WSY - TAKOMA PARK

Nyle MacFarlane, MS, OTR/L (they/them), is an Occupational Therapist with a specialty in holistic manual therapies that consider the mind-body-spirit interplay. They are uniquely trained in a variety of fascial therapy modalities with over 15 years of clinical experience in the field of pain management. In addition to their career as a manual Occupational Therapist, Nyle has created an innovative therapy approach that utilizes The Four Quadrants of Embodiment: A teaching tool that guides clients through a process of learning how to self-treat and maintain the changes that occur from hands-on manual therapy. Nyle combines their science background with their reverence for spirituality and humanity, in order to create a trauma-informed and compassionate container for healing the old wounds and the karmic patterns that keep us stuck in pain cycles.

Nyle offers one-on-one virtual embodiment coaching and in-person manual treatment. They teach a variety of workshops online and in-person and lead an Embodiment Retreat annually in Charlottesville, VA. In addition, they facilitate a 6-week virtual course known as the Embodiment Project and a 9-month Professional Embodiment Training for therapists and coaches who wish to learn the Four Quadrants of Embodiment.

Learn more about Nyle at their website: www.bluenyletherapy.com

A native of Kalamazoo, Michigan, Matthew has lived in the DC area for 30 years. He began his path with yoga and meditation about 10 years ago. Inspired by the many teachers he encountered, Matthew enrolled completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2017. He also completed a 100-hour Yin Yoga Teacher Training in June of the same year. Subsequently, Matthew has received training in restorative yoga and Yoga Nidrā. He brings a mellow vibe into his classes and workshops, with the intent of making yoga accessible and fulfilling to your body and spirit. A life-long learner and seeker, Matthew is always looking to gain greater insight and understanding into the limbs of yoga and the human spirit. When not in the studio, you’ll find Matthew grooving to music, on the hunt for good paper and pens, out for long rides on his road bike, or happily lost in a book store. 

Pia's, E-RYT 200, PRYT, teaching reflects over a decade of practice with some of the DC area's best instructors. She recently relocated to WV with her family but remains connected with DC's birth and wellness communities. As a postpartum doula and prenatal yoga teacher it is her intention to create a safe space for anyone with the desire to practice; honoring each individual's journey with yoga and parenthood.

Abby came to yoga as a desperate law school student in search of anxiety relief. In her decade of practice since, she’s found yoga to be so much more than just a stress reliever and is currently pursuing her 200 hour certification at Extend Yoga in Rockville, MD. 

Off of the mat, Abby lives her yoga through progressive community organizing and activism. She is eager to continue to explore the intersections of her conceptualization of liberation for our communities through organizing spaces and liberation for ourselves through yoga together and to share the practice with more people.

As an Army Veteran and an Engineer at NASA, Cierra doesn't fail to appreciate the unique and introspective curiosity that yoga brings to one's life.

Cierra received her RYT-200 in Hatha Yoga in the summer of 2018 and has continued her studies earning certifications in Restorative Yoga, Yin, Yoga for All, Trauma Informed Yoga, and Science of the Private Lesson.

She offers a warm welcoming space to become present and explore the interconnectedness of breath, body, and mind. Her classes focus on feeling the alignment through learning movement skills, and asana execution that is organic to each student's body.

Cierra's principle intention is to share the practice in a way that is available to everyone - to meet people where they are, as they are.

Beth Charbonneau, LCSW-C is a psychotherapist in private practice in College Park, Maryland. She graduated Phi Beta Kappa and earned a B.A. cum laude in Theatre Arts after studying at Smith College and Royal Holloway New Bedford College (England) and a Master's in Social Work from Gallaudet University, working primarily with the deaf and hard of hearing population there. In 2006 she was certified in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. Over the past 14 years, she has worked in residential treatment with adolescents and in private practice with adults and adolescents and offers experiential group workshops.

Angelique Raptakis is an E-RYT200/RYT-500 Yoga Teacher, Reiki Master, and Community Herbalist who looks to nature for inspiration, weaving its lessons into her classes. She believes that through the practice of yoga, we can more easily come to the connection between our body, our breath, our mind, and the universe we find ourselves in.
 
