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Meet the Instructors

Brad Yantzer provides biomechanically
precise instruction influenced by his ability to integrate 15 years
of study in all of the healing and movement modalities he has studied.
His classes focus on stability from the inner body (core) so that
the outer body (superficial sleeve) can then move and lengthen in
functional movement. This freedom allows the energy (chi) to move
freely through the body. Brad believes that optimum health is dynamic
and that as the human body is one system made from many systems,
if one is not in order the others cannot perform optimally either.
He has studied many health modalities and has
combined them for his own unique and holistic view of the human
body and the world. He has studied Chiropractic under Dr. Scott
Duke DC., CCSP, mentored for a year and a half with preeminent motor
learning specialist Jean Claude West, as well as studying with the
brainchild of Kinesis Myofascial Integration (KMI), Tom Myers. He
also studied Hatha Yoga for three years with Tony Sanchez, creator
of Yoga Challenge, and has been certified through Greenpath Yoga
with influence in Ashtanga Vinyasa.
Brad's "Exploratory Movement for
Yoga" class is an integration of all these disciplines and knowledge
gathered over the past 15 years. Brad considers the individual needs
of every one of his students in each class and bases the class on
what each individual needs for their unique circumstances regarding
their body posture, mind, energy, and injury and/or limitations.
His style is eclectic, based on natural or functional biomechanical
and energetic movement of the human body but throwing into the mix
many other modalities. Taking his cueing from kinesthetic imagery,
functional anatomy, different Asian arts, and a love of movement
and energetics he unwinds your body in an expansive way rather than
contracting your musculature and energy inward. The response is
a delightful centering of your body on its gravity line to further
your movement with a fluidity and ease. The class is safe for the
injured and useful for therapy as well as being easy enough for
the beginner but also challenging enough for the advanced. www.evolutionmovement.com
Christa Reynolds has been teaching
yoga in the Bay Area for the last eleven years, developing her own
unique style of Iyengar-inspired hatha yoga. Christa’s instruction
supports students in creating more focus, developing greater awareness,
building muscular and core strength while enhancing flexibility.
“Yoga calms the mind as it opens the heart to unobstructed creativity
and joy,” says Christa.
Christina Forth's style of teaching
focuses on a deep study of the connections between body, breath,
and spirit, blending instruction on Anusara Yoga's® Universal
Principles of Alignment with the thematic exploration of various
spiritual teachings into an experience that affirms for each student
the idea that simply being who and how they are is already enough.
Her classes often incorporate dynamic flowing sequences to create
inner heat along with held postures and partner work to facilitate
alignment. She brings a calm presence and uplifting style to encourage
each student to explore him or herself more fully on all levels.
As a student
of yoga since 1998, Christina has had the incredible fortune to
have studied with many outstanding teachers. She is currently most
impacted by certified Anusara Yoga® teachers Sianna Sherman,
Desiree Rumbaugh and Maritza. Her notable past mentors include Andrew
Eppler and Sri K Pattahbi Jois, with whom she studied in Mysore,
India. www.christinaforth.com
Cynthia Bernheim
began her career in Yoga after 20 years in the business world in
order to make a positive change in her life and share that with
others. A long time-athlete, she was a gymnast, swam competitively
and ran marathons. She now enjoys many different sports including
hiking, mountain biking, snow skiing, water skiing and wakeboarding,
scuba diving and kayaking, but was missing a holistic form of movement
until she discovered yoga. Yoga soon became a way of life.
A long time yoga practitioner, Cynthia's
teaching is most influenced by the Iyengar method. She combines
her enthusiasm and love of yoga with a knowledge of alignment and
body mechanics. Her clear, easy-to-follow instructions encourage
students of all levels to work deeply while honoring and working
with their limitations.
Cynthia has studied with Senior
Iyengar Instructor Jaki Nett. She has completed 200 hours of Teacher
Training at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco and is continuing
her studies at the Institute to complete the 500 hour Advanced Teacher
Training program. Cynthia also serves as the Student Liaison to
the board of trustees that governs the Institute.

