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JEAN GRANT SUTTON, Bodyworks Director, is a certified Integrative Yoga Instructor and Massage Therapist and has practiced yoga for over 20 years. Jean has an extensive background in various bodyworks modalities. She founded BodyWorks Yoga in Petaluma in 1994 and offers classes, workshops and private yoga therapy sessions locally and throughout California.

ANNE O'BRIEN is a dedicated teacher and practitioner of yoga. She teaches multi-level classes, workshops, private lessons and trains teachers in Sonoma and Marin counties. She believes in the health and well-being benefits derived from yoga and endeavors to present yoga in a manner accessible to diverse groups of people. Her classes offer attention to alignment and form while finding individual creative expression in the practice. She periodically brings groups on international travel adventures, blending cultural experiences with the practice of yoga. Anne is currently completing work on a collaborative book, Iyengar, Master Yoga Teacher due to be published by Shambhala Press in July 2007. For more information please see wwww.anneobrienyoga.com.

CARMELA CARLYLE is the founder of the first Laughter Yoga Club in Sonoma County and has integrated Hasya (Laughter) Yoga into all aspects of her full-time counseling, consulting and yoga teaching practice. Her innovative yoga classes and workshops offer the prana of laughter creatively integrated with hatha yoga sequences selected for the session's theme, knowledge gleaned from twenty years of leading professional workshops, deeply restorative crystal bowl sound healings for satisfying savasanas and optional aromatherapy mistings! She works in a variety of settings throughout Marin and Sonoma Counties: teaching in yoga studios and at fitness sutdios, providing yoga and laughter yoga for stress relief and wellness in the workplace, teaching arm chair yoga for elders, providing individual yoga therapy sessions for women, presenting rousing laughter yoga for large audiences, for professional conferences and customizing laughter yoga for private celebrations. For more information, go to www.carmelacarlyle.com    

CLARA GRAY has been practicing Yoga for more than 10 years. She is a Certified Integrative Yoga Teacher who continues to explore and expand her knowledge and passion for Yoga through regular trainings, workshops and seminars.
Clara believes that Yoga is for all and her commitment is to make that possible by offering classes that are fun, challenging and accessible to all levels and needs. Her teaching style emphasizes on alignment, exploration and finding ease in the practice. Clara guides her students on the path of compassion and patience and enjoys helping them build and deepen their practice through awareness and mindfulness. She likes to empower the student to find their balance by listening and connecting with their breath, mind and body.
She loves to be on her mat as a student and as a teacher and is grateful for all the learning moments shared together.
Clara thinks, "By the practice of letting go of judgment and connecting with our heart, mind and bodies, we can find and learn the true essence of Yoga."

DEBORAH REID is a certified Dru Yoga teacher and Health Educator. Dru Yoga continues to passionately engage her because of its emphasis on befriending oneself. Intrigued with yoga early in the 70s and dabbling for many years while raising 3 lovely daughters, she began studying Iyengar seriously 13 years ago with the patient and warm-hearted Robert Gray. Deb’s love affair with teaching started in 1988 as a Teacher of English as a Second Language leading her on several journeys to become a dedicated and engaging yoga instructor. Over the last 7 years while living and working as a Remedial Massage Therapist in Australia, she gained her yoga teaching certification in Dru, graduating to teach public classes and honored to be supporting and teaching on the Dru Teacher Training Modules. Class strategy is safe, fun and well-rounded integrating all aspects of yoga while offering useful information about the workings of the body.

DONEEN BARONE is an integrative yoga teacher whose practice draws on a study of several yoga traditions, including Hatha, Kundalini and Yin Yoga. Her practice continues to be enriched and deepened by streams of influence including her early training in classical ballet and Karate, inquiring into different spiritual traditions and her family life which includes all the challenges of raising tweenagers. Doneen has spent over 20 years in Corporate America in business development and marketing which has influenced her style of teaching today. With a focus on creating a safe and nurturing space to explore asana, breathe work and guided meditation to relieve stress and anxiety.

