E-RYT500 | She lived with anxiety and depression since childhood. Sometimes it eased back - sometimes months and years were lost. In 2001 Barbara walked into her first Anahata yoga class and met her teacher Ana Costa. Barbara had always had a wonder and respect for yoga and had practiced here and there and on her own. She lived in her mind rather than her body but she had an inborn ground of spiritual life that had already led her to India and into art as her life’s work. Read more...
From the first Savasana, she knew she had found something she hadn’t know to ask for. Anahata was a completely different way of approaching life and it supported everything Barbara loved about spirit, heart, beauty, kindness, order, and what she would call ever present holiness - and it started with the body and breath.
Anahata focuses on the heart - expanding, deepening, brightening the heart while honoring the body and clearing the mind. During one of the early classes, though, Barbara felt a dark wave of depression beginning to build. The thought of living through it all again was like drowning. In the gentle forward bend at the beginning of the practice, she could hear Ana’s reassuring voice describing stress melting away, the breath relaxing the back and head, and anxiety being removed. It seemed impossible, but following Ana’s instructions as carefully as she could manage, Barbara felt the depression slide off like a load of heavy mud. She almost laughed out loud in class. When she slowly stood up from the pose and took a breath, all she could think was, ”I want this for everyone.”
It was the turning point in her life and she dove in and studied with Ana Costa to become a yoga teacher.
When she arrived in Weaverville in the summer of 2009 to open a yoga studio for the town, the students who appeared at the door had a special request of yoga. They wanted a practice that could help them age well and fully enjoy life by being confident in their bodies, emotions, and spirits. That became a unique focus of her teaching.
Then students confided that the weight their bodies had accumulated was uncomfortable and strange to them and they didn’t know how to regain a more appropriate weight. Exploring several ways, Barbara began the 10 Week Weight Loss Workshops at the studio. Using the structure of a yoga practice to steady the emotions and give the needed inner support for change, the program eliminates at the student’s pace - quickly or gradually - highly refined processed foods and gives guidance in choosing, cooking, and enjoying simple real food. It is a way made to last a lifetime and to treat our bodies and ourselves with self-care and gratitude as the gifts they are. And it works.
She lives with her husband, Jay, in Weaverville. Jay is the creator of the powerful website building engine HotWax. Without his patience and support Weaverville Yoga would never have happened and certainly would not be here five years later. You know how the Oscar winners always have a big long list of thank yous and make sure the person closest to them is on that list even when the orchestra plays the impatient music? That is Jay to Barbara. If you love Weaverville Yoga, a quiet thanks to Jay is in order.
They have three children. Annika is the founder and factotum of Beeswax, a website building community for women, now serving Etsy. Kipper is a well-known and loved DJ and late night host throughout Asheville. Tim is a fine arts student in Montreal.
Barbara has made it her life’s work to bring health, happiness, kindness, and love to others through the teaching of Anahata Yoga.
She still paints - mostly small and mostly gouache. She still goes to India when her heart calls and she often takes retreats at Meher Spiritual Center.
One more story. Why Weaverville Yoga? Barbara was living and teaching yoga in Asheville, quite happy. A friend kept insisting on going to a place called Weaverville where a bakery served lunch. To placate her friend, she went. She looked around the town as she walked to the bakery and she wondered,”Where is their yoga studio? This is such an interesting small town - artistic, light hearted, charming, and current. Where is the yoga studio?”
After lunch, they crossed the street to visit a friend on Florida Avenue who had a landscape design business. Barbara’s eyes were drawn to a door with a black canvas awning. ”That would be the place for a yoga studio for the town,” Barbara thought. It was a kitchen cabinet carpenter’s shop.
Three years later, when the old yoga center on Broadway in Asheville closed, Barbara gathered the teachers who wanted to go on and formed Weaverville Yoga to open in the summer of 2009. All they needed was a place. An agent called and said she had found a spot. Of course it was the small room with the black canvas awning over the door. Our first yoga studio in Weaverville.
We later moved into the old post office at 7 Florida Avenue. Our beloved studio still has the feeling of being given by grace with its beautiful space and light and the sincere, gifted teachers who have come together here to share yoga (and now ballet and Pilates). It is special. It’s home to us.
