Mary became a certified yoga instructor through Ananda in 1999 and began teaching yoga in the Santa Ynez Valley. After moving to Santa Barbara, Mary found her yoga home at Yoga Soup. Her desire to teach yoga was inspired by the transformative potential of yoga she found as a student and she continues to embrace the humbleness and mystery of the practice. Mary’s gentle nature and knowledge of the body, as a licensed massage therapist, enhance her students’ experience of the yoga asanas creating a unique experience in her classes.  Mary offers workshops of self-care for the everyday person to educate all on the simple techniques one can use to ease and release long held pain in the body. www.maryelliott.org

Assisting clients in personal healing has been a lifelong journey for Suzanne Marlow. Her trained specialties—integrative yoga therapy, clinical psychology, homeopathy—form a powerful triad of healing modalities that has been successful over the years in helping her clients live a healthier, more heart-based life.
Suzanne earned her Masters Degree in Psychology with an emphasis on Integrative Yoga at Antioch University-Santa Barbara in 2000 and a Masters Degree in Homeopathic Medicine in 1994. An accomplishment Suzanne is most proud of is completing the Intensive Quadrinity Process at The Hoffman Institute in 2002. A Master’s in Clinical Psychology awarded in 2007 has made Suzanne a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist intern. She is currently gaining hours at the Community Counseling Center in Santa Barbara.

Suzanne has taught integrative yoga for the past 8 years and has had the opportunity to teach at various studios in Santa Barbara as well as Cottage Hospital and in private one-to-one sessions. Suzanne has also taught about natural medicines at the Homeopathic Society of Santa Barbara and her written work has appeared in well-respected journals.

Residing in Santa Barbara affords Suzanne yet one more modality of healing—the natural outdoors. She may be discovered hiking the local mountain trails or enjoying the sand and sea with her two sons and their dog, Dude.
Link: http://www.suzannemarlow.com/

Yoni has been instructing yoga since the summer of 2007. He began his teaching experience at a summer camp providing yoga to kids, teens, and adults. Coming back to Santa Barbara he dove straight into instructing at UCSB, assisting at Santa Barbara City College, and leading free outdoor classes for everyone and anyone. When he is not instructing or practicing yoga, you might find Yoni shredding the bass guitar in a music trio with Marc B.

Click to view Music site

Deborah Donohue is a Professional Writer and Editor, Certified Integrative Yoga Therapist, Certified Yoga of the Heart Practitioner, Certified Reiki Practitioner and Transition Doula sm (midwife to the dying and in support of their loved ones). She is registered with the Yoga Alliance and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists as well as the National Federation of Spiritual Healers.

Her empathic and therapeutic approach to her teaching evolved through decades of dealing with her own profound and exceptional health issues that both humbled and gifted her life. She has worked in the healing arts for three decades, many of those years caring for people with acute and chronic challenges: AIDS, cancer and cardiac among them. She has spent over ten years personally attending to the dying at Sarah House, a social model hospice in Santa Barbara, California.

Her private sessions, classes, workshops and retreats encourage deep transformative healing and rejuvenation through a blend and integration of Yin and Restorative Yoga,guided meditation, breath work, healing touch, journaling and reconnecting with nature.

Kaita Lepore loves to move. She received degrees in both Dance and Psychology before discovering yogaas a vehicle for her continued exploration of the relationship between body and mind. Drawing on her experience in pilates, fitness, and professional dance, Kaita’s yoga instruction is infused with a rich understanding of the human body.

Jason Handler graduated as valedictorian of Emperor's College of Traditional Oriental Medicine, an elite Chinese Medical School. Jason's teaching draws from his many years of studying Hatha Yoga, Medical Qi Gong and various forms of Internal Martial Arts. Learning all of these systems has lent a deep appreciation for honoring the true definition of the word Yoga, where all teachings become unified within the heart. Jason has lectured at the University of Pennsylvania, UCLA, CSUN, and many other local studios. He currently holds a private practice in Summerland, CA.

