Our Instructors

Calie Candia

Calie has been practicing and studying Yoga for over 30 years. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the National Yoga Alliance. Her Vinyasa (flow) style blends yoga postures with well chosen music, and sprinkles the class with humor and wisdom. Herclasses always address the body mind connection that can turn daily stress into a tool for self discipline and growth.
Her knowledge of the body creates a wisdom practice for all levels and as she states, “Iam the queen of modifications.” She has also taught workshops in: “Flow into Meditation,” where Vinyasa is combined with seated meditation using the Tibetan Buddhist teachings of Natural Meditation Practice.

Christa Reynolds

Christa is presently a mixed lineage yoga teacher and therapist, teaching classroom style and private instruction in the Bay Area for over 12 years.  Christa has studied many traditions over her twelve years to include, Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow, Yin yoga, Kundalini, Anusara, and for the last five years Iyengar, developing her own unique style of flow and alignment.

Christa’s love of yoga has taken her to India twice, once to study asana yoga with Pattabhi Jois in 1996. Her second visit in 2006 focused more on Karma Yoga. She joined Global Peace Works out of New York and facilitated 27 individuals from around the world, from different faith traditions to gather together and build a library and community center in the slums of New Delhi. She continues to study the multiple faiths of the world to include Hinduism, Buddhism, Sufism, and Taoism. Her studies of the multiple faiths have resulted in her creation of Enlighten : Take a Spiritual Journey Around the World, a board game playfully exploring the World’s Religions.

Christa also received her degree in Interfaith Spiritual Direction from Chaplaincy Institute of Berkeley in 2006 and is presently guiding people in individual sessions to greater communion with the divine.

http://www.enlightengamesinc.com/about-us-1024.html

Cynthia Bernheim

Cynthia combines her enthusiasm and love of yoga with a knowledge of alignment and body mechanics.  Her classes are fun and playful with easy-to-follow instructions encouraging students of all levels to work deeply while honoring and working with their limitations.  Cynthia began teaching Yoga after 20 years in the business world in order to make a positive change in her life and share that with others.  She’s been a sports enthusiast her whole life, but was missing a holistic form of movement (and way of life) until she discovered yoga.  Yoga soon became her way of life.

Cynthia received her training as a yoga teacher in the 500 hr. Advanced Studies Program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco.  She has also completed the Anusara Immersion taught by Laura Christensen.  Cynthia currently volunteers her time as a Board Member for the the Northern California Iyengar Yoga Association.

Jamie Lamka

30 years of practice (25 years of study with Manouso Manos) and 18 years teaching experience. Jamie has worked with and developed yoga-specific programs for contractors, aging athletes (male and female), and health care providers. He has taught yoga and fitness classes for recapturing strength and flexibility as we age; HIV, cancer, and osteoporosis support; and healthy menopause. Carpenter, dancer, gym rat and dedicated yogi, Jamie's strength is his grasp of the fundamentals, compassion for pain, and understanding of human challenges. As a highly educated and experienced journeyman yoga teacher, Jamie offers his students individual attention and life-supporting knowledge.

No effort on the Yoga path is ever lost, nor can any obstacle hold one back forever. Just a little progress on this path can protect one from the greatest fear.” BKS Iyengar

“Jamie Lamka is a superb yoga teacher. He knows his craft and how to teach it. I call him “Coach”.
David Meggyesy, seven year NFL veteran, ageing athlete. Co-founder, Esalen Sports Center.

Jen Sterling

Jen has been a student of yoga since 1998 and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance.  In 2004 she completed her yoga teacher training at High Desert Yoga and graduated from The Ayurvedic Institute in Albuquerque, NM, where she studied under Dr. Vasant Lad.

As a personal trainer for 10 years, Jen has enjoyed helping individuals to achieve better body awareness, core strength, alignment, and connection to their breath.  By incorporating yoga philosophy and Ayurveda into her work, she creates a space for others to explore and experience how the mind, body, and spirit are all connected. 

Over the past 12 years, Jen has studied with many master teachers, and is in deep gratitude to Ramanand Patel, Dr. Vasant Lad and Kim Schwartz, who have shown her how to walk the yogic path.

Karin Scholz Grace



Karin is a certified Hanna Somatic therapist, bringing a wide range of training and skills to her diverse healing arts and coaching practice. Based in Sausalito, California, she offers individual sessions and group classes in Hanna Somatics, Somatic Yoga, somatic coaching, leadership development, meditation, stress reduction, and the Enneagram. Karin holds an MS from Stanford University, and is currently a student of the Diamond Approach.

