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 upcoming workshops:Experience Yoga Nidra with Evelyn Zak, ERYT 500 Budokon Master Class massage therapylinks & activities |
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Anne Battle: Co-Founder. Anne has been practicing yoga since 1974, but says she doesn't understand why she never ventures beyond Level I! She lived in Chicago, San Diego and San Francisco before returning to her hometown of Richmond in 1997. Yoga has provided a sense of community for her wherever her family was transferred, and she always formed her closest friendships with women in those classes. In her past life, she spent twenty years in the corporate relocation business, developing and owning her own company until she sold it in 1993. She currently works part time at Yoga Source and administers the 200-hour Yoga Alliance-certified Teacher Training Program.
Marsha Brady has been practicing hatha yoga for over six years. She began her formal studies within the Yoga Source Teacher Training program, directed by Sandra Pleasants and Jennifer Elliott. She is a registered yoga teacher with the National Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level. Marsha has a special interest in yoga philosophy and in the mind-body connection. She teaches vinyasa flow yoga classes incorporating elements from both the Iyengar and Ashtanga traditions. Marsha seeks to compassionately challenge students to practice with mindfulness from moment to moment, breath to breath.
Lynn Brooke, co-founder of Yoga Source, is an EYRT 500 instructor with the Yoga Alliance. She also holds a certificate in advanced training from The White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA.
Lynn also co-founded the 200 and 300 hour teacher training programs at Yoga Source. She is considered a pioneer of vinyasa yoga in the Richmond community, and counts among her many achievements, the mentoring of many young teachers in the area. Lynn’s teaching style, which was formed during her many years of study, is a blend of the Ashtanga and Iyengar and Tibetan Buddhist traditions. She teaches a soulful vinyasa flow, rooted in alignment, and seasoned with “common sense” philosophy.
Cherie Cooper, RYT500, a former dancer and choreographer, was originally drawn to the Iyengar method of yoga because of its attention to physical detail, form, and alignment. She received her Iyengar teacher training primarily from Bobbi Goldin in Miami, Florida. Her further exploration of the yogic path led her to a year's residency as a member of the spiritual community at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. Cherie's intention is to communicate in her classes the sense of wholeness, joy, and spiritual depth that she finds in the practice of yoga.
Rob Crampton cannot recall the exact spark that fueled his interest in yoga. Perhaps it was his above-average scoring of the high school visit or a teenager's perspective towards Asian practices and philosophies. Whatever it was, he is grateful he began his journey with yoga in 1998. Since 2003, he began teaching yoga at VCU, humbled at the chance to teach in the classes he once was a student of. He has recently completed the Yoga Source TeacherTraining 2007 under the direction of Sandra Pleasants and Jennifer Elliot.
Myra Dionisio, RYT 500, is co-owner and an instructor at Yoga Source where she completed Yoga Alliance’s 200hr and 500hr Teacher Training Program. Currently preparing for certification with the Iyengar Yoga National Association, she also apprentices with John Schumacher at Unity Woods in Bethesda, MD. By studying and observing the Self through asana and pranayama, she encourages her students to develop the sensitivity and intelligence of body, mind and breath as a way to find freedom in their lives. 
Beth Ferrara, RYT 200, has studied yoga for nearly ten years and has been a Yoga Source regular since the studio first opened its doors. She recently completed the Yoga Source Teacher Training Program. A former figure skater and a current writing instructor at VCU, Beth brings a strong sense of alignment and a passion for teaching to her vinyasa flow and power yoga classes. She encourages students to find a sense of lightness and ease in their practice and to carry it into their everyday lives. Workshops with Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Dharma Mitra, and Cyndi Lee have helped deepen Beth’s experience of yoga. 
Sarah Fischer RYT 200, DTR, adopted a yoga practice after years of dance and movement experience. Through her practice, Sarah finds yoga creating a healthy base of physical, emotional, and spiritual strength and softness that inform her daily life. She completed Yoga Alliance's 200hr Teacher Training through Yoga Source and is currently working towards affiliation in Anusara Yoga. Sarah is also a registered dance/movement therapist and as such is constantly exploring the link between body movement and emotion. Theories of mindfulness, love, opening, and compassion inform her practice and teaching style. Sarah's intention is to provide alignment and challenge to guide students towards deeper awareness of Self both on and off the mat.
Ellie Gompert, RYT 200, completed the Holistic Teacher Training at Pure Prana Yoga Studio in Alexandria, VA. She has also completed a 40-hour Ashtanga Teacher Training with David Swenson. By dedicating herself to a regular practice, Ellie has not only experienced extraordinary physical benefits including increased strength, flexibility, and overall health, but she has experienced a profound sense of mental and emotional balance and well-being, connectedness with and compassion for the world around her, and internal and external peace. She hopes that through her teaching all people will feel welcomed comfortably challenged and open to the countless benefits of yoga. “Challenge does not build your character, it reveals it.” – Anon.
Mary Anne Hägglund believes the practice of yoga has expanded her life in ways she never imagined. She completed the Yoga Source Teacher Training Program in 2003, under the direction of Sandra Pleasants and Jennifer Elliott and is certified with Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level. MaryAnne brings humor and compassion to her classes and feels that the “real” yoga happens once we step off the mat and into our daily lives. Her hope is to inspire those who practice with her to move through the world in a way that leaves it better than the way we found it. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Dance from the University of Akron and has taught children and adults in Akron, Columbus and Richmond. When not teaching, MaryAnne continues to study all types of yoga, enjoys reading poetry and traveling to new destinations. “Through curiosity we find inspiration, if we just open ourselves up to it.”
