larissa hall carlson
guest teacher - Ayurvedic yoga specialist
M.A. in Mindfulness Studies, E-RYT 500, is a Mindful Living teacher, Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist, Ayurvedic Practitioner, End-of-Life Doula, Yee Yoga teacher, Yoga Teacher Training Director, Prenatal Yoga teacher, and Kripalu Center faculty member. She is co-director of Yoga Journal's online courses "Ayurveda 101" and “Ayurveda 201,” the former Education Manager of Kripalu's Institute for Extraordinary Living, and the former Dean of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda. Larissa leads transformative, empowering, and inspiring classes, workshops, and trainings around the world. She is known for her exceptional knowledge of yoga and Ayurveda, deep practice, and professionalism.
Larissa is passionate about encouraging all people to live in harmony with the rhythms of nature through the time-honored teachings of yoga, Ayurveda, and Mindfulness. Regularly presenting at Yoga Journal Live events, Ahimsa Festival, and Wanderlust, Larissa has been featured in Yoga Journal, Shape, Men’s Journal, The Washington Post, More, Elephant Journal, Spirituality & Health, InStyle, NY Yoga + Life Magazine, Origins, Mantra Magazine, Yoganonymous, Prevention, MindBodyGreen, and Dr. Oz: The Good Life.
One of Larissa’s specialties is teaching yoga and mindfulness to elite performers. For over a decade, she has worked in partnership with the musicians and performers of Tanglewood Music Center to help alleviate performance anxiety and stress and to enhance skillfulness and performance excellence. She has also taught yoga, meditation, breath-work, and yogic philosophy at the Julliard School, Boston Conservatory, Berkshire Opera Company, Cleveland Institute of Music, Western Illinois University School of Music, and the Nashville Ballet, as well as to students at Harvard, Princeton, Lawrenceville, Burr & Burton Academy, and Emma Willard.
As trauma-informed faculty member for the Kripalu Schools of Yoga & Ayurveda, she currently directs advanced yoga teacher trainings specializing in pranayama and the ayurvedic approach to yoga, and is a 200-hr and 500-hr Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training director. She teaches Ayurvedic history & philosophy, clinicals, pulse assessment, and pranayama/meditation for the Ayurvedic Health Counselor training. Larissa can also be found directing in other renowned YTTs around the world.
Although Larissa loves living in New England, she takes great joy in traveling to teach. Some of her favorite international teaching locations have been Japan, Costa Rica, India, and New Zealand.
As a life-long, extremely dedicated, and passionate student, Larissa has studied with some of the world’s most distinguished, knowledgeable, and esteemed teachers of yoga, meditation, and Ayurveda. She thanks and honors each of her teachers individually and collectively for their wisdom and generosity, including: Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman Yee, Richard Rosen, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, Shiva Rea, Suzanne Deason, Thich Nhat Hanh, Jon Kabat-Zinn, Jack Kornfield, Sharon Salzberg, Lama Surya Das, Stephen Cope, Jonathan Foust, Tara Brach, Yoganand Michael Carroll, Scott Blossom, Matt Pesendian, Emma Balnaves, and Zhander Remete. Larissa is also indebted to and humbled by her Ayurveda teachers, in the USA and India, who have so graciously shared their knowledge and love, including: Dr. Robert Svoboda, Dr. Vasant Lad, Dr. David Frawley, Dr. Claudia Welch, Dr. Scott Blossom, Dr. John Douillard, Dr. Sunil Joshi, Dr. Partab Chauhan, Dr. Jay Apte, Dr. Rosy Mann, Dr. Jyothi Bhatt, Dr. Anusha Sehgal, and Dr. Satya Narayana Dasa.
“As a teacher for over 20 years (first Literature, then yoga, Ayurveda, and Mindfulness) I have thought deeply about the role of the teachers in my life and how these beloved teachers have helped shape, inspire, and elevate my practice and my capacity to become a more skillful teacher myself. Words cannot fully honor what they have offered to me, but their generosity, expertise, thoughtfulness, and love have been felt, and I carry every one of them with me as I enter any classroom. On their capable and strong shoulders I stand and I strive to honor them by teaching my students with clarity, integrity, kindness, respect, precision, and the knowledge gained from my own unique explorations of the practices.”