Education

"Minta then traveled to yoga's origin... in search of context and understanding of yoga's roots.​"

Minta Allred, E-RYT 500, RCYT is a Yoga teacher, facilitator-trainer, conscious activist and social entrepreneur. She has studied with a variety of teachers covering a vast array of approaches to yoga. Originally trained in a methodology which integrates Iyengar, Ashtanga and Viniyoga aspects, she studied under teachers including Tias & Surya Little, Ana Forrest, Nikki Myers, Seane Corn and Gary Kraftsow.  Minta then traveled to yoga's origin, the small town of Rishikesh in northern India, in search of context and understanding of yoga's roots. With an authentic Indian teacher and a daily regime covering a variety of holistic practices, she expanded her knowledge of yoga and developed a more meaningful personal practice. After three and a half years of studying yoga, holistic health, mindfulness practices, and human development, Minta graduated with her BA in Human Develop through Yoga in 2015 from Prescott College.  ​
 
Her college studies continued post graduation with the emphasis on how Yoga can transform the relationship to our physical body and heal negative body image, inspired by her personal journey described below. This path of research and study lead Minta to attend an Embody Love Movement Facilitator Training with Dr. Melody Moore, founder & Clinical Psychologist. After facilitating nearly 20 workshops the first 2 years within the organization, under the guidance and mentorship of Moore, Minta became a certified Facilitator-Trainer for the nonprofit organization.  

Background

"She was paid to be a product, an image, valued based on her waist size."

Minta, born originally in the Pacific Northwest on a small remote island, moved to Los Angeles, CA at the young age of 17 to pursue a career in the print modeling and commercial industry. What she experienced first hand about our media, the cultural standard of beauty, and the impact it has on overall self-worth was exponential. She was told to lose weight on a regular basis. She witnessed photographers photoshop away her hips, add size to her breasts, add volume to her hair, change the shape of her nose, take away all her freckles, scars and even pores!  She was encouraged to try the atkins diet, to count calories, cut meals in half and even try cigarettes and cocaine for appetite suppression. She was paid to be a product, an image, valued based on her waist size.  All this information taught her a lot about what this industry is doing to girls and women worldwide. 
Yoga slowly brought healing to the thoughts that her  body was wrong and unlovable. For an in-depth interview by Madi Stapleton click HERE .

Created

"Her highest priority as a yoga teacher and mentor is the work she does with the nonprofit, Embody Love Movement"

Minta has not only taught hundreds of adult classes, specialized workshops and private sessions, but she has also incorporated yoga for kids and teens as well as prenatal yoga classes into her teachings. She has assisted semester courses at Prescott College as well as two 200 hour foundational yoga teacher trainings within the Viniyoga lineage. She has offered several after-school enrichment programs for children of all ages. Her highest priority as a yoga teacher and mentor is the work she does with the nonprofit, Embody Love Movement, inspiring teens and women to find inner peace and outer purpose through self-acceptance . She spends the majority of her time on the study and practice of yoga and implementation of the Embody Love Movement programs in schools, organizations and yoga studios. Through facilitating workshops and trainings, she continues to pioneer the Embody Love Movement in the Pacific Northwest.

Vision

"...each of us has a responsibility to do the inner work necessary to create the world we want to live in."

Minta shares Embody Love Movement's vision, to foster, as Dr Moore states "a world where all girls and women recognize their inherent worth and value, and see their contribution to the interdependent whole as necessary." She has  experienced first hand that small groups of people can create powerful change, and that each of us has a responsibility to do the inner work necessary to create the world we want to live in. Minta's mission for Embody Love Movement is to continue to train and empower others to share this work to as many girls and women as possible! 

Sarah Natasha Photography