Stephanie was born in New York City in 1960 and grew up in central New Jersey. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Rutgers University, Douglass College. After graduating from college, she worked for 10 years as a trainer, technical writer, and technician in the telecommunications industry.

Stephanie (a.k.a. Stefani) Ann Pappas has been practicing and teaching yoga and meditation since 1992 when she met a teacher from India, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar. She took her Buddhist refuge vows with the venerable Dawa Sambo from Tibet in 1983.

She is the founder and director of the Devalila Yoga Teacher Training, a registered 200 hour level training with the Yoga Alliance. Stephanie has certified over 160 teachers in North America and holds teacher trainings once or twice a year.

Stephanie travels around the world giving workshops based on her books and philosophy to yoga teachers and students.

Stephanie has co-authored 9 other books on yoga. Her first book, "Yoga Posture Adjustments and Assisting" has been translated into Spanish and is available through amazon.com. She also published, "Yoga at Your Wall" in 2009. Her next book, "Reflections of a Codependent Yogi: Book One —Exploring the Stickiness of Relationships and the Longing for Self-Love" is due to be released in 2010. Details will be announced asap.

She is also a massage therapist, interfaith minister, belly dance teacher, aspiring web designer and ESL teacher. Part of the year Stephanie lives in Tulum, Mexico where she writes books, tends to her tropical garden, plays with her 8 cats, teaches and writes. Stephanie is available to lead workshops and trainings worldwide.