Yoga in a small town. Neighbors meeting neighbors in a friendly place. Yoga with kindness. Namaste! We welcome you.
Cindy Wolff, Manager
I am both honored and grateful to be called the Manager of Weaverville Yoga studio. Although we are still trying to work out the details, I led by wonderful teachers and us students to guide me along. To hear the needs as we continue to grow.
The physical practice of yoga has been part of my life for many years. It was not until a few years ago I followed the sign that said Weaverville Yoga studio. I was curious to check out this new place in town. See what it had to offer me. I had no idea that following that one little sign could change my life in such a positive way. I have found a true sense community. And have been made so many dear friends within our yoga community.
Weaverville Yoga studio teachers have taught me that yoga is not just a physical practice. But the deeper meaning of Yoga as a spiritual practice. I will be a forever student of these teachings and in May 2018 completed my 200 hr teaching certification.
Please feel free to connect with me at Leftylou2@aol.com or at the studio if you would like to connect me with about how we together can improve the studio. Or what workshops may be of interest to you.
So for now: take a deep breath, let it go and LIVE!
Namaste,
Cindy Wolff
Steve Mucciarone (Dass Tiaga)
Steven’s spiritual name is Dass Tiaga, which means one who, having given up all worldly attachments, serves the Divine in all with the highest and most heartfelt consciousness. He believes that Kundalini is the diamond from which all fractals of God Consciousness were created, and considers Kundalini the jewel of his heart from which all potentials and realities are formed. He is thrilled to share this practice to help other people as a guide to their own potential and awareness, to help burn away their karma so they can live happy, healthy, and holy lives.
Kundalini yoga:
Kundalini Yoga is the Yoga of awareness. Yogi Bhajan, the Master of Kundalini Yoga, delivered these teachings to help make our lives easier in the dark times of the Aquarian Age, which we are- by many people, believed to be living in now. Kundalini Yoga involves internal work by facing our subconscious blockages and finding ways to break through them in order to heal. This Yoga will awaken one to their full potential in life.
Randi Janelle
RYT200 | Randi has practiced yoga from age fifteen and relishes the gifts it has bestowed on her life. She is a performance poet, novelist, and a photographer among other things, and views yoga as a creative manifestation for the body, mind, and spirit. She enjoys creating poetry through awareness, movement, breath, and gratitude. For a few years she hobbled on crutches from a ligament injury to her knee, but has healed it from yoga asanas and listening to the lessons that injury had to teach. Yoga Inbound combines a few styles: Ashtanga Vinyasa, Iyengar, and Anusara, with emphasis on stabilizing energy, alignment, and heart opening. Randi focuses on the inward poetry of the body - what is it telling us that we may be ignoring? Perhaps simply that it is miracle! She believes like any art, yoga is best interpreted by intuition, visualization, and being present. Read more...
Randi is also an avid traveller and lived in Australia and New Zealand, returning to Asheville after four years overseas.
She received her training near Cusco, Peru and carries with her cultural inspirations from the New Zealand Maori, the Peruvian Quechua as well as Hindu. Her optimism and enthusiasm is infectious, and she’s thrilled to be sharing space with you!
About her style, Yoga Inbound,
What is Yoga Inbound? Sounds pretty meditative, huh? Well, to an extent it is. But it can also be very physically challenging and strengthening.
Randi Janelle studied at the International School of Yoga Inbound near Cusco, Peru in 2014. She came from an Ashtanga Vinyasa background, and enjoyed the rigor that that style of yoga demanded. Yoga Inbound differs with its use of activating muscle groups in particular alignments of”spirals,” which leave you feeling like a warrior ready for whatever challenge might come to you, physically or mentally! Due to these alignments, Yoga Inbound opens the heart and strengthens the back and shoulders, correcting our desk-seated droop, or curving of the spine at the shoulders from aging.
Randi teaches Yoga Inbound with the consistency of looking inwardly and making energetic alignments so that our external efforts and interactions emerge from a place of nourishment and balance. The practice is physically active, a quicker flow with holding poses for three breaths instead of Ashtanga Vinyasa’s five, but it requires mental calm and effort as well. Rest assured, Randi prefers not to take it all too seriously and invites camaraderie and jokes as the sweat starts to drip onto the mat!
