Instructors

Linda Chrisman

Linda Chrisman is an authorized teacher of Continuum Movement and has been practicing holistic bodywork for over thirty years. She specializes in an integrative approach informed by her extensive training in Rosen Method Bodywork, Continuum Movement, Somatic Experiencing and other movement and touch modalities.
See www.somaticwisdom.com for more information.
Email: linda@somaticwisdom.com
(510) 507-2903

Jill Davey

Jill brings a sense of ease and joy to her teaching. Combining both the subtle and dynamic, her classes are active yet gentle. A graduate of the Yoga Room's Advanced Studies Program, Jill focuses on correct alignment within the form and the effective use of props, making her classes accessible to people of all ages, abilities and body types. She combines her love of yoga with breathing awareness and meditation to create space for both body and soul.
Email: jill@jpdcom.com
(510) 640-5286

Brenda Dunkelberger

Brenda was born and raised in Berkeley, California and was introduced to yoga and meditation while living in Java, Indonesia. She has been practicing yoga for ten years. After the birth of her second daughter, she found in yoga a way to reconnect with herself. She completed her teacher training under Ganga White and Tracey Rich at the White Lotus Foundation. Brenda has traveled widely through India and South-East Asia and has experienced and understands the cultural underpinnings of yoga. She combines the spiritual aspects of yoga with a down-to-earth approach empowering people to deal with the everyday realities of life. The basis of her teaching is patience and compassion. She is committed to students feeling good about their practice and themselves.
Email: yogawithbrenda@comcast.net
(510) 205-8020

Ayelet Even-Nur

Ayelet Even-Nur began studying Ashtanga Yoga in Chicago in 2004 with Bill Shapleigh and Lisa Hill at Moksha Yoga. After completing her teaching certification at Global Yoga, she traveled to Kovalom and Mysore, India to continue her studies with Lino Miele and Sharath Rangaswamy, grandson of the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. Ayelet moved to New York in 2008 to complete her Masters in Near East Studies at NYU and began working closely with Kimberly Flynn and John Campbell, eventually completing John's advanced teacher training. In addition to assisting and then teaching with John in daily morning Mysore practice at Pure Yoga, she also worked with the Lineage Project to teach yoga to at-risk youth. Ayelet's classes emphasize the importance of breath as a fundamental guide for practitioners both on the mat and off. Continually inspired by both the force and freedom of breath and its ability to merge fluidity with strength, Ayelet teaches led by the breath, focused on making the Mysore practice accessible to and enriching for all levels of practitioners.
Email: ayeletevennur@gmail.com
(773) 678-4290

Rebekah Fessenden

Rebekah Fessenden has been a student of Iyengar-style yoga since 1998 and has taught since 2006. Beginning with a background in dance, she came to yoga with a degree of body awareness. But through the tradition of Iyengar yoga she soon discovered the ability to look deeper within, to go beyond the physical placement and engage the mind. As a teacher, Rebekah focuses on clarity of alignment but also brings attention to the flow of breath and energy within each pose.

Rebekah received her certification through the extensive 3-year long Advanced Studies Program at the Yoga Room in Berkeley. There she had the pleasure of learning from several great teachers: Donald Moyer, Mary Lou Weprin and Sandy Blaine, among many.

These days, yoga continues to enliven and support all aspects of life for Rebekah, including dance, which she performs professionally with Shahrzad Dance Company, a Persian-modern fusion troupe.
Email: chicabekah@hotmail.com

Melanie Green

Melanie Green is a yoga teacher, mother and co-director of the Berkeley Yoga Center. She has been practicing yoga for over 20 years and teaching since 2000. Melanie makes yoga accessible to all. While encouraging students to focus on their breath, drishti, and sensations, she teaches her students to deepen their practice as they honor their bodies. She values the spiritual aspects of yoga integrated with the asanas. Melanie focuses as much on the profound inner lessons of yoga: attention to the breath, letting go of thoughts and ego and perseverance through practice, as she does on the physicality of the poses. This process has been informed by Melanie's own experience with scoliosis - which is how her journey of yoga began. In each class, the student is invited to let go and have fun. Melanie's yoga background includes extensive study in Ashtanga. She has also trained in Iyengar, Pre/Postnatal and Vipassna Meditation.

Her daily practice informs her teaching and gives her an abundance of experience from which to teach others. Melanie always finds ways to integrate lessons from her own yoga practice into her daily life with her children and partner. Melanie has also been volunteering her time for the last eight years and teaching yoga to children; currently she teaches yoga at Oxford Elementary, a local Berkeley Public School.

