Laura Jane Mellencamp, E-RYT 500, MA has been changing people’s lives for 3 decades. As founder and director of one of the Chicago area’s premier yoga studios, Yoga Among Friends, Laura Jane has made the practice and teaching of yoga her life’s work. She has led classes, seminars, and workshops throughout the country for leading organizations (2016 speaker at the Symposium on Yoga Therapy and Research, 2016 speaker at the Annual Aspen Urological Conference, 2014 & 2015 key note speaker for the American Diabetes Association) and for individuals (private teacher to the Jim Henson family, the President of Columbia Pictures, and others). She is known for her depth of knowledge, practical wisdom, and unique ability totransmit yogic teachings and practices to students from all walks of life.
To Laura Jane, the teachings of yoga are a sacred lineage to be passed on from teacher to student. As a teacher, she incorporates her understanding of the mind and behavior into her yoga classes, encouraging her students to break free of their rigid patterns and habits to release themselves physically, mentally, and spiritually. This often results in an enlivening journey of self-discovery, cleansing, and healing. Her intention is “to bring the rapture of one’s aliveness! To keep the mind cool and the hearts open!”
Laura Jane’s study of yoga began in 1979, and she became a certified yoga teacher in 1989. A life-long learner, she has had the pleasure to study under some of yoga’s leading masters including: T.K.V. Desikachar, Chase Bossart, Kate Holcombe, Richard Miller, Rod Stryker, Ganga White, Tracey Rich, and Erich Schiffman. From 2007–2012, her studies culminated in her credentialing as a certified yoga therapist through Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation in Chennai, India. Currently, Laura Jane is under the tutelage and guidance of Pandit Rajmani Tiginuit, the spiritual head of the Himalayan Institute.
In addition to her in-depth studies of yogic philosophies, Laura Jane is a therapist. She enjoys blending her M.A. in Clinical and Counseling Psychology (1993, Antioch University) with her yoga therapy certification to provide her clients with a holistic approach to psychological and emotional imbalances that affect the immune system.
Laura Jane has held workshops throughout the world, including Costa Rica, Jamaica, Hawaii, the Northwest Pacific, New York City, Tennessee, Italy, Greece, Guatemala, and Belize. She continues to teach yoga students and to train those who wish to become yoga therapists themselves.
