Jan is a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 500 hour level who received her training from the late Esther Myers of Toronto. In addition, Jan has completed 92 hours training with Donna Farhi, and has studied with other national and local teachers. She has practiced yoga since 1984, holds a Master's degree in Public Health and has worked in the healthcare field for over twenty years.

Jan teaches small classes in her home studio where students can receive more individual attention and instruction in the use of the breath and body systems to create ease in movement and body awareness.

Individual therapeutic sessions to address a particular health issue are also available. Private sessions help the student develop a personal practice tailored to his/her needs to improve health, control symptoms, help recovery, or prevent further disability. She works with students with fibromyalgia, osteoarthritis, osteoporosis, mild MS, back injury, joint replacements, anxiety, panic disorder, and depression.

Jill practices and teaches yoga as a physical, mental, and spiritual guidebook for life. Recognizing physical expression as a means for maintaining harmony and balance, she creates classes that integrate the breath and body to cultivate physical health, a satvic mind, and an open heart. Trained in India in traditional hatha yoga, Jill draws upon a variety of yogic styles and traditions to offer classes that meet the needs of her students, while staying in tune with nature and the seasons. Yoga offers practitioners a profound science and philosophy for life, and Jill hopes the experience on the mat will unfold into enriched and awake living off the mat. www.bluelotusnc.com

Yvonne is known for her soulful, playful, and creative classes. Her classes are designed for you to uncover your own inner teacher. She weaves her practice of yoga and zest for life into groovy and tranquil classes, which are inspired by her daily living with Spirit. Yvonne juggles her busy life with grace, gives of her resources, nurtures herself with compassionate care, exudes her signature style, and lights up the room with her presence. www.bluelotusnc.com

Alison discovered the life-changing path of yoga over a decade ago after taking her first yoga class and has never looked back. With a passion for detail and the importance of a solid foundation, her greatest desire is to see all ages, levels and body types find the joy of a safe yoga practice. After many years in practicing and training in Hatha and Vinyasa yoga, Alison discovered a second passion in massage therapy. As an RYT and licensed LMBT, she has found yoga and bodywork therapy to be truly complementary disciplines, each informing and strengthening the other, providing a more comprehensive and complete practice. It is Alison's belief that yoga is the ultimate self-care discipline physically, emotionally and spiritually -- on and off the mat. www.bluelotusnc.com

Jen began practicing yoga over seven years ago and was hooked from her very first vinyasa class. Slowly, she began to realize the many benefits a yoga practice offers that were absent in other physical exercises she enjoyed. Jen began to realize the emotional and spiritual benefits of the practice, as well. Yoga began to facilitate the process of moving through and letting go of many layers of false realities built up through life that keep many of us from our truth.

  The desire to deepen her practice and understanding of yoga led her enroll in the 9 months of transformation: the blue lotus yoga immersion & teacher training program. With the support of many great teachers, her husband Josh, and their three children, she completed the training in 2009 and has since been passing on the blessing of yoga to adults and kids. Jen combines her love of painting with yoga by leading art/yoga classes, workshops and summer camps for kids. Believing that everyone has creative energy, she teaches “flow and create” classes for adults. Jen uses the yoga practice to help students relax and release fears and misconceptions that keep them separate form their creativity, and then leads them through an intuitive art exercise that reestablishes that connection. www.bluelotusnc.com

Anisha is a passionate and inspiring acupuncturist and yoga teacher with a rich and varied background. She is known for her soulful treatments and creative classes, which allow her clients to nurture them while going deeper within. She has been a yoga practitioner since 2003 and all her life was drawn to the strength and beauty of many different traditions. A heart-centered practitioner and teacher, Anisha integrates her knowledge of Yoga, Chinese Medicine, Qi Gong and Sufism, elegantly weaving the rich philosophies into her treatments and classes. Her inclusive presence fills the room with warmth and light. Anisha received a 200-hour yoga teacher certification from the Kripalu Center and attained her Masters in Acupuncture and Medical Qi Gong certification from the Academy for Five Element Acupuncture, Florida, in 2006. With the help of Master Ou Wen Wei, she recently co-founded and created Pangu Yoga, a new style uniquely blending the deep principles of Pangu Mystical Qi gong with the Essence of Yoga. Anisha is thrilled to offer Yoga and Qi gong workshops nationwide. She lovingly guides people towards a renewed quality of life through education and empowerment, and invites each student to connect more deeply with his or her inherent radiance and experience a true taste of Ananda. For more information, visit her Web site. www.bluelotusnc.com

