Diane Finlayson, ERYT-500, Teacher Training Staff, Corporate and classes

Diane is the owner of yama studio and director of the yama therapeutics Yoga Therapy Training programs.  She received the name Divyamani (Divine Gem) from her spiritual teacher, Swami Niranjananda Saraswati of the Bihar School of Yoga.

Diane has been practicing yoga & meditation for more than 25 years and holds a 1,000 hour Yoga Therapy certification from Integrative Yoga Therapy. She has trained extensively with Wise Earth School of Ayurveda, and holds an Ayurvedic Health Educator certificate from David Frawley's American Vedic Studies Institute. Her MLA thesis at Johns Hopkins University was on Ayurveda in America. Diane specializes in individual work with people working through grief and
addictions and offers asana, philosophy & meditation classes for yama at various
Johns Hopkins University sites. She leads workshops and retreats across the country.
She is currently completing the Clinical Communty Counseling program at Johns Hopkins.

Jennifer Defensor has worked part-time for yama studio since 2006. She manages the bookkeeping and general office administration. She is a graduate of Loyola University Maryland (formerly Loyola College). She is a mother of twin boys.

Abir Alzenate , RYT 200. Corporate Yoga Teacher
Abir Alzenate completed her 200 hour certification at yama therapeutics and is a registered yoga teacher (200RYT) with the yoga alliance. Abir has unique experience teaching students of all levels and all backgrounds. Her classes include both empowering and rejuvenating sequences as part of a balancing practice. Using the tools yoga offers, Abir guides students on a journey of transformation, from the inside out and the outside in. Abir is a dedicated ashtanga and vinyassa practitioner and appreciates the worlds of art, music and philosophy.

Kathy Anderson, E-RYT 500. Teacher Training Staff, Westminster classes
Kathy holds a 200 hour Yoga certification through Integrative Yoga Therapy and went on to study Structural Yoga Therapy with Mukunda Stiles. Kathy offers teaches Yoga Philosophy courses at Frederick Community College and teaches Yoga and offers Yoga and Massage Therapy and in Westminster and Frederick.

Farlow Blakeslee, Addictions Counselor, Mindful Living Program
Farlow has worked with recovering addicts and alcoholics for over thirty years. He has been leading groups at The Resource Group in Towson for ten years. After intensive training with BehavioralTech he and his team started the first outpatient Dialectical Behavioral Therapy Skills Group in the area. He is a long time student and practitioner of meditation and teaches Mindfulness at Father Martin's Ashley and the Kolmac Clinic. He is proud to deliver the Dick Prodey Addiction Education Lecture at Sheppard Pratt Hospital when its originator takes a night off.

Tammy Carr, RYT 200, Corporate Programs, Workshop Presenter 
As a military wife, mother of two teenagers knows about the stress of daily life. Tammy is a Girl Scout troop advisor and has designed yoga related programs specifically for the Girl Scouts. Tammy has a deep sense of mission when it comes to personal wellness from maintaining her 160 weight loss. She strives to educate and encourage her students to practice yoga to develop a deeper awareness of their body, mind and spirit and respect for themselves. Tammy feels by teaching others to grow from within she is planting the seeds for positive choices tomorrow.

Jeanne Deignan Kosmides, ERYT-500, Teacher Training Staff & Westminster classes
Jeanne is a Kripalu Yoga Teacher, Phoenix Rising Yoga Instructor, Positive Pregnancy Fitness Instructor, Childbirth Assistant and BirthDoula. With almost 30 years experience in yoga, meditation, nutrition and alternative healing Jeanne brings a broad and unique quality of experience, knowledge and nurturing support to her workshops and trainings. Jeanne co-facilitates the yama Meditation program and offers Pre- & post-natal Yoga Teacher Training for yama. Jeanne is currently a Masters of Science Pastoral Counseling candidate at Loyola University. Her website is http://www.breathofjoy.com

