Donna Davidge, MS - Expert

I have been a yoga instructor for over 30 years with a large and devoted following in New York City and across the U.S. My varied life has led me through several careers, including teaching yoga before it was fashionable. I teach Kundalini, Hatha, Vinyasa, and Ashtanga, am certified by 3HO (Kundalini yoga) , 500 hour Yoga Alliance and train yoga teachers as well. I have been featured on TV on Martha Stewart Living. My video The Challenge was named among the top 10 in 2000 by Yoga Journal magazine.

I grew up in Stamford, Connecticut. My path to yoga began with a B.S. in Nutrition (graduating Summa Cum Laude) from University of New Hampshire. I became a Registered Dietitian (R.D.)  went on to obtain a Masters Degree (also in Nutrition) at Loma Linda University, then went into private practice following graduation. In 1982 a life-changing realization inspired me to move to Europe where I supported myself as a fashion model. In 1985 I returned to New York to embark on an acting career, where I enrolled in my first yoga class. Within a short time my teacher told me I had the aura of a  teacher. Within a year I was teaching yoga. For the next 10 years I worked as an actress (credits include an appearance  in Goodfellas) and taught yoga simultaneously. By the mid 1990’s my passion for yoga outweighed my passion my acting. I shifted to teaching yoga full-time.

In 1997 I purchased Sewall Househttp://www.sewallhouse.com, a historic landmark in northern Maine. It was originally built by my great-grandfather, William Wingate Sewall, in 1865, and is listed in the National Registry of Historic Places. Bill Sewall was a well-known nature guide in the late 1800’s who enjoyed a lifelong friendship with Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt first came to the house as a Harvard freshman suffering from life-threatening asthma. His health was restored (as recorded in newspapers of the time) from his stays with Bill Sewall at the Sewall House. My husband, Kent Bonham, and I have lovingly restored the house to its original glory. Today we run Sewall House as a yoga retreat which has been chosen worldwide twice by Gayot online as well as featured in Instyle, Travel & Leisure, Yoga Journal and others.

I divide my time between Maine and New York where I have taught at the Pure Yoga, Open Center, Golden Bridge Yoga, Kundalini Yoga East, Equinox, N.Y. Sports club, Waterside Swim and Health Club, H.B. Studio, Pura Vida Spa (Costa Rica), New Age Spa (N.Y.).I have taught extensively privately to stressed out business people as well as A list actors. I have released the videos Strength and Serenity (1990), The Challenge (1996)http://www.ihanuman.com/yoga-download/donna-davidge/kundalini-yoga-challenge (Top 10, Yoga Journal, 2000), the DVDs The Awakening (2004) and Flexibility and the Spine (2005)http://www.sewallhouse.com/shop.html.

My retreat Sewall House http://www.sewallhouse.com has been featured in: InStyle, Travel & Leisure, USA Today, Yoga Journal, Healing Retreats and Spas, More magazine (November 2005), and I have been quoted in New York Times (December 2005),Glamour, Allure, Details and Seventeen. For me, Yoga is a way of life as well as a path by which I help others to realize their true potential. I share my experience and knowledge as the yoga columnist from 2000 -2013 for Inner Tapestry  enjoy writing as part of my path for communicating with others.

Yoga also helps you look and feel good at any age!! I was born in 1955 and yoga continues to give me vitality and health -

combined with vegetarian eating for 40 years - believing in no harm to all breathing beings.

This year the challenge, one of my products, has launched an indiegogo campaign to reshoot the product 20 years later and bring it to a whole new generation!