puja chance
Believing that anyone can begin their own yoga journey at any time, I try to teach each class to the level of the students that are present. I am forever growing in my own practice as a student and a teacher, and love the sense of yoga as always evolving and bringing new insight.
MARCIA GRACE CHARLAND
Yoga has greatly enhanced my wellbeing over many years as a student. I'm excited and inspired as a teacher to share the remarkable benefits of yoga with others. In gentle Yoga, I present options, modifications and ways to breathe that allow the postures to work best for your body, making it a safe, sustainable and mindful practice. I have learned so much from all my teachers, especially Mark Stephens. In 2012, I completed the 200-hour Yoga Teacher Certification with him and I'm currently enrolled in his 500-hour certification program. It is deeply satisfying and meaningful to me when students say, "That was just what I needed." Discover for yourself the power of yoga to increase your awareness and aliveness!
Shannon Cummings
Shannon began her yoga practice with Jeff Tiebout at the Blue Ridge School of Massage and Yoga in Blacksburg, Virginia in 2006. She has studied under Manju Jois at the Chicago Yoga Institute and Lydia Morton at Lafayette Center for Yoga. Yoga teaches her persistence, patience and empathy. Teaching it compounds these lessons. She teaches to practice, and practices to teach.
DENISE KIRPAL LAPIDES
E-RYT 500, IKYTA Level II, C. Ayu. Denise's classes are alignment based slow flowing vinyasa and restorative founded in the Krishnamacharya lineage, that the yoga must be fit to the individual. An abundance of compassionate cues, keen observations from over 16 years on the mat, humor and vibrant encouragement make each class a unique and uplifting experience. Within you is that Divine Light that desires to be fully shining. Rooted in compassion and heartfelt understanding, Denise Kirpal knows these practices give us a way, a place and a means to uncover that inner light, that inner balance to live fully and wholly, in exactly the way we are meant to live. The key is accepting us as we are, beginning where we are and seeing the Light in all. Experience how to create and maintain balance, peace and more love in your life. Choose from a myriad of ways to begin to heal and harmonize with classes, yoga teacher training, ayurveda or a private holistic yoga session. www.divinelightyoga.com
Corinne leblanc guihaire
Vinyasa yoga is my yoga of choice, I identify with it, rather than with a particular tradition or lineage. To me, vinyasa is the yoga that embodies in the most sensitive way the natural pulse of life, allowing us to spontaneously flow with grace, embrace change, and with attention and dedication, uncover the delight of the present moment. In my classes, I offer unset and variable flowing sequences, with an emphasis on alignment and action in the poses, all the while abiding by the potent teachings of yoga philosophy. The intensity of the practice I am offering is built through a slow and gradual progression of precise mindful actions and postures, continually harmonized with the breath, rather than through physical prowess and rapid movement. All levels are welcome.
MICHELLE McNamara
Michelle teaches vinyasa flow infused with yin, meditation, pranayama, a bit of humor and A LOT of gratitude. She uses inspiration from daily life to build fun, heart opening classes, emphasizing strong alignment, and connectedness. "The connection to ourselves, others, nature and those things that truly nourish us is an important part of this practice for me." Michelle draws her knowledge and inspiration from a variety of teachers including Nancy Goodfellow, Mark Stephens, Sarah and Tai Powers, Noah Levine, Jason Murphy, Rusty Wells, Eoin Finn(just to name a few) as well as the great ocean, mountains, and mother nature!
Jessica Weitzenhoffer
Jessica, RYT 500, brings her embodied wisdom and somatic lucidity into each of her classes. Beginning each class with a short dharma talk, she weaves philosophy and breath into a deep slow alignment flow. This practice invokes a sense of presence as we dance between flow and form, movement and sustained postures, engagement and release designed to illuminate the subtleties of practice, and bridge body, breath, mind, and spirit. Jessica invites us to show up as we are, and where we are, holding a compassionate and steady container for self-awareness, self-expression, self-transformation, and, ultimately, self-love. All-levels of practitioners welcome to join us in an energizing and nourishing practice as we slow down, drop in, breathe, move, and reconnect to what matters.
Amanda Harper
Amanda finds yoga to be an invaluable part of her routine. It helps her maintain her center, ground herself emotionally as a mother and compliments the other physical activities she enjoys, such as swimming, bike riding and her greatest passion, surfing. Her personal practice and curiosity has allowed her to explore a number of yoga lineages. She enjoys the anatomical accuracy of Iyengar Yoga, the energizing qualities of Ashtanga, the healing nature of Restorative, Therapeutic & Yin and the beauty and grace of the Vinyasa yoga practice. Amanda feels that the role of a yoga teacher is to provide expert guidance to a practitioner, helping them to fully utilize whatever unique tools and qualities they possess to develop their own individual practice to suit their needs. As a teacher she aims to cultivate a non-judgmental, safe environment, promote a student's mental and physical well-being, reduce suffering and share the love and benefits of her yoga practice with her students. Her goal is to be a compassionate, patient, enthusiastic, approachable, articulate teacher and possess a deep knowledge of human anatomy and the philosophy of yoga.
