|
Amelia Vick
Amelia's yoga journey started when she was about 12 years old. Oddly enough, the first time she ever practiced was with her sister while she followed along with a class on FitTV, a channel she got for free sometimes with her satellite TV subscription. At the time, she did not know why, but she knew she felt so much better after practicing yoga. Since then, her practice has transformed and grown in so many ways. She came to understand that yoga was never just about the physical practice. She learned that our mat where we practice is a mirror of life and there are a multitude of lessons to be learned through asana. Yoga offers her a medium to strengthen her body and mind, enhance coping skills, and provides moments of silence to dig into the depths of the soul. For her, yoga has been the sole constant in her life. It has always been there and will continue to be. She hopes to share this gift yoga gave her with you too. Beginners and all levels welcome! |
|
Charles MacInerney
Charles is known for his creative approach to integrating the ancient wisdom and traditions of yoga with the latest scientific advances in understanding the mind/body connection. Classes are based on a solid foundation of alignment principles while allowing for a playful, organic exploration of the pose and the breath. All levels are welcome, including beginners. Charles is an E-RYT-500 and also a certified yoga therapist with 30 years of teaching experience. He has presented at dozens of National and International Conferences and helped set up and run yoga programs for Seton Hospital and the Austin Heart Hospital. He started the Free Day of Yoga, founded the Texas Yoga Retreat and the Living Yoga Program (with graduates teaching yoga in 45 states and 15 countries). Charles writes and posts yoga videos for his website: YogaTeacher.com, and has published a book on Dharana (concentration) as well as contributing articles to the Yoga Journal and numerous other magazines. 
|
|
Connie Hausman
Connie Hausman, director and founder of CAN DO YOGA™ in Austin, Texas, is a Yoga teacher with over 30 years teaching experience. She is also a certified massage and Reike therapist and life coach and holds a BA in Psychology and English from the University of Texas. Connie began her Yoga teacher-training in the two-year Advanced Studies Program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco. Thereafter, Connie apprenticed for five years under internationally acclaimed Iyengar instructor, Yelena Fedotova. After the sudden loss of her beloved teacher, Yelena, she studied and apprenticed for eight years with Manouso Manos. In the spring of 2001, she had the honor of working with Geeta Iyengar, BKS Iyengar's daughter, and in 2003 she traveled to Pune, India to study with the Iyengar family. Connie creates a safe, structured environment that encourages students to break through preconceived limitations. Her ultimate objective is to impart how Yoga creates choice--a choice for greater physical, mental, and spiritual health and well-being. Connie lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Satoshi, and is the mother of three children, Gabe, Akira and Saffron. |
|
Devon Dederich
Devon holds a B.A. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania, an M.A. in geography from the University of New Mexico, and is nationally certified to teach in the Iyengar tradition. Devon began formal practice of Iyengar Yoga in 1978, and since then has studied with senior-level Iyengar teachers both here and abroad, as well as with Mr. Iyengar, his son Prashant and his daughter Geeta in Pune. She has taught since 1980 in New Mexico, Africa, and Texas. Devon has also worked with Peggy Kelley and other teachers on Iyengar teacher training projects for over twenty years. She also likes art and craftwork. |
|
Dustin Turner
Dustin is a gifted Yoga Therapist that has been teaching and working with groups and individuals for well over a decade. His focus is to integrate the wisdom, philosophy, science and art of yoga into action and guidance for our modern lives. Dustin brings yogic precision and a loving heart to all his classes. You are sure to discover parts of your body you never knew existed. He is deeply rooted in the Yoga tradition of BKS Iyengar having studied in depth with Judith Hansen Lasiter and for many years with his primary teacher Gabriel Hepburn. If you are looking for deeper insight into your own personal healing, consider scheduling a private Yoga Therapy session with Dustin. Beginners and all levels welcome! 
