Jasper Johal is a leading photographer of yoga and fitness in the country.

When Los Angeles Times decided to do a story on super star yoga teachers, they came to his studio to shoot teachers like Shiva Rea and Duncan Wong. There is hardly a major yoga teacher of national renown who has not traveled to have their photograph taken at his studio. For over five years, every month his advertising and editorial photographs have appeared in the pages of top yoga and Pilates magazines: Yoga Journal, Yoga + Joyful Living, Fit Yoga, Pilates Style, Yogitimes and LA Yoga.

Besides his astonishingly busy schedule of commercial work, Jasper has been taking time to create an eclectic collection of fine art images called "The Body as Temple". This work is based on the ancient yogic philosophy of "Atman" and "Paramatma".

According to this philosophy each of us carries within us the spirit that makes us alive, called the "Atman". This spirit is a continuous and inseparable part of the universal divine spirit called the "Paramatman". Since our body is where this divine spirit resides, our body is literally a temple. Just as we spend the effort taking care of any house of worship, such as a church, synagogue or mosque, we are required to respect and take care of our bodies. This is the basis for practicing the physical rigors of yoga; to design a body that is worthy of holding the divine within it.

Jasper's "The Body as Temple" is a collection of classic black and white photographs of yogis, dancers and athletes. Dramatic lighting serves to sculpt every nuance of muscles in motion, capturing the exquisite poetry of the human form. During the last four years there have been over a dozen exhibits of "The Body as Temple" across the country from New York to San Francisco. Every year prints from this series have been sold to raise money for charities serving Aids, diabetes and breast cancer.

Joe Patterson of ToeSox has been an ardent admirer of Jasper's photography since he first saw an exhibit of "The Body as Temple" four years ago. He thought more people should be made aware of this beautiful art. So Joe teamed up with Jasper to create a series of ToeSox ads to bring attention to "The Body as Temple" collection.

The ads appear monthly in Yoga Journal and Pilates Style magazines. For the yoga ads Jasper worked with the renowned yoga teacher Kathryn Budig, whose slender figure surprises you with its incredible strength. In the Pilates Style ads Carrie Macy, a respected Pilates studio owner from Los Angeles, uses her exquisite dancer figure to shows off Pilates positions with grace and precision.

Jasper grew up in India. He now works out of a studio located near the colorful Venice Beach in southern California. More examples of his art can be seen on his web site.

Please visit www.jasperphoto.com to view his online art gallery "Body As Temple" series. 

Kathryn Budig - Yoga Teacher     

Kathryn Budig grew up in both Lawrence, Kansas and in Princeton, New Jersey. She received her BA in English and Drama at The University of Virginia where she discovered yoga. Her acting and new found love of yoga led her to Los Angeles where she completed the YogaWorks teacher training with Chuck Miller and her mentor, Maty Ezraty. With a strong background in Ashtanga, she was one of the youngest teachers when put on the schedule at Yogaworks. Her goal as a yogi and instructor grew into teaching creative sequences that make arm balances and inversions accessible to everyone in the room. She teaches a playful approach to the practice and wants every student who passes through the room to learn the importance and ease of laughter.

She has been featured in Yoga Journal, Yogi Times, LA Metro, E! Entertainment, The Food Network, Self, The Elephant, LA2DAY, ‘Y Yoga’ a documentary film, and is the health expert for Quarterlife.com as well as a teacher/writer for Gaiam’s Yogamates.com and a Southern California Ambassador for Nike’s 2008/2009 yoga line. She is the co-founder with Jesse Schein of Pose for Paws, an organization dedicated towards raising money for animal shelters through yoga. You can experience her class at Yogaworks Santa Monica or watch her soon on Yoga Journal’s new DVD, “Yoga For Wellbeing”.

Please visit kathrynbudig.com for more information.

Carrie Macy - Pilates Instructor

Carrie Macy graduated in 1997 from UCLA with a BA in Communication Studies.  Also a professional dancer, Carrie appeared in such movies as The Big Lebowski.  She began practicing Pilates in 1996 after a serious hamstring injury. Originally certified in Pilates by Romana Krysanowska (Pilates, Inc.) in New York City, Carrie has taught at various studios and privately around Los Angeles.  This included a stint in London, England at the New York Pilates Studio where she was a resident trainer for six months. 

Carrie received a second certification from Power Pilates and joined the Power Pilates Teacher Training team, traveling around the country conducting seminars to aspiring instructors.  In conjunction, she successfully managed two Power Pilates studios located inside Equinox Fitness Clubs in Los Angeles. 

In 2008, Carrie and a partner opened a Pilates and fitness studio, BACE Pilates, where she also developed a comprehensive Pilates teacher training program.  In late 2009, Carrie returned to Equinox Fitness and is now the Area Pilates Manager for Southern California and enjoys her job immensely.  Carrie also presents workshops at the Pilates Method Alliance and Pilates on Tour conferences and is a model for the current ToeSox ad campaign.

Check out Carrie on Facebook

Check out Equinox at www.equinox.com