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. Read more...
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.
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. Read more...
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!
Integrative Yoga for Seniors (Beginners Welcome)
Tuesdays, 3-4 pm
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. Read more...
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? 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). Read more...
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.
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.”
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 ;) Read more...
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.
Tara Carr, RYT200
I graduated from UNC Asheville in May of 2017 with a degree in psychology and a minor in Spanish. I currently work at Pisgah Legal Services helping to connect low-income people and families to private attorneys in the area for free services. I hope to one day become a lawyer for a similar organization. I have a strong passion for social justice and have for some time. It was this passion that led me to yoga while I was in high school. I needed an outlet and I wanted both a physical and mental practice. Read more...
I continued my practice into college and it was during my sophomore year that I took a mini-yoga teacher training led by Aleen Dailey. After this training I taught “Yoga for Athletes” to fellow students and other campus members. I choose to teach in this format as a former athlete myself. I wanted to show others the benefits, both physical and mental, that I learned from the practice of yoga.
After graduating from UNCA last May, I felt an urge to learn more about yoga and deepen my practice. It was then that I decided to take Vira Bhava Yoga’s 200 hour teacher training being taught at Brevard Yoga. I choose this training as it preaches individuality and giving the power within you a voice. I started the program in October and finished in May 2018. It was the best decision I have ever made.
I believe yoga is more than just a physical practice and that by thoughtfully theming a class we can leave our mat having learned something new about ourselves. Today I mainly teach slow-flow style classes that focus on our breath with movement. This slow-flow class builds some heat but I think is perfect for beginners or yogis at any level.
Friday Yoga Reset or Really Happy Hour Yoga
This slow-flow yoga class aims to re-energize, refresh and rejuvenate you to allow for a more relaxing weekend! This class’s slow pace and focus on the breath will help to center and ground you, relieve stress, while still building strength! Come by after work to celebrate you and all that you’ve done in that week! Just consider this your first glass of wine or first beer before entering into the weekend, only a little better for the body and mind! But we don’t have to skip that beer/wine entirely, we are right next to Eluvium Brewing which gives us the perfect reward for choosing to honor our bodies with movement first!
Eryn Murman, RYT200
Hot 26 Yoga incorporates two breathing exercises and 26 postures incorporating balance, strength and flexibility. Each posture stretches and strengthens specific muscles, ligaments, and joints needed for the next posture. This style of yoga stimulates the organs, glands and nerves, moving fresh oxygenated blood throughout the body. Sweating during hot yoga can help you detoxify as you reduce water retention and sweat out toxins. By drinking plenty of water, your gastrointestinal, urinary, and cardiovascular systems work better, naturally detoxifying tissues and cells and clearing waste more readily from the body. All levels are welcome and modifications always available! Please bring a bath or beach towel to place over your mat and bottle of water for your practice. (And please hydrate hours before class!) Read more...
- I’ve been practicing for over a decade (a taste of many styles but primarily Vinyasa and Hot 26).
- I completed my 200hr RYT with Yoga to the People in NYC in 2012.
- I am also certified in Hot 26 through Yoga to the People (2014) and Children’s Yoga with Om Schooled in NYC (2012).
- I have taught All-Level Power Vinyasa and Hot 26 with Yoga to the People for the last 6 years.
Personal Story:
I am a creative spirit and feel my happiest when I’m connected to my body, breath and nature. I recently moved to Asheville from NYC with a year-long tour in between with my folk/rock band, 5j Barrow. Yoga has changed my life for the better in so many ways - presence, the freedom in releasing perfection and embracing my body and mind where it’s truly at in each unique moment. A finding of home beyond the limits of my body, and my breath an incredible tool to heal, conquer, and grow from in any moment I choose to be present. This is what moved me to delve deep into my studies and become a teacher. It is one of the greatest gifts to share - that whenever I feel alone or overwhelmed, I can constantly find and care for myself through my breath.
Breath, it’s simplicity that brings freedom - that it’s always there for each and every one of us is a main focus in my teaching. Compassion, kindness and creating a safe-space for everyone is essential to my class. Whether this is your first yoga class or you practice every day, I welcome you! I focus on alignment and happily offer modifications for all of our different beautiful bodies. I also make note to encourage a playful energy throughout class so that we may tap into our inner child and not take ourselves too seriously.
What brought you to Weaverville Yoga:
My husband and I who co-front our band together were warmly welcomed into Weaverville’s community when we first toured through town. With the advice of some dear friends, we played our music at Eluvium Brewing and Maggie B’s and have continued to play both places since moving into town. After meeting so many nice folks in Weaverville, I knew I must check out Weaverville Yoga. I immediately fell in love with it’s warm welcoming nature and sense of community. The diversity of classes offered are so special and I couldn’t be more excited to introduce my love for Hot 26 Yoga with Weaverville Yoga!