Carrington took the first steps along her yogic path in Denver, Colorado, in 1994. Her journey began with Bikram yoga and after a few years, she found herself drawn to the strength and beauty of Vinyasa. Through the creative process of marrying movement to breath, the transformation from a physical practice to a spiritual practice was born. Carrington realized yoga was much bigger than just a physical endeavor of asana. But rather it was a way to connect to the very core of self, which is the place of spirit ... the place of connection … the place of the divine. Ultimately, the soul of her practice is about bringing peace and healing to the world. Carrington uses her own experience with her practice to help deepen and encourage the practice of her students. Her commitment to her students encourages a strong internal body, mind, and spirit awareness, as well as core strength and grace. She believes listening to the body’s own wisdom is an integral part of yoga. By listening to ourselves, we realize everything we’ve ever wanted to know is already there. Her journey of yoga has had many teachers along the way. A few teachers who have influenced Carrington’s personal and teaching practices are Seane Corn, Sharon Gannon, Ainslie Macleod, Terry Brown, Suzanne Newton, and of course the greatest teacher of all … Life. Carrington gratefully attained RYT status in 2004 and RYT500 in 2010. www.bluelotusnc.com

Margot has been immersed in the art of movement for 23 years. She has studied ballet, modern, jazz, hip-hop, and yoga with numerous well-known teachers throughout her life. In 2005, Margot studied with Alan Finger at ISHTA yoga in New York City and achieved her 200-hour certification as recognized by the Yoga Alliance. Through her six years of teaching yoga locally, she has earned a reputation as both a challenging and light-hearted instructor. Most recently, Margot retired from the stage after performing with the Carolina Ballet as a soloist for 13 seasons. This led to her creation of The Ballet Burn, the latest craze in ballet fitness. Margot has also been teaching beginner to advanced ballet to children and adults nationally and internationally for nearly 10 years. After years of dealing with the critical world of ballet, Margot has found a new passion in making others feel good about their bodies, starting from the inside out. She is committed to helping others achieve health and happiness through creative movement, total body awareness, and positive intentions. www.bluelotusnc.com

I have been teaching yoga in the Holly Springs for 7 years. I studied with Stephanie Keach from Asheville Yoga Center where we were introduced to most styles of yoga.
I then went on to get my prenatal, restorative and vinyasa flow from AYC. This past winter I studied Yin Yoga with Sarah Powers.
I have recently become a student of hot yoga and hope to get certification in 2011.
My philosophy about yoga is very simple...it is a life changing experience...drawn to yoga as a way to heal chronic muscle pain, I learned how to breathe better and to slow down. I was/am able to  have no pain and an increased enjoyment of life.

Claire McCullough has been practicing yoga for 20 years and teaches individual and partner yoga. She has taught beginning yoga at Meredith College in Raleigh, as well as classes for breast cancer patients and survivors at Rex Cancer Center. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher and graduated from the NC School of Yoga.

is organizer of Yoga in the Park. She is certified in Integral Yoga (1990) and is also certified in Cardiac Yoga Therapy thru Integral Yoga Instititute and the University of Virginia (1992). She has taught yoga for Healthworks at Wake Medical Hospital in Raleigh since 1999.

I have been practicing yoga since 1979 and teaching since 1990. I have been teaching Yoga at Healthtrax International, a medical and fitness center in North Raleigh, since it opened in 2007.  Healthtrax is a preventive health care organization providing rehabilitation, fitness, and wellness programs to individuals, companies, and insurers.

My personal approach to a beneficial yoga practice is based on releasing stress both physically and mentally. I teach tension release through the asanas and proper breathing and stilling the body and mind through quiet reflection and meditation.
I also begin each class with a short inspiring thought for daily living.

Julie’s life growing up was filled with a wide variety of opportunities for exploring movement and physical activity, including dance, cheerleading, gymnastics, basketball, and running around to escape her big brother! After college, her work life and raising three children put some of that activity on hold. But at age 40, Julie decided to check out a yoga class taught by Julie Suiter, and was instantly "hooked." It brought back all of the joys of moving the body in a challenging but pleasurable way, and she loved the way it made her feel young again! After practicing yoga for four years, Julie pursued her 240-hour teaching certificate, so she could share her passion for yoga with others. Since her graduation from the North Carolina School of Yoga in April 2005, Julie has taught a wide variety of classes, including Yoga Basics, Kids Yoga, Gentle Yoga, and Vinyasa Yoga. Julie enjoys working with students of all ages and abilities. Her teaching style reflects her love of yoga and the many joys it brings to body, mind, and spirit. “On my head, pour only the sweet waters of serenity. Give me the gift of the untroubled mind.” www.bluelotusnc.com

