Pacific Cultural Center and Ashtanga Yoga Institute - a community center in Santa Cruz

HFS Spotlight

Free Yoga Sutra
classes at MMC,
Tues., 9:00-10:30am.
See Directions

Integrating Body, Mind, and Breath

Abha Sonsini Abha, who recently served as a staff resident of the PCC, is currently an AYI certified yoga teacher and an active member of the AYI committee.
	Annica Rose Annica is a dedicated yoga teacher whose strong intuitive understanding of the needs of her students is heightened by her interest in spirituality, eastern philosophy, and psychology. Her study of anatomy and physiology allows her to guide her students into a deeper focused experience of their body in correct alignment for each pose. She presently teaches Gentle Yoga, Level 1, and Restorative Yoga.
Carolyn A. Vitale Carolyn is an active AYI committee member, staff resident of PCC, and a certified AYI instructor whose classes offer an opportunity to more deeply connect with our breath, our bodies, and our divine Self. Carolyn is available to teach private yoga classes for both individuals and groups. She also offers services in Astrology and Hakomi counseling (mindful, body-centered psychotherapy). You can reach her at foxvitale@yahoo.com
Delana Thompson Delana teaches vinyasa flow yoga, emphasizing the spiritual aspects of the practice. She encourages a meditative approach, helping students to diminish ego tendencies and find guidance from within. Her classes include sun salutations, held postures, meditation, relaxation, breathing techniques, inspiring music, Sanskrit prayers and mantras, and reference to ancient texts. Students leave class feeling peaceful, refreshed, relaxed, and sounder in mind and body. Please visit Delana's website for more information: http://www.yogawithdelana.com
	Denielle Aukerman Denielle has been a member of the AYI committee and staff resident of the PCC since 2005. She has been practicing yoga since 2002 and completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training in classical yoga at the Mount Madonna Center in 2005. She is deeply inspired by yoga as a way of life and connecting deeply with divine nature. She has personally experienced yoga and meditation as a path to great healing, transformation, and joy. In teaching she encourages a gentle, nourishing, yet challenging practice, emphasizing deep meditative focus. She is also an experienced bodyworker and student of Ayurveda. Denielle is currently on rotation to teach the free Saturday morning AYI introductory class and is also available for private sessions for individuals or groups.
Jamie Ackley Jamie is a certified massage practitioner and yoga instructor who completed teacher training with Donna Farhi and through Integrative Yoga therapy. Her classes create a supportive space for students to gently challenge themselves and reconnect with their own internal wisdom through body-mind centered movement.
	Jayla Klein Jayla teaches Anusara-inspired yoga in a slow flow vinyasa, with a focus on effective biomechanical and alignment principles that build strength, flexibility, core power, and mind/body awareness. Her students may experience a deep connection with their innate wholeness and expansive potential during a fun and challenging practice. Jayla completed a 200-hour teacher training in Anusara Yoga with Noah Maze and Jimmy Bernaert and continues to assist and study with Noah Maze and Kenny Graham. She views yoga as a path for personal growth and the integration of mind, body, heart and spirit.
Kathryn Keller Practicing yoga since 1990 and teaching since 1993, Kathryn is a registered yoga therapist. Her experiences with yoga, mediation, Feldenkrais, and gerontology allow Kathryn to offer a diverse and non-dogmatic approach. Kathryn has personally experienced yoga to be a powerful way of learning, healing, and transformation and she encourages a playful and noncompetitive attitude in all of her classes. Her style is inspired by a blend of Anusara, Integrative Yoga Therapy, and the Feldenkrais method. As an offering she states, “In gratitude to all of my teachers, I bow to the power and beauty of the practice of yoga.” .
Kelly Blaser Kelly began studying Iyengar Yoga in 1989. Since then, she has integrated Ashtanga Vinyasa into her teaching style, creating a slow, deep flow intended to challenge and open the practitioners to their own strength, lightness, and grace. Her classes integrate a focus on breath with an awareness of alignment, while encouraging her students to gently transcend any perceived limitations. .
	Kristen Swelges began practicing yoga as a child and pursued formal study in high school where she studied Iyengar Yoga. During college she participated in an Ashtanga Warrior Yoga program, and led yoga for the Art of Living Foundation meditation course. She has participated in numerous yoga and meditation retreats including a ten day silent Guru Purnima celebration. Kristen hasa deep affection for children which grew from her family and many summers as a live-in nanny. In October of 2005, Kristen completed certification to teach Yoga to Kids of all ages through Pamela Hollander, Indigo Yoga for Kids, based on the psychology of children in their developmental years. Kristen is passionate about creative self expression, and finding focus and self knowledge throughthe practice of yoga and the art of meditation. She enjoys passing her knowledge and inspiration to the children with whom she has the privilege to work.
