Rhonda Duffaut
Rhonda believes that Iyengar yoga makes a person a better partner, parent, colleague, friend because the practice teaches you how to listen, first to themselves so that they can listen to others.
As a German Professor at Penn State focused on identity in postwar literature, she spent a lot of time on intellectual pursuits. Her first Iyengar class blew her mind because it revealed how little she knew about herself. The learner in her decided to continue, and the educator in her was enthralled by the way knowledge of the poses is handed down in the tradition. Having begun her training in San Francisco, Rhonda continued to study at the Yoga Circle, with the Iyengar’s in India, and with senior teachers at conferences.
Rhonda established her own yoga studio, Yoga Niche Chicago, sharing with students ages 6 to 85 her love of alignment-based yoga. She infuses her classes with energy and patience and welcomes questions from her students that illustrates they are delving deeper. Pre-pandemic she trained and taught yoga and meditation at Chill Chicago. She is author of Mindfulness: A Teenager’s Guide to Managing Stress and Life Decisions and teaches mindfulness workshops in schools, showing how the ancient teachings of yoga are skills we can employ in our lives. If there exists an outside of yoga, Rhonda spends her time tutoring young people to reach their academic goals. A transplant from Southern California, she hikes, swims, and enjoys the healing power of nature.