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Yogis & Yoginis

Zuzana Kolinkova

Metta Yoga Owner

Zuzana is a world citizen - lived and worked in Europe, Asia, Africa and now settled with her husband and dogs in Phoenix Arizona.

She was originally introduced to yoga by her grandmother in Czech Republic, where she was born. Later she followed her career in military aircraft sales, and finally last 8 years dedicated herself completely to peaceful purposes:) Yoga became her life and passion.

Zuzana's Yoga DVD the Art of Flow yoga is currently #1 most popular Flow DVD on Amazon.com. She is also principal partner in European Spa & Yoga, an on-line retailer of Eco-Luxurious spa and yoga products.

More info: www.europeanyoga.com.

Amy Shapiro

Amy Shapiro is an intuitive, spiritual and creative teacher. Each class is unique and inspired by her students. Her experience as a fitness and wellness professional for the past 25 years has given her the insight and confidence to push her students to challenge themselves no matter what there experience or level of fitness.

Amy's personal yoga practice continually teaches her that it's about the journey not the destination.

Kurt Kleinhans

Kurt is a musician and certified yoga instructor who discovered yoga in a quest for greater focus and found new way of life. His background in music is a rich source of inspiration for his yoga teachings for the last 8 years. He finds the interplay between musical chords, imagery, breath and physical experience particularly powerful in deepening the mind/body connection.

His classes integrate live guitar music to the practice of yoga, forming an innovative union of meditation, yoga postures, and breathing that brings inner peace and outer strength.

Gila Shire

With a 14-year background in nursing, Gila always loved to work with people. Alignment and the healing/therapeutic approach became a key element of her classes, accompanied by thoughtfully chosen themes, music and readings. 

"I love to guide people to combine the beauty they bring to their mats with the wisdom, knowledge and inspiration of yoga."  

Gila's classes are designed for all levels to meet the individual needs of the student, providing space for growth, soulful exploration, holistic networking and community. www.yogila.com

Karin McAreavy

Karin has taught movement and fitness for over 30 years. She continues to design yoga classes that match our evolving lifestyles with the flow of the seasons. The saying, “to teach what you want to learn”, inspires her to continue her studies in anatomy, ayurveda, aromatherapy and many aspects of well-being and prosperous health.

To benefit and enhance the energy of our homes in relation to our inner body space, her business, Haven and Earth was created www.havenandearth.net

Willie Lim

Willie has forty-two years experience in Tai Chi and martial arts. He currently holds the rank of 8th Dan Black Belt in Karate and travels around the world sharing the classical way of Tai Chi. He has taught in America, Canada, England, Ireland, Finland, Australia, New Zealand, and Malaysia. He will introduce you to a simple, yet effective way of learning this unique art form.

www.classicaldimension.com

Nancy Ferraro

Nancy has been practicing yoga since 2006, when she took yoga as cross training for running. Smitten from the first class, her passion for yoga grew until it was a natural progression for her to teach.

Her eldest student being 80 years old and her youngest 9, Nancy truly believes that yoga can benefit everyone by opening the body to heal itself. Her passion is to lead her students to discover their authentic self and reach their full potential on their life journey. It is truly her honor and energizing force in her life to bring yoga to her community.

Sarah Jones

Sarah Jones began her yoga practice as an outlet for managing the pain of migraine headaches. Over time, she felt the physical and mental healing benefits of a regular yoga practice, and knowing that she wanted to share this therapeutic aspect of yoga she completed her yoga teaching certification.

Sarah is currently pursuing her BS in Dietetics at ASU to become a registered dietitian with a focus in holistic nutrition. Her path to studying nutrition began with her own journey of healing with food and she now incorporates her passion and knowledge of nutrition with yoga. With a deep commitment to her overall health and well being, she believes that yoga helps us to become attuned to what our bodies need and aligns us with an inner wellness to find balance in our lives.

Sherri Hered

Originally from Canada, Sherri has had her fair share of travel making her home Ohio, Florida, and South Africa. She has been settling into the Valley for the past 4 years creating a successful Holistic Practice and teaching Yoga.

