YOJAM 2019 TEACHERS & PRESENTERS

Jules Febre was born and raised in a section of New York City known as the Lower East Side. At the age of 13, Jules spent three months in India; two of which were spent in Mysore studying Ashtanga Yoga with Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois. During that time he was invited to share satsang with Swami Nirmalananda and Shyam Das, two radical yogis that have each contributed greatly to the progression of yoga in the West. At the age of 16 Jules began working at the Jivamukti Yoga School helping to clean, and is now considered one of the leading teachers of the Jivamukti Yoga method, teaching the method world wide as well as facilitating at the very highly regarded teacher training programs.

Jules travels and teaches for a major part of each year, including Europe, Australia, Asia, and more. His classes offer a wide range and depth of understanding of Yoga Asana as well as Meditation, Chanting, and Yoga Philosophy.

Teaching yoga is Jules’ passion. He is grateful to his teachers, Sharonji (Gannon), Davidji (Life) who he has had the privilege of studying with for over 15 years, for igniting his devotion to the Jivamukti Yoga practice and for inspiring countless students around the world.

Jon has a business degree from Concordia University, and has studied Coaching for Transformation, Non-Violent Communication, and Robbins-Madanes Training, among many other disciplines. He co-created Awakening Harmony, a musical connection retreat that promotes emotional empowerment and vulnerability. He was the director of Montreal’s largest children’s day camp for 6 years and was a team building coach for high performance athletes for 5 years. Jon has been coaching and counseling for more than 10 years and enjoys yoga, authentic relating, music, acrobatics, gardening and woodworking. He lives in Asheville, NC with his wife and friends on a co-owned community land project.

Your teacher, Ariele, is a Doctor of Physical Therapy, founder of
YogaAnatomyAcademy.com, a long time yoga teacher, and an advocate
for depth and quality in yoga practice and instruction. For more
information on Ariele, see http://sacredsourceyoga.com/ or https://
yogaanatomyacademy.com

More info coming….

Leslie began practicing yoga in 2008 with Nancy Allen, her primary teacher. She continued her studies and practice of yoga with Desiree Rumbaugh, Cyndi Lee, Lila Brown, Paul and Sommer Sobin, and other wonderful teachers. She graduated in 2014 from the Thousand Petals Yoga Program in Chapel Hill, N.C. Leslie hopes to inspire voluptuous women like herself to have a more positive relationship with their bodies. Her classes incorporate gentle movement in sync with the breath and emphasize proper alignment for both freedom and stability.

Hello! My name is Erin, and I am a Northern Virginia-based mother, educator, yogi, small business owner, mindfulness coach, and yoga instructor. 

I started taking yoga classes in 2008 at my gym as a way to stretch after my frequent long runs. I had no interest in the spiritual aspects of yoga; I simply wanted to give my achy muscles a little love.  However, after a few years of regular practice, I started to recognize not only the physical benefits of yoga, but also the amazing effect it had on my emotional regulation. Throughout the years, I have relied on yoga as therapy, helping me deal more calmly and patiently with the stressors of motherhood, and life in general. (OM, take me away!)

Recognizing and appreciating the profound effect my yoga practice had on me, I wanted to provide that transformative experience for others, so in 2015, I enrolled in a 200-hr yoga teacher training program. This was a life-changing experience, as we took an intimate and emotional journey into our souls to discover what it truly means to live a yogic lifestyle—one embodying acceptance, forgiveness, compassion, gratitude, and oneness.

As an educator, I have an intense love of learning, so over the years, I have enjoyed additional training to become a mindfulness coach and a yoga for athletes specialist. In addition to my group yoga and mindfulness experiences in nontraditional spaces, I am proud to offer workshops and small group and private lessons helping educators, athletes, and anyone with a yen to improve mental and physical presence, balance, strength, and flexibility.

I hope that you pause, take a deep breath, and find gratitude in this very moment. 