Angelique has been practicing yoga for over a decade. Yoga has helped her recover from injuries, work through grief, and manage anxiety. 8She enjoys working with people in group classes, private sessions, and leading retreats to facilitate a state of balance and connection between mind, body, and spirit, from the physical/material body to the energetic subtle body, through the use of asana, pranayama, and meditation.  

She has completed over 60 hours of training in Restorative Yoga, over 60 hours in Yin Yoga, over 30 hours of training in yoga nidra, completed the Surviving Assault (Yoga Essentials as Early Intervention Following Assault or Trauma) course with Diana Tokaji, and participated in numerous Ayurveda immersions. She will always be a student of yoga and is deeply grateful for the continued loving guidance and wisdom of her teachers. 

Susan Comfort, RYT, is a nonprofit nerd, play advocate, yoga teacher, and nature enthusiast. She completed her 400-hour teacher training at Willow Street Yoga in 2004, and has trained with Circus Yoga and Breathing Space Family Yoga. A longtime environmental advocate, Susan is a co-founder of NonprofitWellness.org, the principal at NonprofitComfort.com, and a kids' eco-educator with Tinkergarten. 

Carol Mermey, E-RYT 500, MPH - Health Planning, and retired IT Project Manager has been teaching Yoga since 2004. 

Carol encourages her students to “start where they are, use what they’ve got, and do what they can” while finding the right balance between ease and effort. Her healthy alignment techniques help students develop strength, flexibility, balance, and a sense of well-being and empowerment.

Carol enjoys teaching students of all ages and activity levels in a variety of settings:  yoga studios, workplaces, community centers, health-clinic pain management programs, independent and assisted living facilities, and high school athletic programs.  

Certifications include: ParaYoga Nidra certified instructor; Yoga for Osteoporosis (Loren Fishman); Yoga for Healthy Aging (Baxter Bell); and Brain Longevity Specialist (Alzheimer Research and Prevention Foundation). Carol has completed the iRest Yoga Nidra Level II training and is a graduate of the Duke/Kripalu Integrative Yoga for Seniors Professional Program. Carol trained in Anusara Yoga, and studies with Rod Stryker (ParaYoga). She is currently participating in an evidence-based study using yoga to improve core strength and balance to reduce falls in rural older adults.

Dante uses crystal and metal bowls and polyphonic throat singing to entrance listeners into a deep state of healing and bliss. He also teaches yoga, qi-gong, and yogic philosophy all around DC. He offers a sound meditation certification course that provides 6 hours of continuing education (CEUs) through Yoga Alliance.

Diana found yoga in 2001 as a way to balance marathon running and soon discovered the impact of yoga beyond the mat. She has been teaching since 2016. She believes yoga is accessible for all and welcomes students of all abilities to her classes. She is especially inspired by her work with the blind and visually impaired community. Through this work, she has learned it is easy to get caught up in the visual world and lose sight of our inner wisdom. Diana encourages all students to explore yoga, beyond asana and use their inner wisdom as their guide. You will find her classes blend alignment in asana with breathing to building stronger bodies with personal agency.

James is passionate about the alternative healing arts. He has been studying personal development for more than 16 years and his practise and teaching combines elements of Yoga Asana, Yoga Therapy, Pranayama, Meditation, Qi Gong, Tai Chi, Kung Fu, Cranial Sacral Therapy and Shamanics. These diverse practices; although different, have many parallels in their underlying basis of unity, integration and wholeness.

His approach to yoga is based on the work of Vanda Scaravelli, an Italian who studied with J Krishnamurti, BKS Iyengar and TKV Desikachar. The approach is based on awakening the spine through an intelligent practice, which focuses on the natural forces of the breath, gravity and release. 

James is an E-RYT 500. He has taught classes, retreats and workshops in 9 countries and his classes are suitable for all levels, beginner to advanced. His teaching is simple and straightforward, instructions are clear and the healing and energetic benefits are perceived quickly and easily.

Email James at jamesfoulkes@hotmail.com or visit his website, www.jamesfoulkes.com.

Joe Miller, E-RYT500, draws upon his 20 years of yogic exploration and study of anatomy to recognize and celebrate our endless potential to align with the intelligence of the body. With humor and lots of individualized attention, Joe uses his deep understanding of Hatha Yoga, Tantric Philosophy, and Ayurveda to give students practical tools to experience fully this gift of life. Joe co-leads Willow Street's Teacher Training program, and continues to deepen his own practice by studying with his principal teachers and his amazing family.

