Yoga teachers in Bucktown, ChicagoOur teachers

Chi Yoga Shack is a small neighborhood studio built around the relationship between teacher and student. Our teachers share practices they have studied deeply and practice themselves, bringing different traditions and perspectives to the body, breath, and mind.

Alejandro Salinas

restorative/sound bath

Alejandro began his journey into the wellness field while in the DePaul acting conservatory in 2010. He was introduced to yoga in the Iyengar Tradition under the tutelage of Gabriel Halpern who he continues to learn from to this day. Alejandro underwent teacher training in 2016 through Moksha Yoga and studied Thai Massage at Blue Lotus Thai Healing with Paul Fowler shortly after.

Alejandro has been practicing massage therapy at The Soma Institute, National School of Clinical Massage Therapy where he graduated in 2014. He soon returned as a Teaching Assistant and eventually became a Core Instructor, teaching anatomy, clinical skills and techniques, special testing and treatments for various neural and musculoskeletal conditions for a number of years.

Alejandro has been the co-host of the Dream Freaks podcast and has held weekly Dream Yoga classes and workshops across the city and at weekend festivals. He is currently Vice President of the fledgling Chicago Death Doula Collective, a non profit organization dedicated to providing death doula services and death education and programming in the city of Chicago. He hosts regular Death Cafés and related events.

Next classes with Alejandro

Wed, Oct 28, 7:30 PMCandlelight Restorative Sound BathBook
Sun, Nov 1, 6:00 PMCandlelight Restorative Sound BathBook
Wed, Nov 4, 7:30 PMCandlelight Restorative Sound BathBook

Alexi Siegel

vinyasa

Alexi has been practicing yoga ever since her mom took her to her first class at the YMCA and she thought “Why are we holding everything for so long?” After completing her 200-hour Teacher Training at Tula Yoga Studio, Alexi feels like she finally has the answer to her question. Practicing a mix of Hatha and Vinyasa style yoga, she loves to explore the self-awareness that yoga cultivates through the power of asana and pranayama combined. Alexi’s preferred class is one that starts with breathwork to promote mindfulness, continues into intentional movement, and finishes with a more challenging pose that feels both effortful and "easeful" by the time we get to it. Hopefully, you will leave class feeling deeply united in your spirit, mind, and body.

Ashley LaMontagne

restorative breathwork

Ashley’s exploration of Yoga was set in motion over 15 years ago, but it wasn’t until she was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2021 that she began to explore the true meaning of the practice. With her body unable to move like it once did, she found peace of mind in the aspects of Yoga that made her turn inward, specifically pranayama and meditation. Her own healing journey was so powerful that she felt inspired to help others and has since completed over 300 hours of teacher training. The classes Ashley offers are meant to provide people a safe space to reconnect, feel grounded and find a release.

Next classes with Ashley

Mon, Oct 26, 7:30 PMRestorative Breathwork (Pranayama)Book
Mon, Nov 2, 7:30 PMRestorative Breathwork (Pranayama)Book
Mon, Nov 9, 7:30 PMRestorative Breathwork (Pranayama)Book

Becca Caliendo

vinyasa & candlelight yoga

Becca is a certified yoga teacher who blends different styles into a unique expression of a class. She has over a decade of practice under her belt and has been teaching in Chicago for 8 years now. Becca aligns as a healer and space holder who gives you permission to move and "be" in the way that feels best for your body. Becca practices and studies eastern modalities such as yoga, meditation, reiki and mindfulness. She recently started a job as an embodied counseling therapist who blends this work into the western way of psychology in the therapeutic setting. Besides the physical, mental, and emotional benefits, yoga can deepen meaning and purpose while enriching an inner connection to self. All bodies are welcome to Becca's classes. Come to one class, and you will feel better than when you arrived.

Next classes with Becca

Wed, Oct 28, 6:00 PMVinyasaBook
Thu, Oct 29, 7:00 PMCandlelight YogaBook
Wed, Nov 4, 6:00 PMVinyasaBook

Josephine Ferorelli

strong foundations

A yoga class is a deceptively simple place to begin the most important work of our lives; cultivating the self-knowledge and loving compassion that connects us to our world.

Josephine Ferorelli has been a student of yoga for 25 years, and a teacher for 16. Her background is in alignment, therapeutics, and sustainable body mechanics. She is trauma-informed and passionate about accessibility for all bodies via prop work and modifications. She brings sharp intelligence and compassionate humor to the never-ending inquiry that is yoga practice.

Josephine received her certification in 2010 from Moksha Yoga Center, and has since apprenticed with Chicago yoga luminaries Gabriel Halpern, Rich Logan, and Leslie Riley, studying therapeutic techniques, Iyengar fundamentals, and kinesiology. She has worked with cancer survivors, professional movers, students with scoliosis and other spinal specifics, adults with physical and developmental disabilities, and people living with chronic injury, illness, and pain.