Anne-Lauren Graham
Anne-Lauren, founder of Radiant Spiral Retreats, is an Elemental Therapist, Yoga Teacher, Massage Therapist, and International Retreat leader guiding humans, just like you through life-changing retreats and therapies for over 15 years! Anne-Lauren draws most of her healing insights from nature and the elements. She came to the healing arts around 2003 when she left her home in Alabama and began an inner and outer journey to connect with sustainable peace and expansive joy. Throughout her travels she has been able to study, in depth, different healing practices with different cultures around the world. She is eager to share the essence of what she has gathered in classes with you! Anne-Lauren's mission in this life is to hold space for humans to re-connect to themselves and with each other. You feel this in her dynamic flow classes as she guides us to listen a bit deeper and explore this expansive landscape of peace and joy that resides within. She firmly believes that -you are the medicine- and by walking into a yoga class you are gifting yourself the opportunity to return to alignment with deep peace, steady joy and a profound wisdom of the heart.
Chelsea Biklen
Chelsea believes each yoga practice to be sacred- an intentional space to connect with our bodies, breath, and a power greater than ourselves. Initially trained in a Vinyasa-style flow practice her classes are strong and smooth, with an invitation to go deeper (into postures, into breath, into presence). Later trained in Classical Hatha through a lineage of Ramana Maharshi, her interest in pranayama, energy meridians, and Self-Inquiry grew and frequently weaves its way into her classes. Rather than a teacher, Chelsea calls herself a facilitator of yogic space, as she believes each student to be the master of their own body and their own practice. Her aim is to help each student drop into practice with a beginner's mind…little words, lots of breath. In addition to yoga Chelsea is an energy worker, deep dancer, and ecstatic dance DJ and she integrates elements of these into class as well. Each one of Chelsea’s classes is a ceremony, come as you are.
Steve Clark
My yoga journey began when I was 55 and seeking a way out of a mid-life downward spiral. Through ‘fortuitous happenstance’ (divine inspiration?), I realized that yoga might help with my troubles. I started regular practice in the spring of 2011 and have never considered quitting. These days, and for the past few years (despite the pandemic lockdown), my practice has focused on the Mysore-style ashtanga vinyasa patterns of postures and flow, along with more typical western-style, teacher-led vinyasa.
Over the years, I learned that if you practice yoga long enough and show some ability to “make the shapes,” eventually you are asked, cajoled, and pushed to take the teacher training and share what you’ve learned (…and it’s so much more than shapes!). And so it happened to me. Full disclosure: I’m a freshly minted yoga teacher, so my classes/practices will primarily focus on more basic postures and shorter, more straightforward flows.
Marissa Victoria
Personal and spiritual growth kept Marissa practicing yoga and meditation daily while increased physical health, strength, and a deeper relationship to life became the outcome. Marissa chose to step onto her mat dedicated to her purpose to teach, with a passion for sharing and spreading such a potent way of life. She weaves yogic philosophy, pranayama, meditation, biomechanics, and alignment into her classes. Her classes are dynamic and fun, challenging yet accessible, invigorating, and expect to enrich your mind, nourish your body, ease your nerves and drop into the heart. Classes are often curated with sound, aromatherapy, and an occasional live musical offering from one of the several instruments Marissa plays. She has led international and local yoga retreats, teaches at yoga & art festivals, and hosts an expansive variety of workshops in the Bay Area and Santa Cruz, CA.
Marissa holds her 200 & 300hr(IP) certifications in yoga alongside her current completion of the National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM) personal training certification and is completing her B.S. in Kinesiology. Some of the many teachers who have inspired her include Ana Forrest, Shiva Rae, Giselle Mari, David Swenson, Ty Landrum, Kino MacGregor, Tias Little, and Katie Silcox.
Jesira Jorn
Jesira, a Nutritionist and Educator from the South of Germany, was introduced to Yoga for the first time shortly after turning 18 but began to practice consistently after she moved to California six years later. Arriving in Santa Cruz in 2017, she discovered the importance of Yoga for the Community, the power to heal and nourish the Body, Soul, and Mind. She decided to dive deeper into the spiritual and emotional components of the practice and fell increasingly in love with the variety of offerings she now had access to and could share with others.
