Julianne recognized from an early age that her passions are gifts meant to be shared with people – as a pianist, an equestrian, and now a yogi. Julianne always envisioned herself teaching yoga someday, perhaps in retirement when she would be older and wiser! However, the events of 2020 catalyzed a profound shift in perspective and sense of urgency. With this newfound clarity, she recognized that it was time to begin. 

With a background in psychology and a career dedicated to service, Julianne approaches her teaching with empathy and a unique understanding of disability and resilience. Her focus has always been on empowering others, recognizing that she is just a facilitator humbled to witness another’s journey of growth and self-discovery. With experience working with a wide range of populations including those with mental illness, children with autism, and disabler veterans, Julanne now specializes in teaching movement and meditation for small groups of adults in clinical, community, and residential settings.

She took her first yoga class in high school and was immediately hooked after experiencing savasana! Her practice has deepened and evolved over the course of her life, particularly during times of personal hardship. Julianne’s commitment to honoring the ancient roots of yoga while simultaneously “living as a normal person in suburbia” led her to select the Pranakriya School of Yoga Healing Arts for her initial teacher training with Kimberly Murphy, enriching her practice and guiding her approach to sharing yoga. Her passion for supporting people integrating profound emergent states is inspired by her own journey and through close work with Dr. Yvonne Kason, Dr. Daniel Ingram, and Dr. Marie Grace Brook -- modern trailblazers in weaving the threads of science, spirituality, and medicine.

Julianne's approach to teaching yoga draws from more than 25 years of personal practice, spending more than a decade under the tutelage of several esteemed yoga therapists and teachers in the Pranakriya and Kripalu lineages including Pam Blum, Tina Lanzoni and Jessie Rhines. Her strong asana foundation was built through years of dedicated practice, primarily with Lesley Fightmaster's Ashtanga Yoga Primary Series on YouTube and 26&2 hot yoga with the Vendemmias and their exceptional team in Annapolis, Maryland. She draws inspiration from Swami Kriaplu, Yoganand Michael Carroll, and Matthew Sanford's approach to teaching individuals with disabilities. Julianne has evolved beyond yoga by studying the work of visionaries like Gabrielle Roth and Janet Adler, whose teachings opened the door to a broader understanding of authentic movement and embodied expression.

Pranakriya Yoga is rooted in ancient traditions, adapted for modern active living. This yoga is inherently trauma-informed, accessible, inclusive, and empowering for students of all ages and all abilities.

This practice of yoga creates a path to inner awareness to become more fully alive on and off the mat.

Pranakriya teachers provide transformative yoga instruction for the modern Western practitioner that are rooted in Tantric Hatha traditions taught by Swami Kripalu. Classes incorporate meditation, pranayama (breathwork), and postures (asana) that are true to the heart of yoga.

The teachings of Swami Kripalu were the inspiration behind Kripalu Yoga© as developed by Yogi Amrit Desai and taught at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts, the largest yoga retreat center in North America that has trained thousands of teachers from around the world.

The teachings of Swami Kripalu are also the inspiration behind Pranakriya Yoga. Pranakriya Yoga was developed by Yoganand Michael Carroll, a long time student of Amrit Desai, Swami Kripalu, and other teachers in Swami Kripalu’s tradition. During his 15 years as a resident of the ashram, Yoganand dove deeply into renunciate practices. While drawing heavily from Kripalu principles, Pranakriya is distinct as it places a greater emphasis on pranayama techniques and integrating deeper Tantric and Hatha Yoga concepts.

Swami Kripalu (1913-1981), also known as Kripalvananda or Bapuji, was an ascetic yogi and kundalini yoga master whose intensive practices led him to a very deep understanding of yoga. He called himself "a pilgrim on the path of love" and said many times, "Only love can bring unity and remove the separation between all living beings." Revered in India as one of the greatest saints, he meditated 10 hours a day for 30 years and spent a decade in near complete silence and seclusion.

He had an extraordinary stay in the United States from 1977-1981, where he broke his silence of many years in order to spread yoga and spiritual teachings in America. He was instrumental in reviving an ancient form of the practice that he called yoga sahaja, or natural yoga, which is also known by many other names including kundalini yoga* and "surrender yoga." Swami Kripalu believed that natural yoga is the source of all other yogas and should be accorded the highest place. 

Swami Kripalu embraced both spirituality and science, approaching his study of yoga with a methodical, almost scientific rigor. Drawing from his own experiences, the teachings of his guru, scripture, Ayurveda, and modern sciences, he played an important role in bridging the wisdom of the East with innovations emerging in the West.

He also had many talents and interests aside from the yoga. He was an accomplished musician and composer, playwright, poet, storyteller, and writer.

"Nothing could have prepared me for my first encounter with Swami Kripalu. When he walked into the room, my mind was catapulted into a state of focused awareness deeper than anything I'd ever experienced. Swami Kripalu was a lightning bolt wrapped in an orange robe."  
-Richard Faulds, author of Kripalu Yoga: A Guide to Practice On and Off the Mat