Maya Gil-Cantu

Maya is a native of the beautiful Santa Cruz, California and has been exploring the study of conscious movement in her body and in others for the majority of her life. Maya moved to Los Angeles to complete her studies at UCLA, where she embarked upon her yoga journey. As an accomplished martial artist, she completed her black belt in Tae Kwon Do, began teaching at a young age, and continued her martial arts training in Kickboxing, Judo, and Krav Maga. Maya was drawn to the yoga practice as a natural transition from the physical and spiritual practice of martial arts. Having personally experienced the stress reducing, and physical healing powers of yoga while a student, Maya’s passion grew as she immersed herself in exploring different approaches to yoga and their therapeutic applications. Maya, who studied under Mark Stephens, has explored the practice of Hatha, Vinyasa Flow, Restorative, and Budokon to cultivate a well rounded practice in meditation, martial arts and yoga. She completed her 200-hour teacher training in Costa Rica, under Marianne Wells. During her many travels, Maya volunteered teaching yoga in Africa, and prides herself in being bilingual, fluent in both Spanish, and English. More recently, Maya has taught children’s yoga, encouraging a positive spirit and healthy image, as well as mommy and me, and postnatal yoga. Maya’s teaching emphasizes yoga as a natural balance of the physical and the spiritual. She is inspired by her love of life, laughter and body to spirit connection. She emphasizes alignment, breath, and movement in a harmonious integration of the body, mind, and spirit. Her goal is to continue down a path of personal growth and hopes to inspire students to live honestly and experience yoga’s holistic benefits.