Instagram as Dana Levy Yoga.

Contact Dana here.

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