Sandra’s yoga journey began years before she first stepped onto a mat, as like many she contemplated for a long time what seemed to be the mystery behind this ancient practice. In 2002, she cracked open the door to her own practice with a series of semi-private lessons in the Vinyasa style with Jill Sockman. For the next six years, yoga became a great source of balance to Sandra's hectic professional work life in corporate communications. With Jill as virtually her only instructor, Sandra’s practice evolved to include appreciation and love of all the beauty that is yoga. In 2009, she completed 285 hours of teacher training as a student of the first class of 9 months of transformation, the blue lotus yoga immersion and teacher training program. In yoga, Sandra has found a home as well as a place from which to encourage her students to explore yoga beyond the mat, to how they move physically, emotionally, and spiritually in the world. www.bluelotusnc.com

Howie began his yoga journey 15 years ago as a way to manage his stress and strains from arthritis, dental practice and sports. He found that easy, low impact yoga reduced the tension in his mind and as well as his body. Yoga has been crucial to Howie’s management of disabling arthritis. His condition resulted in multiple surgeries and complications that prematurely ended his dental career. His gentle yoga practice prepared him for surgery and rehabilitation from these events.
In 2008, Howie received certification to teach Chair Yoga at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health under the supervision of Lakshmi Voelker. In 2009, he became an apprentice of Cyndi Bulka.
In 2011, Howie founded You Call This Yoga, a 501c3 education nonprofit organization to bring gentle, accessible, restorative yoga to the American public. In 2011, he published the book and DVD, Sit Stretch Smile for beginner and novice Chair Yoga practitioners. In addition, Howie produces a weekly yoga program on Raleigh Cable Channel 10.
Howie’s background allows him to create many classes that are gentle, informative, and fun. He understands limitations, has knowledge of the body and brings 25 years of experience in calming and humoring his patients to yoga. Visit www.youcallthisyoga.org for more information.

Conni is an enthusiastic teacher and student of Prana Flow, an evolutionary Vinyasa encompassing Tantra, Ayurveda, and dance created by Shiva Rea. Having the opportunity to assist both Shiva and teachers Carson Effird and Maria Garre within their programs has allowed Conni to grow and flourish within her own teachings. After completing Shiva Rea’s 300-hour program on a sacred trek to the Himalayas, Conni is excited to bring all of her inspirations on the mat. Conni’s classes will inspire you to connect to your inner strengths, to the elements around you, and the inner child within you. www.bluelotusnc.com

It was as a dancer that Julee discovered yoga. Julee began studying dance and yoga with David Beadle and Lisa Clark in 1995 and hasn’t stopped yet. She completed their EmbodiYoga teacher training in 2004 and continues to co-teach with them in their workshops and teacher trainings. Though, it was in recovery from two auto accidents that Julee developed her specialty in gentle and restorative yoga. Face-to-face with her own need for healing, she took the tools given to her from yoga to turn deeply inwards and begin her work. Julee is known for her gentle, organic, and often luscious vinyasa practice. These classes clarify alignment principles, explore internal landscapes, deepen the breath, quiet the mind, and begin to cultivate a practice in which the flow between poses is as important as the poses themselves. Julee is also trained in Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen's work, Body-Mind Centering (BMC). BMC is a 1000-hour somatic movement therapy training that explores embodied anatomy and developmental movement. It is often coined as “yoga of the West.” Julee is part of a movement of practitioners working to integrate BMC and Yoga. You can find these explorations in the 9 months of transformation (blue lotus’s teacher training), as well as in her workshops and special classes. Julee is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the E-RYT 200 level. She is also a bodywork therapist, integrating yoga, massage, craniosacral therapy, and BMC. Her 2,000 plus hours of therapeutic study and 15 years of dance experience deeply inform her teaching. She has a small bodywork practice in Raleigh and is available for private yoga sessions at blue lotus. www.bluelotusnc.com