Lisa Garratt Lisa began training as a yoga instructor at Planet Yoga in Hermosa Beach. Her education continued with Aadil Palkhivala and Erich Schiffmann. To deepen her practice, Lisa participated in yoga service programs at both MMC and PCC. Lisa incorporates static postures, vinyasa flow, and hands-on adjustments in her teaching. Her classes require determination and are focused on increasing strength, balance, flexibility, and deepening the connection with the breath. Lisa views yoga as a lifestyle—a path that can be chosen to help free oneself from the challenges of the body and the bondage of the mind.
Madhu Lodha has worked with young children for more than 15 years and has also been training teachers for the past 10 years.Her "Yoga Circles" with young children include creative play, story telling, games and yogic exercises including breathing that promote body awareness and coordination, sensorial awareness, relaxation and physical well being, creativity, cooperation and language development.
	Mangala Norskog Mangala is a student of Baba Hari Dass, and continues to "Teach to Learn" as one of the senior instructors of the Mount Madonna Center Astanga Teachers' Training Program since 1996. Her instruction integrates the aspects of devotional intention, anatomical reference, and subtle body physiology into the classical methods of traditional asana, pranayama, and meditation practice.
	Melanie Vizzusi Melanie is a dynamic teacher who has studied over 300 hours of yoga with pioneer Andrey Lappa. Her teaching is founded upon 17 years of asana and meditation practice and is fueled with her one-of-a-kind wit and energy. In addition to her foundation of Universal Yoga and Dance of Shiva, she brings a diverse background in other yogic traditions including Iyengar, Ashtanga and Hatha. Melanie explores inventive and balanced asana sequencing utilizing vinyasa style, pranayama, and bandhas to invoke a calm and clear state of consciousness, as well as increase flexibility, agility, core strength and stamina. Correct alignment emphasized with a gentle touch. Unique to her style is a specific sequence of shoulder stretches designed to free the entire range of motion within the shoulder.
Phoenix Artemisia Phoenix began practicing Yoga devotedly in 1994 under the instruction of teachers from the Ashtanga tradition of Baba Hari Dass. Her personal studies in Eastern philosophy, shamanism and sacred mythology buoyed her through the completion of a BA degree in Psychology from UC Santa Cruz. Phoenix received her first teaching certificate at the Kali Ray TriYoga Academy in 1999, then completed a 200+ hour Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training at Mt. Madonna in 2003. She has also completed teacher training modules with Senior Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher, Kofi Busia, who she considers a beloved primary mentor. In 2005, she earned a 200+ hour Certificate with honors from Parmarth Niketan Ashram in Rishikesh, India. She has been studying Vedic chanting and Indian philosophy intensively in India for the past three years and leads Yoga trips and teacher trainings in northern India to bring students to the source of Yoga by the sacred Ganga river. She holds the Reiki Master level attunements and brings her passionate interest in anatomy, subtle energy work, years of daily meditation practice, and Love to the adjustments given to each student. Her intention is to honor the individual practitioner and to create a traditional atmosphere in which one can experience the complete system of classical Yoga and enjoy a sense of sacred community, or sangha, as a support for a joyous, conscientious and wholistic life. http://www.phoenixyoga.net
	Pratibha Queen Pratibha is a certified AYI instructor who has studied with Baba Hari Dass for over 30 years. She is a former manager of the PCC who is currently teaching an AYI meditation class. She is also a Clinical Ayurveda Specialist who is firmly grounded in yoga and Ayurveda as a way of life.
Rachel Sonnenblick Primarily trained in the Iyengar tradition, Rachel has studied with teachers from a wide range of schools to deepen her understanding of the practice of yoga. Rachel’s classes focus on body awareness and alignment, and the integration of movement with breath. Her teaching style encourages a fun, inclusive atmosphere in which students of all levels and abilities feel supported in their practice.
Allison Sirny-Guevara Allison has studied hatha yoga primarily in the Ashtanga and Vinyasa Flow traditions since 2001. Her energetic Vinyasa Flow classes focus on linking breath to movement through a flowing sequence of postures that encourage creativity, flexibility, strength, balance, mindfulness, and a general spirit of union.
Treea Clements Treea completed teacher trainings through Integrative Yoga Therapy, Mt. Madonna Center, and Erich Schiffman. Her personal practice and teaching style are influenced by Ashtanga and Iyengar yoga, as well as Anusara yoga and Zen awareness. Treea encourages students to utilize yoga asana to reveal the inherent peace within, while healing and strengthening the body. Alignment, breath awareness, positive attitude, communal transformation and support are emphasized in a fun-loving atmosphere. She is now also teaching Prenatal and Post Partum yoga.

Pacific Cultural Center & Ashtanga Yoga Institute:
1307 Seabright Ave (at Broadway), Santa Cruz, CA 95062
Phone: 831-426-8893, Fax: 831-426-4951
Email: office@pacificcultural.org

A Project of