In addition to her private practice, Karin also facilitates Interpersonal Dynamics and High Performance Leadership at the Stanford Graduate School of Business and at USF School of Law. She is also a regular speaker and presenter at workshops and conferences such as the Association of Hanna Somatic Education conference, the International Enneagram Association Conference, and the International Association of Yoga Therapy Conference.

Having used Somatics to recover from her own debilitating spinal injury, Karin embodies this transformative healing practice from a place of personal experience and deep compassion. She loves empowering each student with the tools to make dramatic shifts within themselves and find greater capacity, flexibility, and comfort.

Kelly Farr de Flores



Kelly Farr de Flores began studying ballet at the age of four and continued to study dance for many years to follow. More than a decade ago her love of dance made way for a smooth transition into yoga. Her devoted practice then led her to the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, for her teacher certification. 

Since 2005 she has been dedicated to sharing the art, science and philosophy of yoga with others. An incredible love of travel and thirst for knowledge has since led her to many foreign lands to explore yoga workshops and classes. Her most recent studies have been at the Anand Prakash Ashram in Rishikesh, India and at Power Yoga with Bryan Kest in Santa Monica, Ca. She has also taken courses in pranic (energy) healing. Kelly is continuously evolving as a yoga practitioner and teacher, always keeping her mind and heart open to new ideas. Her daily organic yoga practice flows with an open heart which radiates in her teaching. She weaves many forms of yoga together to meet the specific needs of her students. 

Her vinyasa flow classes are guided by the rhythm of the inhalation and exhalation in such a way that the body, mind, and spirit are blended in a beautiful interplay of breath and movement creating a meditation in motion. She encourages her students to go inside themselves to find what they need, being mindful to honor the present moment. Join her and let your light shine out.

 
Laura Christensen (Abbey)

Laura is a passionate, inspiring, highly skilled national and international yoga teacher who has a strong commitment to her beloved, local community in Marin, California and surrounding areas.  She is dedicated to uplifting and empowering her students and cultivating a safe place for deep and real connection within and without.  Expect to be profoundly transformed on and off the mat as she skillfully and supportively challenges you and evokes the best version of yourself.  Her powerful presence, authentic voice and focus on integrity motivate students to discover new depths within their hearts and new heights in their asana (posture) practices.  Laura’s keen knowledge and crystal clear instruction will keep you safe physically and often helps students to heal injuries.  For more than a decade, students have repeatedly told Laura that her class themes nurture them on both a practical and spiritual level and have positively enhanced their lives emotionally, spiritually and physically.  She is well known for orchestrating life-changing yoga retreats in some of the most beautiful places in the world. Her students joyfully reveal that through their attendance at these retreats, her extended courses, or practicing with her regularly, they have built trusted bonds of genuine friendship with many lovely news friends, and delight in a connection with a big-hearted, supportive community.

Education and Background:
Laura has been a dedicated student of yoga since 1990 and has enjoyed several thousand hours of study under many senior teachers in many different yoga styles and since 2005, she has been featured in Yoga Journal several times.  Laura studied the Universal Principles of Alignment extensively for 14 years and apprenticed directly under the founder of Anusara Yoga full-time from 2005-2006.  She was Certified in Anusara Yoga in 2005, served on the Certification Committee for 5 years, and has mentored many teachers on their way to Certification.  She resigned her Anusara license and is enthusiastically committed to broadening her studies and her breadth of offerings as a teacher.  She thrives as a student and values the opportunities to learn experientially from her phenomenal students and the many extraordinary teachers in the yoga community. Currently, she is inspired by the teachings of Rod Stryker. Laura graduated Summa Cum Laude from Santa Clara University with a B.S. in Psychology. Before teaching yoga full-time, she worked in the corporate world at Robertson Stephens and Charles Schwab.

www.laurachristensen.com.

Laurel Hunt

The daughter of a naturopathic physician, Laurel has grown up with a great appreciation for natural solutions for healthy living. Before coming to yoga, Laurel worked for ten years as a sign language interpreter.  Laurel's journey has been inspired by many teachers, including Darren Main, Laura Christensen, and Stacie Vining.

Laurel's classes are Hatha Flow, featuring a variety of inversions, twists and back bends, suitable for both beginning and advanced students. Students get a work out but come away from the class feeling grounded and centered.

www.yogalaurel.com

Lisa Walker Fredericks

Lisa has been teaching Hatha Yoga for 9 years in the Bay Area.  Trained in the Anusara method and influenced as well by years of personal work with anatomy teachers Lisa is a safe, grounded and present teacher. She brings the flavor of her education and profession as a psychotherapist, life coach and body centered somatic therapist (hakomi method) to her classes in a mindful and relatable way, truly living her yoga and helping her students to do so as well.
 Lisa's classes are suitable for all levels and anyone who wants to have fun, find community and cultivate a stronger more flexible mind, body and spirit.  

