with Elizabeth Blanchard Friday, June 26th, 2009
MARK BLANCHARD'S POWER YOGA - TEACHERS
Mark Blanchard
Mark is the co-owner of the Power Yoga Centers along with his wife Elizabeth Blanchard (also a Power Yoga instructor). He has been studying yoga for over 30 years and has been teaching since 1993. Mark has a diverse background starting out as a semi-professional athlete, then a working actor and now a full-time yoga instructor. Mark trains many celebrities and professional athletes in the art of Power Yoga and teaches at both Los Angeles studios. Mark travels worldwide for workshops and yoga retreats to spread his unique version of purist Power Yoga.
Elizabeth Blanchard
Elizabeth Blanchard is co-owner of the Power Yoga Centers along with her husband Mark. Elizabeth has a large following of loyal students at the Studio City Yoga Center. She teaches workshops at the Brentwood studio at least once per month. She has been practicing yoga since 1994. While teaching, Elizabeth strives to challenge students to quiet the mind and explore what strengths lie hidden our bodies and more importantly our spirits.
Zorayda Alviar
Zorayda began her yoga journey in 1998 in New York City simply as a way to relieve the stress of medical school and an OB/Gyn residency. She soon discovered that her asana practice was just a slice of the physical and mental transformation that yoga embodied. Drawn to more rigorous and challenging styles of yoga she was so happy to find Mark and Elizabeth’s studio when she moved to LA in 2002. But stress finally caught up when in 2005 she was suddenly struck by a debilitating autoimmune disorder. Yoga helped her realize that change was necessary and that life had to be lived in every breath, with every present moment. Upon recovering, she retired from delivering babies to devote to her husband and two small children.
The next year Zorayda took Mark and Elizabeth’s teacher training which deepened her understanding of yoga in her life. In her class she creates an opportunity for students to feel the physical renewal and cleansing that a strong, challenging asana practice has to offer. At the same time she encourages to let the inner calm and acceptance of yoga permeate life on and off the mat. Zorayda envisions her class as a moving meditation using the body to unlock and free the mind.
Her favorite words, “let it go” remind her of the happiness found in non-attachment. Although she has detached herself from life as a doctor, she has found a world of healing as a yoga student and teacher.
Katrina Amato
Originally from Madison, Wisconsin, Katrina began practicing yoga after graduating from California State University, Long Beach where she earned her Bachelor’s degree of Fine Arts in Dance in 2006. With her intense ballet training that began at age four, she was relieved to find an exercise that upheld her strength and flexibility in a relaxing and calming way that actually healed both her mind and body. Katrina’s knowledge as a dancer has helped her approach a variety of students and athletes of all ages, as she is able to work around their issues while stretching and strengthen their bodies in ways they never imagined.
Katrina received her certification through Yoga Alliance in Santa Monica under Tamal Dodge, as well as her Mini Yogis yoga for kid’s certification under Shana Meyerson. For the past year, she has assisted renowned celebrity yoga instructor Mark Blanchard at Colfax Elementary School where she taught kindergarten through fifth graders basic yoga techniques. Katrina is excited to finally begin teaching at the studio where she will be able to teach beginners and advanced yogis of all ages. She just completed shooting Mark's fifth DVD series, True Power Yoga, which was released the fall of 2009 with amazing reviews. Buy the True Power Yoga DVD now - available at the Studio City Yoga Center or online at www.truepoweryoga.com
She enjoys the physical and mental aspects that yoga has to offer and is eager to share it with the students at Mark Blanchard's Power Yoga.
Heather Dawn
Originally from New York, Heather was introduced to Yoga in her late teens. After ten years of being a student I earned my teacher’s certification in Power Yoga here in Los Angeles. Yoga taught me many things, especially how to overcome obstacles in my life.