Love, Namaste & Cheers!

From living in a group home for at-risk youth to becoming a renowned yoga teacher and musical innovator, MC YOGI is on a mission to bring good music and good energy into the world. Having grown up immersed in hip hop culture before finding yoga in his teens, he naturally began to integrate the two, setting yogic wisdom to hip hop beats.

Leia is an artist, dancer and yoga teacher. She has a degree in Dance and Choreography from Hollins University, and is a certified Hatha Yoga instructor. Her personal practice is rooted in the unification of yoga and dance. Inspiring creative expression and empowerment through this combination. She has learned that mindful movement has the ability to quiet the mind while reconnecting us to our joyful-spirit. Her unique soulful approach is an exploration of movement, intention and breath. Leia begins her 300 Hour Yoga Teacher Training in the Yoga Therapy Track with the Kunga Yoga School at Wilmington Yoga Center July 2017.

Carolyn Keller Sells

Certified Yoga Therapist (C-IAYT), ERYT-500,

Certified Laughter Yoga Teacher (CLYT),

Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider (YACEP)

Kripalu Yoga In Schools Certified Teacher (KYIS-CT), Holistic Health Coach

 Owner of Yoga Energy Therapy & Peaceful and Powerful Living

Carolyn offers retreats, workshops, and classes at her farm:

Peace Hill Chateau in Montpelier, VA (off of Rt.33 near Louisa, VA)

 Carolyn teaches a variety of students and clients in many different settings: Corporations, Gyms, Non-profits, Hospitals, studios, festivals, symposiums, colleges, churches, schools, daycare centers, retirement facilities, and her favorite place in Nature!

 Carolyn’s Holistic Health & Life Coaching services are customized to the individual and the program is fun and easy, with great results!

 Carolyn’s goal is to help others find Peace, Joy, and Love while strengthening, stabilizing, and increasing flexibility for their body, mind, and spirit, meeting each person where they are and helping them to be the very best version of themselves.

With a background in anatomy & physiology and a passion for seeking the truth, Anton skillfully bridges the gap between the physical and spiritual, giving students the freedom to experience the beauty of the divine feminine grace and inner masculine strength.

He travels around the globe teaching workshops and teacher trainings, presenting at festivals and leading yoga and meditation retreats

Kate Waitzkin is a yoga and meditation teacher recognized for her accessible and potent approach to guided meditation and creating vinyasa classes with a blend of breath-centered flow, inspired sequencing, and purposeful moments of reflection. Kate has taught yoga + meditation since 2005 and co-leads the 200 + 300 hour training programs for Wanderlust Austin. Formally trained through YogaWorks in New York, her primary teachers today are Rod Stryker and Elena Brower with whom she travels to study annually.

Bart is the owner of Global Breath Studio in downtown Durham, NC, which donates at least 30% of its profits to LiveGlobally, a local non-profit focused on creating and
supporting sustainable programs for the well-being of individuals and communities, locally and globally. He has completed 200, 500 & 800 hour trainings with MindBodyCentering Yoga & Dharma Mittra. He also loves headstands. And loves power tools.

I’m a Life Purpose Enthusiast, teaching from a heart space, encouraging students to find the “Quiet between the noise” with an archeologist approach to digging deep into discovering authentic self. Three decades into this lifestyle, the excitement is still alive, I’ve learned so much with my commitment to always be a student and understand now, that pain was my greatest teacher. All my research to heal thy self from years of chronic anxiety motivated me to study and train in a plethora of holistic practices which naturally put me onto the path of the Healing Arts practicing as an Integrative Life Coach, Reiki Master, Massage Therapist and Yoga Teacher. Awakening into my soul space and out of my head space with countless teachers who guided and influenced me on the journey has been a gift so I can be of service to others. Visit our sangha, started in my home back in 2004, evolved the studio onto the Occoquan River for many years to now planted in Northern VA, close to the Washington DC, Maryland region