Felicia combines her background in massage therapy, dance and yoga in order to provide a well-rounded yoga program. Her integrative techniques allow for a creative, spirited approach to yoga. She is passionate about working in the health and wellness environment, as she attributes much of her own personal growth to this nurturing, positive atmosphere. She hopes to inspire you to take action, challenge yourself in new ways, hold yourself accountable for your own enrichment and above all, have fun doing so. Felicia encourages you to be kind to your body, breathe, and live more fully in each moment. She emboldens you to foster positive feedback between your mind and your physical body, both on the mat and in life. Felicia considers the opportunity to serve you a great honor.

Yanoula began practicing yoga in the cold winters of Illinois and
decided to start teaching soon thereafter. She completed her
certification at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center and studied under Erich
Schiffman and Sarah Powers. She'll readily admit, however, that it's the fluence of a wide variety of local teachers that has kept her
practice and dedication alive. In 1998 she began studying Tibetan
Buddhism under B. Alan Wallace and this interest easily translated
into a path towards yoga (with some prompting by her mother).

Cybil Gilbertson is a White Lotus Certified Yoga Teacher, Pilates Instructor, Licensed Massage Therapist, Doula and Professional Dancer with over 10 years of private and group teaching experience. Cybil has danced professionally with Santa Barbara Dance Theatre since 1997, teaching and touring locally and internationally. She has also performed with Cirque Destino, The California Coastal Project and several local choreographers. Cybil's lifelong love of movement has led her to study an ecclectic blend of modalities. Cybil has taught at Blue Star Rising, Simpatico Pilates and Gyrotonic, UCSB Department of Dance, Santa Barbara Dance Theatre, La Playa Pilates and Wellness Center, The Esalen Institute, in Big Sur, CA, as well as classes in China and The Dominican Republic.

www.cybilgilbertson.com

Kristen studied Interdisciplinary Yoga with Amba and Don Stapleton, the creator of the Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training program, at Omega Institute, where she gained her 200-hr teacher certification. In addition, Kristen has also trained with Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Cyndi Lee, Mark Whitwell, Richard Gold, Biff Mithoefer, Jason Nemer & Jenny Sauer-Klein, and Johnathan Urla, and has received her teaching credentials in Pilates, transformational dance and Acroyoga: combination of partner yoga, Thai Massage and acrobatics. Kristen has also had extensive training in Nuad Bo-rarn, a form of Thai Massage that incorporates yogic stretches, deep compressions, pranayama and meditation to offer her clients deep relaxation and physical and emotional relief.

Kristen combines her social work and massage skills, with her leadership in health and fitness, to award her students the most empowering, self-actualizing and stress reducing experiences. She is best known for her knowledge, healing abilities and awareness to her studentís specific needs. http://www.kristenhoye.com

Mary Cate received her 200 Hour Teacher Training Certificate in 2007 through Yandara in Todos Santos Mexico. Yandara is a traditional yoga teaching style inwhich teahcers work with each individual according to their needs. The emphasis of the program is an immersion into yoga/nature lifestyle to help promote inner peace.

Mary Cate's intention as a yoga teacher is to integrate the systems of Hatha Yoga, Ayureveda, and Tantra in order to create practices that are personalized to meet the needs of each individual. Inspirational teachers include BSK Iyengar, Yogi Balak Nath, Rod Stryker and Alan Finger.

A Vinyasa style class with intuitive movement and spaciousness, freedom, and stillness of mind and body. Sarah expresses and emphasizes the benefits and other offerings that practicing yoga has given her over the years; a correlation between a free moving, open, flexible body and a free open thinking unstuck mind. Simply put- unsticking your body allows for unstuckness of old thought patterns, habits, tendencies etc.

Though it is yoga and she holds postures for long periods of time, the space and fluid moving practice allows the practitioner to really move intuitively with their OWN body and space wherever they are on that day.

