About Thomas
Thomas Michael Fortel is an Iyengar-trained, Ashtanga and Anusara-influenced Hatha Yoga teacher. A student of yoga since 1982, Thomas studied with Rodney Yee in a 3-year teachers training intensive in Oakland, California, from 1994 to 1996, and has been teaching consistently since 1993. Adept in the use of yoga props, Thomas is equally at ease teaching a restorative or vigorous practice, and is experienced teaching beginner and intermediate students. Through the Iyengar focus on alignment, he particularly enjoys the mind-body connection which develops and appreciates the breath-work and vinyasa (flow) style of Ashtanga yoga. From the beginning of his teaching career, Thomas has naturally blended his experiences of Bhakti yoga within his teaching style.
Since 1997, Thomas has presented workshops and retreats worldwide from his resident teaching position at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, California and continues teaching weekly classes and workshops there. In 1999, 2000 and 2001, Thomas served as principal teacher for the Teacher Training and Advanced Studies program hosted by the Yoga Center of Carmel. This 7-month course offered 150 hours of instruction.
Thomas is a licensed and professional registered nurse and brings a sound understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the body to the yoga room which he communicates with ease through the asana practice. As well, he is a massage therapist and a current member of the Esalen massage crew. Thomas attributes his skill with touch to many years of giving and receiving manual adjustments. “First, as a nurse, I was in physical contact with people, then as a yoga teacher and bodyworker. I really enjoy being in the yoga room with groups of people. On a subtle level I feel like we are involved in a group healing and catharsis. Each practice can be an ongoing healing experience for the body, mind and being.”
Foremost, Thomas is a student of yoga and it is from his own practice and experience that he teaches. He is a devotee of Gurumayi Chidvilasananda and has engaged in the practices of meditation, chanting, repetition of the mantra, selfless service and self-inquiry since 1987. As a result of these years of practice and study, he shares easily and eloquently from his heart.
Thomas is a unique and gifted teacher who blends his medical background, years of yoga practice and teaching with his spiritual path. Most of all, he offers presence, love and attention to the individual students and the group field. Thomas says, “For me, the yoga room is a sort of alchemical oven where the powers of transformation are constantly unfolding within each one of us.”
