a teacher is no more and no less than a friend.

Shana Swanson is the founder of Studio45.

Welcome to my story. We all have one.

I have been teaching and practicing yoga for close to 25 years.

I am a Mom, a yogi, a teacher, a local business owner, a coach and a friend.

It was my dream to become a yoga teacher.

I met my teacher, Ananda Adams, in the Fall of 2001. I was a full time lawyer and a single Mom at the time, overworked, malnourished and tired. A very authentic and loving friend saw me She suggested we take a road trip, a wellness trip, together.

We went to the D’Adamo Institute in Portsmouth, New Hampshire. They recommended I change my diet and start a daily yoga practice. My friend Brenda knew Ananda. She lived on her street, Perry Street. Ananda was stunning, funny and kind. I signed up immediately.

Little did I know, Ananda was 1 of 5 teachers authorized to teach Ashtanga Yoga in NYC by the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. We began working together twice a week. She taught me the entire Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga day 1, no English, only Sanskrit and no breaks. I practiced it every day - before or after work, with or without Ananda, with the help of a VHS video, the Primary Series. starring David Swenson.

Shortly thereafter, my brother, at the age of 28, was diagnosed with cancer. Roger battled Leukemia for the next 4 years and my daily Ashtanga Yoga practice sustained me the entire time.

Roger eventually lost his battle with cancer in 2006.

I lost my only sibling but learned this - Life is short. You can never get back time. Your health is first and foremost. Treasure those you love.

My brother’s last request? Make it count.

These are my mantras, to this day.

After my brother’s death, I started living my life in a way that made me feel whole again. I immersed what was left of myself in the yoga community, seeking out every iconic yoga teacher and practicing with them at their studio. I did their workshops, attended their trainings and started becoming a yogi., Inside and out. I remarried, became pregnant with my second child, all while working full time under my law degree.

But in December of 2008, my world imploded again. I lost the identity and the family I had relied upon my entire life in an extremely traumatizing and public way. I gave up my home, lost every thing we ever had and moved what was left of my family and our existence to downtown, to Battery Park City.

But yoga was there for me again.

Kula Yoga Project was in Tribeca, just 6 blocks away from our apartment and I spent the next 4 years training under Nikki Costello, David Regelin, Raghunauth and Miles Borrero. This die hard Ashtangi was becoming a full-fledged Iyengar and Vinyasa flow junkie.

I still held on to my Ashtanga roots and took the opportunity to become certified to teach the Primary Series of Ashtanga Yoga by David Swenson, my virtual teacher for over 11 years when David happened to be in New York at that time too

PURE Yoga then became my full time teaching platform. They asked me to complete another 200 hours of Yoga Alliance training and I excitedly taught in their East Side Mysore Room in addition to privates, Ashtanga and Vinyasa classes. If I wasn’t teaching, I was practicing and in 2012 was asked to write and co-lead 2 Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Trainings at PURE Yoga.

In 2016, my family chose to move again..

This time to Westport, CT.

My older daughter enrolled in Staples High School and my youngest in Long Lots and I began teaching at the Shala in Ridgefield. Shortly thereafter I was given space to teach at Kaia Yoga.

After 3 years, I knew I was ready. My dream to own my own yoga studio became a reality.

yoga. by, Shana Swanson opened in November of 2019.

We were a small dedicated group of yogis, practicing privately and in small groups. My teachers all came to the studio. David Swenson, David Regelin, Miles Borrero and then Bryan Kest, the founder of Power Yoga.

Bryan came all the way from LA and taught a 45 person evening yoga class. We were mat to mat. It was March 16th, 2021.

On March 17th, the state of CT asked all yoga studios to shut their doors. COVID hit. We needed each other. So yoga. By, Shana Swanson went officially online.

It was hard. We met, every day. We practiced Ashtanga. Vinyasa Mysore, and one-on-one. We did workshops and by July of 2021 we realized life was infinitely better when we were connected.

We also learned that 45 minutes of movement was all we needed ton stay strong, healthy and feel complete.

Studio45. celebrates the opportunity for us as humans to breathe, move, and connect.

Whether through yoga, barre or dance, all Studio45. classes are vehicles that promote wellness, strength and community.

Our teachers, no matter what method they employ, have one intention - creating space for connection through movement, with joy, friendship and love.

All of us have the opportunity to rewrite our story.

Mine continues each day I wake up and have the opportunity to practice and teach, 45 minutes at a time.

Your story matters. You matter. Bring yourself to the mat.

Studio45. is there to guide you back to your true Self.

See you soon!

With Love, Shana