Instructor Bios

Kimiko Armon has been teaching yoga since 2005.  She studied with Jason Moring and graduated from the Temple of Yoga Science in San Francisco in 2005.  She also does massage therapy and personal training.  She has her B.A. and Teaching Credential in Physical Education from St. Mary's College.  Kimiko believes in empowering and uplifting others through the the power of yoga.  In the words of Mr. Iyengar "Venture from the known to the unknown." Kimiko247@aol.com

Bidyut (BK) Bose learned Yoga from his father as a child, and later from monks in the Himalayas. He has been teaching for decades, helping earnest students develop, sustain, and deepen their personal practice. A certified Yoga Therapist, he researches the scientific application of Yoga Therapeutics for many common chronic conditons, and for special populations. Bidyut is Executive Director of Niroga Institute, www.niroga.org, dedicated to bringing Yoga to those that need it most - vulnerable youth who are homeless, delinquent or incarcerated, seniors, cancer patients, people in rehab and recovery, and others.

Shaila Catherine has been practicing meditation since 1980, with seven years of accumulated silent retreat experience and teaching since 1996. She studied at the Sharpham College for Buddhist Studies in England, and dedicated several years to studying with masters in India, Nepal and Thailand. She is the founding teacher of Insight Meditation South Bay based in Mountain View. She is the author of a forthcoming book from Wisdom Publications, Focused and Fearless: A Meditator’s Guide to States of Deep Joy, Calm, and Clarity.

Margie Cohea is a graduate of The Advanced Studies Program at The Yoga Room in Berkeley. She began studying yoga in 1995 and teaching in 2000. Margie incorporates a focus of breathing awareness with asana practice in her classes. She teaches from her love of yoga and with consideration of each student present. Margie volunteers her time teaching yoga at East Bay Judo Institute in El Cerrito and at the Women’s Cancer Resource Center in Oakland. She is also a registered nurse and health educator. Margie can be reached at 510-234-7885.

Clare Finn's love of yoga started in the early 70's. She has been teaching since 1980. Graduated from the Iyengar Institute in 1986. Co-founded the original Piedmont Yoga Studio and went on to open 4th Street Yoga with Beth and Barbara. Clare's teaching is based on many years of study with numerous teachers and techniques including Vipassana and Tibetan meditation. Her approach to practice & teaching focuses on the intuitive in the present moment. Clare can be reached at 925-253-0344.

Beth Greenfield Rodgers has been practicing yoga since 1982 and began teaching in 1988 while completing her Advanced Yoga Studies at  The Yoga Room in Berkeley, CA. Beth studied and apprenticed with Rodney Yee for many years, and was one of his first students to become a teacher. Beth helped found the 4th Street Yoga  studio with her yoga partners Clare Finn and Barbara Voinar. Beth studied Yoga in Balance with Jean Couch www.balancecenter.com while she was healing a back injury.  Beth's style of teaching blends precision of body alignment from her Iyengar training with gentle relaxation and skeletal re-alignment from her Yoga in Balance work. Beth's classes are suited for back and joint care, for beginners and all levels.  Beth guides her students carefully through the subtle nuances of a pose. Her classes are straightforward and humble. All are welcome. Call (510) 428-1860 for more information.

Sylvie Greenfield Rodgers has been doing yoga since 1999 when she was in her mom's tummy. Sylvie is a second grader at Chabot Elementary School. She has been assisting in kids/family yoga since she was 18 months old. Now at age 7-1/2 years Sylvie has been working with kids and yoga for many years.  She is welcoming to new and old students alike, she beautifully demonstrates and helps with poses and partnering. She is a great assistant and a joy to have in class.

Jonothon Gross conveys his quiet passion for yoga in his ashtanga vinyasa classes. His yoga evolved from years of exploring (as a psychiatrist) the complex relationship between mind and body. Classes use flowing sequences of postures linked together by a steady focus on connecting breath and movement. Attention is directed to developing core strength and proper alignment while cultivating and sustaining an inner calm throughout a challenging practice. Jonothon can be reached at 510 236-8612.

Allan Jacinto R.Y. I. is a certified Ashtanga Vinyasa instructor who has been teaching Flow, Beginner, Yin and Gentle Yoga for Seniors in the Bay Area for the last 5 years.

Britta Kathmeyer is a graduate of the Advanced Studies Program of the Piedmont Yoga Studio and has been teaching with enthusiasm since 2001. She received additional training in working with heart and cancer patients and people with chronic pain and stress conditions, and is a certified 'Yoga of the Heart' teacher. She teaches Yoga in a variety of settings in the Bay Area and continues and deepens her exploration of the Body/Mind through regular practice and working as an Acupressure Practitioner. She can be reached at (510) 965-1180.

Scotty McCaulley has been a student of yoga for 10 years and has been teaching for the past two years. He teaches Iyengar style yoga and emphasizes the internal spaciousness that the practice of yoga can offer. Scotty's past experience as a psychotherapist brings to his teaching a focus on how yoga can enhance our overall mental, emotional and spiritual health and he does so with a sense of humor. Scotty can be reached at 510-649-1800.

