Ronna Beth Fujisawa is originally from Cleveland, Ohio. She is a graduate of Miami University, Ohio, with BFA in Fine Art (major in painting/ minor in French).

in 1994 she moved to Tokyo beginning her career as a graphic designer. Suddenly immersed in a busy lifestyle, the desire for peace, inner awareness, stress release, and physical activity led her to begin practicing Iyengar yoga, one of the very few classes offered in Tokyo at the time. With long time devotion to the Iyengar traditional style of yoga, she discovered the light of yoga, a way to quiet the mind, engage the body, and enlighten the spirit with yoga practice.

In 1999, it was time to resign from the corporate world of Tokyo and pursue a continued education in yoga. For the next two years, she traveled extensively. For one year she immersed herself in a strict and intensive study of Iyengar yoga with teacher Sharat Aurora of Himalaya Iyengar Yoga Centre (HIYC) based in Dharamkot and Arambol, India. With focus on a daily yoga practice, volunteer work, and assisting teaching of Iyengar yoga, a whole new vision was awakened. Yoga became a lifestyle, a way to think and live with compassion, mindfulness, and devotion.

On return to Tokyo, she continued to practice Iyengar yoga. In addition to her regular yoga practice, she has done a Vipassana meditation course in Kyoto, Japan.

In 2004, Ronna began her own business in Shibuya, CoZmo’s Café. CoZmo’s is her way to give the community an international environment to relax and have fun. Many talented local and international people are gathering here for various events. Well known as a local music venue for bands, DJs, dancers, and other parties, CoZmo’s is still a popular hang out among the Japanese and foreign community.

As yoga has gained popularity in Tokyo and many new studios opening up with different styles of yoga classes available, Ronna became interested in learning more about yoga and gaining some more experience with new teachers. In Spring 2009, she completed YogaJaya International Intensive Teacher Training. She is now a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200) with the Yoga Alliance. In the teacher training, she was faced with the challenge of grasping a new perspective and deeper practice of yoga and how to use that in her life in a practical way. With so many years of being a student, she felt it was about time to start sharing her accumulated yoga experiences and knowledge with other people.

Yoga and Life

Life is the ultimate yoga lesson, as it is all about facing challenges and change. With a regular yoga practice, life can become more interesting if viewed from a yogic perspective. If we are aware and mindful of these challenges life hands us, accept it, and learn how to balance, life then becomes a celebration of the knowledge that we have imparted in the total process of living. Yoga is a way to live and think about life, which can bring us joy, peace and compassion.

Yoga and Pregnancy

In summer of 2009, Ronna became pregnant with her first child. From this moment, she realized the value of her long time yoga practice and how yoga is vital for a healthy pregnancy, labor, childbirth, and finally, for the transition to a new stage in life as a mother. It all started to make complete sense and is now an incredibly valuable experience that she is grateful to all the yoga teachers guiding her to where she is today.

Prenatal Yoga

Recently pregnant with her first child and enrolled in an intensive prenatal yoga teacher training course, Ronna has begun to teach a prenatal yoga class at Yoga Tree in Hiroo. This class is an opportunity for other pregnant women to join with Ronna and learn from her experience. The class is based on how to do a yoga practice that builds strength and vitality, which cultivates breath awareness, deep relaxation techniques, connection with other pregnant women, to bond with baby, rehearse for labor, and to prepare for a faster recovery.