In 2020 she graduated from her 200hr Training with My Vinyasa Practice and became certified as a Prenatal and Post Partum Yoga instructor a few months later.
In her Vinyasa classes, you will find movements and transitions that require strength, focus, and room for exploration and observation of the self. Jesira teaches powerful alignment-based Flows with a solid connection to the breath and Intention. Her Goal is to make each Class your own and teach you how to serve yourself in the best possible way. To get to know her better, visit Jesira´s Website www.jesirayoga.com or reach out directly.
for Aharona Shackman
Aharona has been practicing Ashtanga yoga since 2003. She has studied exclusively with senior teachers who follow Ashtanga’s “old school” method of practice, including her primary teachers, for whom she is eternally grateful , Nancy Gilgoff and Casie Newhouse. She is also grateful to have studied with Manju Jois, with whom she has completed both Primary and Intermediate Series teacher trainings. Aharona feels extremely blessed to have been given the now rare opportunity to practice the entire Ashtanga syllabus in its original form of four set series – and in this way, to help keep the “old school” tradition alive. Back in 2005, seeking a further exploration into the traditions and philosophies behind her yoga practice, Aharona completed a teacher training at the Mount Madonna Center, where she greatly enjoyed the teachings and presence of Baba Hari Dass; and following Babaji's instruction of "teach to learn," she then began to teach. Since then, sharing the practice of Ashtanga yoga, which has had such a healing, grounding, and enlightening effect on her life, has been one of Aharona's greatest joys. For more information on Aharona or on Ashtanga yoga, please visit ashtangayogasantacruz.com
Hannah Lerch
Hannah is a yoga student and instructor in Santa Cruz, CA. I started taking yoga in college to prevent injury and to improve flexibility and range of motion for soccer and ultimate frisbee. But I found that yoga is as much a mental practice as a physical one. Yes, part of yoga is the physical aspect – but it’s also about coming onto your mat, stepping away from the rest of your day, breathing in and out, and being present. Yoga is about paying attention to your intention and observing what is happening in the mind, body, and spirit - on AND off the mat.
Hannah teaches creative Vinyasa flow classes with a focus on bhakti, breath, and alignment. My goal in class is to provide a place for students of all levels to explore strength, flexibility, and discernment. Our yoga practice, just like life, isn't linear - and each time we step back onto the mat, we have an opportunity to begin again.
Brooke Eichenlaub
My classes are for shaping the mind as much as for shaping the body. I weave pranayama, creative sequencing, and mindfulness to create classes promoting strength, relaxation, and holistic well-being. My studies at the Hawaii School of Tantra, Yoga, and Ayurveda cultivated a deep appreciation and desire to share yoga's rich healing modality and spiritual practice to cultivate more joy-filled people and communities.
Andrea Marcum
Andrea Marcum is a yoga teacher and author who leads retreats and workshops around the world in both intimate and conference hall settings. Teaching for over twenty years, she has a unique ease and familiarity about her, weaving accessible philosophy into the poses appropriate for a variety of experience levels.
Named one of LA's Best by a number of sources including Culture Trip, Andrea loves guiding the most unassuming newbies to yoga and mindfulness. She has prepared celebrities for the Oscars, worked with athletes (Matt Kemp, LA Dodgers – NFL Network, U.S. Tennis Association) collaborated with global brands (lululemon, Vogue, Equinox, Travel & Leisure, NBCUniversal, Well + Good), created content for Medicare’s Silver & Fit, and built her own internationally recognized platform at andreamarcum.com.
Michelle Martone
Michelle believes strongly in the power of Yoga to strengthen the health of our body, improve our mindset, and enhance our entire way of being and relating to this world. I have been studying and practicing Yoga for 22 years and the path continues to unfold. I received a Doctorate in Pharmacology in 2009, completed my first Yoga Teacher Training in 2014, and have been teaching ever since. I study in the Sivananda lineage. In addition to daily study, I travel to India to sit with my teachers, study meditation, Yogic and Vedic texts, and honor this sacred tradition. The philosophy and teachings from these texts are woven into my Vinyasa classes, along with pranayama, meditation, and mantra.
Health is a state of equilibrium and harmony in the mind and body and is attainable for all. While Yoga does not promise a fountain of youth, with a little bit of consistent dedicated effort, the teachings of Yoga give us a path towards proper management of diseased conditions, understanding ourselves deeply through inquiry and reflection, and encouragement to live our highest potential. It is with great sincerity and humility that I offer Yoga classes. It is a very sacred and special thing to sit together in community at the feet of this great tradition of Yoga.