Nathalie Croix
Creative Director and founder of Shanti Yoga Shala.
Nathalie is one of a handful of teachers in the country to be certified by Annie Carpenter (Los Angeles – CA) in SmartFLOW and the only one in New Orleans.
Nathalie is ERYT 500 hours Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher.
Nathalie is consistently finding ways to deepen her practice and teachings of yoga, movement and shakti prana energy through frequent investigation and inspiration from her mentors, her students, the community, animals and nature.
She is a registered yoga teacher at the highest level E-RYTs 500 and is also a YACEPs certified trainer for continuing education in the Yoga Alliance International Registry.
Her classes are rooted in traditional yoga and yet students are encouraged to practice at their own pace with the understanding that the practice is always changing in the belief in adapting the asana to the individual rather than the individual to the asana.
Nathalie has a daily meditation and yoga practice and incorporates meditation and yoga philosophy into all her classes, honoring and creating space for the body, mind, Spirit connection.
She has a bachelor’s degree in dance and kinesiology, is a long time yoga practitioner having spent significant time in India during four extensive trips the past ten years, training at the Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute., where she studied under the guidance of Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath Jois.
She has also extensively studied transcendental meditation (TM), the yoga sutras and philosophy under Dr. M.A. Jayashree and Professor M.A. Narasimha of Mysore, India.
After College Nathalie moved to Los Angeles, where she worked and completed her third teacher training program at YogaWorks with Annie Carpenter, formerly of the Martha Graham Dance Company and Lisa Walford, a certified Iyengar instructor.
Her teachings are greatly influenced by also her teachers Seane Corn, Melanie Fawer and Maty Ezraty.
She is eternally grateful to all her teachers, their wisdom and the countless hours they’ve spent together over the many years.
Nathalie assisted Annie Carpenter’s SmartFLOW teacher trainings in Los Angeles at Exhale Center for Yoga . Has been a presenter for Rasa Lila Yoga Festival, assistant teacher for Wanderlust and South East Yoga Conference and travels teaching weekend workshops.
Currently she is a 200 & 300 Hours Teacher Trainer for – Shanti’s Vinyasa Yoga Trainings RYS (Yoga Alliance Registered), teaches weekly classes at her studio, Shanti Yoga Shala in New Orleans, and leads yoga retreats world wide.
She believes teaching yoga is a blessing and that yoga is transformational – it gives us the possibility of realizing our full potential while becoming the highest version of ourselves.
Through the practice of yoga we learn to love ourselves and from there we cannot help but love others and together up-raise the current vibration of our Planet and create a new Earth, hence a better world.
Yoga gives us the possibility of finding true health and happiness.
Happy Yoga Practice!
For more on Nathalie please click here.
We invite you to join our 200 and 300 Hours Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher Training Program at Shanti Yoga Shala.
Virginia R. Williams
Virginia R. Williams began practicing yoga at Shanti Yoga Shala in 2012. Her journey since that time has been transformational. Practicing yoga has given her the strength to face whatever challenges the Universe throws her way. After practicing yoga for several years Virginia decided to become certified as a yoga teacher. After successfully completing Shanti’s teacher training, she became certified by the Yoga Alliance at the RYT-200 hour level. When not teaching yoga, she enjoys spending time with her family and volunteering with animal rescue groups.
Tina Tiernan
Like many, Tina began practicing yoga to counterbalance the stresses of her job. She counts herself incredibly fortunate as her introduction to the practice came in the form of Annie Carpenter, well known in the yoga community as a “teacher’s teacher.” As her interest in yoga grew, Tina became certified at the 200 hour level through the Yoga Works Teacher Training program in Los Angeles. And, 10 years after her first class, she returned to practice with Annie Carpenter, completing the 300 hour level of Annie’s Smart Flow program. During this training, Tina met Nathalie Croix, and the two of them knew that if Tina ever made New Orleans her full time home, that Shanti would be part of her new life. Now, as an instructor at Shanti, Tina teaches level one, beginner classes. She strives to create an environment of balance—where practitioners can focus on the fundamentals and grow their practice, learn to balance strength with relaxation, and to enjoy the effort of it all through laughter.
Sthira Sukham Asanam
A yoga posture is steady and comfortable
Brooke Baudot
Brooke first fell in love with yoga in 2010. She felt the urge to deepen her practice and share the love of yoga as a teacher, so she took her first 200 hour Teacher Training here at Shanti in September 2014. Immediately after, she started an apprenticeship studying under Nathalie, assisting her in public classes and her Teacher Training’s earning her 300 hour certification. Brooke is 500 Hour certified teacher. She often assists Nathalie in the Shanti Yoga Teacher Trainings. Brooke also shares a love for meditation and finds it to be an essential tool for finding peace in your heart and life. She incorporates short meditations in her classes, leaving you feeling relaxed and at ease. Brooke’s other passion is animals. When she isn’t practicing or studying yoga, she is spending her time spoiling her dog, cat and bearded dragon.
Edie Cagnolatti
Edie began her Vinyasa yoga practice right here at Shanti Yoga Shala almost three years ago. After going on a yoga retreat with Nathalie to Tulum, Mexico in May of 2014, she was completely hooked and decided that she wanted to deepen her yoga practice. Edie enrolled in yoga teacher training at Shanti in September of 2014. She began teaching classes at Shanti in December of 2014, completing her 200 RYT in January of 2015. Besides teaching yoga, Edie is an attorney by day. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree from LSU and her Juris Doctorate from LSU Law School. She practices corporate litigation at Irwin Fritchie Urquhart & Moore, where she has been for over 13 years. In her spare time she travels as much as she can and enjoys all things NOLA with her friends and family, including great food, festivals and being outdoors. When she isn’t practicing yoga or meditating, she likes to run in Audubon Park and hang out with her two dogs, Gracie and Annabelle.
Brittany Wolf
Brittany Wolf-Freedman
Brittany began her yoga practice when she was sixteen years old, when she wandered into a class at her local gym. She instinctively knew she happened across a special practice, and vowed to incorporate yoga into her daily life from then forward. She completed her 200 hour Teacher Training at Shanti Yoga Shala in the fall of 2015, and has been teaching vinyasa flow classes at Shanti ever since. When she is not in the yoga studio, Brittany is a full-time attorney, and she also teaches yoga classes at the federal courthouse, where she currently works. Brittany loves traveling, painting, cooking, being outdoors, and of course, her husband, her cat, and her dog. She is deeply committed to principles of equality and justice in her legal practice, and constantly seeks to employ yogic philosophy across all aspects of her personal and professional life.
