About Yoga With Anna

Kundalini Yoga Teacher ♥ Artist ♥ Mother ♥ Wife ♥ Daughter ♥ Sister ♥ Aunt♥ Community Builder ♥ Gardener ♥ Homemaker ♥ Pizzaiola ♥ Wild-crafter ♥ Sat Nam Rasayan Healer

"I love sharing ideas that potentiate our humanity."

 Credit where credit is due. I own a lot of what I am, and what I am able to do, to the family that raised me. I was raised in an earthy way, to love walks in the forest, good stories, making food, interacting with creatures and above all people and the stories of their lives. There was a strong tradition in my extended family of visiting, making food and talking. There is an ethic of involvement, attachment, care, and loyalty that is in my bones. These qualities form the foundation of who I am, and why I care for people and why I am driven to building community. I am so grateful and give thanks to my family.

Land Acknowledgement

 I gratefully reside on the present and ancestral homeland and unceded territory of the Dena’ina and Sugpiaq people, in what is now called Homer, Alaska. I acknowledge the Indigenous people who have been living and working on the land from time immemorial. I vow to maintain awareness of my role in the story of colonization in a way that hopefully makes me a good ally and a restorative force.

Teaching Philosophy

"Throughout my life I’ve had teachers that I was very close to and learned a great deal from. A teacher- student relationship is one of affection, patience, trust, reciprocity and faithful imparting of a certain skill set, and it’s been one of the most compelling forces in my life."

 For me, the compass of yoga practice doesn’t point toward enlightenment per se. It points toward self-discovery and recovery, toward family, community, the earth, and restoring all of us toward a sort of belonging to ourselves, to each other, and to a simple, sensible, responsive, and deep way of living.

I teach with a gentle, invitational tone- giving permission for people to adapt postures for their physical ability and need. Something is activated in all of us during group practice that exceeds any one’s individual capacity. Having a community to practice with season after season is a great feeling of support.

I am firmly rooted and trained in the Kundalini Yoga tradition and I also passionately pursue teachers and incorporate teachings that inspire me, regardless of what tradition they come from. My classes are always based on a theme, composed of exercises from Kundalini Yoga and curated with quotes and contemplations from a range of sources. I have developed my own distinct style of teaching.

I love working with people of all ages. Adults doing yoga can thrive, mature, heal trauma, enjoy life, and most importantly, hold a safe and stable space in society for kids. Kids doing yoga can learn the tools of self-regulation early.

There are layers of crisis in the world right now- and all communities are continuously affected. The Kundalini Yoga community is no exception. My desire is to recognize the positive of what has been transmitted to me, and to work to transform what needs to be transformed. I encourage critical engagement by everyone in their spiritual path.

Core Beliefs

 We are here to heal.

Fully feeling our life is the key to living as a whole person and the key to healing. Cultivating this capacity takes time and softness and a certain skill set. Our difficult emotions come as messengers to provide transformative energy. Allowing our feelings and conversing with them will allow these emotions to lead us to clarity, integration, and resolution.

Regular Practice of Yoga and Meditation creates a reservoir of strength and energy that anchors well-being. You can build physical strength and flexibility, cultivate a stronger quality of attention and clarity in the mind, and develop a repertoire of attuning with your spirit. Building a stronger nervous system allows us to hold charge when needed, and to let go, let down and rest when needed. Yoga builds our capacity to handle the ups and downs of life.

Being outside in nature with appreciation leads to a deeper sense of place. Seeing plants, animals and minerals as alive and respecting them deeply helps restore a sense of wholeness to our world.

Creativity, working with your hands and playing counter the numbing pressures of consumer culture.

Laughter, honesty, disinhibition, having fun and comedy are very healing.

A spiritual path should not feel stiff, stifling and serious. Being as real as you can, and let yourself create things.

Domesticity- keeping a home, growing vegetables and herbs, making food, caregiving to humans, caregiving to animals, caretaking elderly family members, neighborly relations.. all of this is community building and is a foundation of strength and resilience.

Cold and hot are immeasurable blessings. Get into cold water whenever you can (cold showers, natural water plunges). Use fire whenever you can (saunas, bonfires, candles, wood stoves).

Turning toward older people in our lives with an attitude of nurturing and receptivity may help us reinstate a lost rite. We have a lot of old people in our culture, but not necessarily a lot of elders. We can aim to become elders by the time we are old. This means gathering the wisdom of a life lived well, and being willing to hold space, and provide sustenance, mentorship and example for those that come after us.