Nick Atlas, PhD

Nick Atlas, PhD, is the Director of Evolutionary Education® and the author of The Light Travelers, which tells the story of his decade-long, spiritual adventure, a generation “waking up,” and what happens when waking and dreaming merge into one. An adjunct professor of Transpersonal Psychology at Atlantic University and pioneering lucid dream researcher, he has been practicing and teaching various forms of yoga, qigong, meditation, healing and expressive arts since 1998. More info @

evolutionaryeducation.org

Dr. Sundar Balasubramanian is a Cell Biology researcher and founder of PranaScience Institute. He is currently studying mechanisms involved in resistance to cancer therapy at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). He is also a Yoga Biology researcher. A pioneer in the area of research combining Pranayama and salivary stimulation, he discovered Yogic breathing promotes salivary secretion, and it contains factors that are important for our healthy living. Recently, his research work on breathing received a mention in the New York Times.

Jennifer Turman Bayliss, E-RYT 200, RCYT, RPYT, YACEP, has practiced yoga for 25 years. She has presented at The Floyd Yoga Jam, the Radiant Child Teacher Training and for many health fairs. Jennifer has created space for wellness circles, Reiki shares, vision board parties and energy camps for children, and adults, of all levels, and abilities. Turman Bayliss is the director of the Sunshine Studio and the Winchester Montessori School’s Young Yogi program. She is part of the faculty at Vostrikovs Academy of Ballet and adjunct faculty for Shenandoah University. Her style of gentle yoga encourages students to remember the special light within.

Jennifer is also part of the Yoga Jam Vision!!!

20+ years as a Vipassana practitoner, bringing Vipassana to Yoga Jam 2019!!

Grace Millsap is a dynamic and powerful yoga teacher, and Zen Within, Katie & Josh Vogt, is a husband and wife duo offering healing sound journeys and workshops, currently based out of
Charlotte, NC. Together, they offer accessible yoga classes with a mesmerizing soundtrack tuned into the season and flow. Their classes will leave you feeling uplifted, connected, and
zen’d out.

HARIS “HARINI” LENDER IS A CERTIFIED INTEGRAL YOGA TEACHER AT THE 500
LEVEL. SHE HAS ALSO BEEN CERTIFIED IN PRENATAL, RAJA, CHILDRENS AND
STRESS MANAGEMENT.
Haris has traveled throughout the world, including a 3 month N.O.L.S. (National Outdoor Leadership School) program where she climbed Mt. Kenya and lived with the Masai Warriors. She also completed a month long Outward Bound program in North Carolina. She was the president of the Outing Club at her University, owned a Laundromat-Pub after college and has had two Yoga studios of her own! Haris lives in St. Pete with her husband. All four of their kids are currently attending college. Haris spends much of her hard earned vacation time in either one of her lovely “tiny houses”. One is a yurt at the Satchidananda
Ashram-Yogaville in Buckingham, VA. The other is located close to Montezuma, Costa Rica. Although she didn’t know it at the time, she has spent her lifetime preparing to create this imaginative style of Yoga for kids. Growing up in the Lender family it was a common
occurrence to be thrown into a skit for the family business that might have any of the kids dressed up as a penguin, sporting a plastic tushy, or singing along at a huge convention or family reunion to a silly song written by either of her creative parents. During her 11 years of running Camp Yogaville and for the last 6 years at her own summer sleepover Yoga camp in Florida there are many opportunities to show off the skills learned along the way. Haris writes songs and skits, manages her counselors, teachers and kitchen staff, and has developed many more skills that have helped to create Kidding Around Yoga. Haris is extremely grateful to her teacher Swami Satchidananda, and to all of the Swamis, friends and teachers at Yogaville that have helped guide her over the years.