Her two passions in life, Yoga and Body Stress Release (www.BodyStressRelease.us) are great ways to maintain optimum health.

She worked both Corporate and Wellness for many years gaining great experience that has transferred to her entrepreneurial endeavors. Sherri's fitness background is very diverse with certifications and a degree from both the United States and Canada. She has been teaching Yoga for the past 9 years.

Kat Myers

Kat Myers is a dedicated, devoted and ever-evolving student of Yoga. She has been teaching since 1989 and training teachers since 1996. Kat uniquely blends anatomy, alignment and rhythm into a contemplative and radically dynamic approach to the practice. She is grateful to all of her teachers, students

and to her guru Sri Gary Olsen.

www.YogaBodyRolling.com

Lisa Cohen

Lisa Cohen is a dancing healer and master teacher. Traveling the globe, she's embarked on a lifelong journey to seek out, explore and educate herself in new movement styles, practices and philosophies. Her teaching style is a poetic blend of cultures, techniques, stories and movement. Every class is a unique and creative experience. She feels blessed to have studied and learned with the many masters of Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, Bikram and Kundalini yoga.

Lisa encourages her students to push their limits and move beyond what they thought possible. Her vinyasa flow is playful and masterful and she invites you to move and play with her.

Mimi Solaire

Mimi loves to move! Her classes are informed by her 25 years of dance and performance experience. She studied dance & ballet and has performed with Opendance since 1994. Due to injuries from a car accident she lived with neck and back pain for 10 years. Using yoga techniques she is now pain free and is committed to helping others heal themselves. Mimi focuses on yoga anatomy, deep stretching and pain/stress reduction. Mimi published 3 Instructional Yoga DVDs - more info visit www.mimisolaire.com

Jordan Wangler

Jordan was always involved in athletics. He discovered Bikram Yoga and was later introduced to more traditional Hatha style yoga. After beginning a consistent practice Jordan realized the spiritual connection that yoga made in his life. Jordan completed his Yoga certification at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts. As a yoga instructor Jordan provides a safe environment for students with the intention that they develop an individual relationship and connection with yoga. Even as a teacher Jordan is always learning and salutes the light and peace within all students.

Daniel Medina

Daniel was first introduced to Yoga in Austin, Texas. While selling Real Estate, Yoga provided a safe place for him to de-stress and ground. About 5 years into his practice he had a vision of a full classroom of people and knew he would be teaching one day. While traveling in Thailand he mentored under a teacher from Australia and was excited to return to the states to begin certification. He continues to be a student of the work and most recently he has been studying energy healing and quantum physics and been amazed at the inter-connectedness of all of it. You will find his teaching style clear, concise, full of energy and power. Yoga has been for him more than just a stretching practice... it has been a sanctuary where he can connect with source and allow his highest truth and begins to shine forth and healing to happen!”

Peter Myers

With influences from Astanga and incorporating uplifting music, Peter leads his classes to build strength, refine technique and increase overall well being. In his daily life, Peter is a Master Somatic Coach and teaches embodied leadership nationally; he has also done leadership and yoga training with the Amputee Coalition of America since 2008. Come to experience Peter's passion, energy and lightheartedness that he brings from day to day life into his yoga teaching.

Annemarie Miskovic

Annemarie compliments her yoga practice, with her teaching background - that includes over 15 years of experience coaching swimming and a degree in Kinesiology. The love for working with people, and the natural draw to movement have always been part of her journey. In her classes, Annemarie offers a sense of calm and blends it with her background in sports, as she invites her students to explore a balance between breath, awareness and effort. With intention to guide her students toward achieving health, happiness and peace, Annemarie brings her own joy of yoga and an open heart to every class.

Alexandra Bruin

Alexandra is dedicated to helping reveal the Divine qualities that are already present in each of us. Balancing strength and flexibility with freedom and playfulness, her teaching style is creative and empowering. She completed her 200hr certification in Iyengar with Anusara emphasis and recently started training for her 500hr certification in Ashtanga. She sees herself as a lifelong student of yoga whose highest goal is to align with the Divine. Seeking the truth and leading from the heart are what guides Alexandra on her journey from the unreal into the real.