What began as a way to heal a running injury, became an important (and essential) part of Lisa's life. Always in a hurry to get somewhere or do something, she found that yoga allowed her to slow down, breathe deeply, and move more easily throughout the day.

Lisa's classes include an emphasis on good alignment and breath work, and on assisting students in developing their own yoga practices. Lisa believes that yoga is accessible for everyone and loves to introduce new students to the practice.

She is thankful to have had the opportunity to study with wonderful teachers such as Lucy Lomax, Tara Lemerise, Kathy Donnelly, and many, many more. Lisa, RYT-500, received her training at the Yoga Center of Columbia and has also studied at Duke University's Integrative Yoga for Seniors Professional Training.

Laura has been practicing yoga for over 12 years, and she enjoys the focus on body, mind, and breath found on the mat. Her favorite classes link strong, flowing postures with breath and time for sweet relaxation. 

Lisa Lauxman is a graduate of the Willow Street 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program. Lisa stumbled on a six-week special Beginner’s Yoga at Willow Street Yoga as she was seeking something to help with balance and flexibility. Lisa found so much more, a community, where following the breath and aligning the body create balance in one’s life. Lisa hopes to provide such balance for others through her classes and have fun. 

Martha graduated from the Willow Street Yoga Teacher Training program in 2019 capping off four decades of yoga study and practice including studies at ashrams in New York and India.  She also graduated from a 4-year program in Mussar (Center for Contemporary Mussar), a Jewish psycho-spiritual approach to ethics in January 2020, preceded by completion of the Lev Shomea (Listening Heart) program in Spiritual Direction in the early 2000s.  Professionally, Martha is a medical anthropologist who worked as a public health evaluator, researcher, and research administrator. Her current focus is now in the areas of spiritual direction– particularly for those whose early experiences in spiritual or religious settings were difficult -- and yoga, as well as social action.

Marvin is a Russian Kettlebell Certified Instructor (RKC) and is a National Council of Strength and Fitness (NCSF) Certified Professional Trainer (CPT). In 2006 Marvin achieved the RKC Level-1 and the following year in 2007 achieved the Level-2 certification from Pavel Tsatsouline, (pioneer and founder of the RKC, Russian Kettlebell Challenge). Marvin is the owner and Chief Instructor of the Bowie Kettlebell Club (BKC) in Bowie, MD. He has been in the fitness arena for many years achieving high ranking in various martial arts and offers a course in Self Protection Training as part of his curriculum at the BKC. Marvin has introduced Kettlebells to:

yoga students - martial artist - runners - strength enthusiast - weekend warriors - and people just looking to get a little more functional body movement out of everyday life.

His unique approach to Kettlebell exercises, proper breathing, and joint mobility has helped many students better understand how Kettlebells can be used to improve yoga strength, running and walking endurance, all purpose flexibility, and proprioception awareness in everyday events.

Marvin has been seen introducing Kettlebells on the “Absolute Body Power Series” aired on Montgomery Co. cable TV. Kettlebells have been here in the US for a little over a decade and the correct usage of the Kettlebells is still hard to come by. The magic is in the detail. That's all we do!

Philip Bender (YACEP, E-RYT 500) creates yoga and meditation classes to facilitate greater joy, confidence and connection in the lives of beginners and experienced practitioners alike. His clear style, dry humor and occasional irreverence allow him to share traditional teachings in an accessible way that inspires students to deepen their own relationship with what lies within.

An initiate of the Himalayan tradition, Philip Bender currently follows the embodied path of Dharma Ocean. He leads workshops and retreats as well as weekly hatha yoga and meditation classes at Willow Street Yoga, the Freer Gallery of Art, and Anne Arundel Community College where he offers teacher training through Yoga4Life. Philip's asana practice is inspired primarily by Viniyoga and ParaYoga, but he draws from many sources including Buteyko breathing, his degree in philosophy, experience as a performing artist, eleven years as a dad, and long-term personal practice to impart the profound yet practical wisdom of moving inward.