Sarah encourages people to move their body with what feels good, and healing. So rather than lifting an arm when the teacher says do this-do that, students are checking in with themselves, taking care and responsibility for their own bodies and well being.

Sarah Tuttle began her study of yoga and meditation in 1980. In 1992, she began teaching in a rural corner of the Northwest. Though the population there was not typically the type to seek yoga, Sarah's passionate yet practical approach drew students from every age and walk of life. This quickly led to the opening of her studio.

Teaching in the Iyengar style, Sarah is attentive to her student's individual needs and capabilities. She inspires them to work deeply, fostering a self-awareness that is relative to every area of life. A sufferer of seizures in her youth, scoliosis since the age of 12, and a mother of four, Sarah knows firsthand the transformative benefits a yoga practice brings.

As BKS Iyengar says, "Asana is perfect firmness of body, steadiness of intelligence, and benevolence in spirit." Sarah's many years of applied experience and her love of yoga guides her students on this path.

Sarah is new to Santa Barbara and has been a registered yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance (RYT-500) since 2002. She was the original co-owner and founder of Bheka Yoga Supplies Company.

Jim Cutsinger brings a lifetime of discipline, study, practice and teaching in human development at the intersection of health, psychology and spirituality. Starting in childhood with religious training and sports, then moving to strength training, musicianship and studies in consciousness in adolescence, at 21 he turned to regular yoga, meditation, running and backpacking.

At 31 he began 5 years of solitary spiritual practice at the Mahatma Gandhi Yoga Ashram. He then studied Bodywork, Depth Psychology, Shamanism and Deep Emotional work. At 38, he created the “Conscious Deep Bodywork” method which he taught at the Diamond Light School of Healing and Massage in Marin County for 5 Years. He has shared his teachings through retreats, seminars and trainings and is the creator of Golden Lion Qigong.

A professional musician since age 16, the founder of Meadowgate Music Productions in Montecito, a leader with the Council Circle Foundation and the Mankind Project Santa Barbara, Jim also apprenticed at the Santa Barbara Management Training Company. In 1994 he began and has maintained the study and practice of Taoism and Qigong integrated with Core athletics and Strength training.

click here to view his site

Hillary has been living in Santa Barbara for 20 years. She has studied yoga for over 10 years as a student and a teacher. She has studied with many great yogis and loves to share all she learns. Hillary has a wonderful way of incorporating meditation with asana. She teaches in a very strengthening yet calming style.

Aside from wanting to print a t-shirt reading "I survived Hillary's yoga class" a sense of calm, confidence, and empowerment comes across as well. Hillary's strengthening yoga classes are challenging on an individual level. No matter experience Hillary's class will be an experience. Come to be strong. Come to be calm. Come to breath.

Beginning to dance at age 5, Amythyst immediately developed a love of the moving body. She went on to earn a degree in dance from Cal State Long Beach as well as an advanced Pilates certification from Long Beach Dance Conditioning. She currently choreographs and dances professionally while also teaching modern dance and Pilates.

Amythyst has experience teaching Pilates to people with all levels of experience as well as Pilates for scoliosis, pelvic floor, and breast cancer. She especially enjoys teaching and has found that her background in dance has made her a natural instructor. She teaches with humor, patience, and kindness.

Kat is deeply committed to enhancing the lives of her students through a mindful, dynamic approach to yoga, integrating mind, body and spirit. She has been practicing Hatha yoga since 1992 and teaching since July 1999. Kat is a Yoga Alliance ERYT-500 registered yoga teacher with over 11,000 hours of yoga taught as of December 2009. She was first inspired to teach by Ana Forrest, who imparted the fundamentals of Forrest Yoga - encouraging honesty, integrity, strength and the healing process.

