Richard Rosen
BIO.
BORN: The Big Apple
CURRENT TOWN: Berkeley, CA
OCCUPATION: Yoga Instructor / Writer
RICHARD ROSEN began his practice of yoga in 1980 at the Yoga Room, in Berkeley, CA. Two years later he began a two-year teacher training course at the B.K.S. Iyengar Yoga Institute in San Francisco, from which he graduated in 1983. In 1987, with his good friend Rodney Yee, he opened the Piedmont Yoga Studio in Oakland, CA, which operated until 2012. Richard has written numerous articles and reviews for national yoga magazines, and is also the author of five books, four of them published by Shambhala: The Yoga of Breath (2002), Pranayama: Beyond the Fundamentals (2006), Original Yoga (2012), a book on traditional yoga practice based on the seventeenth century Gheranda Samhita (Gheranda’s Compilation), and Yoga FAQ: Almost Everything You Need to Know about Yoga–from Asanas to Yamas (2017). His fifth book for Shambhala, Yoga by the Numbers, is due out in the Spring of 2022. Richard lives in a 115-year-old bungalow in beautiful Berkeley, CA.
Vickie Russell
Bio
Vickie strives to facilitate connections, fostering an environment where students can drop below the layers of habit and distraction in order to integrate more fully with who they really are and with their more expansive nature.
In her classes, you will learn about alignment and the subtle body and breath in order to be transported into new territory and possibility. She creatively and intelligently interweaves asana, meditation and restorative yoga to help students regulate the nervous system and find a sense of presence.
Teaching and sharing yoga has been Vickie’s passion for over 20 years. She graduated from the Advanced Studies Program at Piedmont Yoga and has been greatly influenced by many teachers including (and not limited to) Richard Rosen, Rodney Yee, Judith Lasater, and Tony Briggs.
Yoko Yoshikawa
BIO.
Yoko has been teaching yoga in Oakland since 1996. She builds sequences that are effective, often fun and always pithy, sweeping everyone in the class to greater flexibility, body intelligence, core strength, deeper breathing and more ease. Yoko is also a bit of a yoga philosophy geek — feel free to talk to her about it at any time! Contact her for private instruction and check out her website (plus blog).
Margi Young
BIO.
BORN: to explore
CURRENT TOWN: oaktown
OCCUPATION: spreading the news
Margi’s classes emphasize clear, individualized alignment, awareness of breath and relaxation so that the benefits of yoga reveal themselves. She roots her alignment-based vinyasa classes both in Buddhist philosophy and in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali to invite the physical practice to result in a calm mental state. She offers personal attention, both verbal and hands-on, to help her students clarify and deepen their practice. Taking a cue from the Buddha, Margi’s classes are light-hearted; it is imperative that we come together and study this vast subject with joy.
After receiving an MFA from New York University ‘s Tisch School of the arts, Margi was a professional dancer and choreographer in New York. But, her yoga mat and teaching called her name loudly and in 2001 she became certified from Cyndi Lee’s OM Yoga Center, where she taught for 10 years, was a primary teacher on the teacher training staff, and headed the restorative department of the studio. She is also certified in pre-natal yoga through Integral Yoga Center and restorative yoga through Judith Lasater, and continuously studies the teachings of BKS Iyengar. She has lead numerous workshops and retreats in the USA and around the world, and regularly leads teacher trainings in Bali with Recharge Retreats. Margi relocated to her home town of San Francisco in 2010 and has recently happily moved to Oakland. For more info please visit www.margiyoung.com.
Baxter Bell
Baxter Bell, MD, C-IAYT, eRYT500, YACEP
Baxter has been studying Hatha yoga since 1994 and teaching since 1999, both public classes and specialty back care classes. He is a graduate of the Piedmont Yoga Studio's 680-hour Advanced Studies 2000 program, and has studied in the past with Rodney Yee, Patricia Walden, Donald Moyer, Erich Schiffman and TKV Desikachar. Baxter blends his background in Western medicine and yoga therapeutics for safe and healing yoga experiences. He teaches a nurturing style of yoga, with a strong emphasis on re-awakening our innate curiosity about ourselves and our world. Learn more at www.baxterbell.com . He is also co-author of the book Yoga for Healthy Aging, and a certified Yoga Therapist.
Maggie Zebrine
Maggie finds the magic of yoga is in quieting the chatter of the mind to be fully in the present. She blends Katonah Yoga with other styles of yoga and movement practices to inspire students to find freedom in their body and mind. She believes that time spent on your mat should provide you with techniques to have a more enjoyable life. Join her for playful imagery, nurturing asana, and tools to become more well-rounded on and off the mat. Maggie first completed her yoga certification with her teacher Jill Sockman and since has been certified in Katonah Yoga and Fascia Flossing. She believes it is just as important to remain a student of yoga as it is a gift to teach the practice. Don’t be surprised to see her in Richard’s Friday morning class!
Jacqui Rowley
Jacqui teaches a dynamic and centering hatha class, blending the precision of alignment with movement and breath awareness.
She had studied movement through dance since childhood, and has been stretching, twisting, binding and playing with the physical form for years.
jacquirowleyyoga.com