All-Levels Yoga Wednesdays

This all-levels yoga class offers a balanced, accessible practice designed to support both physical ease and mental clarity. Classes typically integrate mindful movement, breath awareness, and simple contemplative elements to help release accumulated tension while maintaining stability and strength. Postures are approached with options and modifications, making the practice appropriate for a wide range of bodies and experience levels. Emphasis is placed on sustainable movement, nervous system regulation, and cultivating practices that translate beyond the mat and into daily life.

Sara Elizabeth Ivanhoe, M.A., Ph.D., earned her doctorate in Yoga Philosophy from the Graduate Theological Union. Her dissertation, In Search of Sleep: A Comprehensive Study of Yoga Philosophy, Therapeutic Practice, and Improving Sleep in Higher Education, examines the integration of contemplative practices within university settings. She joined the Stanford community in Spring 2024, where she has taught Sleep for Peak Performance and Meditation through Stanford Living Education (SLED), and currently teaches Yoga for Stress Management in the Department of Athletics, Physical Education, and Recreation (DAPER). Dr. Ivanhoe is the Founding Director Emeritus of YogaUSC and previously lectured in USC’s Mind–Body Department, where she also served on faculty wellness boards. A practitioner and educator since 1995, she has completed three 500-hour teacher training programs. She has served as the Yoga Spokesperson for Weight Watchers: Yoga, Yoga for Dummies, and Crunch: Yoga, and was the yoga columnist for Health magazine for three years. Her work has appeared in nearly every major yoga and wellness publication. In 2018, she co-created Just Breathe, a yoga, breathwork, and meditation initiative in partnership with Oprah Magazine. She is a recipient of USC’s Sustainability Across the Curriculumgrant and the Paul Podvin Scholarship from the Graduate Theological Union. She currently serves as Interim Director of Events and Operations in Stanford’s Office for Religious and Spiritual Life, where she also teaches weekly contemplative practice classes.