Cilla has been practicing yoga since 2002. She has explored many different styles and studios over the years, including a few years of Bikram. However, Burlington Yoga has been the studio where she chooses to explore and expand her practice. With a Bachelor's degree in Psychology from the University of Vermont and a certification in massage and bodywork from Touchstone Healing Arts, Priscilla greatly appreciates the importance of mind and body connection. Yoga has had a huge influence on her way of life since she first began practicing to alleviate low back pain due to mild scoliosis. Through yoga, Priscilla has improved her alignment and her mental wellbeing. Asanas have helped shape her physically, and learning to meditate and focus on the breath has helped calm her sometimes-busy mind and relieve stress. Piper has been a major inspiration to her practice, and she plans on deepening her practice and spreading the importance of yoga to others for years to come.

Courtney started practicing yoga in 2003 as a complement to biking, running, and climbing. The physical and mental effects that yoga will have on an active body and mind crystallized during an extended climbing trip in the summer of 2007, and she has been exploring the benefits and challenges of a consistent practice ever since. She also ascribes her perseverance throughout graduate school (UVM) to this creative and restorative outlet. Courtney recently completed the Burlington Yoga Teacher Training certification course (200 hr) with Chandra Prabha. This experience has allowed her to develop an instruction style which focuses the student on proper physical alignment and attention to breath in order to develop a thoughtful and intentional practice.

Heather Higgins is a mother of three who has had a yoga practice during her pregnancies and attributes prenatal yoga to her wonderful birth experiences. She is the daughter of an ob/gyn, has volunteered on a medical mission to the Phillipines to assist in births there, has assisted in delivering twins, and has grown up around pregnant women. She has a deep love of life, and respect for pregnant women. Heather was taught early on by her midwife how important it is to nourish the mothers body during pregnancy and prenatal yoga is a perfect way to do that.

James Guertin/Sudarsan has been practicing yoga since 1999 and has been teaching since 2003. He owned his own yoga studio in Arizona, and from there lived in a spiritual community (ashram) in California for two years prior to moving back to Vermont a year ago January. At the community (Mount Madonna Center) he practiced Karma yoga (selfless service), taught weekly classes, and was an instructor for their yoga teacher training program. There he had the privilege of learning the scriptural and life teachings of Sri Baba Hari Dass, a guru who in the 1960s was integral in bringing Hatha yoga to the West. James is a certified Hatha yoga teacher, and incorporates many different styles and teachings into his sharing of yoga. James has many gifts and experiences that he brings to his classes that he incorporates into all areas of his life, and his knowledge of healing the body, mind, and emotions are incorporated into his classes. In Burlington he is an at home caregiver, Reiki practitioner, student of life, and does one-on-one counseling incorporating spirituality, life guidance, pranayama and meditation, and many mindfulness practices helping people deal with the challenges of life and answer their questions about practical spirituality to live happier, freer and more balanced lives.

Jamie has been practicing yoga since 2001. Over the last few years, she has realized that learning how to breathe is the key to facing all of life's obstacles. As an artist, she brings light and creativity into her classes to challenge and inspire growth in our bodies and minds. Each class is an opportunity to learn something new and take something you learn about yourself on your mat into your daily life. In class, Jamie brings a mix of intensity, fun, and gentleness, teaching a vigorous practice with mindful movements and alignment. Last but not least, you will alway get a taste of musical inspiration from all over the world, moving to the beats during class.

Jim Woodard has been practicing yoga since 2002, first at Center of Light and then at Blissful Monkey yoga studio, both in Boston's Jamaica Plain neighborhood. After years of attempting (and loathing!) gym-based fitness that just never felt right, Jimmy discovered the physical challenges and rewards of a yoga practice as a more comfortable complement to his outdoorsman pursuits as a hiker, cyclist, paddler, and snowboarder. Following a frustrating second-time winter sports ankle injury in 2007, he used the recovery time to nurture an increased understanding of the healing and empowering qualities of a consistent yoga practice, and was back on his snowboard before the end of the same season. With this knowledge, Jimmy believes that everyone can find strength on the mat, and his classes focus on the alignment and articulation of asanas, movement with breath, and dialed-down time within your own head. Jimmy enjoys teaching newcomers and others with limited experience, and works to make the initial experiences of practicing yoga accessible and encouraging.

Julia has been practicing yoga since 2003, and extends her gratitude to Piper Petrie for greatly influencing her practice and allowing a creative cultivation of her own physical and mental style to emerge. A class with Julia is a mosaic of energizing and calming forces, with an objective of attaining clarity of the mind that is vital for engaging in a deliberate life. In addition to her dedication to yoga, Julia is working on her Ph.D. at the University of Vermont, seeking an understanding of arctic ecosystems under a changing climate.

