She has worked with public housing residents, patients, physicians, and health policy experts. Regardless of the setting, she works alongside people to help them embody the change they seek in the world. Alissa is often described by friends and colleagues as grounded, authentic, and smart; she enjoys hearing about people's lived experiences as much as she loves a good a literature search.
She earned masters degrees in neuroscience, social work, and public health from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor's of science in neuroscience from Brandeis University in Waltham, Massachusetts, working for three years in the lab of Dr. Jeffrey Hall, the 2017 Nobel Prize winner in Medicine or Physiology. She is really into complicated meals, fantasizing about having a handmade wardrobe, and learning to feel comfortable in the ocean in and around Los Angeles.
Yoga found me some time in the 2000s. I had dropped out of a PhD program in neuroscience and was working part-time at a record store and a biology lab. I had a vague idea that yoga might be good for stress and stumbled upon an 8-week introductory series at the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis. Struck by the racial equity gap in St. Louis City, I went back to graduate school to study social work and public health, continuing my exploration of yoga at Solar Yoga Center.
In San Francisco, experiencing PTSD and depression after sexual assault, I began practicing at Yoga to the People, where yoga became the life-sustaining practice that it is for me today. I enrolled in Yoga Tree's 200-hour certification program in 2014, where I trained with Kerri Kelly, Jason Crandell, Sean Haleen, and Rebecca Rogers and taught at community spaces. In 2016 I became part of the Yoga Punx teaching collective. I now teach classes in Los Angeles, with a portion of class donations going to organizations working to build a healthier world.
