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Yoga Teacher Biographies
Scott
Anderson is the Director and co-owner of Mound Street Yoga Center, and has practiced
yoga and meditation since 1982. He is a 500-hour certified yoga teacher
with over 19 years teaching experience. With a background in physics and
biomechanics, one of his defining qualities is a deep knowledge of anatomy
and how the body's systems work together, coupled with a grounded, yet creative
& fun teaching presence. He studied for six years with the late Roger Eischens,
who taught the integration of sustainable agriculture, sport and yoga,
as well as healing the rift between body and mind. Since then,
Scott has focused on exploring the spiritual component of being, and exploring how the physical practice of yoga is a means to access our deeper layers. His approach to Hatha Yoga
makes students better able to lead their lives, become more fully who they
are, and lead a more rich & rewarding life.
Visit his yoga blog and www.alignmentyoga.com
for information on his programs at the Blue Mounds Dharma Center.
Classes: Beginning, Intermediate and Advanced
Contact:scott@alignmentyoga.com
Collette Stewart, co-owner of Mound Street Yoga Center, began studying movement at a very young age through
dance. She earned a BFA in Modern Dance from TCU and Pilates certification
through The Pilates Center in Boulder, Colorado. Her goal in teaching is
to allow students to appreciate the benefits of general movement and to
help them uncover the inherent learning potential inside each movement experience.
Collette has a holistic understanding of the body and teaches in a way that
promotes proper alignment, addresses individual pain and injury, and improves
internal awareness. Visit
Collette's website.
Classes: Beginning Pilates and
Intermediate Modern Dance series
Contact:
collette@movementinsights.com
Penny
Ballantyne is a Kripalu Certified yoga teacher who has been teaching
in Madison since 2001. She has been practicing yoga since 1995 and continues
to be a dedicated student of Nicky Plaut. Penny’s personal yoga practice
led her to mindfulness meditation and Buddhist contemplative thought, which
she has integrated into her own practice which she says, "feels like
it is as much on the mat as off of it. I realize how yoga impacts virtually
every aspect of my life inviting awareness and offering refuge in this struggle
to be fully engaged in my life." Penny has a web site, www.pennyoga.net
that includes her philosophy and style of teaching, information about her
workshops and a Blog
she posts to regularly.
Classes:
Gentle Yoga
Contact: (608) 833-5821, pennyoga@gmail.com
Kay Campitelli has been practicing yoga since 1995 and teaching since 1997, in the tradition of Vanda Scaravelli. Kay studies with Diane Long, who was Vanda's principle student for more than 25 years and is one of the most important and innovative teachers of our time. Kay's instruction is based on careful attention and intuition, offering a highly personalized experience that allows you to free yourself from habits and tension and connect to an ever-deepening place of grace and vitality within. Although she is newly based in Madison, she has been teaching classes, private lessons, and workshops throughout the US and Europe for more than a decade. She was most recently based in Rome, Italy. Kay is also a nationally certified massage therapist.
Classes:
Scaravelli-Inspired Yoga
Contact: kaycampitelli@gmail.com
Ali Dwyer Ali has taught Eischens Yoga (also known as High Energy Yoga) since 2005, having studied with Roger Eischens and his advanced students beginning in 2001. As a Certified Natural Trainer (CNT), Ali has been a functional fitness instructor and personal trainer since 2003.
Ali continues regular teacher trainings with Kari Tomashik, RYT 500. Certified by Yoga Alliance at the 200-hour level, Ali is enrolled in the Alignment Yoga 500-hour teacher training.
Her teaching approach weaves together mindfulness and movement, addressing the needs of people engaged in everyday activities to high-level athletes. Much attention is given to alignment and balanced energy flow, so we can practice physicality that is restorative and balancing rather than exhausting.
Ali’s philosophy of yoga and movement practices is engage with what works and create balance in order to continue to move freely in your body in order to have fun and feel good doing whatever active or quiet endeavor you choose.
