ABOUT US
WHO WE ARE
Robert Boswell founded Barefoot Yoga Studio in 2005 and in 2010 partnered with Wai-Mei Yeung. With the joint force of a studio artist and a performing artist, and their passion and expertise of yoga, they designed, created and built the beautiful studio and its diverse and unique curriculum.
Our philosophy here is simple: yoga is a time to for you. A moment to expand your body and unearth your connection to a greater consciousness. Our team is passionate and committed to helping students of all levels, ages and body types discover something we find invaluable – peace in mind, body and spirit. We believe that yoga benefits our lives no matter what brings us into the studio. That being said, our goal is to support you through your journey and help your bodies expand safely and comfortably into new possibilities. Namaste.
MEET OUR TEACHERS
Wai-Mei Yeung
Wai-Mei Yeung has been teaching dance and yoga for 20 years and is excited to share her passion with you in Davis. Wai-Mei graduated from the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts majoring in Modern Dance. She received her Master of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Iowa in 1993.
She has since been teaching, choreographing and performing around the world. Her choreography has been presented by major dance festivals in Asia, Europe, and America in cities such as New York, Beijing, Guangzhou, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, Osaka, Melbourne, the Philippines, Singapore, Copenhagen and Montpellier. She was awarded the Hong Kong Dance Alliance Dance Award in three consecutive years for her outstanding choreography and performance.
Along with dancing, Wai-Mei finds yoga not only physical training and healing for her injured body, but also a mental and spiritual practice for her total well-being. She traveled through India and Nepal, the origin of Yoga, where she pursued the brightening of her spiritual light. Continuing her yoga studies, she studied with masters with Ana Forrest, Bryan Kest, and Tias Little, Dina Amsterdam.
Wai Mei is an E-RYT 200(Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hours) with Yoga Alliance of the U.S. since 2004. She is a RPYT (Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance) and a certified Mini-yogi Teacher from Shana Meyerson of L.A., and happy to be a new mom. Her classes are known to be filled with laughs, creativity and fun challenges for both adults and kids. She teaches Vinyasa, Warm Stretch, Beginners’ Basics, Kids Yoga, Prenatal, Baby&Me Yoga, Family Yoga and directs Yoga Teacher Training Program both in Davis and Hong Kong.
Robert Boswell
Robert Boswell was born in Southern California and introduced to Integral Yoga by Swami Satchinanda during his undergraduate work at Pfizer College as a means of facilitating artwork. His interest in Eastern cultures drew him to travel throughout India and Nepal on a Fulbright Fellowship before earning his M.F.A. in Fine Arts from Claremont Graduate School. While in the East, Robert studied Mahayana Buddhism and the teachings of Lama Yeshe. There he took refuge in the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha.
After graduate school Robert worked for a contemporary artist in Venice, California and worked in Hollywood as a set designer and builder for both feature films and commercials. Robert also trained with LifeSprings during this time—a personal growth program. He later moved to Northern California and opened his own design firm, which he ran for over twenty years in the Sacramento area. During this period Robert raised a son and became involved in the Unity movement in Sacramento (a metaphysical church that embraces “many paths to God”).
In 1999 Robert was reintroduced to yoga and began studying Hot Yoga at Yoga Loka with Bill and Sandy McCauley, who studied under Bikram. He also studied Ashtanga Yoga with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and Baron Baptiste Power Yoga. Robert’s return to yoga was initially the result of a running-related injury, but as he found himself drawn deeply into the practice of yoga, he decided to commit his life more fully to his practice and opened Barefoot Yoga Studio in Davis in 2005. Robert is a graduate of Yoga Tree San Francisco’s Teacher Training Program and Mark Stephens Advanced Yoga Teacher Training Program where he is grateful to have studied with Darren Main, Stephanie Snyder, Elise Lorimer and Mark Stephens respectively. He is a ERYT200 (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 200 hours) with the Yoga Alliance.
Robert was on the board of trustees for the development of the SLC (Spiritual Life Center) “oneness symbol” (a symbol which works toward unity by incorporating all major religions) since its inception and is currently a member of the steering committee for the Unity Church of Davis.
Robert’s experiences have led him to embrace many spiritual paths, but he sees his devotion through yoga as the pinnacle of his spiritual journey. He has found that the harmony that one experiences through the integration of body and spirit in yoga offers a deep and life changing spiritual practice like no other.
Robert’s goal for Barefoot Yoga Studio is to create an environment in which people feel comfortable to practice in community with others and he sees his teaching role as one of being in service to others as a “ferryman across the river” toward enlightenment. As a teacher, Robert sees yoga as not only a vehicle to introduce as many people as possible to the practice of yoga, but as a means to deepen his own practice through an understanding of, and commitment to, his students’ practice. Through yoga, he seeks to offer others that which he has found to be invaluable: peace in mind, body, and spirit, as well as a connection to a greater consciousness and the opportunity to lead a more balanced life.