Malaika has been practicing yoga in Burlington since 2003. Yoga has helped her find balance within her life on and off the mat, deeply connecting her to mind, body, and soul. Focusing on the breath has taught her to remain in the present, a lesson she carries throughout her practice and in life. Malaika is an avid marathon runner and enjoys living a healthy and active lifestyle that includes hiking, biking, and rock climbing. When not on the mat, Malaika works as a social worker in the Burlington area and is also a server at a local fine-dining restaurant. She is an ACE certified personal trainer, and teaches a variety of classes and personal training sessions for various age populations including children, adults, and seniors in and around the Burlington area. Helping others to feel good inside and out is her passion. She truly enjoys people and you are sure to learn, sweat and have fun in her class. New to yoga? It took Malaika three tries before she was hooked and she hasn’t stopped practicing since. It is never too late to try something new and see where it takes you!

Mandi started practicing yoga about 12 years ago and instantly fell in love with the practice. Like many beginners, she was there to get a physical body workout and the spirituality and mindfulness of yoga was not quite there yet. After five years, she decided to deepen her and began teacher training with Kathy McNames, and then with David Swenson. Since then, yoga has grown organically for her, like many other practitioners, into an entire mind-body-soul lifestyle. She is working toward her Baptiste certification and Polestar Pilates certification. Alignment and patience on the mat is one thing she strives for in her classes.

Michelle Deslandes began her exploration with yoga 20 years ago. It only took a few years until she developed a “serious” relationship with her yoga practice and in 1998 she began teaching. After completing her first teachers' training at the Bihar School of Yoga in India, she went on to become a certified Forrest Yoga teacher in both the foundation and advanced level trainings. She has also trained with Tias Little, Sarah Powers, Shiva Rae, and various other masterful teachers. She continues to pursue education in yoga and the healing arts. This ongoing process of learning is what provides the fresh insights that inspire her teaching. Healthy breathing, alignment, and balanced energy flow are consistent points of focus in her classes. Michelle is very intuitive and nourishes the hidden strengths of her students while challenging them to reach beyond their perceived limitations. Her precise hands-on adjustments help students to access and awaken the life force in dormant areas of the body. You will leave her classes feeling enlivened and renewed.

Piper Petrie Abbott, ERYT 500 (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher 500+ hrs) began practicing yoga in 1992 studying the Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Anusara styles of yoga. She received her IYT certification (Integrative Yoga Therapy) in 1995 and has been teaching full-time since 1998. She is guided by her guru Dharmanidhi Sarasvati, in the study of the primordial Tantric roots of the yogic tradition. With over 1200 hours of instructor training and 17 years of teaching experience, she brings confidence, in-depth understanding of alignment and a well-rounded knowledge of the practice to her classes. She takes personal interest in each and every student with a thorough awareness of their strengths and weaknesses. Through the use of subtle hands on adjustments and precise verbal cues students are guided to a deeper level of knowledge of every pose. Her continuous study into all aspects of Yoga has helped her to introduce innovative methods of teaching. She is particularly invested in the healing capacity of this ancient art/science and its profound transformational effects on the body, mind, and energy. As the owner and manager of Burlington Yoga, she is especially focused on the integration of the yogic path with daily living.

Prem Prakash is an American-born yogi who has practiced yoga and meditation on a daily basis since 1979. In 1990, he was given permission to teach others by Baba Hari Dass, after which he created the Green Mountain School of Yoga in Middlebury, Vermont. Prem Prakash has had the good fortune of studying formally and receiving intiation from several gurus from different lineages. Prem Prakash’s writings have appeared in many major publications in the United States and Europe, and he is the author of: The Yoga of Spiritual Devotion, Three Paths of Devotion: Goddess, God and Guru; Yoga American Style; and The Universal Yoga. In In 2007, Prem Prakash was honored by the Institute of the Himalayan Tradition with their Annual Service Award. In 2008, the Institute recognized him as a Yogiraj, “An accomplished Yogi who lives in the world.”

Ritika was born in India and grew up in Muscat, Oman. Her mother Geeta Rao has been teaching yoga in India and Muscat for three decades; Geeta's yoga-related book Yog-Ethos was published in 2009 and features Ritika as a model. Ritika, having grown up with austere yogic principles and a consistent yoga practice throughout her young life, found that it felt natural to expand her practice into teaching. Ritika was drawn and inspired by the eminent and accomplished yoga trainer Piper, and her encouragement led Ritika to teach her first yoga class in 2010. Teaching a vinyasa or flow style class is Ritika’s expertise and she has primarily adhered to safety and simplicity while practicing the yogic postures to achieve positive results and health benefits. Ritika is dedicated to creating an awareness of the true meaning of yoga and to inspire all to awaken the yogic spirit that resides within each of us.

Tiffany first started doing yoga in 2004 as a complement to her ballet, jazz, and modern dance lessons. Over time, she found herself turning to yoga more and more as a way to calm the mind and de-stress while attending UVM to study nursing. Tiffany first came to Burlington Yoga in 2006 and feels that her practice "really transformed" here. Tiffany is excited to balance her nursing career with yoga teaching and works to keep her classes accessible to yogis of all levels. "After all," she says, "Everyone is a beginner once!" Come to Tiffany's Tuesday beginner class and leave feeling strong, confident, and empowered!