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Faculty
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Victoria has been practicing yoga and meditation for over 30 years, and Iyengar yoga for over 20 years. A 1988 graduate of IYISF, she has 20 years of teaching experience, and is Certified at the Intermediate Junior III level. As an ordained Zen priest, Victoria emphasizes how to extend one’s practice into daily life, particularly one’s own behavior, work and community. She studies regularly in India with the Iyengar family.
Read an article about Victoria here.
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Chad Balch embarked on his yoga journey in 1988. He is a graduate of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco teacher training program, and has studied at the California Yoga Center and the Abode of Iyengar Yoga. He studied with the Iyengars in Pune, India in 1994. Chad loves to explore and share the benefits of focused attention to body, mind, and breath. He has taught in corporate settings in Silicon Valley, and draws from his first-hand experience with the counterbalancing effects of yoga in the context of high-stress work environments. Chad’s two daughters bring him great joy and instruct him in the many-faceted yoga of parenting and the power of a full breath. For more information visit www.chadyoga.com.
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Cynthia Bates started practicing yoga in 1999 and is currently in the second
year of a two year, 500-hour teacher training program at the Iyengar Yoga
Institute of San Francisco. She studies and apprentices regularly with Joe
Naudzunas, who is on the faculty of the Institute, and spent last summer in
India studying with Swati and Rajib Chanchani. long-time students of the
Iyengars, near Riskikesh in the Himalaya.
Cynthia draws inspiration for her practice and teaching from the Yoga Sutras, the Bhagavad Gita and the B.K.S. Iyengar – attempting to find equanimity and poise within difficult poses and an opening of the heart through the breath. "This is a spiritual practice in physical form" -
B.K.S.Iyengar |
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Brian Fitusi has been practicing yoga since 1995, and teaching since 2001. He has studied with Karin O' Bannin, Marla Apt, and Manouso Manos. Brian has a bachelors of Science in Kinesiology from Cal State Northridge and his teacher training comes from Yoga Works in Santa Monica, though he is most influenced by the Iyengars.
Brian has a strong backround in biomechanical foundations of human movement. His classes are the practice of disciplined, focused, awareness of bodily movement to increase flexibility, posture, and metabolic function, and to bring about a state of peace that will benefit our families, and society.
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Alex Fraim is a graduate of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco. He was first introduced to yoga when he took a class in college and discovered the benefits, possibilities and beauty of the profound art. Soon afterwards he developed a dedicated personal practice and became interested in teaching and yoga's therapeutic aspects. Alex's primary instructors have been Ramanand Patel and Manouso Manos. Alex has been to Pune, India to study with the Iyengar family, and he periodically teaches workshops in Germany. Alex is an active artist and holds a BA in Fine Arts from UC Santa Cruz. He often looks to the arts as a source of inspiration. Alex is currently pursuing a degree in Ayurveda at the California College of Ayurveda.
For more info:
sf-yoga.com
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Nina Gold is deeply devoted to the practice of yoga, having studied since 1993 and teaching since 1998. She brings her love of yoga to her teaching and creates a space full of enthusiasm, humor, hard work and focus. Nina's seriousness about the subject of yoga is balanced by her playful approach as a teacher. She has received teacher training certificates from Rodney Yee and Erich Schiffman, has trained with Judith Lasater and continues her studies with Manouso Manos and Janet MacLeod. |
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Dana Hale started practicing yoga in 2001. She completed a year-long teacher training program with Eileen Muir in 2005, and graduated from the advanced teacher training program at the Iyengar Institute of San Francisco. She apprentices with Manuoso Manos and has apprenticed with Janet Macleod. She also studies with Ramanand Patel. She will study with the Iyengars in Pune in 2008. Dana's home practice of pranayama, yoga asana and reading afford her a constant source of new areas of exploration. Her academic background, personal spiritual interests and compassionate nature fuse to create a balanced teaching style. The resulting classes are lovingly executed but conceptually and physically challenging. |
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Potency of instruction and efficacy of asana first drew Brian Hogencamp to Iyengar yoga. Having benefited from the therapeutic aspect of yoga to heal from a major physical injury he continues, with his teacher's guidance, to work on the residue and evolve along the path of yoga. Brian is a student of Manouso Manos with whom he continues regular study and apprenticeship. Through consistent practice and study, the universality and completeness of the Iyengar approach to yoga continues to unfold. Brian is an Iyengar certified teacher. He has just returned from his second 2-month study immersion with the Iyengar family in Pune, India. Teaching full-time in San Francisco, he is eager to share the light yoga can bring. For more information, visit www.iybrian.com.
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Courtney Knapp is is a graduate from the two year Advanced Studies Teacher Training Program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco. She is a student of Nora Burnett. Courtney has also worked with Marisa Toriggino in prenatal classes.
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Anja Krombholz came to San Francisco
in 1996, and her professional training is in Graphic Design. Shortly
after her arrival she started taking yoga classes regularly for
physical exercise, and to balance her activities working at a computer.
She realized that our human bodies aren't constructed for working
extended hours with limited mobility. Yoga has helped her maintain
her physical health and has contributed to a different emotional
state and perspective in her life, whichshe happily shares with
her students.