Teaching was Tara’s dharma long before she realized it. She grew up with a bow and arrow in her hands, learning to pull back with just enough aim and control to send her arrow into the abyss, knowing and trusting it would hit its intended mark. And so she enters each class, each workshop, each lesson.. Having prepared her body and mind to become that bow – that vessel – that let’s her lesson go.. Weaving its way into the provided space and landing wherever it is intended.

When you practice with Tara, you get more than a teacher on the mat; you gain guidance for your daily life. Inside the studio, no two classes or workshops are ever the same. Students are not told what to do, they are empowered to listen to their own bodies. Tara recently moved to Asheville from Richmond, VA, and is ERYT200, ERYT500, RCYT, YACEP, self-published author, and a Certified Coach and Mentor.

Ruth started practicing yoga in her early 20’s after a serious car accident. She soon after went to India to take part in the Shivananda Teachers Training course. She later met Sharon Gannon and David Life and became a student of theirs and later a teacher of their method. Ruth is an advanced certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher and has facilitated several Teachers Training Courses in the US and in India. Ruth has made many trips to India studying with Sri K Pattabhi Jois and his daughter Saraswati and grandson Sharath and has written permission from Sri K Pattabhi Jois to teach the primary and intermediate astanga yoga series as taught by Sri K Pattabhi Jois and his family. Ruth is also a Sanskrit student of Dr. M S Jayashree and Professor HV Rao. Ruth teaches Jivamukti Yoga in the US, China, Japan, India, Australia, The Czech Republic and through out Europe. Ruth will be facilitating the next Jivamukti teachers training in February 2019 in India.

Yoga is for everyone and every class should be a safe place to practice without fear of judgement. Rebecca owns pranapiloga in Culpeper, VA, a studio that offers a smorgasbord of classes focusing on commUNITY. When Rebecca is not teaching, you can find her outside with
her dogs. ERYT500, YACEP

InStill Mindfulness SWVA brings varuations of meditation to Floyd Yoga Jam. InStill MIndfulness SWVA works in collaboration with community partners to provide real-world, interrelational mindfulness classes throughout southwest Virginia. Fiercely secular, InStill considers mindfulness to simply be noticing with curiosity. By doing this in the present moment, without judgment, one is able to cultivate focus, concentration, kindness, compassion, wisdom, and heartfulness towards oneself and others.

Sandy is certified as an Inner Relationship Focusing trainer so she can hold space for inner acts of bravery, teach relational mindfulness skills and interact with other radically self-empowered people. Focusing is a skill set, a special way of paying attention to yourself, so that you sense the whole of situations or issues in your life.  The results of listening in this way to your body/brain are insight, physical release, and positive life change from the inside out. It may be that these are the skills that save our species.

Hannah Levin E-RYT, AHC, MAT

Hailing from a creative community in the mountains of NC, Hannah is a yoga teacher E-RYT, Ayurveda Health Counselor AHC, Yoga Health Coach, potter, and musician. Her own healing path through chronic allergies, grief, digestive issues, and chronic hip pain led her to healing found in Yoga and Ayurveda. Now, after healing many issues in her own life, Hannah loves sharing the journey of vitality, compassion and empowerment with her clients and students.

Johnny Stowe got into yoga about 8 years ago as a path toward inner peace. Under Bren Schell, his first yoga mentor, he began recognizing and embracing profound parallels between yoga and his life as an ecosopher, author, lecturer and lover of wildlands. Johnny is a Certified Wildlife Biologist, SC Registered Forester and Wildland Firelighter specializing in human ecology and restoration of endangered species in longleaf pine savannas and other imperiled ecosystems using human’s oldest tool — prescribed fire. Amsa has been his “home” studio for many years. Many of the pan-disciplinary ideas he shares in his yoga and meditation classes — here in the Southland, in the Canadian Rockies and on the West Coast — sprang into his mind while lying on his mat at Amsa, under the soothing influence of Kimberley Puryear. His sahyinidra yoga involves guided imagery centered on deep-time eco-cycling through sacred landscapes.