Toni Halstead, RYT 500, has been teaching yoga for 7 years, but has been a student of yoga on and off the mat for over 25 years. Her formal training began in 2000 at The White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA, and since then Toni has been influenced by many gifted yoga teachers that have helped shape her as a teacher and a student. Toni has received advance certifications in Prenatal yoga from Leslie Lytle, Restorative yoga from Judith Lasater & Roger Cole and has been a Relax & Renew teacher since 2003, and more recently the Joint Freeing Series from Mukunda Stiles.
Karen Hansen has studied yoga since 1996 and was certifed at the Yoga Allience 200hr level through Eight Limbs Yoga Center in Chicago, IL. She has practiced with and been influenced by many nationally and internationally recognized teachers. Her teaching style is an eclectic flow that challenges students to move beyond their limits while developing a new and healthier relationship with their bodies – both physical and emotional. Her relaxed manner encourages students to come as they are and to bring their best self to the mat, and to life.
Susan Kratzer, RYT 200, has been a competitive athlete for most of her life involved in gymnastics, swimming, sailing and triathlons. Initially yoga was an athletic endeavor until she stumbled into one of Cherie Cooper’s classes and discovered the deeply sacred practice that is yoga. She recently completed the Yoga Source Teacher Training Program under the direction of Sandra Pleasants and Jennifer Elliott and is certified with Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level. It is Susan’s desire to help her students discover and use their bodies as a doorway to their souls. “The only journey, is the journey within.” - Rilke
Mary Jo Lowery began her exploration of yoga over twenty years ago. Diagnosed with fibromyalgia in 1996, she tried a number of conventional and alternative therapies but found that a regular yoga practice restored her health and brought balance and self-healing to her life. Certified through Integral Yoga with additional studies in a variety of traditions, Mary Jo holds certifications in Yoga for Children, Prenatal and Postpartum Yoga and was a pilot teacher for the American Arthritis Association's Arthritis Friendly Yoga program. Her classes integrate principles from her Stott Pilates teacher training, including emphasis on core strength and stability. She brings to her teaching a background in gerontology with over twenty-five years experience working with seniors in nursing homes, senior centers and community-based social services. Mary Jo is also an experienced doula trained by Penny Simpkin of the Doulas of North America, and teaches childbirth education through the Bon Secour Richmond Health System.
Leslie Lytle directs the prenatal program at Yoga Source through her company 
Diana Martinez, RYT500, is a Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. Her primary teachers are Joe Adlesic, Sandra Pleasants and John Schumacher.
Diana felt attracted to the Eastern culture while she was studying Art History in the School of Architecture in Colombia, S.A. She had the opportunity to travel and live in Taiwan where she started her yoga studies with Sylvia Chiu in 1991. Encouraged by Mrs. Chiu, she decided to follow the teaching path. When she moved to the U.S. in 1997, she took her first Iyengar teacher training where she found the connection between her career and the practice of yoga: “when you follow the steps and get to the most precise details, the mind is fully present, the body feels light and there is freedom.” Diana is currently teaching at Yoga Source and Fort Lee (Army Post).
Lynn Rosemann spent many years in the fitness industry and as a television producer before taking her first yoga class. In 2006, she completed her 200-hour Yoga Alliance Certification in St. Louis, MO where she grew up and her family remains. She has been teaching ever since. Her passion for Yoga draws on the traditions of Hatha, Ashtanga, and Vinyasa. She uses a gentle yet challenging approach to teaching, allowing each student to work toward a place of empowerment. Her teaching style focuses on a personal creative experience, allowing for self-exploration, humor and acceptance. She is deeply indebted to her mentor in St. Louis who helped guide her practice by offering “If your intention is to serve your students. . .the rest will follow.”
Susan Sandlin, L.Ac., RYT 500, has practiced a variety of yoga forms since 1987 and has been teaching since 1992. During this time, she has the opportunity to study with many wonderful well-respected teachers. Her most recent inspirations include the teachings of Paul Grilley, Sarah Powers, Shiva Rea and Seane Corn. In 2006, Susan was honored to lead a yoga retreat in Tulum, Mexico at Maya Tulum Yoga Retreat. Held at the time of the Autumnal Equinox, in a powerful land whose Mayan culture honors the sacredness of the Equinox, the retreat was entitled “Essence of the Equinox: A Journey Back to Self”. Susan’s unique yogic voice speaks the poetry of sacred space, gratitude and grace. She infuses her classes with a deep respect for the ever changing rhythms of the sun, the moon and the seasons. Susan’s teaching challenges students to simultaneously explore the vibration of the moment and the nature of impermanence. A practitioner of Chinese Medicine and an energy healer, Susan practices acupuncture, Chinese herbal medicine and Tuina Chinese clinical massage as well as nutritional and lifestyle consultation, at her Richmond healing center, West End Eastern Medicine. See 
Aimee Yowell discovered the joy of yoga over ten years ago and received her 200RYT through the Yoga Source Teacher Training program under the direction of Sandra Pleasants and Jennifer Elliott in 2006. She enjoys exploring all the yoga traditions in her own practice and draws from those experiences in her teaching. She has studied with Seane Corne, Cyndi Lee, Richard Freeman, David Keil, Michael Hamilton, and Shiva Rea with whom she plans to earn an Advanced 500hr certification in Prana Vinyasa™ Flow. She encourages her students to “come home” to the true self on the mat and then carry that peacefulness of love and light off the mat and into their lives, allowing the joy of yoga to be shared with everyone.
In 1986, Evelyn Zak, E-RYT & RYT 500, began her yoga studies at the Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health. She completed a 200-hour residential teacher training in 1993 under the direction of Jeffrey Migdow, MD. She has been teaching in group and private settings on the Eastern Shore of Virginia, in the NY/NJ area and now in Richmond. Evelyn is currently a candidate for 500-hour certification at Kripalu.
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