Mirabai Warkulwiz

Mirabai's Restorative classes offer a spiritually uplifting and deeply healing, wholistic experience. Her classes include centering exercises, Restorative asanas (gentle postures where the body is fully supported with props and held for longer periods of time enabling the body to open and relax).  Both calming and rejuvenating, restorative poses help bring balance and energy to our busy lives.  Classes also include some very gentle stretching, pranayama (breath work), yoga nidra (deep relaxation), and meditation.  Classes are for all levels, and are beginner friendly.

Mirabai planted her yoga and meditation roots in 1998 in San Francisco at the Sivananda Yoga Center and at the Integral Yoga Institute. Amazed at her healing of a back injury and countless other positive life changes, she became yoga certified through 200-hour teacher training programs both at the Integral Yoga Institute in 2004, and at the Greenpath Ashtanga Studio in 2005. In July 2008 she completed another 170 hour Intermediate Teacher Training program in Hatha and Pranayama through the Integral Yoga Institute in Virginia.  Mirabai has also trained in Restorative yoga with Judith Lasater and other mentors.  She has a deep passion for sharing these ancient yoga practices with her students. 

Mirabai is also Reiki Level 1 certified, studies Aryuveda, loves nature and hiking, dancing, and is a Kirtan musician who leads gatherings around the Bay.  Shr enjoys implementing music or chanting in her classes. www.mirabaiandfriends.com

Sienna Smith

Sienna is a certified Anusara-Inspired, Viniyoga teacher, and a clinically trained yoga therapist. Sienna has appeared in Gary Krafstow’s top-selling yoga DVD, Yoga for the Low Back, Hips, and Sacrum, and has graced the pages of Yoga Journal three times since 2007 with her recent Yoga Journal article and online video called Office Yoga in Nov 2011.  She began her yoga studies in 1995, and has taught in the San Francisco Bay Area since 2000. Her earlier studies were with Georg Feuerstein—one of the foremost Western scholars of yoga philosophy—and she has studied extensively with Viniyoga founder Gary Kraftsow.  Recently she has refined her teaching with over 250 hours with Anusara founder John Friend and Sianna Sherman. Sienna is the owner of Yoga Mountain Studio in Fairfax, California, where she teaches group yoga classes and works privately with yoga therapy clients, guiding people of all levels and abilities toward optimal alignment on all levels of being to improve their physical health, and create a life of freedom and joy. www.YogaMountainStudio

Tim Lenheim

Tim is uniquely combining spirit, strength and flexibility and successfully reveals mind-body consciousness previously unknown to his individual students. Tim's eclectic background ranges from three years in the Navy to being ordained as a monk in the country of Burma, from the Baptiste method of yoga to Anusara Yoga.

Yvette has a passion for yoga, healing and promoting happiness in the present moment. She strives to bring the mind and body back to balance and harmony. She believes in the renewal of the self and has successfully helped students relieve their chronic pain. She is sensitive to her students' individual needs and her presence is peaceful and compassionate.

Yvette completed the Anusara Yoga Advanced Studies Intensive Teacher Training in 2001. She studied the principles of Anusara, including the bio-mechanical alignment in postures, breakdown of postures with modifications and props, prevention and treatment of injuries, seeing and understanding bodies, principles of sequencing postures, reclining and sitting pranayama. She has also studied guided explorations of chakra energy, meditation theory, and Vipassana meditation. Yvette has recieved atunement and was initiated into the Master level of the Usui Shiki Ryoho System of Natural Healing. Yvette participated in the Gyudmed Tantric Monastery's Tibetan Purification of the Universe Ritual in 2001, with Tibetan Buddhist Monks.

She hopes all living beings find happiness and peace. She has also participated in Dance Mandal Kathmandu, Foundation for the Promotion of Sacred Performing Arts workshops on Charya Nirtya Sacred Buddhist Dance of Nepal, "Dance as a Spiritual Discipline" with director Prajwal R. Vajracharya. Yvette lived in La Paz, Bolivia for three years studying art and healing of the Inca tradition. She walked, hiked, and meditated from the snowy tops of the Andes Mountains to the lush jungles of Yungas where she paid homage to Pachamama (Mother Earth Goddess) and the Virgin of Copacabana. She also hikes in the Eastern Sierras connecting to nature and it's greatness.

http://web.mac.com/yvetteeyza