Robert teaches Vinyasa, Restorative Yoga, Yin Yoga, Detox Flow, Deep Slow Flow, Meditation and directs the Yoga Philosophy Studies of Yoga Teacher Training both in Davis and Hong Kong.
Christine Firpo
Christine is passionate about family, communication, teaching and yoga. Having worked as a high school English teacher and having practiced yoga for many years, she combined her love of teaching and her love of yoga by completing a 200 hour teacher training course at Barefoot, a transformative experience for which she will be always grateful to Robert and Wai-Mei! A busy mom to three active boys, Christine practices yoga to cultivate balance, flexibility and an open heart both on and off the mat. She is excited to share with you an uplifting yoga practice that will strengthen and invigorate your body, mind and spirit.
Ildiko Benko
Ildiko’s interest in Asian culture spans nearly 30 years, beginning as a teenager growing up in socialist Budapest, Hungary during which time she sought out cultural connections with Indians, Indonesians, and other Asians. She followed her interest to New York, and then to Washington, DC, where her passion for Yoga started and continued over the next 15 years. She studied at Padmacahaya International Institute for Inner Studies, has received her Reiki Tummo attunement, practicing Heart Centered Meditation and channeling Reiki Tummo since 2009. After completing 200 hours Yoga Teacher Training at Barefoot Yoga Studio with Wai-Mei and Robert in May 2017, Ildiko is grateful to incorporate all her international influences, in a constantly updated blend of East and West of Yoga, Meditation, Reiki practice geared for today’s day-to-day challenges.
Sarah Lootah
With the aim to empower individuals and create a fun-loving environment, Sarah merges her multicultural background to her yoga practice honoring self-expression, exploration, individuality, and inclusivity. Sarah came to yoga at 14 when a major knee injury temporarily stopped her competitive swimming. She learned to heal her body and explore her Self (spiritually, physically, emotionally, and mentally). Sarah deepened her yoga practice and has completed a 200-hour Teacher Training Course with Barefoot Yoga. She will forever be a student and deeply grateful for the loving wisdom and kindness that her teachers Wai-Mei and Robert honored her with. As an eternal life student, she furthers her growth through continuing education hours at the Omega Institute. Sarah enjoys infusing yogic philosophy within her practice and is enthused to share her creative sequencing, affirmations, and energetic practice in the hopes to help others nurture their body, mind, and spirit so that they can thrive in life off the mat. Expect to sweat, smile, and feel good in Sarah’s class.
Maria Leyba
Joey Sable
Olga Dubrovskaya
Olga Dubrovskaya Also known as Baba Llama Yega, Olga had been practicing yoga at home for 10 years prior to starting her Teacher Training at Barefoot. Deeply influenced by her Russian roots and a culture deeply connected to the Earth, she had an early exposure to Eastern philosophy and pranayama through martial arts practice with her father, and her grandmother’s love of Buddhism. She started practicing with a Power Yoga program until finding the joy of Vinyasa Flow with Shiva Rea. As a college club volleyball player, handstands and yoga became a regular part of her routine to aid in recovery, flexibility, strength, and most importantly, integration. Olga graduated from UC Davis in 2007 with a B.S. in Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior and was accepted into medical school, but decided to postpone going in order to start a family. Prenatal yoga proved to be a saving grace for her during her pregnancies to aid in back pain and difficult deliveries. As a lifelong student, yoga proved to be the perfect home for Olga, for it’s multifaceted surface allows you to learn something new about yourself every time you step on the mat. Becoming a teacher was a lifetime goal that proved to be just a starting point. For her, Vinyasa Flow has become a way of life, an eternal dance with the world around her, we just have to be still enough internally to hear the music. Yoga has taught her how to be graceful, peaceful, happy, and of service and her practice is centered around spreading that joy to her students. She combines intense Sun Salutations with challenging balance and inversion poses to give students a complete body workout for all levels. She is forever indebted to Robert and Wei-Mei for their knowledge, love, passion, and space and is honored to be teaching in such a perfect place.
Brysan Hayes
Brysan is a native of Northern California and is passionate about Reiki energy healing, spirituality, astrology, and sharing the gift of yoga. Inspired by her teachers and the healing cultivated by practice, she completed the 200-hour teacher training course at Barefoot. Honored to have had the opportunity to learn from Wai-Mei and Robert, Brysan is dedicated to holding a safe space for students, promoting self-love, balance, healing and peace. Allowing each student to feel completely at ease – never worrying or wondering, always accepting and honoring where the body is.
“The body is your temple. Keep it pure and clean for the soul to reside in.”
–B.K.S Iyengar