Terri Shuck is a graduate of the Willow Street 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training and a certified Let Your Yoga Dance instructor sponsored by the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health.  Terri began practicing yoga 14 years ago and it changed her life by providing a path for self-care, centering, and well-being in the context of a fast-paced career in Washington, DC. Now she is dedicated to sharing the life-enhancing experience of yoga as a student-centered practice that is accessible to people of all ages.  Her Let Your Yoga Dance classes are designed to enliven our bodies, brains, hearts, and souls with the joy of music, movement, and community.

Tricia is a graduate of Willow Street and Body Balance Yoga teacher training programs (RYT 500), and is a certified Yogahour teacher and certified Body Balance Yoga Therapist. Her classes focus on dissolving tension in the body, creating optimal alignment, and connecting with the breath. She clearly articulates alignment instructions based on her knowledge of anatomy and exploration in her own practice. Tricia is so grateful to share the healing power of yoga with her students so they feel more balanced and vibrant in their bodies, minds, and hearts.

Leslie Howard is an Oakland-based yoga teacher, specializing in all things pelvic. She leads workshops and trainings nationally and has written a book about the female pelvis, Pelvic Liberation. She is a regular presenter for the Yoga Journal conferences and a regular contributor to Yoga Journal magazine.

Her own struggles with healing her hips and pelvis led her to intense study of the anatomy, physiology, cultural messaging, history and energetics of this rich place. Her teaching is informed by over 3500 hours of yoga study with senior Iyengar yoga teachers, notably Manouso Manos and Patricia Walden. She considers Ramanand Patel her most important influence and mentor. She has designed two very successful studies for UCSF on yoga to alleviate incontinence and pelvic pain. To learn more about Leslie, visit www.lesliehowardyoga.com.

I'm endlessly inspired by the connections between body, breath, mind, emotions, physical and energetic anatomies, you and me. I'd love to share with you some serious scientific study (with a sense of humor), evidence based potent practices and time tested Yoga technologies to explore the depths of who you are and who you can become. I believe from the bottom of my anatomical heart that by understanding what makes us different leads us back to what connects us all.

So obsessed with the power and potential of these practices I co-authored the book “The Yoga Fan” (2003) and authored MetaAnatomy: A Modern Yogi’s Practical Guide to the Physical and Energetic Anatomy of Your Amazing Body (Sounds True Publishing 2021) which was generously called a “luscious resource” by Rod Stryker and “smart and sassy” by Elena Brower. 

A E-RYT 500, YACEP, LMT with close to 30 years experience sharing these practices I’ve been lucky enough to graduate thousands of teachers through programs around the world. In 2021 I was invited to join the anatomy advisory team at Yoga Journal Magazine. These days you can find me in my new home in London, England writing books, studying in a nearby park full of swans and teaching virtually and producing offerings in my faux fur lined-plant and bone filled home yoga studio

Steve grew up as a gymnast and was drawn to yoga as a way to honor the body sustainably and mindfully. He is always looking for the little lessons inherent in our practice: take the time to warm up, look within and examine, let go of what does not serve, meet yourself where you are. Steve's classes offer a reflection on how we can apply the lessons of practice to our everyday lives. These thoughts are woven into a steadily paced warm up, an energizing standing sequence, and a flexibility-focused cooldown.

Keisha Bayne, RYT-200, has always believed that a physically active lifestyle and a healthy diet is the key to achieving wellness. It wasn’t until she was introduced to yoga over 10 years ago, that she realized there was more to total wellness than just diet and physical activity. Through the teachings of yoga, Keisha has incorporated meditation and breathing techniques into her daily routine. She believes in using the teachings of yoga to help others heal, improve and motivate the physical and mental aspects of their lives. Keisha’s classes are balance of flow, meditation, strength building and lots of smiles.

My purpose is to serve and empower people who want to alter the course of their lives and are hungry for change. In my role as a Transformational Coach, I guide people to identify their inner strengths and transform their fears into fuel as they learn to honor all parts of themselves and create the life they've dreamed of. Together we uncover the next layer of you ready to heal and transform. I'm also a 200-hour Yoga & Meditation teacher with a passion for fostering spaces of fruitful connection to oneself and others. And as a Holy Fire® Reiki Practitioner, I incorporate energy healing in the work I do. More than that, I'm a student of life with a yearning to grow and make a meaningful impact with my limited time on this precious planet. 

Learn more about Ari Hartz at her website: https://celestialtides-coaching.com/