Parenting is a spiritual path. There are many things that have been transferred to us. We have the ability to edit and conduct forward that love and lifestyle with some editing. Every possible good quality and virtue is needed when parenting; compassion, patience, love, wisdom, dedication, service. Children come into our life and we have an enormous privilege to nurture, protect, educate and raise them.

What we need from our yoga practice changes with the seasons of our life. We are designed to have a cyclical relationship with our practice, and it is meant to change with us as we change.

Yoga Trainings

 ♥ I am so grateful and give thanks to all of my teachers. ♥

  • Kundalini Yoga Level One Teacher Training 2006 at Kundalini Yoga East NY,NY Sat Jivan Kaur Khalsa, Sat Jivan Singh Khalsa, Angad Kaur Khalsa

  • Sat Nam Rasayan Level I. Certification 2007 Assisi, Italy Guru Dev Singh Khalsa

  • Level II Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training “The Mind and Meditation” 2008 Kundalini Yoga East NY, NY

  • Conscious Pregnancy Specialty Training 2010 Española, NM Tarn Taran Kaur Khalsa

  • Level II Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training “Vitality and Stress” 2017 Rishikesh, India with Gurumukh

  • Level II Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training “Conscious Communication”2017 Rishikesh, India with Gurumukh

  • Sat Nam Rasayan Level II. Certification 2018 Española, NM Guru Dev Singh Khalsa

  • Senses of the Soul Method 10-month online certification course 2022 Gurumeher Singh Khalsa

Specialty Trainings

Sat Nam Rasayan
Sat Nam Rasayan is a subtle and powerful art of healing that is a branch of Kundalini Yoga. The word means “deep relaxation in the true name.” The practice consists of one person in the role of the healer and one person receiving healing. Sat Nam Rasayan is a training that involves meditation practice to develop a kind of sensing that allows one to hold a stable space of healing, called Shuniya. It is always for the benefit of another person. I studied for many years with the Master of Sat Nam Rasayan, Guru Dev Singh Khalsa in New York City, California and Italy, and was certified as a level II. healer. This certification allows me to do 1:1 healings, but not to teach. Only level III healers are allowed to teach this healing art.

Senses of the Soul Method/Emotional Liberation
Yoga and meditation traditions can sometimes see our difficult emotions as obstructions to our progress on a spiritual path. GuruMeher Singh Khalsa sees it differently and has designed a method that allows people to use their emotions as a source of wisdom and a vital energy that can guide our growth and understanding. I took a 10 month immersion with Gurumeher and his method has become a powerful influence in my classes. Senses of the soul method pairs Kundalini Yoga with guided meditations that help us feel, listen to, learn from and ultimately transform our difficult emotions. This has been an incredibly powerful technique to add to my teaching tool belt. Teacher: Gurumeher Singh Khalsa, Emotional Liberation

Conscious Pregnancy
We know through science something that yogis and indigenous wisdom traditions have always known, that the state of the mother profoundly affects the lifetime health of the child. Conscious Pregnancy is yoga and meditation designed specifically for pregnant women. Teacher: Tarn Taran Kaur Khalsa

History and Hope
History & Hope is an Alaska-specific trainings on adverse and positive childhood experiences that can help every Alaskan better understand how to support children and youth!s growth and development into healthy adults. This training deeply evokes an understanding of what it means to be trauma-informed. Training: Alaska Children’s Trust www.alaskachildrenstrust.org

Experience

The first time I ever did Kundalini Yoga with Jane Bentley at Awakening Point in Hackettstown, NJ, I was totally taken. She made a reference to how the movements in Kundalini Kriyas were similar to movements that they found described in the hieroglyphics of Ancient Egypt. Some bell was struck very deeply in me right then. I have practiced and taught consistently year-round since 2006. I’ve taught at the University of Alaska (KPC), at local schools, and both help found, directed and taught at a studio, Many Rivers, for 8 years. Now I’ve taught on zoom for nearly three years. In this time I have guided hundreds of people, for thousands of hours, through the transformative practice of Kundalini Yoga.

 

  • Testimonial from Emily

    Anna's classes have been instrumental in my path to healing. The depth of knowledge and commitment she brings to her teachings inspire a deeper relationship to both self and others. Her intuition always seems consistent with the pulse of the Universe. I am constantly amazed by her accuracy of intention, and how it aligns with what is happening directly in my life. Anna has taught me that even in the darkest of hours, if I can get on that mat and tune in, the work of kundalini will always bring me closer to a grounded self, my true intentions, and my highest calling. - Emily G.