In Heather's words:
One of my big obstacles was panic attacks. Without the use of medication, Yoga brought me back into balance by strengthening and reconnecting my physical body with my mind and most importantly teaching me how to breathe when the going got tough. The breath is the most important part of the practice and I often refer to it as the reigns to pull the body mind connection together. Panic made me want to run, Yoga taught me how to surrender and stay calm. Practicing yoga gave me a chance to reevaluate what was working for me and what wasn’t in terms of my beliefs, behaviors and goals. It taught me how to make choices, take action and be more present. As a teacher I am always a student. What I learn I teach. What I teach, I learn. And always making sure there’s lots of fun and funny to be had. After breathing, laughter is the best medicine we have! Because at the end of the day, despite the beautiful bodies we sculpt and the great epiphanies we come to laugh a little, it’s just yoga.
Megan Hyndman
A former personal trainer, Megan was always looking for ways to supplement her vigorous, competitive, and unhealthy exercise regimen. She tried Power Yoga for the first time over ten years ago and it changed her life. The discipline required spoke to her competitive nature, but for the first time she discovered that finding strength did not have to be debilitating, that power could coexist with peace. Power Yoga's emphasis on balance of mind, body and spirit helped Megan overcome her damaging routine and turn her focus to a love and acceptance of self, without surrendering the potential of progress.
Megan's teaching philosophy tries to incorporate that juxtaposition into her classes--to encourage each student to challenge their bodies while calming their minds and releasing their own judgments. With both of her parents suffering from various joint and spine problems, Megan particularly encourages students to be mindful of their own abilities, limitations, and particular health. She has been featured on the Travel Channel's Healthy Bodies.
Kathleen Kastner
Kathleen is originally from Salina, KS, and has been teaching Ashtanga, Power and Vinyasa yoga for the last ten years. Kathleen has a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology and a Bachelor's degree in Journalism, from the University of Kansas. After college, Kathleen worked in San Diego for Dr. Deepak Chopra as his Personal Trainer, where she was introduced to yoga. She has worked for the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica as an Exercise Physiologist. Kathleen has completed yoga teacher trainings by Tim Miller of Encinitas, CA and Max Strom of Venice Beach, CA. "Yoga will change your body, the way you think, and most importantly deepen your connection to your Self, to God and to all beings, it's the best! Teaching yoga has been such a gift, because I have been touched by so many amazing people from all over the world who share my love and passion for yoga. I love teaching yoga and watching people transform on the mat and in their lives. Yoga gives them a real sense of internal strength that transmutes into every area of their lives. I want to thank all of my teachers and students for sharing their love and wisdom with me, bless you all."
Dearhbla Kelly
Dearbhla Kelly began her practice of yoga in 1994 while studying in Amsterdam. She left her hometown, Dublin, Ireland, in 2001 to pursue a Ph.D in philosophy in Chicago. While living in Chicago she taught yoga at Moksha Yoga Center, Yoga Now, and various other locations. She relocated to Los Angeles in January 2006.
A long-time student of Ana Forrest, Dearbhla has completed both foundation and advanced level teacher trainings with Ana. She assists Ana at yoga conferences, workshops and teacher trainings around the country and taught at Forrest Yoga Institute until its closing in January 2007. Since moving to Los Angeles she has begun studying intensely with John Friend and Saul David Raye, with whom she completed a six week teacher training: Holistic Yoga for Healing, Peace and Spiritual Awakening.
Dearbhla’s asana practice has become much more vinyasa-based since moving to L.A. The evolution of her asana practice has been a wonderful way for her to deepen her relationship to herself and to fine tune her ability to take the yoga off the mat into other aspects of life. She was drawn to teach at Mark’s studio because of the non-dogmatic attitude to teaching there and the down to earth attitude of students, teachers, and Mark, and Elizabeth. Mark encourages his teachers to find and express their true voice, to be authentic, and to teach from their inner wisdom and experience. Dearbhla loves the supportive atmosphere of the studio and the student’s willingness to expand their practice and tryout everything from new arm balances to inversions and challenging abdominals.