ELISA PEREZ started her practice of yoga in 1991 and has studied various styles of yoga from Iyengar to Ana Forrest Yoga. She began teaching in 1996 with a style of teaching that is a flow style, connecting the breath with the postures, leading to the discovery of intention for each individual student.

ELIZABETH SHELTON is a certified yoga teachers from Bodyworks Integrated Yoga Therapy Program. She has found that the integration of yoga with the 12 steps has deepened her spiritual practice and she is passionate about sharing this process. Elizabeth has been practicing Vipassana yoga since 1992.

GAIL O’DEA has been a part BodyWorks community since its inception, originally as a massage therapist and yoga practioner. And, most recently, as a student in the BodyWorks Yoga Teacher Training program. Gail has been touched by both the steadfast approach of Hatha Yoga approach that encourages self-awareness through the lens of compassion and balance, as well as the “spicier” approach of the Kundalini practice which serves as a catalyst to personal growth through the practice of breathwork, chanting and intense, directed kriya work.

GAILA NEWBURG’s education has been both traditional and experiential. Of note is her background as a teaching nurse and actor, with a long involvement with women’s groups. Expressive movement is her passion, as is finding opportunities to be of assistance to others. She is presently in “Circlework” training with Jalaja Bonheim.

J.T. BYMASTER is a local bodyworker, somatic counselor, and martial arts instructor. He has been studying martial arts and bodywork for over a decade and enjoys helping people feel more comfortable and alive in their bodies.

JEWEL MATHIESON is an award-winning storyteller, an internationally published poet and a founding member of Sonoma 's Center of the Universe Cafe. She has performed throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with her band The Rhythm Ride, with conga master Bob Young and bass cello virtuoso Steve Shain. She has also been teaching movement for over twenty years, with an emphasis in the 5Rhythms™ practice of Gabrielle Roth. A graduate of Sonoma State University, I hold degrees in Psychology, Liberal Arts and Education and am a certified teacher/director specializing in Early Childhood Development and Movement.

JOHN RECORDS is an acclaimed facilitator of restorative and transformative practices. He has been practicing meditation and allied disciplines since the early 80s and has taught at universities, hospitals and yoga studios.

JULIA CLOTHIER is a certified Relax and Renew Trainer and Ananda Yoga and Meditation Teacher. Her teaching style emphasizes safe body alignment and quiet introspection. She encourages students to explore the clarity that deep yoga practice can bring to every aspect of daily life.

LISA FLATO is a certified Hatha Yoga and Pre Natal & Post Partum instructor from the Integral Yoga Institute of New York. She has been practicing yoga for the past 10 years although the love affair began many years before as she unknowingly practiced asanas and pranayama in classes while studying for her B.A. in Theater Arts from SFSU. Her lighthearted approach to the practice aims at keeping the student engaged in their body, awake in their mind, and alive in their spirit. She has been teaching for the past 4 years and is a happy transplant back to her native home of California. Here are some comments from Lisa: “My family and I have very recently relocated back to our home state of California from New York. Having lived in San Francisco for years, I knew when we were considering where to move that Northern California was the place for us, but not sure where. Petaluma simply called to me. The healing vibration here is undeniable. Since the first class I took at BodyWorks, I knew right away the depth that the community felt for the studio and everyone I have met has welcomed me with open arms and hearts. I’m very excited to be a part of BodyWorks and look forward to serving others in their practice as we all walk this path of yoga together. Om Shanti Om Peace.”

MARJORIE RICHARDSON is a certified Integrative Yoga Instructor & Massage Therapist who has been teaching yoga in Petaluma since 1997. Her gentle style supports the process of letting go of tensions, worries and habits by using breath and movement synchronized together.

MELANIE MACDONALD has been studying yoga since 1993, massage therapy since 2000, and Ayurveda since 2002. She is a Certified Yoga Instructor, Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher, Certified Massage Therapist (including Thai Yoga Massage, Marma Therapy and Ayurvedic Body Therapies), and a Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist. She's completed teacher trainings with Anne O'Brien, Clare Venet, Richard Miller, and others; Kofi Busia; and Shiva Rea's Rasa Vinyasa. Melanie incorporates into her yoga classes her experiences with dance, meditation, and bodywork therapies. She is passionate about yoga, and continues to be inspired by it's healing and life transforming abilities on and off of the mat. Melanie teaches a blend of hatha yoga styles, creates a balanced practice, and honors each individual's personal journey.

