Our Story
Habla Yoga's first classes were held in autumn of 2013 at The Float Shoppe in Portland, Oregon. Habla Yoga formed when Alyssa returned to Portland after serving with Peace Corps in Guatemala, and she struggled to find yoga classes offered in Spanish.
During her time in Guatemala, she needed to learn to communicate in both Spanish and the Mayan dialect of Kiché to live and work in the rural villages. However, she struggled greatly in the beginning and understands the frustrations of learning new languages. She later received her TEFL certificate to better support English Language Learners and has since enjoyed creating supportive environments for people to come together and practice languages and yoga.
Alyssa is a passionate advocate for the serene, supportive nature of float tanks. Floating became a harmonious companion to the yoga practice and felt like an extended Savasana. These experiences also helped ease the challenges of language learning. Floating brings the mind and body into a relaxed calmness, and being in this space between awake and asleep helps tension to melt forming greater connections within the conscious and subconscious.
The initial classes at the Float Shoppe inspired Habla Yoga to further collaborate with schools, yoga studios, libraries, and community organizations including Trash for Peace to provide bilingual yoga and accessible wellness education for all ages.
Habla Yoga believes language, funds, and location should not be a barrier to experience yoga and health education, and works towards promoting inclusive yoga and learning programs. Habla Yoga provides workshops for yoga teachers to incorporate Spanish vocabulary into yoga classes, and also offers workshops for school and language teachers to incorporate yoga, mindfulness, and health education into classrooms.
Alyssa was originally trained in Hatha and Vinyasa Yoga through immersion programs in Tulum, Mexico with The Lotus Seed School, a non-profit organization based in Portland. They bring yoga to the community through donation-based classes and provide unique practice opportunities for new Yoga teachers to build and expand their teaching skills in supportive environments. She also completed a 95-hour Children's Yoga Teacher Training with The Lotus Seed School. Habla Yoga infuses a variety of styles into their classes including restorative postures, mindful movements, and storytelling.
Alyssa took her first yoga classes in 2008 while teaching as a group fitness instructor and immediately resonated with the calming energy that yoga brings. She later mentored with Portland-based Yoga Therapist, Cindy Lewis, and together they taught yoga club at a local High School and co-organized a Yoga Collective in Portland. She enjoyed participating with Yoga Internships in Medellin, Colombia and spent a few months teaching at their Flying Tree Yoga Studio.
Habla Yoga was inspired after practicing in SE Asia with Buddhist teachers and Yoga instructors at The Yoga House, and also spent ten days in silent meditation at a Vipassana center in Indonesia. There was a calming familiarity while in the float tanks with these centering meditation practices.
Habla Yoga's mission is to continue collaborating with organizations to bring accessible yoga, language learning, and wellness education to communities, especially where it may not always be available.
Alyssa works in preventative health services at community health centers. At home she loves practicing yoga with her daughter and in her free time she loves to read, write, and drink coffee & tea on the porch.
Alyssa Grant, Founder of Habla Yoga
NBC-HWC | E-RYT 500 | RPCV Guatemala