Pat Dunning, Ph.D.,ERYT-500, On-line and Teacher Training Staff.
Pat Dunning has been teaching and practicing yoga for more than 30 years, is an E-RYT500, and is the first recipient of the 1,000 hour Yama Therapeutics Program at yama studio. Currently, she is a member of the Teacher Training Staff. Pat studied yoga under the tutelage of Professor Risvodkar, an Indian guru, while also pursuing her doctorate in intercultural communication, with a focus on East/West cultures. During her career as a department chair, and faculty member at George Washington University, University of Maryland, Goucher College and Southeastern University, and as Director of Foreign Service Employee Program for the government, she taught yoga part-time to students, faculty, and government personnel. Pat offers yoga, asana, pranayama, philosophy, Ayurveda, meditation and yoga therapy for groups, individuals and corporations. Recently, she developed the Yoga and Ayurveda Wellness Program, a holistic approach for physical, emotional, mental and spiritual harmony and health. She has taught the Chakra Sadhana program in a monthly format and is now offering it as a distance learning course.

Mark Garner, RYT 200, Corporate Yoga Instructor
Mark Garner is a Yoga Alliance certified teacher who earned his 200 hour teaching certificate from Yama Therapeutics. He is an artist, a husband, and the proud (stay at home) father of two beautiful children. “A Still Mind is a Sober Mind” is an affirmation which holds deep personal meaning for him and one that he would like to share with those in need of healing. As a yoga practitioner he weaves his own recovery into the fabric of his classes. Through a mutual cellular make- up with those in recovery he is excited to be given an opportunity to teach, learn, laugh, and cry with all who come to the mat and are willing to grow.

Christine Garrison, RYT 500, Teacher Training Staff & On-line Classroom Manager
Christine teaches a gentle, flowing style of yoga that connects breath to movement. She has been practicing yoga for more than 20 years. Christine also studied dance for many years and enjoys working with students of all ages and ability levels. Christine keeps the on-line classroom running for the yama therapeutics programs.

Pat Grimm, Meditation & Ayurveda Training Staff, Workshop Presenter
Pat maintains a private practice in massage therapy, reflexology, Reiki energy healing and meditation teaching. She is a certified infant massage instructor, and has taught parents, and provided, infant massage in the neonatal intensive care unit at the Saint Joseph Medical Center in Towson, MD. Pat is a graduate of the yama programs in ayurveda and meditation.

Tim Hurley,  E-RYT 500, Yoga Teacher Training Staff, Certified Meditation Facilitator, Westminster Classes

Tim teaches a gentle, insightful and nurturing style of Hatha Yoga that emphasizes cultivating mindfulness and that facilitates each student's awakening to the fullness of being human. Tim leads a monthly group meditation practice at the Westminster studio on the 2nd Sunday of each month. Tim also offers private Individual Yoga Therapy by arrangement in Westminster and Baltimore

 
Joe Ingber, RYT 500

Joe first became attracted to Yoga in 2000 as a complimentary discipline to distance running of marathons and ultras. The interest to share Yoga through practice & teaching continued to grow. The result was an intuitive awareness that through certification as an instructor, I might better serve the community, and have some fun. Maybe even make a difference. It was during the 200 hour YTT at Columbia School of Yoga in 2006 that he observed how his two passions, Yoga and a sober lifestyle based on the 12 steps of AA, were aligned as principle based programs of action. Completing the certification at the 500 hour level at Yama Therapeutics in 2010, Joe turned his attention in the Fall of 2011 full time to follow his Dharma and offer Yoga to the community through private practice, workshops and group asana classes, including the focus of special attention to the aspects of Yoga and addiction recovery.

 
Carole Kennedy, RYT 500

My fitness career began over 25 years ago. After I started to practice yoga in the early nineties, my interest shifted to a more mind/body focus and I became certified by AAAI/ISMA in 1999 to teach yoga. A few years later I incorporated a Mind/Body Personal Trainer Certification to my teaching. After completing the ITY Teacher Training Program, 200 hour level, and the yama therapeutics Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training Program, 500 hour level, at Yama, I feel I have found my niche. I work with groups/and or individuals. I am currently working with the aging population putting an emphasis on posture, body awareness, and balance.

