Clio Manuelian

At the height of a successful career in fashion -Director of PR at Elle magazine and Salvatore Ferragamo- Clio was well-paid, well dressed and highly stressed. She longed for something more. Searching for meaning, connection and simple satisfaction, Clio started flirting with yoga. At first it was purely physical. But soon energetic uplift led mental/emotional ease, and hrt casual affair grew into a full bodied romance. Both suddenly (felt in my first class), and slowly, Clio recognized how clinging - to a career, lifestyle, mindset of unfulfilled, overwhelm - was more painful than the risk to change. In 2005 she let go of the stilettos, sat down, barefoot on the floor and then, leapt out into the unknown. Gratefully, the practice caught her; like a life-line in open waters. Because mindfulness/movement/breath is a way of cultivating enjoyment and love, even in a chaotic, challenging world. This practice is a pathway. It revealed the dependable, consistent happiness she was seeking, a life-affirming love that flows through us all.

Years after that seismic shift, Clio became a teacher, though she is still and forever a student. It continues to be her genuine honor and delight to share insights as a Professor of Yoga and Mindfulness at USC, as a Teacher Trainer through Yoga Alliance, a Meditation Facilitator through InsightLA, in corporations and classes, on retreats and immersions all over the world.

Clio extends her heartfelt gratitude to the generations of students, teachers and healers and sages who passed down their wisdom, warm hand to warm hand. A deep bow to her own mentors: Lisa Walford, Tias Little, Marla Apt, Joan Hyman, Annie Carpenter, Maty Ezraty, Ruth Lauer-Maneti and Elena Brower, along with every student who teaches her something new each day.