Eric Monkhouse's classes are a celebration
of vinyasa flow yoga, tantric philosophy, dynamic meditation & massage.
Ethereal, pulsing music infuses the practice to ignite a unified
expression of "shakti" - spontaneous, joyful & energetic movement.
Working the dance floor as a DJ
is no different to working the studio floor as a yoga teacher. To
be effective, both require a deep understanding of what inspires
people to move and why. "Reading the crowd" and being
intuitive of energy fluctuations are key. Eric's teaching revolves
around inspiring people that are stuck in a groove - often unconscious
negative patterns that block prana, or creative life-force energy.
Discovering the joy within movement and breath is essential in establishing
a self practice - the benefits of which can then spill into daily
life.
Owing to the early years of playing
representative rugby, he has tremendous empathy with beginners that
are inflexible and apprehensive. He welcomes everybody to class
and bubbles with enthusiasm and humor. If Eric had a second pair
of hands, he would DJ too, but instead he creates unique mixes from
constantly evolving playlists, ranging from world rhythms to ambient
trip outs. Every class is vibrantly different, encouraging self
acceptance and self healing. Eric has been teaching in London, England
since 2002, and now is living and teaching in the San Francisco
Bay area. For comprehensive playlists and free podcasts check Eric's
website at www.yogagroove.net
Gurukar Singh Khalsa
is a KRI-Certified
Kundalini Yoga Teacher and Teacher Trainer.
Janet Carter
loves yoga and it shows in her fun, vibrant, alignment-oriented
classes. She even infuses the principles of yoga into her outside
activities like rock-climbing and jewelry-making...and encourages
you to do so as well. Come breathe in Janet's enthusiasm for life
in her hatha flow classes. Find balance, strength and freedom on
and off the mat.
Karin Scholz Grace 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.

 
BREAKING NEWS
Monday, April 7, 10:00 am:
Baby boy Finn Matthew Gleason has arrived!!!
Kath Doody teaches an intuitive
and athletic style of hatha flow yoga that focuses on the development
of breathwork, strength, proper alignment, and flexibility, while
encouraging the cultivation of each individual's own personal flow.
Kath has been teaching yoga for
four years and has studied various styles of yoga for thirteen years,
including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Bikram, and Anusara Yoga®, as well
as having a background in dance. She combines her experience and
love of all of these forms to offer a class that is fun, challanging,
and beneficial to students of all levels. In addition to teaching,
Kath is also a certified massage therapist and personal fitness
trainer. She looks forward to seeing you in class.
Katrina Knudsen
has been an enthusiastic yogi on the journey to unite her mind,
body, and spirit since 1997. She feels Anusara Yoga® most closely
connected with her heart and has spent many hours training with
John Friend. She’s recently returned from an extended maternity
leave, and is looking forward to walking the path of the teacher
once again with you. She is dedicated to helping students find their
inner teacher and reveal their own divine beauty through Anusara
Yoga's® Universal Principles of Alignment.

Kim Holmes unites fun interaction,
active alignment and self empowerment into her yoga classes, incorporating
over 18 years of experience in the art of movement therapy and bodywork.
Her guidance will work to combine your mind & body awareness into
graceful functional movement. In her teaching Kim integrates and
creates energy flow and alignment principles evolved from Iyengar
and Anusara Yoga®; Pilates; Gyrotonic™, Gyrokinesis™,
soft tissue manipulation; the study of kinesiology; over nine years
of studies with Motor Learning Specialist Jean Claude West; and
continual studies in all these fields and more. For Kim, yoga encourages
an opening of the heart while staying grounded.

Laura
Christensen (Abbey), is a passionate,
spirited and Certified Anusara Yoga® Instructor and serves on
the Anusara Yoga Certification Committee. She gets a kick out of
creating fun, inspiring, heart-expanding and deep classes that empower
students to connect to their inner strength, beauty and divinity.