Eva Marie Peler RN. LAc., is a graduate of The Yoga Room Advanced Studies Program and has studied and taught yoga for the last 10 years. She is a registered nurse and has a masters in acupuncture and herbal medicine. Marie teaches workshops and classes nationally and internationally. Her teaching style is influenced by Anusara and Vinyasa yoga styles. Her classes support her students to find their own strength and serenity within and to be uplifted in body and spirit. Eva Marie can be reached at 510-236-7445.

Tamara Perkins, CYT is a certified Raja Yoga teacher. Inspired by the opportunity to ease suffering and open paths to healing and empowerment, she teaches in diverse environments from men's and women's prisons, with children and adults in grief support programs and camps, and several youth and young women's empowerment conventions. Founder and director of a film production company born of a combination of creativity, service and activism (Apple of Discord Productions: (www.appleofdiscordproductions.com), co-founder of a non-profit (Niroga: www.niroga.org) and long-time facilitator of grief support groups (Kara: www.kara-grief.org), she has made Yoga, meditation, and Buddhist principals an integral part of her life. Childhood exposure to Yoga and Tibetan Buddhism through her father has helped form the foundation of Tamara's practice. Another great influence is her friend and Vippasana meditation teacher since 1999, Shaila Catherine (www.imsb.org). Find out more at www.tamaraperkins.com.

Sally Pugh has information at www.sallypugh.com.

Deborah Saliby, a Iyengar yoga teacher for 25 years, specializes in working with pregnant women. She is a certified Hypnotherapist and HypnoBirthing Instructor. She teaches ongoing prenatal yoga classes and the full HypnoBirthing Childbirth Education Program. She also works privately with pregnant couples. For more information on Deborah and her schedule, see her website at www.envisionings.com, or call 510-234-7885.

Don Tuttle has taught Yoga for 18 years in the San Francisco Bay Area and has made three trips to India to study Yoga with the Iyengar family. He was a member of the teacher training faculty at the Iyengar Yoga institute of San Francisco and was the director of the Berkeley Yoga Center. Don now owns and operates a busy commercial photography studio and continues to enjoy sharing his Yoga training with students. Don can be reached at 510-558-9244.

Barbara Voinar. Barbara has committed herself to the study and practices of yoga since the age of 17 when she began an apprenticeship with her first hatha yoga teacher, Katherine DeSilva Jain,  a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda. She has continued to study in the traditions of Siddha Yoga , Iyengar, Anusara, and the unique teachings of Angela Farmer & Victor Van Kooten.
 
Barbara’s spiritual outlook is deeply influenced by the practice of  loving kindness; nourished by her loving family, friends, and students; drawn  to  the teachings of HH Dalai Lama, Sharon Salzberg, Pema Chodron, Ram Dass & Ramana Maharshi,; inspired by the magnificence of nature; uplifted through sacred music and poetry.

Barbara co-founded  4th Street Yoga in Berkeley, CA in 1993. She has taught yoga in prisons, specialized in pre and post natal yoga, created Healing Yoga for woman living with cancer;  provides yoga therapy for MS and stroke yogis. She has been on the staff of teacher trainings, and mentors aspiring teachers. Her classes range from gentle to advanced. She is a registered yoga therapist, ERYT, and teaches internationally. www.barbaravoinar.com

Kristen Walker's classes combine Iyengar style yoga with Balance: healthy postural alignment and movement patterns, based on research in populations that are essentially free of back and joint pain. (For more information on Balance: www.balancecenter.com.) She is a graduate of the Advanced Studies Program at The Yoga Room in Berkeley, and of the Balance Teacher Training at The Balance Center in Palo Alto. Kristen's teaching is informed by her trust in the body's innate healing intelligence. She is glad to share in this practice with her teachers and her students, and does so with compassion and humor. Kristen has been teaching since 1999. 510-847-8709

Gay White teaches Iyengar style yoga and a blend of dance and yoga called Yoga Movement. She also teaches at the Yoga Room in Berkeley in the Advanced Studies Program. Gay founded the Yoga Garden Dance Company in 1992 and her classes, workshops, retreats and performances offer a gentle and creative approach to practice. Gay can be reached at 510-204-9322.

Tom Williams has been teaching Iyengar style yoga for many years. Also trained by Buddhist monks in mindfulness meditation, he combines awareness training with hatha yoga asanas and breathing so that students may cultivate the benefits of both practices. He also teaches Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction courses for physicians and patients in hospital settings throughout the Bay area. Tom can be reached at 510-528-7816.

Isabelita Papa is a healer whose experience includes more than 20 years of energetic, intuitive, combination of eastern and western bodywork. Isabelita also leads ongoing transformational healing circles and Qigong classes throughout the Bay Area and Hawaii. Isabelita brings years of her rich spiritual experience to all her healing Qigong classes and workshops. Her clients and students flourish, as does she, through the practice of meditation, Qigong, healthy lifestyle and allowing themselves to be effortlessly guided, welcoming the mysterious and wondrous ways that spirit shows up in the lives of those open to its direction.

Ellen Toomey has loved yoga since her first classes at age 14 with Bay Area yoga pioneer Ethel Golder. Her yoga adventures have been many and varied, with powerful teachers of many styles, near and far, including teacher training at the Iyengar Institute in San Francisco, and training since 1985 with inspired renegades Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten. yoga@toomeydesign.com