Caroline Cucchiara

Caroline's teaching focuses on awakening the true Self through awareness, truthfulness, and movement of the Divine energy. Her classes embrace a wide range of hatha yoga traditions, including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Viniyoga, and Kundalini.

Devsuroop Singh Khalsa

Devsuroop took his first Yoga class in 1998, and it was Kundalini. Within a month he enrolled in the Teacher Training program to learn all he could about this Sacred Science.

In the years since, he has remained a student while also being a teacher. He brings his strengths in both Breathwork and Meditation to Metta and her students. Devsuroop looks forward to sharing and being of service to all that want a deeper personal experience, to that which breaths in you. Sat Nam :o)

Max Cohen

Max Cohen is a conscientious entrepreneur and a yogi. He has created, co-created and invested in companies in several industries including: dot.com & web-based technologies, online financial services, real estate development, fine wine & tequila production and yoga studios & apparel.

Max’s intention is to give back to the community, to share his passion for yoga through teaching it and to attempt to bring out the best in every person he meets. Max donates 100% of the money he earns teaching yoga to charity.

Lorilee Gillmore

Lorilee Gillmore is passionate about health and healing. She has had a private bodywork practice for over 17 years. Looking for a physical practice that evolved into a spiritual path she started her yogic lifestyle. After completing her Yoga Teacher Training she continued to pursue an education in Ayurveda. She now runs Moksha Ayurveda which focuses on the total well being of an individual. Her love and passion of the four paths of yoga penetrate through her class as she stresses not only asana but also includes the other 7 limbs of yoga as well.

Gia Perrone

Gia is from Milwaukee, WI and has lived in 15 countries. She found yoga while under stress in graduate school and has been teaching for over 13 years. Her formal training was in Astanga Yoga with Sri Pattabi Jois in Mysore, India, and did a year training in Madrid, Spain in various styles.

She has been in the Valley for years and teaches Vinyasa Flow, Power, Restorative and pre and post natal currently. Known for teaching all levels and modifying instruction for all practitioners, her classes are challenging but fun!

Catherine Genzler

Cathy integrates teachings of the classical, ancient yogis with contemporary insight and music to offer students a dynamic and unique experience with each class that she teaches. Cathy is fascinated with the human body; her understanding of anatomy, physiology and biology is derived from her formal, ongoing studies.

Honoring the earliest interpretations of the science of yoga, Cathy encourages her students to be mindful that the physical practice of yoga (asana) is meant to bring the body to place where the mind will finally become quiet, allowing the essential nature of the person to be revealed. Cathy’s classes are planned with this in mind, regardless of the level of physical movement.

www.CathyGenzler.com

Jen Wheeler

With a heart full of love and a commitment to spreading peace and happiness, Jen has taught yoga classes throughout the Valley for many years. A former elementary teacher, she has an abundance of patience, a calming presence, and most importantly, a good sense of humor. Jen is registered at the 500-hour level and has worked with a wide variety of students including children, those with serious injuries and disabilities, and those who can't touch their toes or are wound up tightly and find it difficult to relax.

Formerly diagnosed with depression, Jen has firsthand experience of the power and healing capacity of the mind-body connection and a deep respect for the importance of the expression of breath. Her classes are a well-rounded blend of traditional yoga as she weaves postures, breathwork, meditation, and a healthy dose of philosophy to help students expand beyond their mats and experience the yoga of everyday life.

Colleen Ruff

Colleen has had a life long love of health and fitness. Colleen was drawn to yoga for its acceptance of all ages and abilities. She continued in her practice when she recognized it as a vehicle for positive change and growth.

She delights in the opportunity to teach and share with others who want to become healthier and more serene.

Brijet Myers

She draws inspiration from her family, amazing music, and the incredible Yogis who practice with her. Famous instructors she has learned from and beginners who have come to her classes all contribute to her technique. Brijet lives in the Arcadia neighborhood with her husband, Peter Myers, and two children.

Brijet concentrates on awareness in all elements of an individual: physical, emotional, spiritual, and intellectual. She encourages meditation, increasing self-awareness so practitioners become more mindful and enjoy the small details of each moment in life, for positive mental health.