Weaverville Yoga has the exclusive honor of offering Yoga Inbound in the Asheville (if not all of North Carolina!) area. The style of yoga has it’s roots in ancient India, but has been modified and taught around the world with schools in Latin America, Europe, Australia, as well as India. Come check it out, and see if this style suits you!
Here’s a reference from one of Randi’s regular students: Dear Randi, As your 65 year old Yoga Novice, I wish I had the verbal skills to let you know how amazing your Inbound Yoga class has been for me. You are such an awesome teacher with your constant posture reminders, explanations, encouragement, recognizing student strengths and weaknesses, taking care of each of our needs and at the same time challenging us to keep improving. My strength is getting so much better (and the body toning is such a great side gift!!), balance is improving and the over all physical and spiritual improvements I look at with such gratitude. I’m so thankful I saw this on the class schedule and decided to see what it was all about. Anyone looking to do something to improve their life would be doing themselves a favor to contact you for instruction. I thank you for all you do and look forward to each and every class…even though I know it’s going to be a workout!!! Ha!! Thanks Randi and YOU ARE AMAZING! Cathy Hetzel
And another student: As I think you know, I resumed yoga with you and Barbara about 5 weeks ago after an eight year hiatus, following a hamstring injury. I took a long vacation from yoga to consider the personality traits that might have sent me into harm’s way.
So I have come back to yoga with profound respect for the delicate balancing act required when we practice. It’s a balance that reflects how we move skillfully through life: on razor’s edge of paradox and ambiguity. Inner life and outer life. Giving and receiving. Self care and generosity. Moving and stillness. Yoga is all about that. Now I have been introduced to”inward spiral,, outward spiral!” I find your teaching to be a magnificent blend of all these opposites, culminating, always, in your encouragement to stay in this present moment, which is the most healing place of all. I am so grateful to you for your wise teaching. The way you incorporate the poses with the yoga philosophy will keep me challenged physically while protecting me from reaching beyond what is safe for my body in every moment. Plus I love your light heart and humor. Just the right amount of levity and seriousness. Another lovely balance. Peggy W.
Rosanna Keyes
Rose is a freelance writer and yoga teacher based in Western NC. She has been writing for over twenty years and her pieces have been featured in a variety of online and print publications. She has been practicing yoga for over ten years, teaching for 4 years, and holds her 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Registration. She teaches many styles of class, ranging from Power Flow to Yin and Restorative.
Her classes are compassionate, intimate, and focused, and she continually encourages her students to meet themselves right where they are, engaging in the present moment with curiosity and courage. Over the years yoga, meditation, and writing have consistently brought her healing and peace, and she is grateful to be able to share those practices with others.
Bruce teaches a streamlined half Primary Series Tuesday mornings 10.30-11.30. This is yoga to build strength and shift attention from thinking to being. Modifications are taught. This class will be offered through the summer. If you want to change for the good, commit to a summer of Ashtanga with Bruce and see.
TEACHER TRAINING
120 hour Ashtanga Intensive Training with Kino McGregor and Tim Feldman
230 hour Teacher’s Training Asheville Yoga Center. YA certified
25 hour Ashtanga Certified with Manju Jois at One Yoga Planet
Ashtanga Workshops: David Swenson, Greg Nardi, David Keil, Kino McGregor, Lewis Rothlein
WHAT POSE MAKES YOUR SOUL SHINE? Eda Pada Bakasana or One Legged Flying Crow from the 3rd series
SECRET INDULGENCE My wife is a great chef… anything she prepares, especially Italian
FREE TIME AMUSEMENT Solving difficult business problems and helping “start-ups”
MIGHT CATCH ME JAMMING OUT TO OK… this is a long list as I love music. Everything But the Girl, The Kooks, MCYogi, Sade, WAH, Macklemore
Bruce also has a Doctorate degree in business and finds that mindfulness is critical in his consulting practice. As PK Jois says, “Yoga is 99% practice and 1% theory”
Darleen Benson
Darleen began a yoga practice almost 40 years ago. During recent years, as she has experienced the inevitable changes of an aging body, she has relied increasingly upon yoga to maintain strength, flexibility, balance, mindfulness and joy.
