My name is Lisa Goldstein and I am a yogi! I have been practicing yoga for eight years and it has transformed my life. I was asked recently by my good friend, Frank Licciardi, "What kind of yoga should I do and where should I go to do it?"

The answer could have been simple, but we all know that while yoga is at its core, simple, the answer was complex. So, I set out to understand what is going on in the yoga world across the United States. Using the internet, I created a database of schools, centers, and studios across the country. To date, I have found 1,644 studios. I only included studios that have websites because there would be no other way for me to access their information. I also created separate records for studios that have multiple locations in order to get a good handle on the demographics.

Why did I name it The Mandala Yoga Project? I was in a workshop being taught by David Life at Jivamukti Yoga and he said that the esoteric teachings are being lost as yoga spreads across this country so we need to create a mandala, a community, which preserves these teachings and passes them on without diluting them. I am grateful to David for this insight and the idea that my project is relevant.

I think everyone should be practicing yoga — the world would be a much better place. The intention of my project is to simply understand what is going on in the yoga world and to bring the community together. We are all out to transform ourselves and the world. We are not in competition with each other. We may prefer one style over another but that is just the means to an end.

I am very inspired by what I have seen out there. I have read countless biographies of teachers who have found their way to yoga and are now working to bring yoga to their communities. There are studios with one teacher offering a few classes each week. There are franchises with over 100 teachers and 100 classes offered per week. I have found beautiful quotes by masters that have inspired me to deepen my practice. All of you are my teachers.

Namaste,

Lisa