She is a graduate from the two
year Advanced Studies Teacher Training Program at the Iyengar Yoga
Institute in San Francisco, where she studied under Elise Miller,
Kathy Alef, and Janet MacLeod. Anja has been teaching yoga in the
Iyengar tradition since 2003. Her primary teacher is Nora Burnett,
with whom she studied since 1997.
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Octavia is a full time yoga instructor who has been a devoted student of lyengar Yoga since 1995 and a teacher since 2003. She uses the discipline of yoga to promote health and equanimity, develop consciousness, and still the mind. She has in-depth experience using yoga to address her neck pain, scoliosis and lower back injuries.
Octavia is a Certified Iyengar Teacher and graduated from the 200-hour teacher training program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco in 2005. Octavia is deeply grateful to senior Iyengar teacher Manouso Manos, her teacher since 2000, who guides, challenges, and inspires her both as a teacher and a student. She has been an assistant to Manouso since 2004, and has studied with the Iyengar family in Pune India. Octavia's first five years of yoga study were with back-care specialist Evlaleah Howard.
Visit her web site at http://www.octaviayoga.com
Read an article by Octavia here.
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Lucas Murgida started practicing yoga with Billy Konrad in 2002 and began the teacher-training program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in 2005. His primary teacher is Joe Naudzunas. Through his practice he has found relief not only from chronic hand, back, knee, and foot pain, but also from symptoms of depression. Lucas received his Bachelors of Fine Arts from the San Francisco Art Institute in 2002 and is a practicing artist and professional locksmith. Inspired by both the freedom yoga has brought to his life and his experiences as a locksmith, Lucas has developed a unique perspective on this ancient art. |
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David Nelson began teaching in 1998, after receiving
certification from the White Lotus Foundation. He has studied Bikram,
Ashtanga, and Iyengar yoga, and has been a student of Dharma Mitra,
Edward Clark, and Judith Lasater.
From 2001 to 2006 David studied with Advanced Senior Iyengar Instructor Manouso Manos, and apprenticed weekly with him from 2002 through 2006. He has also studied scoliosis with Elise Miller, and has recently practiced under the instruction of Lois Steinberg, Kathy Alef and Victoria Austin. He studied with the Iyengars in 2004 and with Geeta Iyengar at the 2007 National Conference.
David started his yoga practice to seek relief from chronic back
pain, and found that yoga was a powerful and dynamic medium to explore
the meaning of life. Though his classes are physically challenging,
they are safe and accessible to everyone. From the instruction of
a physical practice, David encourages students to develop a higher
awareness, or consciousness, about how we live our lives and how
to achieve our own potential.
David has a B.A. and an M.B.A. from
the University of San Francisco. He was a founder of Castro Yoga
in 1998 and he owns and operates Yoga Garden of San Francisco with
Marisa Toriggino.
Read more here.
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Rebecca has been a student of Iyengar yoga since 1999 and is in her second year of study in the Advanced Teacher Training Program at the San Francisco Iyengar Institute of Yoga. She is inspired by deepening awareness, understanding and acceptance of the mind, body and spirit. Her classes focus on building these skills and finding deeper connections to ourselves and our environment.
Rebecca studies with Jim Benvenuto and Paul Cabanis in Los Angeles, and Kathy Alef, Joe Naudzunas and Manuso Manos in San Francisco. She is grateful to her teachers and students from whom she continues to learn and grow as a student, teacher and human being. |
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David Sirgany began formal studies in hatha yoga in 1982 and has practiced in the Iyengar tradition since 1989. He has studied directly with the Iyengar family in Pune, India and currently apprentices under Senior Instructor Manouso Manos.
He brings to his teaching a strong background in body-mind disciplines as both an accomplished martial artist, and as a teacher of breathing and meditation. His knowledge of the body is also deepened by more than seventeen years of experience as a professional therapeutic massage practitioner.
David honors the yogic path as a profound means of clarifying perception and accessing our innate intelligence through the human body. His classes are challenging, insightful and fun!
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Adrian Skaj, a native San Franciscan, grew up studying modern dance and ballet. In 1998 Adrian began studying Iyengar Yoga at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco where the detail, precision and depth that she found in Iyengar classes inspired her to become a serious student of yoga. A graduate of the Institute's two-year Teacher Training program, Adrian has been teaching Iyengar Yoga since 2002 and continues to study under her teachers Janet MacLeod and Nora Burnett. Her inspiration for teaching comes from the peace and fulfillment that her daily yoga practice brings.
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Tamarie Spielman began a serious daily meditation practice in 1994 and eventually added the practice of yoga. Since 2003, she has studied with Senior Iyengar Instructor Manouso Manos and now apprentices with him regularly. Tamarie has studied at the Iyengar Institute in Pune, India and is a graduate of the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco’s teacher training program. |
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Marisa Toriggino began studying
yoga and meditation in 1987. She received her Advanced Teacher Training
Certification from Ananda Yoga and became a disciple of Yogananda
in 1997. Marisa is a certified prenatal and postnatal yoga instructor
. She has studied many styles of Hatha Yoga, and studied
the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar under Evlaleha Howard, Judith Lasater, and from 2001 to 2006, regularly with
Manouso Manos. Marisa has a Fine Art degree from UC
Berkeley and occasionally teaches Yoga and Art courses. With her
husband, David Nelson, she owns and operates Yoga Garden of San Francisco.
Learn more about the Prenatal
and Postnatal Programs here.
Read an article about Marisa here. |
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