Several years ago, she was inspired to complete a 250-Hour Yoga Teacher Training program. She then graduated from Therapeutic Yoga for Seniors Teacher Training offered through Duke University’s School of Integrative Medicine. She has also completed courses on Yoga for Osteoporosis and Osteopenia, Pelvic Floor Health, Chair Yoga, and Postural Changes of Aging which have deeply influenced her asana practice and teaching style.
Her passion and pleasure today is in finding her voice as a teacher of others who are “Coming of Age” in bodies that are changing, becoming increasingly unable to perform like “they used to”. There is joy and celebration, art and mystery in growing old, and there is no better way to take that journey than on the Path of Yoga!
As we move through the later decades of life, our bodies lose postural integrity, mobility, and bone and muscle strength. This often leads to living with pain which is avoidable.
Our goal is to be Straight; Strong, Stable, Supple and Serene. The practice will include many ways to integrate yoga into your daily routine to create “off-the-mat” mindfulness of natural posture, breath, flexibility, strength and balance.
In this class you will learn to create and maintain a flexible spine that is in neutral alignment. The practice is designed to prevent and treat back pain, osteoporosis and the postural changes of aging.
This is a breath-centered practice which links movement with breathing techniques to center and calm you. We will practice deep relaxation and serenity, with reduction of stress and anxiety.
Ginny Goodin
Ginny Goodin is a tai chi, qigong and meditation instructor, personal development coach, and a long-term student of centering practices as a core path to a relaxed, conscious approach to daily life.
Tai Chi Chuan was an easy love affair for her, enthralled by the fluidity and gracefulness of the movements, and deeply moved by the centering and peacefulness of the discipline. With 30 years of practice, she has experienced how energy moves through the body and how profoundly we can affect our daily life with this simple yet deep practice.
Ginny is a gentle, generous, and spirited woman, a sensitive and caring teacher, who offers warmth, unfailing patience, and deep support.
About Tai Chi, Ginny says:
Maybe you have heard of Tai Chi, or seen the graceful images of people gliding through dance-like poses, doing what looks like kung fu in slow motion. What is Tai Chi, anyway? Read more...
Tai Chi Chuan is characterized by soft, fluid, yet precise body movements that emphasize relaxation and the conscious circulation of energy throughout the body. Because Tai Chi is practiced slowly and with a relaxed attention, it calms the nervous system. This meditative effect brings mental clarity and relieves stress while developing focus and discipline.
Tai Chi practitioners experience increased flexibility, balance and coordination, resulting in reduced risk of falling. Tai chi practice can boost the immune system, increase bone density, reduce occurrence of illness and flu, and promote long-term health and longevity.Instruction begins with learning the specific movements and memorizing them like steps in a dance. In the beginning the movements may feel a bit awkward, but with time they become more familiar and comfortable. As the student gains some mastery of the moves, the teacher helps the student adjust their posture and alignment to foster more relaxation and fluidity in the body.
A tai chi student doesn’t need any special clothing, just something loose or stretchy to allow for easy movement. Footwear is a matter of personal preference, some prefer to go barefoot, some wear light-weight Tai Chi shoes, and some wear athletic shoes used only in Tai Chi class.
Joyce Hones
Joyce Hones is a teacher of heart-centered yoga with a focus on safe alignment and intelligent sequencing of asana. Her primary studentship has been at City Yoga (Columbia, SC) and she completed a 200-hour teacher training in November 2016 through Rasika Yoga School (Cornelius, NC).
Her primary studentship has been at City Yoga (Columbia, SC) and she completed a 200-hour teacher training in November 2016 through Rasika Yoga School (Cornelius, NC; led by Stacey Millner-Collins, Sarah Faircloth, Kelley Gardner, Allison Modafferi-Brewster, and Sari Weston).
For years, she has longed to live in the North Carolina mountains; a recent transplant to western NC, she is happy to have found a warm embrace in Weaverville Yoga. Read more...