Kat has completed teacher trainings with Ana Forrest, Donna Farhi, Sarah Powers, Erich Schifmann and Lisa Walford. She was deeply influenced by Donna Farhi who gave her the gift of internal alignment (applied developmental movement patterns) and as a result her teaching style draws upon the intention to connect each individual to their unique inner wisdom. She also conducts therapeutic yoga classes at the Cancer Center of Santa Barbara and at Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital. Kat lives in Santa Barbara, CA with her husband Tony Longo, dog Bello Amor and two cats Mr. Tom and Silver City. http://www.katconnors-longo.com

A native of Germany, Dorothea comes to yoga with a background in nursing and theatre arts. She received her training at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center and has been teaching since 2002. She believes that life has a thousand springs and that it's never too late to learn something new in order to transform life to the highest spiritual level. What she loves about yoga is that it combines mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual elements to produce a synergy that can have powerful effects on all these aspects of life.

Karena became a committed Kundalini Yoga practitioner after discovering the practice in 1996. Since 1999, she has been a Kundalini Research Institute (KRI) certified instructor teaching locally in many different venues. Karena’s classes are joyful and inspired helping to make a very precise and powerful yogic technology approachable by everyone.

Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan combines kriyas (sequences for specific benefits) including breath work (pranayam), active exercises, passive postures (asanas), sound current (mantras), mudras (hand postures) and meditations into a powerful mode of self healing that maintains general physical and emotional well-being and fosters spiritual growth.

Kundalini...My story A Santa Barbara implant from Wisconsen
I have tried the Geographical therapy, Substance therapy, Relationship
therapy,and the Retail therapy...need I say more?Well, as life
kept coming at me I kept searching for a practice that would take me to
a place of serenity, gratitude and harmony with the planet as well as
strenghtening my physical body. I was seeking a practice to open up my
energies in all directions. As they say in Kundalini "awaken your
consciousness" I wanted to be fully expressed.

Kundalini practice has taken me to new levels of understanding
myself as well as others. My purpose is now limitless, my love is now
more pure, my understanding of life is now much more
enjoyable... and my practice and teaching are my bliss.

Mr. Wiedmann has been practicing the martial arts for thirty six years in the Santa Barbara area and has operated his own school, The Wu Shu Studio, since 1979.

Mr. Wiedmann is ranked 7th degree black belt in the Kenpo Karate system and will bring to bare the martial the martial implication concealed within the graceful soft movements of the Tai Chi form. This correlation gives you reference points and helps to memorize the form, it also adds to the feeling of healthy, compassionate confidence, and empowerment one feels from consistant practice. Mr. Wiedmann will also share his personal "feel" for the art, and eclectic philosophies from his years of practice, study, experience, and teaching.

Currently Mr. Wiedmann teaches at Tai Chi at The Wu Shu ( martial arts ) Studio, Montessori Center School, and the Santa Barbara Athletic Club. My Unique teaching style iss very user friendly and encouraging with lots of friendly guidance and communication.

Marty New is a recent transplant from New York City who specializes in gentle, vigorous yoga that leads to a smooth Vinyasa flow. Methodically warming up each of the joints and muscle groups Marty encourages variations so each person may be guided by their own needs and abilities while also being attentive to their breath. She teaches three levels of Hatha yoga, incorporating sound vibration, breathing practice and deep relaxation.

Marty began practicing Yoga twenty years ago as a young actress learning to reduce stress for performance and increase her strength and flexibility as an actor. After graduating from the Yale School of Drama, Marty began teaching acting at NYU, incorporating Yoga into her classes. Her fundamentally physical approach synthesized techniques drawn from Yoga, Alexander technique, and Swiss Balls with a deep understanding of performance and high-level performance flow.

Marty is a registered Experienced Yoga Teacher, trained and certified at Integral Yoga in New York (levels I, II and III Hatha yoga), where she made a profound decision to balance her passions for food, teaching and parenting with her love of Yoga. ClimbTime Yoga, (a parent/child partnering program) was inspired and created with her son Somerset. Marty continues her Yoga practice with Somerset attached and together they've developed a new frontier in parenting and Yoga.