Beau King
On June 19th, 1994 I moved to Los Angeles. The very next day my roommate at the time took me to my first yoga class. I have been practicing ever since. My first teachers were Maty Ezraty and Chuck Miller, the founders of Yoga Works in Santa Monica. I ended up working there from 1996 to 2000, took their Teacher's Training Program in 1997, and started teaching on a regular basis beginning in 1999. Growing up in the Midwest, I would often attend church with my family on Sundays, but the feeling of real spiritual connection continued to elude me until I found the practice. It felt like the spirit and the body were finally united, and I came away from every practice with a feeling of euphoria tempered with a groundedness that left me with a clearer mind and a stronger awareness of my physical capabilities. In my classes I try to emphasize basic technique, with long holds in postures interspersed with challenging sequences and an emphasis on developing core strength. I draw heavily from the Ashtanga Yoga tradition of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois of Mysore, India, where much of the "Power Yoga" approach is derived from. If you're looking for a no-nonsense class where you can challenge yourself and quiet your mind, I try to provide an atmosphere where both can happen.
John Mackow
A pianist, an actor, a collegiate swimmer, and once a US Air Force captain, John’s unique individual resume lends itself to a unique yoga class experience. John grounds his yoga practice and teaching style from his practical experiences in the arts and athletics and from the great philosophies of all cultures, from Zoroaster, to Nietzsche, to Sartre, to the Tao, and to the Vedas. John centers his practice in mindfulness, gently guiding the students into an awareness of the slightest and simplest of physical movement and thought impulses, and then gradually builds the practice peaking in a flow of more demanding postures. John believes the purpose of the yoga practice is to penetrate deep into your mental, physical, and emotional core, and then utilize the flow postures to facilitate the removal of any residual toxins from the inside out, leaving the body and mind clear, open, and more in touch with the truth of our inner being.
Kiersten Morgan
I started formally doing yoga right here at Mark's Power Yoga 7 years ago, a couple years after moving to Los Angeles from Kansas. I was a dance major and had danced all of my life so when I found Liz and Mark's vinyasa classes it just made sense to me. Breath is movement, movement is dance, everyone can dance. The style I love to teach is a yoga dance with the breath being the music. After a couple years of practicing, mainly with Mark and Liz, I decided to the take the teacher training with them and and then I did a lot of self study on my own. I'm a vigilant student and am still learning everyday, and I love that I learn with my students as I am teaching them.
Albena Teofilova
Originally from Sofia, Bulgaria Albena grew up studying Dance, Gymnastics and Paneurythmy. She began
her spiritual quest at a very early age studying the
works of the great Bulgarian Master Beinsa Douno and
the German philosopher Rudolf Steiner, the father
of organic/biodynamic farming, The Waldorf Educational
System and Antroposophy.
While on her spiritual path Albena discovered Yoga and immediately fell in love with it, embracing all the various Yogic schools of thought. As a practitioner Albena integrates Yoga, Fitness and Nutritional Healing with the ancient healing techniques of Chinese Herbal Medicine, and the Western Holistic understanding of the human body, mind and spirit. Albena embraces the traditional schools of yoga while at the same time maintaing a dynamic, and fluid practice that follows the natural flow of Prana.
Steven Vincent
Steven has been a dedicated Yogi for 15 years and now teaches private and group classes full-time. Through the diligent study and practice of yoga, he has healed multiple dislocations to both knees, chronic lower back pain, sacroiliac joint problems, sciatica, insomnia and asthma and has also calmed and centered his mind. Steven’s class at Mark Blanchard’s Power Yoga is challenging yet at the same time accessible to the beginner. In his class you will develop strength as well as ease in body and mind. Steven is an occasional contributor to LA Yoga Magazine and also helps to lead Peace Is Every Step-LA, which organizes monthly walking meditations inspired by the teachings of Thich Nhat Hanh.
Other Teachers at Mark Blanchard's Power Yoga Centers:
Stacie Foster
Jad Mager
Michael Castrogiovanni