|
|
Jen Kentrup
Jen is a student and teacher of alignment based Yoga asana, rooted within the traditions of the Iyengar practice. She holds E-RYT 500 certification and has more than 10,000 hours teaching experience. She has taught numerous workshops and trainings and leads an annual retreat in Kathmandu Nepal. As a teacher, she wants her students to feel enriched and empowered; supported and cared for; with the aim for them to experience and explore the balance between the rigorous strength and precision of the alignment-based practice and the expansive freedom found within it. Jen believes wholeheartedly that yoga is a transformational healing modality with enormous potential for everyone, and it is her goal to share this love, passion and understanding with all her students. |
|
Jill Birt
Jill has always been drawn to health and wellness and began a career working as a Registered Nurse in Austin in 2001. In 2005, after years of working in healthcare had taken a toll on her physical and mental health, she decided to take a deep dive into yoga as a means of support and healing. In 2016 she received her 200-hr vinyasa yoga certification with Wanderlust Austin. This training offered a depth of “healthcare” she had not learned through her traditional nursing yet had always desired to know. This set her on a path and passion to deepen her knowledge of holistic healthcare. Since then she has completed over 1,200 certified hrs of yoga training including certifications in prenatal/postnatal yoga, yoga with weights and advanced yoga psychology training. She believes healthcare begins with self care. Considering yoga to be the most comprehensive means to selfcare as well as a missing element in our modern healthcare. She arranges her classes with these intentions. Offering a depth of knowledge and support to wellbeing, while allowing space for each individual to discover and tend the needs of themself in mind, body and spirit. |
|
Jonathan Troen
Jonathan is co-founder of Austin Yoga Tree. He is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher and Certified Yoga Therapist. His belief is that yoga can be made accessible to every human being on the planet. He brings a light-hearted nature to his classes, along with a dedication to drive you deeper to the center of your core, where your true self resides. When asked if his classes were easy or hard, one student replied, "They are kind." Jonathan is also a Life Mastery Coach, and creator of The Self Love Revolution. His mission is to teach people how to practice kindness with themselves, with the understanding that when you are kind to yourself, everything you want and the miracles of life all appear at your doorstep. He will remind you that you still need to open the door. Beginners and all levels welcome! |
|
Laura McClellan
Laura found yoga nearly 15 years ago–and, in finding yoga, found herself. Not only did yoga help her physical body, it also relieved her feelings of anxiety and depression. She quickly realized that yoga is more than asanas. It’s a way of living and connecting with your true Self. And she brings these many aspects of yoga to her teaching. She designs her classes for her students, with the flexibility to adapt and provide the perfect class no matter how flexible you are. Expect lots of props to provide support, and a focus on anatomy cues and proper alignment. Laura lives in Austin, TX, with her husband, toddler, and two blue heelers. Off the mat, she likes to garden, cook, and hike around the Hill Country. |
|
Liberty Torres
Liberty is a Vinyasa instructor that believes you don't adapt to yoga, yoga is adapted to you. She has been a student of the practice for 10 years and under the guidance of her mentor, she focuses her knowledge on body anatomy and functional movement. Liberty enjoys helping students step out of their comfort zone, mentally or physically. This doesn't mean performing the hardest asana, but can be listening to your body and staying fully present. Expect flowy, challenging classes with strengthening to build the foundation for a deeper asana practice. |
|
Melissa Hagen
Melissa is currently a certified Level 2 Iyengar Yoga Teacher. In 2015 she graduated from Peggy Kelley and Devon Dederich’s 2 year teacher training program. She has travelled to Pune, India twice to study; first with Geeta and then Abhijata Iyengar. She loves the precision and philosophy of Iyengar Yoga. Her classes thoughtfully explore a variety of ways to safely approach challenging poses with the support and feedback of props. She recognizes that the individual needs of each student vary and offers options along the way to accommodate those working with injuries. Outside of yoga she is passionate about gardening and propagating tropical and heirloom vegetables at the plant nursery where she works. She also enjoys leading Social Cycling Austin’s Yoga Bike Ride and has hosted this free event for 10 years now. |
|
Tiffany Asha
Tiffany Asha began practicing yoga in 2005 as a new school teacher and it changed her life forever. The practice of yoga and yoga off the mat, taught her how to love herself through all of life's challenges. She first experienced sound healing in a yoga class and always leaned towards teachers who incorporated sound in the experience. During the start of Covid, after missing the community of class, she began her personal sound journey. Tiffany is a teacher at heart. Although she no longer teaches school, she continues her life’s work of helping others through teaching yoga and her sound events. Holding space for people and creating a sacred healing container is her purpose. When she’s not teaching or hosting events, Tiffany enjoys snuggling with her dog, swimming with sharks, and laughing with her family. |
|
Sheryl Abrams
Sheryl has been teaching for over 20 years. She began her path with Hatha yoga in Singapore while pregnant with her last child, at almost age 36. Returning to Austin in the late 90's, Ashtanga or "power" yoga was very popular and she found herself in a certification course. Then, due to an injury, she was referred to an Iyengar teacher and immediately found healing and her home. Sheryl holds the Introductory 2 Iyengar Certification earned in 2011 and is currently working towards Junior Immediate 1. She has a wealth of teaching experience at all levels as well as many years experience leading restorative "chair yoga" classes at several senior facilities. Sheryl and her husband are empty nesters with two of their three children living in Austin. They enjoy boating and walking Town Lake and the hills of the Spicewood area. Beginners and all levels welcome! |
|
Vicky Hill
Vicky is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher who has been studying Iyengar yoga since 2000. Her practice and teaching draw on Mr. Iyengar’s insight that the physical practice—the asana—is much more than physical. He wrote, “Even in simple asanas, one is experiencing the three levels of the quest: the external quest, which brings firmness of the body; the internal quest, which brings steadiness of intelligence; and the innermost quest, which brings benevolence of spirit." Vicky also offers tips and thoughts on asana and the yogic path via the Instagram account austin_iyengar_yoga, which she launched in 2018. In her off-the-mat life, she has a Ph.D. in American Studies, taught at the university level for two decades, and has two delightful adult children. |