NICHOLAS EVERTZ has just returned from study in India, has taught yoga in North America, Central America, and South East Asia.

His teaching focuses on bringing together the three centers of the self- body, speech and mind. Nicholas shares an enlivening flow that links breath with movement. Each class is a playful mixture of fluid movement and fun intended to awaken the joy of being who we are. Join Nicholas for classes that integrate mind, body, and spirit to awaken the true essence of the self- Bliss.

NICOLE WARD is a certified and registered Yoga Alliance instructor (RYT) serving northern California for the past 4 years. Using Integrative Yoga Therapy, she has helped hundreds of beginning students learn how yoga can work for them. Her classes are fun, informative, and challenging—yet playful...More information is available at www.yogawithnicole.org

RAIZELAH BAYEN has over 20 years of meditation experience. Her meditation practice was first inspired through a 6-month retreat at Green Gulch Zen Center. Her meditation practice deepened over the years with complementary practices of inquiry and yoga. Raizelah trained and was certified to teach yoga by the founder of Dharma Yoga, a Zen priest, weaving Zen teachings and yoga practice together as one path.

RENTIA HUMPHRIES Ph.D, RPP has been practicing and teaching yoga and the healing arts since 1978. She is currently in private practice in Petaluma, offering Polarity Therapy, body-oriented psycho-therapy and yoga.

RHONDA GERHARD is a Licensed Marriage, Family Therapist and Certified Integrative Yoga Therapy Teacher. She has a psychotherapy practice in Petaluma, and brings the integration of mind, body and spirit to her work with others.

STEPHEN GALE is a student of the martial arts for over 25 years, Stephen earned a Black Belt in Aikido and has studied Yang and Chen style taijiquan for over 10 years. He founded the Southern Nevada Chen Style Taijiquan School in 2003. Stephen was awarded an instructor's certificate to teach Chen Style Taiji from Grand Master Chen Qingzhou and Master Wong Wai Yi (Tony Wong). Stephen brings his studies of tantra, hatha & kundalini yoga & vipassana meditation to his teaching of taichi & qigong.

TAMARA GROSE, MFA, CMT, combines 30 years international experience as a professional classical dancer, master instructor and choreographer with 15 years practice of Buddhist philosophy to enhance her Hatha yoga classes. Tamara’s style of teaching emphasizes body awareness, alignment and the integration of mindfulness and ease in practice and daily life. Tamara currently teaches yoga, classical ballet and dance aerobics for Santa Rosa Junior College.

TERRIANNE GUTIERREZ spent many years off and on living in an ashram in Southern India. She has had her own center for meditation and healing and has been teaching people how to meditate since 1985. A lifelong student of dance, she has been studying and performing Middle Eastern Dance for over thirty years. Her television appearances include "Bay Area Backroads". Among her solo dance achievements was being asked by the San Francisco Egyptian community to dance for the Egyptian Consulate to the United States on his visit to San Francisco. She is the director of the dance company, Joweh.

TRICE BONNEY is a certified yoga instructor and bodyworker with an in-depth knowledge of physiology and anatomy, who also brings 25 years of spiritual study and practice to create a fun, relaxing and inspiring learning environment.

VAIRAGYA EIGER began her study of yoga in 1970 at the age of 4 years. She eventually found her way to India in 1979 and spent almost 5 years living in an ashram and studying yoga. She finds a deep well of gratitude and connection to all things through this practice. Vairagya is currently studying in the Advanced Teacher Training program at the Iyengar Institute in SF. In addition to teaching yoga, she has been a personal trainer in Pilates and the Gyrotonic systems for the past 9 years and brings this knowledge to her yoga practice and teaching. How we live in our bodies, our habits and holding patterns are a source of deep investigation and learning. She looks forward to sharing her love of the vast and amazing subject of yoga with new and experienced students alike. 707.280.4428 veiger@eigermethod.com