Janice Siska Hjelmgren (Gian Atam Kaur) (Lakshmi), began practicing yoga as a child. It began by her looking at pictures in her father's book, "Yoga for Americans", by Indra Devi, and she would practice the pictures on her living room floor.
Janice has been teaching yoga since 1998, when Christina, owner of Yoga and Friends, asked her to begin co-teaching with her. She has over 500 hours of training in yoga. She completed her Integral Yoga Hatha Teachers training, and Yoga for the Special Child (TM) training, with Sonia Sumar in Evanston, Illinois and Brazil.
In addition, she completed her Kundalini Yoga Teacher's Training, Level 1, Spirit Baby Yoga, and the Khalsa Way Pre-Natal training with Gurmukh at Golden Bridge Yoga in Los Angeles, California. Janice also completed the Radiant Child Yoga Levels 1 and 2 with Shakta Kaur Khalsa in the Kundalini tradition.
Additional trainings at Yoga Journal Conferences with Angela Farmer, Rodney Yee, Shiva Rea, John Friend, Tripsichore, and workshops with senior Anusara instructors have influenced her teaching. She teaches the Kundalini classes and includes deep relaxation with the gong at the end of each class.