Evan's Bio

Close your eyes. Take a long, deep breath. Now recite after me:
I AM WHAT I AM, AND THAT IS THAT.

This is Evan Cooper's daily mantra.

No one knows better than Evan how hard it can be to be unique in a world where everyone is trying to so hard to be the same. Looking back, she says, "I used to wish I was more like everyone else- just so I'd fit in. Now I know that being different—being eccentric and creative—is what makes me stand out. And standing out is way cooler than blending in."

After having overcome her own feelings of self-doubt and insecurity, Evan knew she had to help other who felt the same. Now, as a yoga instructor and author, Evan teaches girls to break free from society's ideas of who a girl should be and celebrate the person she already is. In a world addicted to beauty, thinness, and celebrity, Evan encourages girls to get in touch with what's on the inside: to start a revolution of the soul.

A trained actor, artist, writer, and yoga instructor, Evan has made a name for herself as a leading yoga instructor for teenage girls in Los Angeles. Her book, UM, LIKE...OM: A GIRL GODDESS'S GUIDE TO YOGA (Little, Brown & Co., 2005), has been read by thousands, won the NY Library Award for teen non-fiction, and has awakened and inspired girls around the world to use the ancient practice of yoga as a way to chill out, get in touch with their inner selves, and empower their lives.

While the physical, mental, and spiritual benefits of yoga would have been enough to attract Evan to this ancient practice, it was an unexpected and unbelievable obstacle that actually led Evan to yoga.

At the age of 18, Evan awoke one morning with what she believed to be an eye infection. By the end of that same day, Evan had completely lost sight in her left eye. She was diagnosed with a virus known as Optic Neuritis, often a precursor to Multiple Sclerosis. After being examined by several doctors, Evan and her family decided to forego the doctor's prescription for heavy-duty steroid medication, due to its powerful side effects. Instead, Evan sought the help of a well-known homeopathic doctor, Dr. Soram Khalsa. This decision changed the course of Evan's life forever: Dr. Khalsa highly suggested that Evan try yoga.

After one yoga class with Guru Singh, Evan's first and primary yoga instructor at Yoga West, in Los Angeles, she was hooked. Miraculously, Evan regained her sight after 12 weeks. She also discovered an antidote to depression and feeling as if she wasn't pretty enough, thin enough, or smart enough to survive in our highly stressful and competitive world.

In 1997, Evan became a certified yoga instructor. She studied Kundalini yoga under Guru Singh and the 3HO Organization and completed Ana Forrest's hatha yoga teacher's training in Santa Monica, CA. Evan has taken countless workshops under such prestigious yoga teachers as Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, Max Strom, and Steve Ross, as well as classes at UCLA in psychology and exercise physiology.

In 1998, Evan graduated from UCLA, Phi Beta Kappa, with a BA in English and Creative Writing.

Evan has now been teaching yoga for 10 years, is a member of the International Associate of Yoga Teachers (IAYT), and has introduced yoga programs to various schools throughout California. She currently teaches children as young as 4-years old to adults, offering private lessons, school sessions, and workshops in Los Angeles, CA and Phoenix, AZ.

Most recently, Evan teamed up with Dualstar Entertainment to write a monthly advice column on Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen's website (www.mary-kateandashley.com). Now, girls around the world can benefit from Evan's advice.

When Evan is not teaching yoga or writing, she is romping around her backyard with her Yorkshire terrier, Bodhi.