 
Michelle Kohler, RYT 500

Michelle holds a 200-hr certificate from Integrative YogaTherapy, and a 500-hr certificate from Yama Studio (Yoga, Ayurveda andMeditation Arts). Michelle iscertified as a meditation facilitator, and also holds an MAT in Art Educationfrom the Corcoran College of Art and Design. Her classes focus on observing and reconnecting with ourinner bodies for the purpose of living whole, creative, and joyful lives.

 
Danielle Lesser , RYT 200, Teacher Training Instructor

Danielle holds a 200 hour Yoga certification from Yama Therapeutics Teacher Training Program at yama studio. She is currently teaching in New Jersey as part of the expanded Teacher Training Staff. Danielle is also a Certified Health Counselor who works with individuals to find their best health for their lifestyle. She feels fortunate to be able to bring yoga to her clients.

Jana Long, RYT 200, Workshop Presenter
Jana is an Integrative Yoga Therapy Yoga teacher, Level One Wise Earth Ayurveda & Nutrition, and a certified Yoga for Seniors Therapist. Jana creates innovative workshops that combine ancient cultural wisdoms with a therapeutic approach to mind/body/spirit wellness. She is a regular presenter at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies and the Yoga Retreat for Women of Color at Kripalu.

 Helen Resop, RYT, PYT became certified in Sivananda Yoga on Paradise Island, the Bahamas in April 2004. She worked in

 Baltimore City Public Schools as a teacher and principal at the elementary school level and was a facilitator in the area of professional development.

In addition to her study of yoga for the past 17 years, since 1996. Helen has also studied Zen meditation, Buddhism, and has worked with shamans from the rain forest and Andean mountains of Ecuador, and Peru, and a Native American elder from Canada, among other notables. Helen considers herself a student of yoga as well as a teacher, and looks forward to sharing with students the joy and peace that yoga can bring.

Helen shares a bit of what she has learned from her diverse contact. She teaches about looking at things differently... about beginning to access the inner-voice... and about the potential of changing the landscape of your life.

Karen Shavin, RYT 200
Karen was introduced to yoga as a tool to ease chronic pain resulting from physical injuries and aging.  In addition to relief from the pain, she discovered so much more through the practice of yoga.  Hoping to introduce others to these benefits, Karen completed her 200-hour Integrative Yoga Therapy teacher certification at yama studio in Baltimore.  Her primary goal is to assist others in realizing their own healing powers.  Karen continues her personal journey with the study of Hatha Yoga is currently pursuing Therapeutic Massage training at Anne Arundel Community College.

Claudia Simpson, E-RYT 500, Teacher Training Staff 
Claudia Simpson, E-RYT 500, is a Kripalu certified yoga teacher and Phoenix Rising yoga therapist. Claudia has led yoga classes, workshops and teacher trainings locally and nationally since 1990. Her passion for yoga as a tool for transformation combined with her compassionate and gentle teaching style has inspired hundreds of students to tap their own inner guidance. Claudia offers individual Yoga Therapy in Baltimore. You can learn more about her at www.Ineedyoga.com

Nancy Wachter, RYT 200
Nancy has been practicing yoga since 1999. She is passionate about sharing with othersall the great benefits that practicing yoga can provide for mind and spirit as well as body.Nancy is certified at the 500-hour level in Yoga Therapeutics. Her style is gentle andrestorative, but can also be challenging. By connecting breath with movement, unifyingbody, mind, and spirit, Nancy aims to bring each student to greater self-awareness andan enhanced sense of grounding and compassion. She has trained with Gary Kraftsow,author of “Yoga for Wellness.” Nancy’s particular focus is working with people whohave experienced loss, who are undergoing anxiety or stress, or who are being challengedby life-altering illness.