Short Bio
SUZA FRANCINA, the former mayor of Ojai, California, is a writer, animal advocate and Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor. She has taught yoga since 1972 and is a pioneer in the field of teaching yoga to seniors. Her first book, Yoga for People Over 50, was published in 1977. She is author of The New Yoga for People Over 50 (Health Communications, Inc., 1997); Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause (HCI, 2003); and The New Yoga for Healthy Aging (HCI 2007). She is currently completing a spiritual memoir, Autobiography of a Yogini. Her writing has appeared in numerous other books, magazines and publications worldwide. Born in Holland in 1949, she emigrated with her family to Ojai, California at the age of seven and has made the Ojai Valley her home ever since.
Long Bio
SUZA FRANCINA is a writer, animal advocate and Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor. She has taught yoga since 1972 and is a pioneer in the field of teaching yoga to seniors. Her first book, Yoga for People Over 50, was published in 1977. She is author of The New Yoga for People Over 50 (Health Communications, Inc., 1997); Yoga and the Wisdom of Menopause (HCI, 2003); and The New Yoga for Healthy Aging (HCI 2007). She is currently completing a spiritual memoir, Autobiography of a Yogini.
Suza is a graduate of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, a Certified Iyengar Yoga Instuctor, Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT 500) and a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. A consultant for medical research studies on yoga, she teaches yoga internationally to people of all ages in a wide variety of settings.
Her interest in yoga and health began many years ago when she worked as a home health care provider for elderly and convalescing people. This gave her the opportunity to observe firsthand the mental and physical changes that often occur in the later years of life. She helped care for numerous elders over a period of many years, up until their death.
Suza is a contributing author to twelve books, including Women’s Health Care: A Guide to Alternatives; The Holistic Health Handbook; American Yoga; The Arthritis Cure Fitness Solution; and Living Your Yoga.
She is one of 45 storytellers featured in Sixty Seconds: One Moment Changes Everything .
Her own books have been published in several languages, including German, Russian and Portuguese.
She is a contributor to Yoga Journal, LA Yoga, Yoga Life, Yoga Vidya, and other yoga magazines. Her articles on a wide range of topics appear in print publications and web sites world wide. Her column, Eldr Yoga, is featured in Eldr magazine and www.Eldr.com. Her articles are also posted on the www.OjaiPost.com and her blog: Yoga for Healthy Bones
Suza was born May 24, 1949, in The Hague, Holland, and is of Dutch–Indonesian heritage. She has lived for over fifty years in Ojai, California, a valley widely considered one of the most beautiful and sacred places on Earth. She is a former mayor of Ojai and a spokesperson for sustainable lifestyles. In addition to teaching yoga, Suza is an advocate for the rights of animals. She believes that speaking out on behalf of animals is both an environmental necessity and a moral obligation.
Suza teaches yoga retreats, workshops, teacher-training programs and group and private classes. She has taught at the Omega Institute, Yoga Journal Conferences, IDEA and other national health and fitness conferences, Inward Bound retreats for women, and walking and hiking vacations nationally and internationally for Prevention magazine.
Suza is the mother of a grown son, Bo, and daughter, Monica. She is fortunate to live surrounded by nature with a family that includes dogs, cats and other sentient beings.