In addition to her regularly scheduled classes, Melanie also offers private instruction and workshops. For more information about Melanie and to see her full teaching schedule, please go to www.melyoga.com.
Email: melyoga@hotmail.com
(510) 368-3581

Jonothon Gross

Jonothon, a psychiatrist and yoga teacher, has focused on the connections between mind and body for more than twenty years. He continues to wonder about the elusive nature of the human soul.
Email: jonothong@msn.com
(510) 236-8612

Jessie Holland

Jessie Holland is a Certified Iyengar Yoga Instructor and a certified Clinical Ayurvedic Specialist. Her yoga classes emphasize the precise alignment taught in the Iyengar system, along with sustained reflection on the connection of the body, mind and breath. She also integrates her studies of Ayurveda into class, helping students to harmonize the systems of the body with the rhythms of nature.

Jessie has a private Ayurveda practice on Piedmont Avenue in Oakland. She studies regularly in India with the Iyengar family and renowned Ayurvedic physician, Dr. Vasant Lad. She has brought home much knowledge to share, and is eager to introduce students and clients to this ancient wisdom. See www.jessieholland.com for more information.
Email: hollandjessica@yahoo.com 510.926.0577

Sat Daya Singh Khalsa

Sat Daya is a Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher, as taught by Yogi Bhajan Ph.D. He has worked in the Medical field for over 17 years as a clinical assistant, in General Practice, Orthopedics and currently in Radiation Oncology in Berkeley, Ca. He has personally experienced the benefits of Kundalini Yoga and seen its positive transformational effects. His class incorporates the use of breath, movement, mantra, mudra and drishti. Relax, renew, and experience the yoga of awareness.
Email: satdayasingh@sbcglobal.net
(510) 325-3830

Iris Bhagvati Lange

Iris Bhagvati Lange began studying Kundalini Yoga in Hamburg, Germany in 2000. She completed her teacher training in Berkeley, CA in June 2006 and has been teaching since. To Iris, Kundalini Yoga is a complete lifestyle that enables her to live consciously and happily. She teaches because of her desire to share this great science, and to support others as they connect with their inner wisdom.
Email: bhagvati.kaur@yahoo.com

Claire Lavery

Claire Lavery began studying Asthanga in 1991 and teaching in 2000. She is attracted to the graceful rhythm of the practice and its power to align the physical with more intangible experiences. She has trained with senior teachers in Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Yin yoga styles, and incorporates variations of these modalities to make yoga accessible to all ages, body types, skill levels, abilities and disabilities. Her practice and her teaching include continuing inquiry into alignment, pranayama, and meditation. She is grateful to Pattabhi Jois and all her teachers for their continuing inspiration.
Email: yogashta@gmail.com
(510) 681-3077

Ada Lusardi

Ada Lusardi’s classes and workshops marry the heart and science of yoga by offering nuanced and precise teaching with warmth and humor. Based on nearly two decades of meditation and yoga training, as well as her experience as a professional dancer, Pilates teacher, Iyengar yoga instructor, and yoga teacher trainer, Ada employs a deeply embodied and intellectual understanding of the human form. Through the use of compassionate and clear direction, intelligent sequencing and skillful hands-on adjustments, Ada’s teachings enlighten, challenge and refine one’s yoga practice, regardless of age or ability.

Ada receives inspiration from the dedication of her students, and feels deeply grateful for the guidance provided by her teachers: Donald Moyer, Mary Lou Weprin and Judith Hanson Lasater, among others. A self-professed "anatomy geek", she leads classes and retreats throughout California’s Bay area and around the country. You can find her in the May and October 2011 issues of Yoga Journal and at www.adayoga.com.
Email: info@adayoga.com
(510) 552-0155

LeeAnn Mallorie

LeeAnn Mallorie is a Blue & Green Belt Level Nia teacher and Executive Coach, who specializes in facilitating transformational movement and conversation. Her Nia students value her precision in movement, her musicality and her playful spirit. Once a regionally renowned movement artist, she believes in the power of committed ongoing practice paired with joyful curious exploration, and is skilled at creating the right environment for genuine mind-body transformation to take place. LeeAnn brings a lifetime of movement training to her work, including ballet, jazz, modern dance, Latin dance, baton twirling, yoga and aikido. She has an MA in Social Psychology, is certified as a Somatic Coach through the Strozzi Institute, and is currently pursuing a Sound and Voice Healing Certificate at the California Institute of Integral Studies. LeeAnn also writes a weekly blog, called Living in Motion that offers practical exercises to help students to bridge the mind-body divide. For more information see www.iamlivinginmotion.com/nia.
Email: lmallorie@gmail.com
(415)342-6003

Scotty McCaulley

Scotty is a graduate of the Yoga Room's Advanced Studies Program. He has been teaching Iyengar-style yoga for the past 10 years. Scotty was a late-comer to the practice of yoga and hence offers classes that are suited for both beginning through intermediate level studnets regardless of age. His intention is to teach classes which are available and welcoming to everyone. Scotty's teaching motto has become: "IF I CAN DO IT THEN YOU CAN DO IT TOO."
(510) 684-2007

Mark Pasley

Mark Pasley has been a yoga enthusiast since 1987, when he moved onto the same block as an Iyengar yoga studio in San Francisco. He took weekly Iyengar classes for years, until he moved to Berkeley and discovered Kundalini Yoga 11 years ago. He found the breathwork, chanting, mudras and meditations of Kundalini Yoga so liberating and energizing that he was soon hooked on the practice. He became a teacher 8 years ago and loves sharing this empowering and unique form of yoga with others.