Classes:
Eischens Yoga
Contact: aildwyer@gmail.com
Greg Grube completed his Pilates certification from Movement Insights and continues studying the method in order to become a more effective teacher.
He believes the mat work is an optimal tool for teaching the body to move efficiently and that it has a profound impact on all the systems of the body.
He has a liberal arts degree in English and Art History and another in Dance, and sees these three interests as converging in his movement practice and teaching style. Visit his new blog, Sound Pilates Instruction.
Classes: Beginning Pilates
Contact: greggrube@gmail.com
Dave Perlman has been practicing hatha yoga since 2001 and Buddhist meditation in the Tibetan tradition since 2002. He completed yoga teacher training in Seattle with Theresa Elliot, Kathryn Payne and Emily Navar before moving to Madison a few years ago for graduate studies in Psychology. He teaches with an awareness of the movement of the mind in the energy of the body and a strong sense of the openness and dynamism to be found deeply in these traditions. In his spare time, he likes to play Ultimate Frisbee.
Classes: Hatha Yoga
Contact: 206-679-0036 or dperlman@wisc.edu
Lisa Rambaldo is a mind-body practitioner with personal and professional experience in the art and science of meditation, movement and healing.
Lisa began her studies of meditation and Eastern Philosophy in 1990 and completed her degree in this field in 1995. Lisa has completed 500 hour yoga teacher training and
holds a a Black Belt in the Nia technique. She is also licensed psychologist. For over 15 years, Lisa's unique combination of modern science and the
subtle and ethereal allow her to offer classes that speak to a variety of students as well as to the multifaceted dimensions of each individual. She
is deeply awed by and interested in the body's intuitive knowledge and ability to heal and she is dedicated to a life, personally and professionally,
of celebration of the body, mind and spirit.
Classes:
Beginning Meditation series
Contact: lisarambaldo@gmail.com
Andrea
Russell began a passionate study and practice of yoga and meditation in 1996. Since 2000, she has taught group classes, private one-on-one lessons and a variety of workshops. A registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance at the 500E/500T level, she has completed teacher trainings in Ashtanga, Alignment and Therapeutic Yoga. Her yoga classes integrate a mindful approach to asana with optimal alignment, breath and inner awareness. For those who prefer an individual or therapeutic approach to this timeless practice, her private yoga sessions address the intricacies of adapting the practice to honor individual needs and health concerns. In addition to yoga, Andrea is a nationally and state certified massage therapist and body worker specializing in Neurovascular and Craniosacral Therapy. Her approach to yoga and bodywork is holistic and tailored to support each individual's full spectrum of physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual well being. To learn
more about Andrea, visit www.andrearussell.com.
Classes:
Introduction to Yoga series and Intermediate Yoga
classes
Contact: (608) 712-YOGA (9642) or info@andrearussell.com
Mary
Sheean has been practicing yoga for over 17 years, is certified in Kripalu
Yoga and has been teaching yoga in the Madison area since 2004. She teaches
hatha yoga from the alignment principles of Iyengar and Anusara Yoga and
weaves her study of metta, the practice of Loving-Kindness, into her classes.
Through concentration on the breath, she brings conscious awareness to opening
the way for proper, safe body alignment, allowing for tuning into the body's
wisdom. The word Yoga means yoking, union. Mary focuses on oneness practices
uniting Body/Mind/Spirit, and realizing our yoga practice in our everyday
lives. Students feel relaxed and awakened in body and mind, ready to continue
into their day. Once each month after class we gather together for tea,
eats and conversation, at a local coffee or tea shop. Classes are enjoyed
by those with previous yoga experience, as well as beginners.
