Bio
“I practice yoga because it offers an opportunity for eternal growth in a positive direction in all aspects of my life: physically, mentally, spiritually, emotionally, and consciously. Through teaching I hope to inspire others to begin and maintain a life-long practice, just as my teachers inspired me.” ~Ally Ford, ERYT
Ally began practicing Hatha and Bikram yoga in 1997 to improve her breath control for triathlons, marathons and to climb Mt. Kilimanjaro in Africa. Soon, the “breath practice” would change her life completely. Ally discovered Ashtanga yoga in 2001, earned her 200-hour RYT with Larry Schultz of Its Yoga in San Francisco, and began a dedicated practice under the guidance of John Berlinsky and Lea Watkins in Mill Valley, California. She traveled to Mysore, India in 2003 to study with the beloved Guru, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, has studied with Guruji and Sharath on many of their U.S. workshop tours, has studied with many senior teachers including Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, and Tim Miller, and continues studies with her respected teachers annually. She has completed Advanced Teacher Trainings with John Berlinsky, Ana Forrest, and Richard Freeman. Ally offers eternal thanks to these teachers daily, and considers herself a conduit for their lessons and the lessons of their teachers to continue to inspire others.
Ally moved to Clearwater, Florida in 2004 and became eager to plant the Ashtanga seed in the area. She founded the Anala Yoga School in 2005, the first vinyasa and Ashtanga-based yoga school in Pinellas County. Over the next two years she married and gave birth to two beautiful children and decided to close her studio to focus all of her energy on her family, her practice, and her teaching. She continues teaching private and public classes, workshops and teacher trainings at various locations. Ally has been leading one of the most successful teacher training and yoga immersion programs in Tampa Bay since 2005. Her students choose her programs to help them understand the practice of yoga and how to incorporate into their daily lives over a lifetime. Those who go on to teach do so effectively and confidently and many are teaching in the Tampa Bay area and around the world.
Ally graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, BA Microbiology. She spent twelve years in corporate sales and marketing, which included positions with Dell Computers, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and IBM. She fostered a strong entrepreneurial spirit in management positions with three technology start-ups in Austin, Texas and San Francisco, California, and participated in taking two of those companies through successful IPO. In 2009 she founded a yoga-inspired children´s clothing company called Little Gurus, www.littlegurus.com.
Ally believes strongly in the healing ability of yoga and meditation and is a dedicated practitioner. She is passionate about studying and teaching the yoga philosophy and knows that to be a teacher means to be an eternal student. Ally is an ERYT with the Yoga Alliance, and currently leads 200-hour Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher Training programs in Tampa Bay, and special workshops, retreats, and classes.
“Your teaching nourishes my spirit and inspires me. My original reason for practice was physical strength and balance. Through you I found strength and balance of spirit and mind as well as body. I am blessed with other wonderful teachers in my life, but you are my foundation.” ~Nancy Brown