Off the mat, Josephine is a co-founder and co-director of Conceivable Future, a climate and reproductive justice advocacy organization, and a co-author of The Conceivable Future, a book on the same subject, with Sen. Meghan Kallman of Rhode Island.

Next classes with Josephine

Thu, Oct 29, 5:30 PMIntro to Yoga - 4 part seriesBook
Sun, Nov 1, 4:00 PMStrong Foundations YogaBook
Sun, Nov 8, 4:00 PMStrong Foundations YogaBook

Kali Torr

vinyasa & candlelight yin

Kali began practicing yoga with her mom at their local gym around the age of 13. What started as a fun way to move her body and try interesting postures evolved years later as yoga became her lifeline in college. Between busy schedules, classes held at her university gym provided peace and clarity during a time where everything around her shifted. It was then that she slowly opened up into the world of possibilities that the ancient tradition can provide.

After over 10 years of playing, practicing, learning, and surrendering, Kali completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training program in the Sacred Valley of Peru in the spring of 2022 with the School Yoga Institute. She integrates her classes with the influence of her Peruvian Shamanic training and classical eastern traditions. She built a beautiful yoga community in Western Massachusetts teaching Hatha, Vinyasa, and Yin before coming to Chicago the spring of 2023. She is thrilled to be teaching the art of yoga and bring the sense of peace and clarity to her students in this magical place.

Next classes with Kali

Tue, Oct 27, 6:15 PMVinyasaBook
Tue, Oct 27, 7:30 PMCandlelight YinBook
Sat, Oct 31, 11:00 AMVinyasaBook

Monica Brown

gentle yoga

Monica J. Brown has been teaching Hatha Yoga since 2002, when she received her certification through the Temple of Kriya Yoga under the guidance of Mahaswami Kim Schwartz. Her teaching is rooted in the belief that the breath is often the first place we lose connection with the body; and that the breath is also the pathway for returning to this connection. Monica weaves this awareness into every class, encouraging students to cultivate mindfulness in this connection.

Next classes with Monica

Sun, Nov 1, 10:00 AMGentle YogaBook
Sun, Nov 8, 10:00 AMGentle YogaBook
Sun, Nov 15, 10:00 AMGentle YogaBook

Omkar Nath

hatha yoga & meditation

A yoga practitioner since 2008, Omkar Nath first travelled to Rishikesh in 2015 to practice yoga at an authentic Indian ashram. There with Akhanda Yoga Institute, he went on to receive his spiritual name, accumulate 900 hours as a teacher trainee, and he now helps lead their advanced yoga teacher trainings. Omkar strives to relay these millennia-old yogic teachings in a manner that is fun and accessible for the modern yogi who does not live in an ashram or a cave!

Next classes with Omkar

Mon, Oct 26, 6:00 PMHatha Yoga and MeditationBook
Mon, Nov 2, 6:00 PMHatha Yoga and MeditationBook
Mon, Nov 9, 6:00 PMHatha Yoga and MeditationBook

Rich Gonshak

ashtanga & vinyasa

I happened upon yoga over 20 years ago while studying linguistics and physical education and practicing Judo at Northeastern Illinois University.

Yoga slowly brought me to places of awakening, helping me recognize what was right in my life and what was not so right. Once I committed to a daily practice, I began to see more clearly who I had always wanted to be. This transformation inspired me to change direction and dedicate myself to the study, practice, and teaching of yoga.

Between 2005 and 2012, I completed two yoga teacher trainings, along with numerous immersions and workshops at Yogaview in Chicago.

My path eventually led me to Ashtanga Yoga and the guidance of David Garrigues, founder of the Ashtanga Revolution, with whom I have studied extensively for several years. I am proud to be a certified teacher through David's training program and continue my ongoing studies and apprenticeship with him. His creative, insightful, and individualized approach to Ashtanga has profoundly influenced my own practice and teaching, particularly his ability to adapt this powerful tradition to the needs and circumstances of each student.

I also continue to study with Gabriel Halpern, a master teacher from the Iyengar yoga lineage, whose extraordinary understanding of alignment, anatomy, and therapeutic yoga has greatly enriched my approach to teaching.

These two traditions complement one another beautifully, bringing together the discipline and dynamism of Ashtanga with the precision, intelligence, and therapeutic wisdom of Iyengar Yoga.

I believe yoga is a lifelong exploration. My intention as a teacher is to honor the traditions that have shaped me while helping each student discover a practice that is meaningful, sustainable, and uniquely their own.

I remain, first and foremost, a student of yoga, grateful to my teachers and to the Chicago yoga community for embracing me, sharing the practice, and offering their friendship along the way.

Next classes with Rich

Tue, Oct 27, 7:30 AMAshtanga Practice RoomBook
Wed, Oct 28, 7:30 AMAshtanga Practice RoomBook
Thu, Oct 29, 7:30 AMAshtanga Practice RoomBook

Rich also offers Thai bodywork. Book your reset

If you're unsure, ask us. We're happy to help you choose. There is no wrong place to begin.

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