Diablo magazine's Best Yoga Instructor 2010, Diane Valentine is the director of The Yoga & Movement Center, where she teaches weekly classes and leads workshops in Iyengar-based yoga, Restorative Yoga and Feldenkrais Awareness Through Movement lessons. She has been studying yoga for more than 30 years and teaching for the past 20. She has studied with and assisted senior Iyengar Yoga teacher Judith Hanson Lasater, PhD.,in working with the therapeutic aspects of yoga and restorative practices. Diane has written articles on Restorative Yoga for Menopause and Yoga and the Feldenkrais Method. She is a certified Feldenkrais practitioner and teaches weekly Awareness Through Movement classes. She also has an active private practice in hands on Functional Integration and Therapeutic Yoga sessions.

Diane has developed a deep understanding of the body, mind, and emotional connections through her work as a yoga teacher, massage therapist, and Feldenkrais practitioner. Her own life situations have given her deep insight into the way our body's work. After being diagnosed with a debilitating illness many years ago, she found deep healing in yoga's restorative practices and continues to help and teach students learn to listen to their body's own natural wisdom.

Today, her methods are aimed at teaching beginning and continuing students to listen to their bodies through the fluid movements of yoga and Feldenkrais, as well as learning to practice "living in the present moment" by becoming aware of themselves. Diane places emphasis on developing and maintaining postural alignment to support the organs and the internal functions of our bodies, allowing us to be fully aware, awake, and alive.

Diane offers individual, private sessions using therapeutic methods she has developed over the years that are designed to release tension as well as alleviate chronic and debilitating conditions and help us live our lives fully. Both yoga and Feldenkrais Awareness through Movement classes are suitable for all body types and ages.

Chris began her journey of teaching yoga in 1999 with Integrative Yoga Therapy. In 2001 she met John Friend, Anusara Yoga’s founder and he became her primary and most influential teacher. Anusara yoga blends her love for a graceful and powerful physical practice with a life enhancing & heart centered spiritual practice. In 2007 Chris found AcroYoga, it was love at first sight which has only deepen with each flight! AcroYoga inspires co-creation in community & clear
communication in a beautifully integrated practice of yoga, acrobatics & Thai massage.

Chris’ teaching style is playful, inspiring and dynamic. She creatively weaves mindfulness with the play of the divine through the breath, heart, mind and body. Chris encourages and guides her students to expand their daily yoga practice to incorporate all their daily activities for a life that is a sacred sadhana (practice).

For more information about Chris Arcucci please visit www.MindfulLivingArts.com

Wendy Beckerman is an Anusara-inspired yoga teacher with a passion for making yoga accessible to everyone. In 1994, she turned to yoga to help balance her lifestyle as a touring singer/songwriter. In 2005, Wendy took the next step in deepening her practice and began studying Anusara Yoga with teachers Abby Tucker and Sianna Sherman. In mid-2007, she earned her credentials as an Anusara-inspired instructor, and has continued on that path, teaching at the Yoga and Movement Center, and other locations in the Bay Area.

In late 2005, Wendy founded East Bay Yoga to bring on-site yoga to the workplace, emphasizing stress reduction and promoting a sense of community among coworkers. Her teaching style is often described as clear, calming, and centering, and includes the use of imagery to emphasize moment-to-moment awareness and inspire people to more fully experience everyday life.

Kelly Callahan Black has been studying and teaching Yoga and Pilates and the Healing Arts for the past 13 years. She is a long time Bay Area resident and got her certification to teach Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yoga Bhajan in New York City. In addition to Kundalini Yoga she is inspired by the teachings of Iyengar, Ashtanga and Hatha Yoga. Kelly did her advanced Pilates training through Balanced Body with world renowned Pilates teacher Elizabeth Larkam and at the ABsolute Center in Lafayette.

Kelly brings to her classes warmth, love and humor and she always loves to find new and exciting ways to challenge and uplift her students. Kelly is available for private Reformer and Mat Pilates and Yoga Instruction.

Marcia Conroy has been practicing yoga for over 13 years, primarily in the traditional Iyengar style. She is a graduate of the Advanced Studies program at The Yoga & Movement Center in Walnut Creek; and, a graduate of the Advanced Studies in Yoga Therapy at Seva Ananda in Santa Rosa. In addition, Marcia attended the last two annual conferences of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. For the past 3 1/2 years Marcia has been teaching yoga primarily to seniors at the Walnut Creek Senior Center, San Ramon Senior Center and Danville Parks and Recreation; and, therapuetic yoga to people who have disabilities at the Yoga & Movement Center in Walnut Creek; and, Downtown Yoga, in Pleasanton.

Annie has practiced Iyengar Yoga for 30 years, graduated from The Yoga & Movement Center Teacher Training and became a certified teacher a year ago. Lately, one of her focuses became the therapeutic aspects of yoga, as she helped heal herself through recovery of neck and shoulder injuries.

 

Greg, a graduate of Diablo Yoga Center's advanced Studies Program, combines attention to alignment with awareness of the breath.

He draws from his extensive experience as a world-champion Frisbee competitor and massage therapist/bodyworker to help students optimize their own mental, emotional, and physical potential. Greg seeks to practice yoga from the heart, with an emphasis on re-establishing the free flow of life force through the body resulting in healing and greater capacity to express one's innate splendor.

Mary Cameron Smith began teaching classes for seniors in 1997 at the Seniors' Club in Walnut Creek.

She also teaches at the Diablo Yoga Center, Danville. She graduated from the Yoga Room's Advanced Studies Program in Berkeley in June 2003. Yoga first came into Mary's life in 1965 when her daughters were little. Since then it has been a source of healing, well-being and inspiration, as she ages. She focuses on sequencing and adapting poses to allow students of all ages and abilities to benefit from classic Iyengar poses. Her approach is gentle, encouraging and playful. Call Mary with any questions.

Sarah graduated with a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and has always been fascinated by the mind and body connection. After college, she pursued her love of yoga and completed her first Teacher Training at YogaWorks in 2008 and a second at YogaWorks in 2010. She has studied with many uniquely gifted teachers including Nikki Estrada, Melanie Salvatore-August, Erika Trice, Christy Brown and her mentor Mynx Inatsugu. She continues to assist Mynx and is inspired by Mynx’s incredible devotion to her students and by her gift for intelligent sequencing and precise instruction.

Sarah also completed all the requirements of the Niroga Institute Yoga Corps, a yoga-training program offering tools for working with at-risk populations and she received a yoga teacher certification for kids through It’s Kids Yoga in San Francisco. She has taught yoga to kids and teachers in the early childhood educational system. Her kids’ classes are inspiring, playful and fun, using music, asanas, props and games to teach kids self-awareness, balance, strength, flexibility and mindfulness.

Sarah’s intention as a yoga teacher is to inspire, educate and guide her students on a path where they can clear away the distractions of the mind and body in order to reach a place of stillness and ease. Her classes focus on proper alignment and attention to breath allowing students to work at their own pace in a safe and nurturing environment.

There is a stillness, an ever-present wisdom, knowing or light, that quietly lies behind the oceanic waves of breath...I'll meet you there.

Adrienne has been practicing yoga for 15 years and began blending yoga with kids in 2005. The mother of a 6 year old and 3 year old, Adrienne also has experience teaching P.E. to grades K-5. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) through Yoga Alliance and received her certification through the Yoga & Movement Center. Adrienne is also a Certified YogaKids Facilitator for YogaKids International.

Adrienne teaches regular YogaKids classes through the Town of Moraga Parks & Recreation, Lafayette Community Center, and Los Perales Elementary School. She may also be found working with Girl Scout Troops and preschools around the East Bay.