Mark Stephens

Born in Santa Cruz, California to native California parents, Mark Stephens graduated with highest honors from the University of California, Santa Cruz, completed seven years of post-graduate studies at UCLA, and worked for many years as an activist, teacher, and education consultant.After briefly exploring yoga in his teens, he started a daily yoga practice in 1991 that continues today. He began teaching yoga in 1996. The founder of Yoga Inside Foundation, L.A. Yoga Center and Santa Cruz Yoga, Stephens' writings, interviews, commentaries, quotes and quips have appeared in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today, Yoga Journal, Yoga International, People, Health, Elephant Journal and other online and print media. His "For Teachers" column appears regularly in Yoga Journal Deutschland and Yoga Journal China.