CURRENT OCCUPATION:

Yoga Instructor
BLYSS Yoga, Professora
Shiva Shankara, Professora

Entrepreneur
GAM Yoga, Co-Founder & Partner

CURRENT CONTACT INFORMATION:

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Email 1: Joana@Guratzsch.com
Email 2: JoanaXBorges@Gmail.com

AUTOBIOGRAPHY:

I started practicing Yoga seven years ago. As I was finishing my degree in international relations, I discovered the wonder that is Yoga. Shortly after I found the joy of sharing this wonder with other people. In 2003 I took my first Yoga Teacher training, a year-long adventure that opened my mind and body to embracing Yoga as a career. Highly influenced by Edson Charles and Paula Saboya, I started teaching at their Yoga studio, Shiva Shankara, in 2004 immediatly following my second training in Florianopolis during the month of January of that same year. In the fall of 2005 personal affairs brought me to New York City, where, for three months, I lived, breathed, studied, and taught Yoga. It was a wonderful experience to attend Yoga Works and make new friends. During the course of the past seven years, I have also attended classes, seminars, lectures, and workshops with some of the best teachers in the world, such as Swami Dayananda, Dharma Mitra, Gloria Arieira, Joseph and Lilian LePage, David Lurey, Clayton Horton, Alan Finger, Pedro Kupfer, Camila Reitz, and others. In addition to teaching at Shiva Shankara, I currently teach at BLYSS Yoga and have several private students who take classes one-on-one and in small groups. Feel free to contact me for your first private class at no charge!
In 2007 I started a brand new chapter in my life and united my passions for Yoga and fashion creating GAM YOGA, which is a clothing line made for people who are looking for comfort and style before, during and after their yoga practice.

EDUCATION:

M.S., International Analysis, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2005
B.S., International Relations, Universidade Estacio de Sa, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, 2002

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:

1. Entrepreneur, started GAM Yoga, a clothing line geared towards comfort and yoga practice, Summer 2007 - Present
2. Yoga Instructor, BLYSS Yoga, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, Summer 2006 - Present
3. Yoga Instructor, Shiva Shankara, Rio de Janeiro, Brasil, Summer 2004 - Present
4. Yoga Instructor, One-on-One Private Sessions, Summer 2003 - Present

CERTIFICATIONS:

• Yoga Works Teacher Training, Yoga Works, New York, NY, USA, Winter 2005/2006
• Yoga Teacher Training, Pedro Kupfer & Camila Reitz, Florianopolis, SC, Brasil, Summer 2004
• Power Yoga Teacher Training, Marco Schultz, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brasil, 2003

RELATED LINKS:

1. Yoga Journal Magazine in the USA and Prana Yoga Journal in Brasil are two great sources of Yoga inspiration and references.
2. Vidyamandir is a Vedanta School in Rio de Janeiro.
3. Swami Dayananda Ashram is where I intend to take my next Yoga Training.
4. Educational articles about Yoga can be found at Pedro Kupfer's website.

PERSONAL INTERESTS:

• Vegetarianism: I have chosen to cut all types of meat out of my diet about three years ago. Animals are friends, not food. Anything that has a face does not deserve to die for my eating pleasure. Check out The Vegetarian Society or GoVeg.com for more information.
• Music: I love music and that is why I also love Pandora! Here you can find awesome new music by association of songs or artists that you already know and like. It's a great deal, since it's free!
• Beaches: During my free-time you are most likely to find me somewhere in Ipanema. The beach is wonderful, the restaurants are plentiful, and I am always able to find a friend.
• Movies: I am hard to please when it comes to movies, but I am always up for catching one. Popcorn, popcorn, popcorn. To know everything there is to know about movies, films, and Hollywood go to IMDb.
• Fashion: Friends who inspired me to start my own clothing line were Sementeira and Devi.