Mark is also a massage therapist and shiatsu practitioner based in Oakland, CA. www.RelaxedEnergy.com
Email: marksimran@gmail.com

Herdis Pelle

Herdis is Danish by birth and co-founder of The Berkeley Yoga Center. She has been a student and teacher of Yoga and meditation for over 30 years. Throughout her life Herdis has been unwavering in her pursuit of True Nature. Some years ago, her life was changed in an instant: the Ground of Being was spontaneously revealed to her as her very Self. A few years later, Herdis was plunged into physical darkness through a rare eye-lid disorder. She was functionally blind for nine months. With the support of her yoga practice, meditation and other healing modalities, including modern medicine, Herdis has emerged from the darkness, sees with greater clarity, and speaks with authenticity and passion. These events have left her greatly humbled by the mystery of life.

Herdis brings to her classes a grounded and joyful presence. She invites her students to sense their bodies, moment to moment, welcoming with curiosity what comes and goes within the vaster field of awareness, which is always unchanging. Yoga practice with Herdis is an opportunity for transformation. Not always easy, but always authentic.
Email: Herdispelle@pacbell.net
(510) 649-9812

Matt Plan

Matt Plan believes that Yoga can be fun and helpful, and not just for gumbies. We quietly explore poses, move through them, pay attention to posture, be compassionate with ourselves, and try to develop a skill, that we can carry with us throughout our day. Matt has been practicing yoga for decades, and is a graduate of the Yoga Room's 3-year Advanced Studies Program, rooted in Iyengar-style yoga, and has studied with Donald Moyer, Mary Lou Weprin, and Gay White, among others.
Email: mattplan@hotmail.com

Mary Beth Ray

Mary Beth (MB) Ray has been exploring yoga as a physical practice and philosophy since the early 90s. Over the years, she has studied with wonderful teachers from various styles of Hatha yoga including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Yin, Viniyoga, Anusara, and Vinyasa Flow. She is especially drawn toward the moving meditation of the classic Ashtanga Vinyasa system and since 2006 she has been practicing in the Mysore tradition of Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois. This daily meditative practice, grounded in the Yoga Sutras, deeply informs the many facets of her life, especially as a mother, step-mother, and wife. MB shares the traditional Ashtanga sequencing with alignment cues, adjustments, and modifications that will help you develop your own inner and outer strength and flexibility. She believes that by attuning your awareness to the presence and quality of your breath during class you hone a more graceful engagement with your everyday life.
See www.mbryoga.com for more information.
Email: mb@mbryoga.com
(510) 387-6211

Cybèle Tomlinson

Cybèle Tomlinson is a teacher and the co-director of the Berkeley Yoga Center where she offers classes and workshops. Her yoga journey began in her twenties when she discovered Kundalini yoga; later she studied Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vini and Yin Yoga. Yoga has enhanced Cybèle's life in so many ways--by supporting vibrant health, emotional balance, and mental clarity--and ultimately leading to lasting inner transformation. It has acted as an essential support for living well in a complex, changing world, while also providing a refuge. Mostly, her practice has led to a life that is more authentic and free.

Cybèle's teaching is directly inspired by her own experiences with yoga. She teaches in a clear, simple way, inviting students to skillfully explore and work their own "edge." She provides an open, nonjudgmental atmosphere in which to become more aware of the various layers of inner experience. Teachers who have most influenced and inspired her practice and teaching are T.K.V. Desikachar, Erich Schiffmann, Sarah Powers, Richard Miller, and Donald Moyer.

As well as teaching, Cybèle also writes; she is the author of Simple Yoga and Ayurveda Wisdom. She is currently deeply immersed in the Diamond Approach, a contemporary spiritual teaching. She lives with her husband and two sons in Berkeley. Email: cybeleb@hotmail.com
(510) 558-6936

Jill White

Originally starting out as a biology teacher, she shifted her presence from the high school classroom to the yoga studio. Although she'd been practicing for almost 10 years, after a bout with cancer, Jill was impacted by what yoga can do for pain management, mood regulation, and overall strength and health. Yoga became an anchor in her life, and her passion for yoga blossomed as her drive to teach persisted. Jill got her training from the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, studying under Ganga White and Tracey Rich.

With her emphasis in Vinyasa Flow, Jill's focus in her classes are to connect movement with the breath, create healing energy, and be mindful of students' strengths and limitations from a compassionate and supportive perspective. She views the art of yoga as an efficient skill set of tools that can help the body, not as specific goals that must be attained that can compromise the body and potentially injure.
Email: jill@jillwhiteyoga.com
www.jillwhiteyoga.com