Gloria Baraquio, E-RYT 500, Lead Teacher Trainer
Gloria Marie Baraquio is a yogi and educator from Hawaii and was the Yoga & Wellness Director at The Springs in Downtown LA for three years. She discovered yoga in 2003 after experiencing anxiety and depression, and she realized that the breath, body awareness, and mindfulness could relieve so much of human suffering, disease, and disorder. After much self-study and independent practice, she began teaching vinyasa in 2006 in schools, colleges, gyms, and studios. Since then she has continued to teach thousands of hours of vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, aerial yoga, kids yoga, and meditation to various populations.
Gloria grew up the youngest of 10 children, praying and singing in the Catholic Church. Intrigued with other spiritual traditions, she explored a multitude of philosophies and religions, connecting deeply with the teachings of Baha'i, Tibetan Buddhism, Kundalini Yoga, and Krishna Consciousness. She has practiced at temples, ashrams, churches, and healing centers around the world and lived off-grid on the Big Island to experience simple living and high thinking.
Gloria completed her 200-Hour Teacher Training at Yoga Hawaii with Rupali Embry and Tania Jo Ingrahm. In 2012, she spent eight months at Naropa University, studying Contemporary Performance and Meditation. There in Boulder, she was able to meet and learn from close disciples of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In 2013, she discovered Kundalini Yoga in Los Angeles with Tej Kaur Khalsa and Gurmukh and tapped into the technology of kriya and naad yoga. In the same year, she began to study and chant regularly at the Los Angeles Bhakti House with Shastrakrit and Kumari Gopi and continued her studies with Tukaram Prabhu at the Long Beach Temple. In 2014, she helped to open The Springs in Downtown LA, an urban oasis with a vegan restaurant, yoga studio, and a wellness center. She founded the Yoga Program there and launched the Meditation Program. In 2015, she co-led the first Shivakali Yoga Teacher Training with Serge Berliawksy and taught vocal movement at festivals like Lightning in a Bottle and Symbiosis. In January 2016, she completed her 300-Hour Advanced Teacher Training with Raghunath Cappo and Radhanath Swami in India at the Govardhan Eco Village. On this sustainable farm, she chanted everyday, analyzed Vedic scriptures, and listened to the pastimes of Krishna. She spent another week on pilgrimage in Vrndavan, where she met other swamis, gurus, sages, and monks, and did parikrama (a meditative walk/circumambulation) around Govardhan Hill.
Gloria & Serge have taught three 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings in the San Diego Desert, one at The Springs in DTLA in Fall 2016, and two at Kirpal Meditation & Ecological Center on the Big Island. They taught their first 300-hour certification program at Gaia Yoga in Ubud, Bali in August 2017.
Gloria considers herself a bhakti yogi living a life of devotion to the Highest through song, sangha, and service. Her most beloved teachers are her parents, her siblings, her partners, her students, the land, Chogyam Trungpa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Srila Prabhupad. Her greatest wish for others is that they know their Highest Self and live with both courage and compassion.
Gloria Marie Baraquio is a yogi and educator from Hawaii and was the Yoga & Wellness Director at The Springs in Downtown LA for three years. She discovered yoga in 2003 after experiencing anxiety and depression, and she realized that the breath, body awareness, and mindfulness could relieve so much of human suffering, disease, and disorder. After much self-study and independent practice, she began teaching vinyasa in 2006 in schools, colleges, gyms, and studios. Since then she has continued to teach thousands of hours of vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, aerial yoga, kids yoga, and meditation to various populations.
Gloria grew up the youngest of 10 children, praying and singing in the Catholic Church. Intrigued with other spiritual traditions, she explored a multitude of philosophies and religions, connecting deeply with the teachings of Baha'i, Tibetan Buddhism, Kundalini Yoga, and Krishna Consciousness. She has practiced at temples, ashrams, churches, and healing centers around the world and lived off-grid on the Big Island to experience simple living and high thinking.
Gloria completed her 200-Hour Teacher Training at Yoga Hawaii with Rupali Embry and Tania Jo Ingrahm. In 2012, she spent eight months at Naropa University, studying Contemporary Performance and Meditation. There in Boulder, she was able to meet and learn from close disciples of Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche. In 2013, she discovered Kundalini Yoga in Los Angeles with Tej Kaur Khalsa and Gurmukh and tapped into the technology of kriya and naad yoga. In the same year, she began to study and chant regularly at the Los Angeles Bhakti House with Shastrakrit and Kumari Gopi and continued her studies with Tukaram Prabhu at the Long Beach Temple. In 2014, she helped to open The Springs in Downtown LA, an urban oasis with a vegan restaurant, yoga studio, and a wellness center. She founded the Yoga Program there and launched the Meditation Program. In 2015, she co-led the first Shivakali Yoga Teacher Training with Serge Berliawksy and taught vocal movement at festivals like Lightning in a Bottle and Symbiosis. In January 2016, she completed her 300-Hour Advanced Teacher Training with Raghunath Cappo and Radhanath Swami in India at the Govardhan Eco Village. On this sustainable farm, she chanted everyday, analyzed Vedic scriptures, and listened to the pastimes of Krishna. She spent another week on pilgrimage in Vrndavan, where she met other swamis, gurus, sages, and monks, and did parikrama (a meditative walk/circumambulation) around Govardhan Hill.
Gloria & Serge have taught three 200-hour Yoga Teacher Trainings in the San Diego Desert, one at The Springs in DTLA in Fall 2016, and two at Kirpal Meditation & Ecological Center on the Big Island. They taught their first 300-hour certification program at Gaia Yoga in Ubud, Bali in August 2017.
Gloria considers herself a bhakti yogi living a life of devotion to the Highest through song, sangha, and service. Her most beloved teachers are her parents, her siblings, her partners, her students, the land, Chogyam Trungpa, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, and Srila Prabhupad. Her greatest wish for others is that they know their Highest Self and live with both courage and compassion.