Classes: Gentle
Yoga
Contact: (608) 215-2883 or
mcsheean@wisc.edu
Liz Sexe earned a B.A degree in Dance and Biology from St. Olaf College, an M.F.A. in Dance from Mills College in Oakland, CA and recently completed her Pilates certification from Movement Insights with Collette Stewart. Her studies in various dance techniques, Body-Mind Centering and Alexander Technique, inform her teaching. In class, Liz loves to merge her knowledge of anatomy and movement in a scientific yet playful way.
Classes:
Beginning Pilates
Contact: liz.sexe@gmail.com
Karen Tallard
was first drawn to an Iyengar yoga class in 1999, in her quest for relief from the effects of a car accident.
Within a short period of time she began to feel amazing results both physically and emotionally. Wanting to share her passion for yoga,
she completed the 200 hour Teacher Training Program at the Kripalu Center in Lennox, Mass. and began teaching in 2002. During the winter of 2002,
Karen discovered the unique teaching style of Lynn Burgess at "Yoga from the Heart" in Sarasota, Florida. Alignment Based yoga with an Iyengar
influence appealed to her on a deep level. She completed the 200-hour Yoga Alliance approved Alignment Based Teacher Training under Lynn’s guidance.
In addition, Karen has completed numerous workshops and a 100-hour apprenticeship with Lynn. She was invited to teach at Yoga from the Heart in June 2008. Her personal practice and teachings focus on alignment, strength, connecting with the breath,
increasing flexibility, creating balance, greater body awareness and peace of mind.
Classes: Hatha Yoga
Contact: ktallard7@gmail.com
Sara Tirner, Certified Yoga Therapist, and former long time teacher at Yoga Works in New York,
has been practicing yoga for more than a decade and teaching yoga full time since she completed Yoga Zone's 500 hour, Yoga Alliance registered, teacher
training program (ISHTA) in 2002. In 2003, she completed Nischala Devi's, "Yoga of the Heart" certification course
that applies yogic methodolgy in working with heart and cancer patients. Sara actively continues her yogic and
tantric studies with Nischala Devi, Parvathi Nath and Pragata. She has also studied extensively with Alan
Finger, Leslie Kaminoff and Mark Whitwell. With humour and grace, Sara generously shares her passion for and knowledge of
yoga and tantra in the sincere hope that all may benefit from the joy, bliss and contentment that can result
from a dedicated practice. Please visit her website www.perfectwisdomyoga.com to learn more.
Classes: ISHTA Yoga and Chi Kung series
Contact: (917) 697-8673 or
saratirner@gmail.com
Steve
Young has practiced yoga for over 20 years. He is a long-term student
of Rasika Martha Link, Tom Casey, and Jim Manos, having also studied with
Nicky Plaut and Barbara Flesch. He has engaged in numerous retreats and
teacher-training weekends with such teachers as George Purves, Mary Dunn,
Jamie Turner-Allison, Nateshvar Ken Scott, and Chris Saudek, and has studied
modern dance with Ellen Moore. He holds a M.Ed. in mathematics education,
and teaches mathematics and yoga at Malcolm Shabazz High School in Madison.
He has been teaching yoga since 1999. His practice and teaching are grounded
in the quest for “enlightenment through alignment,” the opening
of the heart and awareness through focused asana practice. He has studied
with Scott Anderson for the last three years. In December 2008, he completed the Alignment Yoga 200-hour training and is currently registered at the 200-hour level with Yoga Alliance.
Classes: General
Yoga
Contact: (608) 244-5039 or
scyoung@madison.k12.wi.us
Alicia Wright is a busy and dedicated yoga mama with three boys. She is currently studying with Andrea Russell and enrolled in Scott Anderson's 500 hr teacher training program. She is a student of Tibetan Buddhist philosophy and meditation. Her class weaves breath awareness with stillness, bringing mind, body and breath into balance. Alicia passionately believes in the power of yoga to help us live a simple, mindful life in a crazy world! View her blog at aliciawrightyoga.blogspot.com.
Classes: Hatha
Yoga
Contact: akwyoga@gmail.com