DAY Owner/Director/Teacher
Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance (500-ERYT) CEP- CWP

Trained and experienced working in yoga with Athletes. Trained and experience in Therapeutic Yoga. Trained and experience working with children and families.

Offers  annually Teacher Trainig Program.

Seasonal Continue Educational Unites Provider.Owner and teacher of “Bring Yoga into the classroom” Curriculum Program for School Teachers.

Soraya’s goal in teaching a class is to create a safe  atmosphere for her students to become stronger physically,emotionally  and spiritually, giving modifications and props that will allow each  student to be successful in his or her yoga postures practice. Her classes flow with inspiration and motivation with an emphasis on alignment and breath. She is the founder of DAY© She is a Yoga Alliance ERYT500 – Continue Education Provider offers  teacher training program annually and she offers a variety of workshops  throughout the states for more information about Continue Education Unites please visit Yoga Alliance Soraya Sanchez ERYT-500.  Knowing that she has a positive influence in people’s lives is what brings her to work everyday.

As a neuroscientist, dancer, and yogini, Dr. Julia C. Basso is interested in the
body’s ability to shape the brain. As a teacher of various movement practices,
she is interested in exploring how movement can be used as a way to sense our bodies, experience our emotions, and interact with the people and places around us. Her scientific research focuses on the effects of exercise on brain function and physiology. Learn more at: www.juliabasso.com.

CIYT, E-RYT 200. Certified Iyengar yoga teacher Shaaron Honeycutt is passionate about the power and strength of Iyengar yoga and the philosophy of the Yoga Sutras to transform and empower people’s understanding of themselves. Offering the “yin” and the “yang” of Iyengar yoga in all of its multiple facets combined with her dynamic and vibrant personality have created an international community of followers for her. Shaaron combines over 20 years of yoga teaching experience with a strong desire to enable people to perceive themselves as more than just a physical body and know themselves as the super beings that they truly are. The mind plays such a role in our health and well-being and it is through the practice of Iyengar yoga and the accompanying philosophy of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras that she encourages one to fully manifest their inherent greatness. She has traveled three times to India to study with the Iyengar family in Pune and is certified at the Intermediate level of Iyengar yoga.

Nitya Living™ began in 2005 when the founder, Lydia Nitya Griffith, completed the Integral Yoga 200hr Teacher Training. It was her vision to create a kid’s yoga program that engages the whole child; body, breath, and mind in yoga poses, breathing exercises, mindfulness meditation, and engaging the imagination through storytelling and song.

Nitya now has teachers all over the USA teaching her original classes, creating a culture of peace one child at a time.

Here’s an introduction to Nicole….Zest, passion, live, heart, energy, love, give, move, student, sun, reggae, light, animals

Owner of In Balance Yoga in Blacksburg, Kunga Yoga Apprentice and Professional Mentorship at Kunga Yoga School

Acro-Revolution & Yogaslacker certified, 200 CYT

After a heartbreaking personal tragedy, Shawn discovered the meditative qualities of yoga which helped him navigate the darkest period of his life. His classes are supportive, motivational, challenging and playful, with a strong emphasis on breathing and alignment. Shawn and his wife Marie, own Fair Winds Wellness in Cambridge, Maryland.

I started practicing yoga in 1978 after reading the autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda. After exploring the work of Swami Satchidananda, BKS Iyengar, Swami Sivananda and Kundalini yoga, I’ve come to rest in the practice of Ashtanga Yoga as taught by Sri Pattabhi Jois. The dynamic nature of the practice drew me in, how it leads to the practice of Pranayama and meditation is what keeps the practice ever evolving. My primary teachers have been Dee Silvers and Manju Jois and I graduated from their teacher training program in the early 2000’s. I’ve also studied with David Swenson, Baron Baptiste, the method of vinyasa krama and have learned a lot about how to practice from my friend David Williams. The work of Gregor Maehle has also had a deep impact on me over these last many years. The study of Bhakti and the yogic scriptures have added such joy and depth…I’ve come to see the practice of Yoga as a tapestry that weaves together methods that allow us to know, through experience, the truth of who we truly are. I’ve been teaching now for 30 plus years. I try and teach with respect and compassion, humor and understanding. Yoga is joy and it’s for everyone!

