Clarissa has over two decades of experience in the yoga world. She has completed two 200-hour teacher training programs one in 1999 and the other in 2011. With this wealth of experience, she is able to infuse her classes with her intuitive knowledge about the body and its relationship to the poses. She remembers vividly her very first yoga class. It was in the 1980s (gasp) at the University of Rhode Island, in a regular classroom with the desks pushed aside. Afterwards, she walked outside into the sunshine, and marveled at the beautiful shades of green in the grass. She had not taken such pleasure in walking through a grassy field since childhood.
Clarissa was born in Thibodaux, LA, a town about 50-miles southeast of New Orleans, running right along Bayou Lafourche. Her family moved to Seattle when I was nine. Aunts, uncles, cousins, as well as my dad and godmother reside in Thibodaux and although she loves Seattle, flying into New Orleans and driving back to Thibodaux a couple of times each year feels like coming home.
When not in the yoga studio, she is an attorney at a large downtown Seattle firm. She earned her J.D. from Seattle University, after receiving a Ph.D. from Northwestern University. As an undergraduate, she attended the University of Washington. She enjoys learning new things and taking classes. She will always be a yoga student. You will likely see me in many classes at Aditi.