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Heidi Sormaz, Director

Heidi Sormaz, Ph.D., E-RYT 500, is the founder, owner and director of Fresh Yoga Studios. She has studied yoga for 24 years and taught for 20. A Forrest Yoga Guardian, Heidi currently teaches the Forrest Yoga 200-hr Foundation Teacher Training, the Forrest Yoga Advanced Teacher Training, teaches and designed the Fresh Yoga 200 and 300-hr Teacher Trainings, travels nationally to present workshops and trainings, has taught at Kripalu, Esalan an advanced vinyasa training with Rolf Gates and in the Windhorse Forrest Yoga Conference. Heidi has been featured in Yoga Journal and was selected by The Great Course to design their first course on yoga; Yoga for a Healthy Mind and Body.

Heidi's first love was the study of the mind. As an academic, she experimented with unwinding cognitive habits (habitual thinking) through specific attention, focus and meditation work. She brings these principles to her classroom, encouraging students to work with their minds as specifically as they work with their bodies. Working this way helps you understand and transform the habits that keep you stuck in your body and life. This way of working helped her move through her own challenges of dealing with severe anxiety and recovering from an eating disorder.

Heidi is a certified Forrest Yoga teacher and Forrest Yoga Mentor. She has also studied Ashtanga and Iyengar yoga. In addition, she has extensive training in the martial art Taijiquan and the internal art Qigong. She is a senior student of Master Steven Bennett and has taught Taijiquan and Qigong at Yale University.

Heidi received her Ph.D. and M.S. in Psychology from Yale University. She is an expert on the influence of arousal and attention on performance, how anxiety affects thinking, stress management, and performance in pressure situations. She has been an educator, speaker, and corporate trainer with over 10 years experience in designing and leading seminars on stress management, meditation, and educator training. HDR Press published her book Performing Under Pressure, and Alternative Therapies in Health and Medicine published her article "Meditation can Reduce Habitual Responding." Heidi has new courses coming out! One on Audible in January, 2020, How to Live a Yogic Lifestyle and in 2021 through the Great Courses How to End Overthinking

In 2008, Yoga Journal selected Heidi as one of their "Next Generation of Yoga Teachers". To read article click here!

Private Sessions

To schedule a private yoga or meditation session e-mail heidi@freshyoga.com. Private session rates are $150 per hour.

Study with Heidi on the Road

Study with Heidi outside of Fresh Yoga. She travels the country teaching workshops and teacher trainings. For more information, check out her personal website heidisormaz.com

Live stream Heidi's classes from Mat2Mat.com

Follow Heidi

On Instagram: @heidisormaz
On Facebook: Heidi Sormaz
On TikTok: @heidiyogaandthoughts

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