“When we practice yoga, we practice movements and mindfulness that allow us to let go, to put aside the old ways of thinking, the old reactions and opinions that no longer serve us, and we move into a new space where there is nothing and where everything is possible. We empty ourselves of negative thoughts and enter the sacred space of pure awareness and goodness. I love teaching and doing Yoga. I can’t imagine my life without yoga.”
~Fran
Meet Fran
Fran Gallo grew up in an Italian family in NW Indiana. She is the first family member born in the USA, her parents and sisters having immigrated to the USA from the small village Grotte, near Agrigento, Sicily. She is fluent in Italian and speaks Sicilian. She graduated from Indiana University, studied French literature and culture at the Universite de Strasbourg in France for one year. Fran was a Peace Corps volunteer in Ziguinchor, Senegal, in West Africa. She later spent three years in Japan where she met her husband, Rick Clark.
Fran started practicing yoga as a means of releasing tension after long hours of working as an English Instructor at Green River Community College in Washington state. Love of yoga made Fran decide to devote herself to learning this meditative art in order to share its healing effects with others. In 1996, Fran studied intensively with and was certified under Yogi Vikashananda in Nepal. She has been teaching since 1996. According to Fran, the magic of yoga is in the discovery of being able to go beyond what we perceive as our limits and in the profound sense of peace and balance that comes with the yoga practice.
On Teaching Yoga
Fran’s teaching accommodates multi-level groups, includes concise verbal cues and gentle adjustments, and goes well beyond the physical aspect of Hatha Yoga. She attends yoga conferences regularly in order to continue her own yoga training. Some of Fran’s teachers include Angela Farmer, Margaret McAndrew, Judith Lasater, Erich Schiffmann, and Donna Farhi. Fran has recently taught/directed teacher training certification programs for the 200 hour level. She is also a Reiki practitioner. Fran has been teaching Hatha yoga since 1996 and loves the community she is a part of through her yoga practice and teaching.
Each of Fran’s classes is unique in content and comprehensive in scope. Her knowledge of yoga, soothing delivery, and multi-level instructions are what make her classes unique and suited to everyone. A typical class is attended by beginners, seasoned yogis, seniors (including many men), yoga instructors, and professional athletes. By the end of class all areas of your body will feel relaxed, stronger and more flexible, and your mind will feel refreshed and serene. Her classes are truly a complete mind-body experience.
Fran and her husband built a home/sanctuary in Ocean Shores, Washington in 1999, where they held weekend yoga retreats for twenty years. They sold their coastal home, Little Renaissance, September 2019. Fran and her husband now live full time in Seattle in a small lovely condo directly across from Green Lake.
Fran now focuses fully on Seattle teaching, continuing to offer retreats within the US and abroad, and launching her new Hatha yoga studio in the heart of the Green Lake area of Seattle (6869 Woodlawn Ave NE, Suite 100, Seattle, WA 98115). The studio is called Yoga by Fran Gallo and it is a gem of a studio. During this period of pandemic, the studio had been solely a place where Fran was offering online yoga classes. She is now also teaching in-person classes in the studio. Fran loves to travel and speaks a few foreign languages. She sees life as a continual learning process.
Be sure to check out Fran’s blog. It provides her with an opportunity to share her thoughts on various topics of interest and to reflect on the intricacies and preciousness of daily life.
Blog topics include:
- yoga
- health
- hiking
- nature
- photography
- cooking
- life stories
When you subscribe to Fran’s blog, you will enjoy quality writing, infused with heart and soul.
On Teaching the Special Child®
Fran is specialized in and teaches Yoga Therapy for the Special Needs Child, an after school teaching/enrichment yoga experience. She received initial training in August and September 2014 and completed an intensive study program with Sonia Sumar at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center in June of 2015. Fran is a Licensed Yoga for the Special Child® Practitioner as of June 2015. She teaches each child privately on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons.