Her classes focus on alignment, celebration of embodiment, and a balance of connecting inward to self and outward to community. The blend of theme with physical postures allows students to take what is meaningful to them and map it onto their body. Joyce’s classes honor the natural rhythms of our human experience - by hour, by month, and by season. She considers it a gift to have the opportunity to teach, and has an eager mind and open heart to learn from each class and student. Aside from yoga, she enjoys hiking, exploring and spending time on a new venture: opening a wood and metalworking studio with her partner in Burnsville, NC.
From a student: “As a student in Joyce’s classes you can expect to be rejuvenated in mind, body, and soul. No matter the type of day you have experienced, once you roll out your mat and are in her presence your worries slip away. She is always in tune with the seasons, elements, and moon phases and brings a quote or message that sticks with you after you leave the studio. She is great with helping you keep your breathing techniques and with alignment. She also is willing to research specific techniques that might help your body in particular if you let her know something feels off or hurts. The intentions set in the class resonate with me after and help me manifest in my own life off the mat.”
Monika Reineke
Pilates teacher, artist, yogi.
Yoga was my first love. Started practicing it consistently in the 80’s, after my first daughter was born in Santa Cruz, California.
In 2007 I went to my doctor for shoulder impingements and was diagnosed with severe scoliosis. I have two ‘S’ curves in my spine, apparently since birth. My doctor prescribed Pilates for my scoliosis. I was absolutely astounded with the ease from discomfort and increased range of motion I gained with Pilates in my life, and I was also 100 times better at Yoga. More efficient in isolating the use of the appropriate muscle groups for movement.
With pride, I celebrate life and people.
I love teaching Pilates and the rewards as each participant gains self- esteem, strength, balance,………..
Propagating a healthy lifestyle is uplifting, inspiring and fun. It intensifies your energy field and expands out into the world.
Completed my Comprehensive Pilates certification, classically trained (true to the original intentions of Joseph Pilates) accredited with the Pilates Method Alliance in 2009 – Kore Pilates, La Jolla, CA.
Jenne Sluder
Jenne is a yoga therapist, professional musician, and a native of Asheville, NC. She is a qualified mental health professional with a Master’s in Transpersonal Psychology from Naropa University, specializing in a somatic approach to improving mental health. She is a certified yoga therapist and is trained as an advanced (RYT500) instructor of therapeutic yoga and meditation. Therapeutic Yoga applies anatomical precision, intelligent sequencing, and a calming pace to relieve anxiety, stress, and fatigue and to stretch, strengthen and increase mobility in muscles and joints as well as to fine tune the body’s systems, improving circulation of blood and lymph, balancing the nervous system and strengthening mental clarity, healthy breathing, and digestive function. As a therapeutic yoga instructor, Jenne strives to empower students to progress toward improved health and well-being through safe, informed, and precise application of the most relevant yoga practices for each individual’s capacities and conditions. Jenne teaches yoga in both traditional studios as well as in mental health settings for adults and at-risk youth.
She works with individuals and with groups using somatic (body-based), contemplative (meditation-based), and nature-assisted therapies to deepen intimacy and compassion with ourselves, our bodies, with each other, and with the natural world. Jenne often incorporates her soothing singing voice into savasana. You can learn more about Jenne at jennesluder.com.
Kelly Kilker, CYT200
Kelly found yoga as a complement to running and fell in love with how great she felt after a yoga practice. Yoga was her chance to play, become more in tune with her body, and let go of her ego. Yoga brought a sense of peace and self love that has made Kelly the teacher she is today. She enjoys breaking down a pose to make it more accessible in the body and to mix up flows to keep the mind guessing. Yoga is a time to let go of the day and be present in the moment. Kelly believes balance poses are easier if you close one eye and stick out your tongue ;)
Kelly has been teaching yoga since 2010 and earned her 200-hr certification in 2011. She feels lucky to have taught yoga in Florida, Oregon and North Carolina - from yoga studios to fitness/rec centers. She enjoys creating flows that allow students to have a sense of play in their yoga practice and to feel comfortable to experiment and do whatever feels best.
Class Description: Pairing postures with breath we create a moving meditation while improving our strength, flexibility and balance. A sense of humor is always welcome as we play with poses and sequencing. Great complement to an active lifestyle. Prior yoga experience is helpful, but not necessary.
