Arise Yoga Oakland

Ken Breniman is an Oakland, CA-based Certified Yoga Therapist and a Licensed Clinical Social Worker, with a passion for creating safe and supportive spaces for every body to practice yoga at a self-inspired pace.  With a thanatological (study of mortality) approach to holding space for others, Ken has a deep reverence for Spirit while acknowledging each of us must find our own way of making sense of the human condition.  Combining the essence of  Kierkegaard's “live life forward, understand it backwards” with Ram Dass' “we are all walking each other home” provides a hint at how Ken is attempting to understand his own human experience 

With a solid commitment to culturally humility, trauma-awareness and grief-sensitivity, Ken's approach to his yoga guidance is gentle and encouraging. Ken continues to engage in ongoing learning opportunities around issues of culture, race, equality, equity, and social justice. Ken's intention is to be transparent and authentic in showing up and he wishes to keep the channels of communication open as to how social and cultural identities impact the individual and collective healing processes.  I am honored to be joining the Oakland Arise Yoga family and welcoming you back to in person in studio yoga classes. 

More about Ken can be found at www.kenbreniman.com

My journey as a yoga practitioner began in 1992, with David Life and Sharon Gannon, the creators of the Jivamukti style of Hatha yoga. I received my 200 hr yoga teacher certification from the Sivananda Ashram in 1994, and began teaching right away. Over the past 28 years I’ve studied the styles of Kripalu, Iyengar, Ashtanga, Forrest, and Anusara. I have been blessed with many esteemed teachers in these varying traditions.

My classes are vigorous, deep, and anchored in therapeutic alignment principles. I believe that when we can stay present in a pose — truly present to the fluctuations of energy, sensation, breath, emotion, thinking — we can extend that experience to the practice of LIVING. Yoga invites me to engage compassion and empathy, to sense what’s here and now, and to live wakefully. It’s my honor and service to share the practice and these benefits with my students.

Arise Yoga Owner and Founder, Jillian Schiavi is a seasoned vinyasa teacher, collaborative and transparent business owner, and deep listener.

Jillian brings her experience, insight, and intuition to both her teaching and entrepreneurial style. Welcoming conversation, openness, kindness, and partnership with the people she employs, her focus with Arise Yoga is to help cultivate community spaces that support and nourish all who come to practice.

An artist and writer, her creativity also informs her class sequencing, instruction, and the emphasis she places on pranayama, and moving gracefully with breath. She loves connecting to the community of students in her studio and online classes, and believes that yoga is most effective when practiced off the mat and out in the world.

Alongside running the studio, Jillian heads programming, and teaches Nonviolent Communication, Dharma Talks, and Uncovering Your Authentic Voice in Arise Yoga’s 200 Hour Teacher Training program. She’s excited to help shape and support a new wave of compassionate, creative, and beautifully diverse yoga teachers. Her focus on empathetic listening and linking yogic philosophy to day-to-day interactions is apparent throughout her teaching, and takes center stage in the Arise Teacher Training.

Jillian believes in fair compensation and equity in the world of yoga. She offers all teachers who work with her collaborative contracts, paid sick time, and opportunities for growth - both in pay, and in professional development. She seeks ways to bring this practice to more people, and especially to those populations previously underserved by the yoga industry.

An optimist by nature, Jillian trusts that even from a place of uncertainty, beauty, love, and joy can arise.

Kerstin discovered yoga in the late 90s and was instantly hooked. She could tell there was something magical to this whole breath with movement thing. Unfortunately Kerstin’s first yoga class was cancelled after just one session. She then embarked on a quest to find her style of yoga. She practiced Hatha, Vinyasa, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Restorative, Prenatal, and, eventually, Kerstin discovered Power Yoga and knew that she had found her favorite style! 

When Kerstin completed her 200 hour training in 2014, she found she was thirsty for more AND she learned that she has the knack to switch seamlessly from a more athletic style of teaching into a restorative pace all in the same class. That’s a gift that few yoga teachers possess. 

When you join Kerstin for class, bring a journal. She themes each week around a quote and will offer a philosophical question at the end of class that is an excellent journaling prompt. Kerstin is all about safe journaling practices, so if you need a bit of guidance, ask, she’s here to support you on your journey wherever you are.

Natalie Somers is a 500 Hour RYT and Personal Development Coach dedicated to helping others feel more confident and empowered in their own body through the practice of cultivating awareness, breath and somatic movement. With a focus on alignment, Natalie’s classes offer her students a safe space to explore their individual needs both on and off the mat and deepen their relationship to the body mind connection. With a bit of humor and a lot of love, her classes are filled with moments of curiosity, courage and conscious intention in the sacred pursuit of living in alignment with your highest, most joyful self.