Michelle Mortensen
My yoga journey started about 10 years ago when I discovered a cute little studio down the street from my house. I would walk there every morning and I knew I had found something special. Over the next few years, my practice grew deeper and deeper and I began to feel the desire to take it to the next level. Feeling the call to go abroad, I packed up a backpack and set out on a solo exploration to find a training that felt right. Read more...
After traveling for about six months, the universe guided me to Koh Phangan, a little island located in the Gulf of Thailand. The stars were aligned and I found my teachers. I embarked on a transformative 300 hour training with Jivani Yoga. What I experienced was so much than I could have ever imagined. The knowledge that was shared and the tools that I gained open my eyes to a new way of living life and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity.
Fast forward to the present moment, I recently completed a 600 hour Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor training at the Asheville School of Massage and Yoga. My goal is to weave this sacred science into my classes to bring balance to the body and mind.
My classes are a mixture of Hatha based teachings and deep holds that can bring a sense of ease to the mind and muscles. Allowing the breath to lead the way and encouraging the movements to come from the heart.
Angela Mucci
Ageless Grace class Tuesdays 3-4 while Darleen recovers to her perfect self. Thank you, Angela!
Ageless Grace is a fitness and wellness program created by Denise Medved. The program consists of 21 simple exercise tools designed for all ages and abilities.
These exercises, based on everyday movements that are natural and organic, focus on the healthy longevity of the body and mind.
The 21 Tools have creative, imaginative names, so they are easy to remember. They are simple to do at home. The movements are designed to be performed seated in a chair, yet they can be done on a bed, standing near or behind a chair, down on the floor, or standing.
Almost anyone can do them, regardless of most physical conditions.
Esther Sabatino
My name is Esther Sabatino and I love yoga. I also love living in these mountains. They provide a powerful energy that I often tap into. I’ve loved yoga for years and now find that I live it and breathe it. One of my goals as a teacher is to help guide my classes to look inward and find the connection of love that yoga brings to the body, mind and spirit because, it is very possible to live and love life every day with joy.
My passion is to explore the therapeutics of yoga through a gentle style yoga, restorative yoga, yoga nidra and meditation. My intention is to bring a gentle and therapeutic energy to each class and to grow and learn as we all connect. My commitment is to be completely present with you in each class as we get inside our bodies and find the healing we are all capable of.
Esther teaches Candlelight Gentle Flow on the 2nd and 4th Sundays of the month beginning October 14, 4-5 pm.
Nikki Flood
Nikki was gratefully raised in a holistic household traveling each year with her family to Guadalajara, Mexico to see the finest homeopathic doctor at that time. Being raised on fresh organic carrot juice and sprouted grain avocado sandwiches wasn’t always her favorite or “coolest” thing growing up in Dallas, Texas. But, as she got older she began to realize the gift she had been given as a child. Starting her yoga journey over 15 years ago Read more...
with a focus at that time on nutrition and plant based foods, she studied at the Ann Wigmore Institute in Aguada,Puerto Rico and became a raw foods chef and instructor through many teachers, one being Alissa Cohen at her school in Maine. As her exploration in diet and nutrition studies grew and changed into Ayurvedic medicine, so did her yoga journey begin to change. She decided to go to the source of her studies and travel to India for her Hatha/Ashtanga teacher training certification at Siddhant School of Yoga and with Dr. Om Prakash (Master in Yoga and doctor of Ayurveda) at Yoga Chakra Yoga School.
This is where she fell in love with Ashtanga Yoga.
Now she is a dedicated practitioner of both the theory and practice of Ashtanga and hopes to help every person find their own individualized practice in Ashtanga. Her greatest joy is working with new students or inquiring people as to what Ashtanga is, focusing on the half and full primary series. The building blocks to a solid Ashtanga practice. She believes that with commitment and self practice to the “Astau” 8, “Anga” limb yoga study, that you too can experience the physical, mental and emotional changes that she uncovered through the Ashtanga Yoga practice.
Ashtanga yoga at Weaverville Yoga is taught as the Primary Series introduction, a sequence of poses accessible to nearly everyone who is patient, committed, and eager to learn. This is a more vigorous style of yoga.
Sophia Phillips
Sophia will begin teaching Yoga/Pilates Fusion on Sunday November 11 at 5.15 pm.
Sophia first went to a yoga class out of curiosity, and immediately felt the powerful and healing effects of the practice. From there, she continued to use yoga as a way to shed layers and get closer to that deep compassion, love, and stillness that lies within every one of us. After years of practicing, Sophia became a registered yoga teacher, 200-hr certified through Asheville Yoga Center. She loves yoga and meditation because it gives us an opportunity to reflect, strengthen, heal, soften, and let go. She is honored to be able to share these sacred practices with others. Sophia says, “People often spend entire days rushing to get things done as fast as possible, and our yoga practice is the time to leave that at the door and rejoice in the present moment. The goal from there is to take that present awareness off the mat and into the world.” Sophia is also a student and wellness counselor at UNCA, studying for a Health and Wellness major. She is thrilled to share her passions and knowledge with the Weaverville yoga community!
