Tara Stiles

Tara Leann Stiles is an American yoga instructor and former model based in New York City. She is best known for founding Strala Yoga, an accessible, movement-focused yoga brand that expanded from a single studio into an international training business. Known for her non-traditional approach to yoga instruction, Stiles has gained widespread public attention and served as a featured fitness figure for major media outlets and global brands.

Stiles was raised in Morris, Illinois. Her parents constructed their own passive solar home, influenced in part by her father's employment at a local nuclear power plant. During her youth, she pursued dance studies in Chicago, where a ballet teacher first introduced her to the practice of yoga.

Stiles began her professional career in modeling, appearing in advertisements for American Apparel and later serving as a corporate spokesperson for Nissan Motors. In 2007, she starred in the web series Yoga For, produced by Ford Models. Her work led to high-profile media coverage, including a feature by Vanity Fair regarding a custom yoga routine she designed for political figure Sarah Palin.

In 2008, after meeting her future husband Michael Taylor at the Ananda Ashram in Monroe, New York, the couple opened the Strala yoga studio in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. Deriving its name from a Swedish term meaning to radiate light, the business grew significantly, eventually training more than 1,000 instructors globally and becoming the subject of a Harvard Business School case study on yoga branding. Strala emphasized affordability and physical wellness over spiritual elements, intentionally omitting chanting, Sanskrit terminology, and traditional instructor certification requirements.

Her simplified approach attracted notable clients, including author Deepak Chopra, who considered her his personal instructor, and actress Jane Fonda. While praised for making yoga approachable to beginners and non-traditional practitioners, Stiles' methods and marketing also sparked debate among traditionalists over her emphasis on weight loss, physical fitness, and her background as a model.

Throughout her career, Stiles has expanded into publishing, media, and design. She authored the books Make Your Own Rules Diet in 2014 and Make Your Own Rules Cookbook in 2015. In 2012, she partnered with Reebok to help launch their yoga apparel line, and she later collaborated with the brand Wool and the Gang on a co-branded yoga-streetwear collection. Her television appearances include winning an episode of MTV's Fear, acting in Matthew Barney's film Cremaster 3, and co-hosting fitness and fashion segments.