Her classes are a fusion of optimal postural alignment, celebration
of heart, and community connection. She is enthusiastic about introducing
students to a yogic path upon which their individuality and their
own unique potential can co-participate with the ever-present, and
ever-flowing gift of Grace to experience life as the fullest expression
of joy. For Laura, the practice of yoga is about finding the sweet
place in the middle in the heart, mind, body, and spirit where you
can simultaneously experience and express raw power and strength
married with equally intense doses of refined sweetness and beauty.
She delights in helping students access the dynamic and unlimited
source of potential that arises when these qualities harmoniously
blend together.
Laura has studied extensively under her teacher John Friend, the
founder of Anusara Yoga®. She even packed her bags for one full
year to go on tour with him in 2005-2006 and study by his side.
She has assisted him all over the US and throughout Europe in workshops
and Teacher Trainings and has over one thousand hours of direct
study with John; hundreds more with other Senior Certified Anusara
Yoga® Teachers. She loves learning from everyone around her,
especially her students. www.alignwiththedivine.com
Matthew Breno
(Bio & photo coming soon...)
Milushe Kudrnovska,
CYT (Yoga Alliance) is a Physical Therapist, as well as a Motherwavework™
Facilitator, Certified Massage Therapist, and Watsu™ Practitioner.
She began her professional yoga journey nine years ago in response
to her own physical challenges. She found yoga to be so valuable
in all aspects of her life that she started sharing this art through
teaching. Having been a Physical Therapist for fifteen years, Milushe
has a deep understanding of thebody and its ability to open. She
combines this knowledge of Physical Therapy and yoga to safely guide
people to expand, stretch, strengthen and find a deep inner peace.
Nicole Klaymoon
received a Bachelors of Arts in dance from UCLA and completed a
Vinyasa Flow Yoga teacher training with Shiva Rea. She has studied
yoga with Julian Walker and movement rituals with Anna Halprin.
She also has extensive training in somatic forms including Cline
technique, Alexander technique and Pilates. She currently teaches
modern dance, house dance, and performs as a solo performance artist
in the Bay Area.

Nicole Mickelson loves that yoga
is an essential aide in healing the body, mind, and spirit; teaching
us to let go and be still with ease. She will guide you to a place
where you are present so you can experience the pulse of life. She
uses anatomy, breath awareness, and music to deepen your practice
and find inner balance. Balance - that is what it is all about.
Nicole is a certified Kripalu instructor
having apprenticed at the Kripalu Center in Massachusetts. Kripalu
means compassion in Sanskrit. Kripalu yoga works its wonders through
body awareness by focusing on the mind, self-acceptance, meditation
in motion, eastern philosophy, and taking yoga off the mat. Nicole
welcomes all to come ride the wave of life and see where your body
takes you!
Update 9/24/7: Paul just returned, last night, to
India for another 5 months...
Paul has finally returned to Marin on Thursday, Feb 22, 2007after
3 years in India....and then promptly returned to Indai and Nepal
to be blessed with more teachings from prominent Buddhist teachers...
If you'd like to read about his travels,
CLICK HERE!
Paul McLaughlin,
Certified Anusara Yoga® Teacher, began studying hatha yoga and
meditation in 1973. "I crafted a basic asana practice out of my
big sister's copy of Light on Yoga. I practiced, largely in solitude,
through my high school, college and early professional years. I
began taking regular Iyengar classes with Lynn Minton in Anchorage,
Alaska in 1991. From 1992 through 1996 I traveled extensively in
the United States and abroad studying yoga, participating in long
meditation retreats and exploring the mountains of North America
and the Himalaya. I spent 9 months in India, visiting sacred sites,
studying with several teachers and soaking up the amazing spiritual
energy of the "homeland of yoga". I met John Friend at
a yoga conference in Albuquerque, New Mexico in 1997. I was hooked
from the first class! I loved the combination of the elegant principles
of alignment, the cultivation of heart qualities, and the recognition
of hatha yoga as a profound spiritual practice. I began to teach
yoga after several years of study with John in order to share my
enthusiasm for Anusara Yoga® with others." Paul's teaching style
emphasizes vitality, alignment and open-hearted exploration.
