Laurie Ellis-Young MTC, SYT

Laurie Ellis-Young is an internationally recognized speaker, yoga teacher, author, group facilitator and pioneer in teaching Optimal Breathing as an empowering and healing modality. As founding director of Breathe the Change LLC and co-founder of BreathLogic® with Nancy Chakrin a 501c3 non-profit she is realizing her vision of breath awareness and wellness practices being implemented and taught around the globe. Laurie brings to her facilitation a masters degree in therapeutic counseling with an emphasis on breathwork, numerous certifications in yoga and well-being methods along with 40+ years of personal practice.

Her studies have led her around the world, introducing her to many paths of yoga (Raja, Kundalini, Kriya, Bhakti, Agni etc.) and various styles of Hatha yoga including Astanga, Bikram, Integral, Iyengar, Kripalu, Nicky Knoff, Sivananda, Vinyasa and Yin. Her yoga teaching certifications are from the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, Massachusetts and Nicky Knoff Yoga centered in Queensland, Australia. Laurie teaches with an eclectic, fun, meditative approach drawing from these many styles and disciplines.

A certified (SHIFT) peace ambassador, Laurie has presented for several peace-building organizations including the United Nations in Kosovo and the Alliance for Conflict Transformation in Bolivia. She has taught in many educational settings, including the University of Minnesota (Boynton Health Services & Center for Spirituality and Healing Courses), Stanford University, King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) Saudi Arabia, Teachers of Cairo American College (Egypt), Colegio Roosevelt (Lima, Peru), The American Embassy School (New Delhi, India) and many elementary schools. She speaks Spanish fluently.

Laurie has been guest speaker for various organizations including: the Minnesota Brain Injury Conference, Center for Grief, Loss & Transition, Park Nicollet Palliative & Hospice Community Medicine, the Park Nicollet Struthers Parkinson’s Center, Hennepin County Medical Center (HCMC), Medtronic's Health & Wellness Programs, International Society of Arts in Healthcare Conference (San Francisco), Asociacion de Superaccion Educativa (Guatemala City), the International Institute of Integral Human Sciences (MN, WI and Montreal), Avera Cancer Institute (Sioux Falls & Mitchell, SD), Thompson Reuters, Lindquist & Vennum Law Offices, The Marsh and Delta Airlines.

Laurie is co-author with photographer Nancy Chakrin of the award-winning book FRIENDSHIP: The Art of the Practice (TRISTAN Publishing). Currently, they are collaborating on several educational and integrative medicine pilot studies and launching the non-profit BreathLogic®.