All the teachers at Ashtanga Yoga Room have been trained by and practice with Melanie Fawer to ensure a high level of technical understanding, consistency and ongoing study and mentoring.
Melanie Fawer
Melanie was one of the original students to be certified by Pattahbi Jois. Before Pattahbi Jois’ death in 2009, Melanie traveled for years to study with him at his home in Mysore, India. Melanie’s experience is felt in every adjustment and instruction that she gives to her students. The Ashtanga Yoga Room opened in 2002 with Pattahbi Jois’ blessing. Melanie imbues every class, training, workshop, and retreat with a deep knowledge of Pattahbi Jois’s teachings, a unique understanding of the transformative powers of the body’s subtle energy centers, and the distinctions made through 20 years of her own practice. Melanie cherishes Ashtanga Yoga as much today at 49 as she did when she started out at 25, and still receives great benefits from the work. Says Melanie, “It is an honor to do this work and a great gift to love what I do so much.”
Oksana Aston
Oksana is originally from Minsk, Belarus and has been living in Louisiana since 2012. She has M.S. in Architecture from BNTU and has always been interested in wellness. Kriya yoga therapy from the Art of Living has helped Oksana to deal with trauma and depression since 1999 when she was dealing with physical and emotional trauma after surviving a stampede in her home country. It was in Denham Springs that Oksana dedicated herself to everyday practice and fell in love with yoga, Ashtanga in particular. She has completed her first 200 hours Vinyasa Flow Teacher Training at Spiral Branch Yoga studio in Denham Springs with Elan Adams. She furthered her practice and study in New Orleans with Melanie Fawer, a KPJAY certified ashtanga teacher. Oksana is a 200 and 300 hour Teacher Training graduate at the Ashtanga Yoga Room in New Orleans and has assisted Melanie Fawer during Mysore Style Ashtanga since 2015 and has been teaching at AYR since 2016. Later overcoming an injury she found restorative yoga beneficial for her recovery and was inspired to complete Restorative Yoga Teacher Training at Wild Lotus Yoga, New Orleans with Andra Aitken. Oksana is always looking for ways to deepen her practice attending many workshops, as well as being a dedicated yoga practitioner. Besides her teacher trainings she completed a Sama-Ashtanga Intensive training with Chuck Miller, and studied with Manju Jois, Sharat Jois, David Swenson, Robin Aurora and Kino MacGregor. When Oksana isn’t practicing or teaching yoga she’s enjoying traveling, long walks, reading, gardening and spending time with her husband and their rescue cat.
Celly Schwartz
Celly was born in Nagoya and grew up in Chiba, Japan. From the age of 20, she spent 13 years combined in Uganda, South Africa and Mexico dedicating her time to humanitarian work. When she returned to Japan, she worked as an English language teacher for several years. She became interested in yoga in 2012 and started practicing at AYR when she moved to New Orleans in 2015. She is currently a nursing student at Charity School of Nursing and is fascinated in the human body, movement, health and healing. Celly is a graduate of Melanie Fawer’s 200 hr. Teacher Training program and loves to continue learning about Ashtanga. You’ll often see her practicing at the studio when she’s not teaching or busy at school.
Branimira Ivanova
Branimira Ivanova was born in Bulgaria, where she lived until 1997, when she joined her mother and brother in the US. She lived in Chicago on and off until 2017 when she moved to New Orleans. She holds a BFA is Fashion Design and an MFA in Theater Design- Costumes from UConn. Brani discovered yoga in 2006, after finishing graduate school and embarking on a hectic career as a self-employed costume designer and technician. The yoga spell was cast and she practiced Vinyasa yoga regularly for the next ten years. In 2016, Brani completed a 200hr RYT in Chicago with her first yoga teacher, Amber Cook, then taught Vinyasa yoga at the Magura Bulgarian Cultural Center until relocating to New Orleans. Discovering Ashtanga Vinyasa happened in 2016, and it felt like leveling up. Learning and practicing the Primary Series kept Brani sane when work took her traveling around the world for most of 2016 – 2018. Early in 2018, she found her way to AYR, and a month later she left her mat there. A BIG step and commitment, but she knew that was to be her yoga home. Through regular practice, Brani began to deepen her experience on multiple levels, and to discover more benefits of yoga. Ashtanga brought more curiosity, courage, joy, strength and flexibility in body and mind. Brani is drawn to the Ashtanga method because it demystifies yoga and makes it accessible to any person on any level. The gradual progression of asana in tandem with breath and meditation makes sense and their practical application in daily life doable. Brani is eager to learn more from a variety of teachers, soaking up the wisdom of their experience and discovering her own. She studies with ashtangis: Melanie Fawer (New Orleans), Richard Freeman and Mary Taylor (Boulder), Todd Boman (Chicago), Alexia Bauer (Chicago), and vinyasa teacher Amber Cook (Chicago). She takes online and in person courses, furthering her yogic education all the time. The more you know, you discover how much more you don’t know!