Rachel von Garnier, originally from northern New
Mexico, first began practicing yoga in college as a natural transition
from a background in gymnastics. Upon moving to Marin in 2003, Rachel
immersed herself in the wonderful Anusara community of the Bay Area.
Through the years Rachel has revelled in the sanctuary of peace,
fullness, inner alignment, and community that yoga as a spiritual
path provides. Rachel has had the opportunity to study with Sianna
Sherman and John Friend, as well as Maritza, Noah Maze, and Jim
Bernaert. Her teaching strives to help students align the body and
mind with the deep current of energy within, and to experience life
more fully and joyously. Rachel loves to share this great practice
that has so profoundly enriched her own life.
Ramona Mays studied with Jean Sullivan and Madeleine Black
at Body of Work in San Francisco in 2000 where she received her
Pilates (as taught by Joseph Pilates) certification through Physical
Mind Institute. She then trained with Debra Rose and Juliu Horvath
at White Cloud in San Francisco and became a Gyrotonic Trainer.
Ramona has been doing Yoga since she was 15, she danced and studied
with Ed Mock in the 70's and performed with Anna Halprin renowned
dance pioneer of expressive art movement and the life art process,
in the 90's. Ramona likes to incorporate some of the life art process
and Gyrotonics into her teaching method, particularly the spine
articulation and spiraling technique of Gyrotonics.
Pilates is an excellent way to build
core strength in the body and to develop important support muscles
through flexion and extension. Psoas major, transverse abdominous,
and the internal and external obliques are the muscles that you
wil discover and focus on in Ramonas'class. Because Ramona has also
been practicing Kundalini Yoga for 25 years and believes in the
important ability of breath to increase the effectiveness of any
excercise program, her classes have more of a focus on breathing
than most Pilates classes. Breath in Pilates helps to mobilize the
ribs, keep the pelvis neutral, massage internal organs, enhance
muscle activation and oxygenate body tissue.
Ramona's classes are accessible
to all levels, but sheis particularly good with beginners who have
had little or no experience. She has taught Pilates to all ages
from teens to seniors and has seen great results in everyone who
has committed to regualr practice. Posture improves almost immediately
and many people actually get taller (!) when the musculoskeletal
alignment becomes sound. Pilates is an excellent method to combat
the effects of gravity, habitual postural misalignments and muscle
imbalances which deprive us of our potential movement quality..
Stacie Vining, co-founder of Yoga of Sausalito,
brings years of technical rehabilitative bodywork, Pilates and functional
movement therapies to her fun, transformative yoga classes. She
responds to the specific physical, emotional and spiritual needs
of each person leading them to a new, dynamic and creative experience
of life!
Uniquely combining spirit, strength and flexibility, Tim
Lenheim 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®.
Zoë Collier came to yoga while traveling in
Asia over 15 years ago. A ten-day Vipasanna meditation retreat in
a monastery in Thailand became a pivotal point for her journey inward.
Upon returning to the US, Zoë began studying to be a midwife,
but soon found that her interests were less oriented in extending
medical aid and more toward offering informed emotional support
to labor women as a doula.
Zoë has been practicing as
a doula for thirteen years in San Francisco and Marin and received
training through Doulas of North America (DONA) as well as many
other trainings in midwifery, childbirth education, and labor support.
She is a member of the Marin Doula
Circle and has taught the prenatal portion of the yoga training
at San Francisco's Greenpath Yoga. Her own invaluable teachers are
many, varied, and include Sarah Powers, Kripalu and the Integral
Yoga prenatal program. Having traveled, lived, been educated and
volunteered in many foreign countries, Zoë brings with her
a unique perspective, a breadth of understanding and a deep commitment
to her profession. Zoë can be reached via email at <zoecollier@mac.com>
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