We were lucky to catch up with Sarah Hannala recently and have shared our conversation below.

Sarah, appreciate you joining us today. If you had a defining moment that you feel really changed the trajectory of your career, we’d love to hear the story and details.

I would have to say that moving to Los Angeles in 2019 was definitely a defining moment in my career that changed a lot of things for me. I had been living in Lake Tahoe, California for quite a few years where I was teaching yoga and doing sound healings with a friend. Although my classes were doing well and I been awarded with the “Best In Tahoe” title for best yoga class for 2 years in a row, Lake Tahoe is a small mountain town with a limited, very seasonal clientele. I felt that teaching yoga full time was impossible for me there, so I was also working as a waitress. I decided I wanted more in my career and that it was time to move to a big city. I had never been to LA but my sister and her husband, along with a couple friends lived there so I quit my jobs, packed up my car with my dog and started driving south. I lived on my friends couch for 3 months while I got to know the city and decided what area I’d like to move to. I quickly fell in love with the beach and applied to yoga studios in the area. I was grateful to start teaching at The Yoga Collective for a few months before covid began. I had created some great connections there and had private clients throughout the pandemic. I felt like the pandemic was an opportunity for me to regroup and get really clear about my career goals and manifestations. I also prioritized music, writing and art, things I was always passionate about. In 2021, I heard about Shefa yoga Venice being open when a few of my private clients and fellow teachers told me about it. I fell in love with Shefa immediately and applied to teach, I was grateful to be hired as a teacher. Only a month after I started teaching there, one of my students offered me a job as a yoga therapist at an adult mental health facility, which was something I had been manifesting. I had loved doing sound healings with my friend Emily in Tahoe but I didn’t have any of my own instruments. I met my now good friend, Amber Bonham at Shefa as well and she let me borrow her bowls so I could practice and take jobs doing sound healings – she also helped certify me in Reiki and mentored me on using my singing voice for sound healing as well. I had dreamed of working with teenagers for many years and one day one of my neighbors offered me the opportunity to teach sound healings at a mental health facility for teens. Now in 2024, I am grateful to be doing what I love for a full time career. Although it was scary to take the risk of moving and starting my life completely over from scratch, everything happens exactly how it’s supposed to and everything led me to exactly where I’m supposed to be.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’m a trauma-informed Yoga and Meditation Teacher, Reiki Master, Sound Healer, Singer, Creative, Community Curator, Writer, Model, Influencer and Full time lover. With training and specialization in Yoga Therapy, Trauma-Informed Yoga, Bhakti Flow, Vinyasa, Meditation, Restorative, Yin, Sivananda Hatha, Kirtan, Reiki Energy Healing, Sound Healing, Mythology and Vedanta Philosophy. I am currently based in Los Angeles, California where I teach weekly public classes of multiple styles of yoga, at Shefa Yoga Venice. I also provide yoga and reiki sound healing at mental health facilities to support others in their healing journey. You can also take classes from me on Youtube, I am currently working on adding more classes on there.

I received my first yoga teacher training in 2013 and I have been teaching ever since. I am so incredibly grateful and humbled to have learned from some of the most incredible people, such as Jai Uttal, Ben Leinbach, Mc Yogi and Amanda Giacomini, Janet Stone and many other amazing teachers I’ve had along the way.
I am deeply devoted to the yogic path of Bhakti (love and devotion). I strive to inspire others to use the path of devotion to connect deeper with their divine higher power and in turn, fall in love with themselves, others and the world around them. I incorporate chanting and the ancient Vedic teachings of yoga in all of my offerings, as I believe in the importance of keeping tradition alive.
In 2022, I self published my debut book, The Syntax of Me, a collection of poetry and prose. It is an unfiltered, abstract expression of thoughts, emotions and experiences collected over the course of 8 years. It is my chaotic yet delicately molded articulation of life, healing and the alchemy of love. It is available for purchase on amazon and at Shefa Yoga Venice.

I’ve always considered myself a creative because I love to create in so many different forms, whether it be curating the perfect yoga playlist, modeling, writing, singing, collaging or painting. I think it’s important for all of us to explore our ability to be multi-faceted and understand that we don’t have to be the best at something to enjoy doing it.
I am excited to continue my journey of offering love and healing in every possible avenue I can find.

Putting training and knowledge aside, what else do you think really matters in terms of succeeding in your field?

I think authenticity is the most helpful characteristic to have in order to really succeed in the healing space. There are so many healers and people are going to choose you for you. Everyone has something different they bring to the table and when we are truly authentic we are going to attract the right people for us.

Can you share a story from your journey that illustrates your resilience?

I believe resilience truly is the foundation of success. There have been so many moments during my journey where I really had to harness the strength to overcome obstacles, especially in the beginning. During the beginning of my career, I didn’t have a car and I lived in Lake Tahoe – where there isn’t a lot of public transportation, especially during the off seasons. The buses didn’t go to the area of town where the studio of my first teacher training was located, so I actually had to hitch hike and walk to get there, but I was determined to do this training because I knew it was the door to my new life. After I received my teacher training, I got a few evening classes a week at a studio about 20 minutes away from my house. The buses don’t run in the evening during the off seasons, so for many years I actually hitch hiked home after my classes for months out of the year. I really wanted to make my dreams come true and I knew that as resilient as I had to be in moments, that it wouldn’t last forever and it would always be worth it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.sarahhannala.com/
• Instagram: @sarahhannala
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2HGwcdF83W2ex2LbVCItQQ