Six months after trying yoga in 1996, Anne Finstad had her first taste of Ashtanga Yoga, and she has not looked back. After completing a BA in Philosophy and Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, she went abroad to London, where she studied with Hamish Hendry, and then to India for three months of study with the Guru of Ashtanga yoga, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and his grandson Sharath. She has returned three times since to study with her teachers in India, and had the honor of receiving their authorization to teach this method as it was taught to her.

Other senior teachers that have influenced her practice and teaching include Dena Kingsburg, Lino Miele, Dominic Corigliano and Nancy Gilgoff. She is committed to the transmission of the traditional method of Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri K. Patthabi Jois. She believes this practice is a means of cleansing; that the practice spiritually, physically and mentally sweeps away the debris carried in the mind and body, to give us a new and fresh experience of the true self. While we may come to this practice for many reasons, Anne believes we practice to allieviate the suffering in our own lives and the lives of others. She humbly dedicates her practice and teaching to her teachers Sri K Pattabhi Jois and R. Sharath.