Biographical Information
Charlotte Bell has been practicing yoga since 1982, and began teaching in 1986. She has established and taught regular classes along Utah’s Wasatch Front, and in California and Hawaii. She has also taught workshops, teacher trainings, and yoga for cancer patients and their families at the Cancer Wellness House in Salt Lake City. In 2000 she taught yoga and meditation at the Southwest Yoga Conference in Austin, Texas. She co-taught an international teacher training in Vancouver, BC, with Donna Farhi in August of 2002.
Certified in 1989 in the Iyengar style of yoga, she enjoys learning from teachers of many different yogic perspectives. Charlotte’s teaching has been influenced by the work of Donna Farhi, specifically the fluid interweaving of breath and asana. She received her 500-hour certification from Yoga Alliance in 2000.
Vipassana meditation practice has had the most profound influence on Charlotte’s work. She began her practice in 1986, and has attended many 10-and 30-day meditation retreats since then. Her practice has been guided by her spiritual mentors, Pujari and Abhilasha of the Last Resort in Cedar Breaks, Utah, since 1985. Charlotte has conducted vipassana retreats annually since 1997, including annual retreats combining yoga and vipassana meditation at Inner Harmony Retreat Center.
All these influences combine to form an evolving style of yoga that acknowledges the alignment principles of the Iyengar system while applying mindful attention to gain insight into the truth of each individual’s asana practice rather than striving for preconceived goals. She encourages students to explore and trust their own experience in their asana practice, and enjoys learning new perspectives from her students.
In addition to teaching yoga and meditation, Charlotte writes feature stories for several publications, including Catalyst and New York Spirit magazines. She has modeled and served as editorial adviser for Hugger-Mugger Yoga Products catalogs since 1986. She has been commissioned by Planet Bluegrass in Boulder, Colorado to write a book about the Telluride Bluegrass Festival. She has served as editor of the Intermountain Iyengar Yoga Association's newsletter. Currently, she is writing a book that blends the principles of mindfulness with the practice of Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga. Her new book titled Mindful Yoga, Mindful Life, which blends the principles of mindfulness with Patanjali's Eight Limbs of Yoga, was published by Rodmell Press in October 2007. You can read more about the book on Rodmell Press' website: href="http://www.rodmellpress.com">www.rodmellpress.com.
Charlotte plays oboe and English horn in the Salt Lake Symphony; the woodwind quintet, Scherzando Winds; the chamber folk ensemble, blue haiku; and with blue haiku, Kate MacLeod and Hal Cannon in the folk sextet, Red Rock Rondo.
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