Joan Dobbie

Mind-Body Instructor
Biography

Teaching Credentials and Experience:

  • I have been practicing Hatha yoga as the very core of my life since 1975 and teaching since 1981.
  • Between 1976 and 1981, I studied Sivananda style yoga intensively with a student of Swami Vishnudevananda and with the Swami himself.
  • I’ve also had tastes of other yoga styles, including a month in Tampa Florida with followers of Swami Muktananda, a 24-hour fitness YogaFit training, and a Chair Yoga Course with Liz Franklin.
  • I’ve been an active member of the Eugene Yoga Teacher’s Association and co-created a local Yoga Teacher directory in 2000.
  • In 2012 I co-created the yoga book The Many Faces of Hatha Yoga with LCC’s Verna Reidy.

Courses: I teach and have taught Gentle Yoga and introductory Hatha Yoga classes at health clubs, universities, and community centers in Northern New York, Colorado, and here in Eugene since 1981. I’ve been teaching Hatha and Senior Yoga classes at Emerald Park since 1986 and Hatha Yoga I and Gentle Yoga classes at the UO since 1998. In 2017 I conducted a Chair Yoga class at GatherTogetherYoga in Santa Clara.

I am passionate about yoga and can honestly say that I consider everything I like about myself a result of my yoga practice. To be able to share this gift with others is my greatest joy. Year after year students tell me that yoga has changed their lives, physically, mentally, emotionally, even spiritually. I love the energy and enthusiasm they bring to class. They appreciate the mindfulness training, the emphasis on relaxation, and the non-judgemental atmosphere they experience there. Again and again I hear, “I don’t know how I would have made it through this term without yoga.”

When I’m not teaching or practicing yoga, I’m generally writing, teaching, or listening to poetry. I’m a relatively well-published poet, and for the past four years I’ve co-hosted The River Road Reading Series that showcases mostly local authors, poets, novelists, essayists and even an occasional composer or songwriter.

A fun fact about me is that I have two grown children and six ever-growing grands: three in Boulder, Colorado; three in Western Australia. I spend a lot of time in airplanes, chasing my kids around the world. During the 2018 Christmas break, on my way to Australia, I’ll be visiting Pondicherry, India, to lead  morning yoga classes , give a poetry reading, and conduct a poetry writing workshop in conjunction with the Sri Aurobindo Society there.

Cost of attendance is the estimated cost to attend the UO for the academic year. The Office of Student Financial Aid and Scholarships provides estimates for cost of attendance information that goes beyond tuition and fees, and includes: living expenses (housing and food), books/supplies/equipment, transportation, and miscellaneous personal expenses.