Movement arts have always been a part of Jill’s life. Perhaps it all began when she was a wee girl, practicing her own form of acrobatics around the house -- most often in an attempt to get the attention of her older brothers. Since then, the style and intention have changed dramatically, but the innate desire to physically express the energy of the life and Light within remains the same. Now Jill’s art of choice is yoga, ranging from the soft and meditative to the sweaty and vigorous. With grace and compassion, she holds the space for yoga practitioners young and old -- people from all walks of life -- to uncover for themselves what has been lost along the way: strength of will, flexibility of character, clarity of mind, and contentment of heart. This is yoga for real life. Jill has been a student of meditation and yoga since the early 1990s, attaining RYT status in 2000 and E-RYT in 2006. She offers deep gratitude to all of the teachers who have profoundly influenced her practice and teaching: Gordon Sharpe, Warren Grossman, Suzanne Newton, and Rod Stryker. www.bluelotusnc.com

Diane moved to Raleigh from the Boston area in 2007 with her husband and two daughters. She is a licensed massage therapist as well as a yoga instructor. Diane was introduced to both yoga and massage in 1993, after living many years with chronic back pain. She felt almost immediate relief from the therapeutics of receiving regular massage and learning to practice a variety of yoga poses, stretches and breathing techniques. It has been the use of these preventative health care practices that has kept her out of pain ever since.

Diane received her 200-hour certification from the Anahata Integrated Yoga Teacher Training, in Newburyport, MA in 2007. She has been teaching at the Moving Mantra Yoga Studio in North Raleigh since 2008. She most enjoys teaching a slower-paced, relaxed class that unfolds gently, allowing practitioners, new and experienced, to develop their practice from a more organic, internal place. Diane's classes and private yoga sessions are excellent if you are recovering from injury or illness, pregnant or post-partum, or simply wanting a more gentle Yoga experience, that will leave you deeply relaxed and changed with a new sense of possibility.

For more information, visit Diane's website: www.dianestakoe.com

Practicing since 1996.
Kripalu 200 hour yoga teacher training (August 2000) Certified Pre-Natal yoga teacher (Janice Clarfield 2003) Thai Yoga Therapy Certification (Saul David Raye 2001) Have attended numerous retreats with many different teachers (White Lotus/Omega/Amrit Desai/Sara Powers) Have been actively teaching from 1998-2009 at shaktimindbodyfitness.com in Kingston, Jamaica.

My classes integrate pranayama, asana, and meditation weaving philosophy, poetry, and witnessing silence. My goal is to lead students to have an experience of yoga in every class. I prefer to teach 1 1/2 or 2 hour classes. My intention is to offer free classes in the park, prisons, womens centers and also available to teach privates.

For more information about upcoming classes, call 919-909-3155 or email jstanigar@gmail.com

Leilani loves yoga. She believes it has the power to connect us to our inner guide, reveal the truth of who we are, reset our happiness meters, and expand our compassion as we evolve from practicing yoga on the mat to the real beauty of being our practice. Leilani has practiced yoga for 12 years. She completed a 240-hour certification in 2008 and has also taken Erich Schiffmann's advanced yoga teacher training course with a focus on teaching Freedom Style Yoga and meditation. www.bluelotusnc.com

Suzanne grew up in Trinidad doing yoga with her cousins and singing Kirtan with her grandmother. A consistently inconsistent asana practice for many years evolved over time and has led to an ongoing love affair with the practice of yoga. Finding vinyasa yoga several years ago and discovering the amazing power of linking breath and movement with spirituality continues to be a transformative experience. Physically, the strength building and stretching that are integral to a vinyasa practice have helped her to control chronic lower back pain. However, it is the inner journey of discovery, and the clarity that comes when the mind is quiet and the heart is open that keeps her on the yogic path. Sharing these practices with others is the most joyous way of giving back the greatest gifts she continues to receive from yoga – a healthy body and an open heart. In her classes, Suzanne works on developing strength, encouraging exploration, looking for laughter, and helping to find contentment and peace. www.bluelotusnc.com

Kathleen, also known around the studio as Cupcake, began practicing yoga in 1999--in her apartment, accompanied by a Patricia Walden VHS tape, because she was intimidated by the thought of doing yoga in a class setting. Over time, as her love of the practice grew, so did her willingness to take her mat out of her living room...and now it goes with her most everywhere. Her teaching style reflects the gifts she receives from her own yoga practice: an awareness of strength, self-healing, equanimity, and the contentment that comes from the recognition of our connection to the living, breathing world around us. Her classes are a grounded space in which students can nurture their own awareness of the body, the breath, and the energy that exists in all things. Kathleen is honored to be a graduate of the first class of blue lotus's teacher training program. She is currently pursuing advanced anatomy training through the New York-based Breathing Project's Yoga Educators program. www.bluelotusnc.com