Beth is an ERYT-500 through Yoga Alliance and has been teaching yoga since 2013. She was introduced to yoga in 2006 as a way to cope with stress and improve her mental health. Since then, yoga and meditation have helped guide her and continue to be a force that gives her life and peace. She holds certificates in Children & Family Yoga from Rainbow Kids Yoga (2015), Trauma Center Trauma Sensitive Yoga from the Center for Trauma and Embodiment at JRI (2018), and Fertility, Prenatal & Postpartum Yoga from Amala Prenatal Yoga School (2018).  Since 2004, Beth has worked in a variety of areas of the mental health field, ranging from drug & alcohol education in middle schools to residential treatment with teens and young families. Beth believes in the healing power of yoga and sharing her love of yoga and meditation has since become a passion and life mission. She opened Blue Lotus School of Yoga and the Blue Lotus Community Fund as a way to create an accessible and healing space for her community and spread the yoga love to all. She resides in Woodlawn with her husband John, son Leo, daughter Vivian, and their two fur babies Quinn, Frankie, Ricky & Pearl.

You can contact Beth directly at beth@bluelotuschicago.com

Alesha is a dedicated practitioner and certified RYT-200 through Breathe for Change since 2024. She brings a passion for holistic wellness and inclusivity to her teaching. Initially drawn to yoga as a means of staying active, Alesha quickly discovered its profound impact on her spiritual, physical, and emotional well-being. With a heart set on fostering accessibility and representation, she aspires to extend the transformative power of yoga to communities often underrepresented in mainstream media. 

Regan’s love for yoga began in 2017 when she found mental and emotional healing on the mat. Since then, yoga has been a solace and escape for her, knowing that the mat always shows up as long as she does. Regan emphasizes the value of choice in her own practice and through her teaching. Your body may be experiencing something different every single day and it’s important to her to honor that on the ma. Some days feel different than others, and she strives for folks to feel a sense of comfortability with her in class to take their practice wherever they like. 

Regan is new to the Chicago area and was previously living in Boston, not too far from her hometown in New Hampshire. She is a licensed social worker and therapist, and likes to utilize breath-work from yoga with her clients. Regan’s goal with teaching yoga is to encourage people to connect with their inner selves and give them permission to rest and relax. Regan graduated from JP Centre Yoga’s 200 hour RYT Teacher Training Program in Boston, MA in May 2023. She is grateful for her teachers there who have supported her on this journey. 

Off the mat, you can find Regan playing ukulele or watching reality tv with her boyfriend.

With a voice that calms nerves, Katharine specializes in the Taoist yoga tradition. She completed her 200-hour training with Matt Eshelman at You Do Yoga, focusing on functional anatomy and yin yoga, and her 500-hour training with Will Brashear at Lotus Yoga Temple, focusing on the integration of Thai Yoga, the meridians, and five element theory of Traditional Chinese Medicine.

Katharine came to practice yoga regularly during her doctoral studies when what she was studying related to religious practice felt so divorced from what everyday people, including herself, lived. Katharine draws from her background in yoga as well as her studies in religion, psychology, and culture to invite students toward embodied wisdom and inner knowing.

If she’s not on her mat, you’ll find Katharine outside on a bike, in a kayak, in a lake, on a mountain…

Kyla uses her a background in psychology, education, and public health to inform her classes and students to help others on their own healing/spiritual journey!

If she’s not on her mat, you with find Kyla at home watching movies with her dog.

She continues studying and practicing daily to be able to better serve her students, taking the Yoga for All training that has given her the tools to teach yoga to everyone, regardless of age, shape, or ability. She teaches yoga from her heart, opening the space for her students to explore through their movement and to inquire and be curious during moments of stillness. Her classes are designed to guide you to reconnect with yourself, always encouraging you to find your love and your peace within you.

Born and raised in the Metro Detroit area and a University of Michigan graduate, Danielle McConnell believes that the key to addressing education inequity is through investing in holistic wrap-around supports and a continuum of mental health care and wellness strategies for communities of color.  Danielle has spent the past 10 years of her career growing and glowing up in the ranks of numerous positions at her former non-profit, One Million Degrees. It was not until March 2020 that she realized the time to invest in her own mental health and care could no longer be shelved or put to the side. In 2021, Danielle received her yoga teacher training certificate through the training program Breathe for Change. For the first time in a long time she felt connected to her purpose and energized by her passion to help others find theirs. Yoga is truly for EVERYBODY and Danielle’s vision is to ensure all body types, shapes, and shades are welcome in the yoga community. Danielle’s teaching style ranges from restorative, hatha style, to beginner friendly vinyasa flow. Danielle currently resides in the Woodlawn community where she participates in the 65th and Ingleside block club. She enjoys traveling, reading mystery novels, event planning, and exploring Chicago neighborhoods for good eats, people, and culture.

Michael Saa Sekhem has emerged into the practice of yoga since the age of 12. His mother was the influence to give yoga a try. After graduating Columbia College of Chicago, with a B.A. in Music Composition/Screen found his love for Yoga, Breathwork and Meditation. Michael enjoys curating musical selections specific to the class and the yogis.

From the age of 12-26, Michael played tennis as an amateur, ran track in high school, (200m, long & triple jump) and soccer. Until, in 2007 an internship through CCC music composers’ program, sent him to LA to be emersed in a 5-week program at twentieth century fox. There he learned he needed more than wits to stay grounded. He enlisted help from Dr. Asar Hapi, a breatharian from Chicago.  He learned breathing techniques to slow the mind and evoke his spiritual power through correct breathing.

In 2009, Michael met his first instructor of Ancient Egyptian Kemetic Yoga (Smai Tawi) Neter Ankh Ahku. Smai Tawi meaning, joining of the two lands of Upper & Lower Kemet (Egypt). This can be seen as symbol of Heru (divine will) and Set/Sebek (divine creation) tying ropes around the Smai Tawi symbol which is a depiction of the spine and lungs. Two most important parts of the human body. By practicing Smai Tawi, you are uniting higher self with your lower self through the alignment of the spine, and the proper allocation of air & gases, ultimately transforming you into the hero of your life and a pillar in your community. Hince Smai Tawi.

In 2010 Michael received his 200-hr certification and was on his way to teach. Military Academy, dance studios, after school programs, mental health facilities & group homes to name a few, were the instructed after Michael became certified. As of 2017, Michael set out to work with the community in a deeper way by instructing Silver Warrior Yoga, yoga for elders. Oak street health being a facility that saw benefit in his service. 2018- present, Michael was one of faces of the Hot Yoga program for La Fitness in Lombard. He was quickly a hit after HotLAF dissolved and began teaching yoga in the fitness room. In effort to be a greater presence in his own community, he is glad to be a part of Blue Lotus Yoga.

Allie fell in love with movement as a child, dancing in her driveway in the Appalachian mountains of North Carolina. As a kinesiology major and dance minor in college, she began to more consistently practice yoga, taking early morning Ashtanga classes to supplement her dance studies. Through the process, Allie discovered her passion for yoga. In 2019, she completed her 200hr. YTT at Samma Karuna in Koh Phangan, Thailand. Since then, Allie has taught around the world and most recently, in her theology masters program in Atlanta, GA. For Allie, yoga is a practice of nurture. In her classes, she hopes to not only nurture her students with calming presence and gentle guidance, but also to contribute to a more compassionate world by fostering spaces for inclusion, patience, and mindfulness. When not practicing yoga, Allie can be found walking by the lake, baking, or spending time with her partner Noah and their orange tabby cat, Theo!