Katherine has a background in sociology, psychology, philosophy and world religions. She is a reiki practitioner, a meditator, a mother. Guiding women’s circles for over 25 years, officiating weddings for 20 years, counseling friends and family on their spiritual journeys, she brings her 63 years of life experience to all her ceremonies. Drawing from a variety of traditions, encompassing Celtic, Christian, Sufi, Judaic, Native American (north and south) including those of your unique visions and beliefs, she is skilled in bringing depth and compassion and love to your most special and personal occasion.

Bringing Gloga to yoga jam. Shelly is the former owner of Bristol Yoga Studio in Bristol Tennesee.

Rob Lenfestey is an educator and innovator in the world of radical, creative, superhuman self-empowerment through his practice of Creative Convergence. Rob’s passion is to give the gifts of knowledge, empowerment and health to all.

An awesome yoga teacher, don’t miss this class!! Manager Information Technology, Yoga Instructor at Yogaville in Buckingham, Virginia

Jill — a Kriya yogini, mamma, spiritual seeker, astrologer and founder of Uttara Yoga in Roanoke, VA. She weaves mysticism and real life together so that is accessible and relatable. Her classes have rocking music and a fierce but nurturing vibe; explore your edges while held in divine love

Ceu’s & Mentors_Jon Kabat-Zinn, Thich Nhat Hanh, Ecknath Easwaren   (MS degree. 40 years teaching experience, Walking Meditation

ean-jacques is a Haitian-born artist, father, and teacher living in Philadelphia. He started painting in his father’s studio, before he could walk, and later studied at the University of the Arts and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. jean-jacques found yoga while at art school in 2001, and has delighted in consistent practice and study since. he has studied and trained in Ashtanga, Vinyasa flow, Thai Massage, AcroYoga, Anusara, and Yogahour. In both art making and embodied practices, he honors the power and potential of rituals, inspired creativity, and human connection to foster freedom. jean-jacques has taught in prisons, public schools, yoga studios, and festivals both nationally and internationally. He currently co-leads the teacher training program at Studio 34 in West Philly. jean-jacques is the co-creator of a yoga clothing clothing line with Philadelphia Printworks called “The Embodied Collection.” It was created to honor and inspire the efforts of people of color in creating wellness. The line is rooted in the words of Audre Lorde, “Caring for myself is not self-indulgent. Caring for myself is an act of survival.”

More info coming soon…

Katie teaches Somatics, Modern Dance, and Dance Appreciation at Radford University and is the founder of Interweave®, a movement meditation practice. Since earning degrees in Dance from Columbia College Chicago and the University of Colorado at Boulder, she has been certified in Spiritual Embodiment from the Realization Process and is currently training to be a teacher in Mindful Self-Compassion. Katie has led opening ceremonies and workshops for both Floyd Fest and Yoga Jam; as well as, leading ecstatic dance and Goddess Retreats in the SWVA community.

Reverend Sumati Govinda was born with an intense desire to realize her true nature, a desire that was nurtured by growing up in Satchidananda Ashram–Yogaville.  Drawn to meditation, she began practicing with her father around 2 years old.  Before she entered kindergarten, her passion for the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali was ignited.  She solidified her path by receiving mantra initiation in 1979 from her guru Sri Swami Satchidananda.  Sumati maintains a healthy balance of worldly and spiritual life. She is a Certified Yoga Therapist and an Integral Yoga® Interfaith Minister, and she holds a bachelor’s degree in Nursing. Sumati and her family are founding members and current residents of Yogaville.