A beloved meditation teacher, Elesa Commerse is known for her warm smile, open heart, clarity, and depth of compassion. She has been teaching since 1977 and has been meditating for as long as she can remember (even though she didn’t call it that). Students appreciate her ability to demystify the practice and to facilitate breakthrough experiences on the journey to authenticity. A graduate of the Temple of Kriya Yoga Meditation Teacher Training Program, Elesa also holds two certificates in Advanced Yoga Studies for completing Donna Farhi’s yoga teacher training program.
Elesa feels blessed to have studied with such profound teachers as the Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, don Miguel Ruiz, Goswami Kriyananda, the poet Sonia Sanchez, Sharon Salzburg and Joseph Goldstein. Her teaching is informed by the lives and writings of her mother, Evelyn Winslow, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, Mother Teresa, Pema Chödrön and Sri Eknath Easwaran. Elesa is grateful to Swami Manavasananda for her love and encouragement.
A Phi Beta Kappa, magna cum laude graduate of Smith College, Elesa’s undergraduate degree is in Psychology. She earned an MBA in Marketing and Entrepreneurial Management from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and studied Japanese Garden Design at the Kyoto College of Art and Design, in Kyoto, Japan. All the photos on The Deep Calm website were taken by Elesa during her travels.
The creator and facilitator of the critically acclaimed self-development workshop, Living Your Legacy (www.livingyourlegacy.com), Elesa is also the Managing Director of EcoNest, where she is celebrating the release of the company’s inspiring new book, EcoNest: Creating Sustainable Sanctuaries of Clay, Straw and Timber, with authors Paula Baker-Laporte and Robert Laporte (www.econest.com).
Elesa travels the world planting seeds of peace wherever people gather to learn how to be more loving, kind, generous, accepting, peaceful and gentle with themselves and others. She works with children and adults and offers specially designed programs for students who are becoming yoga teachers. Elesa offers ongoing meditation classes at the Northwestern Memorial Hospital Wellness Institute, the Mercy Hospital and Medical Center and the Swedish Covenant Hospital Galter Life Center.
Elesa is currently working with master teachers Tias and Surya Little as the Director of Wisdom Training for Prajna Yoga, their highly regarded yoga teacher training program in Santa Fe, New Mexico. In this program, held at the Upaya Zen Center at the foothills of the spectacular Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Elesa develops and delivers all three levels of meditation instruction. When you are motivated to take your practice to the next level, Elesa invites you to join her for this incredible immersion in asana, meditation, wisdom training and wild nature at its best. For more information on this comprehensive program, please visit www.prajnayoga.net.
Elesa is delighted to call Moksha Yoga her home studio in Chicago, as she is now part of the core faculty of the Moksha Yoga Teacher Training Program. Elesa feels honored to teach alongside Daren Friesen, whose respect for and commitment to the practice is unparalleled.
Please visit the Contact You page of this website to keep in touch.
Elesa sends her blessings on the winds of Chicago’s beautiful Lake Michigan.