  • Testimonial from Michaela

    Anna's classes are deeply transformational, healing and nurturing. Each time I attend a class, I feel utterly changed in the most positive way. Our community is deeply blessed to have such a wise and heartfelt teacher who leads yoga with LOVE and COMPASSION. Anna has an intuitive gift to speak to what is most prevalent for me at the time and to choose the aligned Kriya. I cannot emphasize enough how much I enjoy her classes and her authentic, beautiful, kind-hearted spirit. In deep gratitude! - Michaela B, Homer, Alaska

  • Testimonial from Macky

    After practicing kundalini yoga with Anna Raupp for the past few years I can feel a significantly increased capacity to be with the stressors of life. The exercises build strength in the body, while the breath work and meditations are potent tools for resourcing for the nervous system. Anna is a brilliant wordsmith whose insights and reflections are as nourishing as the exercises themselves. - Macky

  • Testimonial from Jeanne

    I have been attending Anna's Kundalini Yoga classes for about ten years. Anna's kundalini yoga classes have been an important physical and spiritual inspiration for me. She shares thoughtful and insightful information while using breathing, meditations and yoga Kriyas that always make me feel like I have shifted into a different state of being. I highly recommend Anna's class to people of any age or physical ability. - Jeanne P.

  • Testimonial from Marcella

    I recall my first class with Anna and being amazed at what an excellent Kundalini teacher she was. She would help me know I could stay in those poses just a bit longer while nudging me towards concentrating on mantra and focusing on my drishti. Towards the end of class, during Savasana, I felt I was floating there carefree while listening to her play the gong. Walking away from that class I was renewed and determined to continue with a daily practice. That was some 12 years ago, and many classes later. I so enjoy having her as a teacher. She picks out the best music, kriyas, and meditations all because she knows the healing benefits yoga brings. It’s definitely evident that she has truly mastered her art drawing deep inside, and then sharing that light, in hopes of helping others reach deep inside themselves too. - Marcella S.

  • Testimonial from Michelle

    I really enjoy Anna's Kundalini yoga classes. Anna has a lovely, gentle persona that allows me to be comfortable. Her directions are clear and she offers alternatives that might fit my body better. Her classes have deeply enriched me, and I have grown confident in being able to practice yoga outside of class so that it is a regular part of my life. - Michelle C.

  • Testimonial from Anna

    I can't imagine adjusting to winters in Homer without Anna's Kundalini classes. We are so fortunate to have such a proficient practitioner here in our community who is so willing to share and care and grow her own practice and self as she guides us in our own journeys of development and unfolding selves. - Anna Meredith

  • Testimonial from Devry

    Anna is an extremely gifted kundalini yoga teacher and practitioner. I have had the privilege of working with her for almost a decade. Her gentle and pivotal guidance has allowed me to discover a deep peace and significant strength within myself. I always walk away from her classes feeling changed, usually much lighter and brighter than when I entered. I feel it is remarkable to have a teacher of her caliber in a community of our size. - Devry Garity

  • Testimonial from Jenny

    Anna's classes are a gift. She brings a gentle care and thoughtful wisdom to each word and movement. I love how she reaches beyond the yoga world to incorporate other writings and teachings. Her classes are wonderful medicine for body, mind and soul, so needed in these times. - Jenny Bernard

  • Testimonial from Crane

    Anna's classes in the community are one of the real magical treasures I am eternally grateful for. It never ceases to amaze me how in sync with life in the moment and thoroughly grounding they are in such a consistent manner. The way they unify the emotional into the practice is just the right balance. - Crane Jackinsky

  • Testimonial from Emily

    Anna's classes incorporate multiple elements like a beautiful thread woven through a garment. You will be guided through the seasons with intention of heart, breath and body. The Kriyas will challenge but also prepare you for what is ahead, not even knowing the next step, in a gentle but intentional way. A chant, or song might be woven through that can spark something within that you didn't know was dormant. Practices are beautifully curated for each yogi, finishing feeling cozy, ready to take on your day. -Emily Sloth

  • Testimonial from Kammi

    Anna is absolutely the best kundalini yoga teacher! She is kind, grounded, and has a fierce commitment to helping her students become the most compassionate versions of themselves by utilizing the tools of Kundalini yoga and other embodied practices. - Kammi Matson

  • Testimonial from Kathy

    I have always enjoyed Anna’s classes and continue to be stretched ( physically and emotionally) by them. - Kathy Robinson

  • Testimonial from Jahnie

    Anna’s yoga classes have been a transformative journey for me. Her traditional style and soothing voice leave me feeling happy, calm, balanced, and grounded after every practice. It's more than just yoga; it's a holistic experience that nurtures my sense of self and wellbeing. - Jahnie Wednesday

  • Testimonial from Michelle

    I’ve so enjoyed Anna’s Kundalini classes! She leads a welcoming and supportive group. - Michelle LaFriniere