Instructors

Gingi Allen

Gingi Allen supports women in their own personal journey and transformation as a woman into a mother. Throughout her environmental health and herbal medicine studies, doula and midwifery training, and personal experience with birthing and raising two sons, Gingi remains connected to her ancestral lineage through dance and ceremony. With deep respect for her teachers, Gingi continues to learn and share her medicine and intuitive knowledge of herbs, ritual, movement, and womb wellness with the next generations.
Contact: 510-467-4486 / mamagingi@gmail.com / www.theartofmothering.com

Sophia Campbell

Sophia Campbell discovered yoga in 2001 and has been a yoga devotee ever since. Through the many joys and heartbreaks of coming of age in Maine and California, she feels most at peace on the mat and close to nature. Both artist and teacher, her classes are inspired by her extensive background in music and dance. She encourages her students to find their personal edge by listening to the wisdom of their hearts and bodies. Sophia has just returned from traveling in India where she immersed herself in the original culture and philosophy of yoga. Sophia was first certified to teach hatha yoga 2003 and completed an Astanga vinyasa certification with Larry Shultz of “Its Yoga” in 2005. Since 2011 she has completed over 175 hours of Anusara Yoga training with Abbie Tucker and Sienna Sherman and is excited to soon be completing her 300-hour advanced teacher education hours with Annie Carpenter, Desiree Rumbaugh, and Pete Guinousso at Yoga Tree, San Francisco. Sophia graduated from CIIS in 2007 with a Bachelors's in Psychology and has performed as a singer-songwriter throughout the Bay for many years.

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.
Contact: yogawithBrenda2014@gmail.com / (510) 205-8020

Julie Emden

Julie directs Embodied Jewish Learning, an organization that offers all people the chance to experience Jewish wisdom through movement practices that nourish their minds, bodies, hearts and souls and empowers them to fully embody and express their unique role in creating positive change for our world. A graduate of five fellowship and teaching certification programs related to her work as an Iyengar-based yoga instructor, movement/expressive artist, and Jewish educator, Julie has nineteen years of experience guiding others in exploring Jewish wisdom, text and practices via the body in a variety of settings.
Contact: julie@julieemden.com / Website: embodiedjewishlearning.org

Angela Fisher

Angela started her yoga journey in 1999, and never thought she could actually be a Yoga teacher until she discovered Curvy Yoga. Her mind was officially blown seeing a big-bodied Yoga teacher in a room filled with other big bodies! She realized she had something to offer other people. Angela completed the 200 Hr program at Niroga, and has gotten certified in Prenatal Yoga, Yoga For All, Curvy Yoga and Laughter Yoga since 2016. Her practice has a deep focus on mindfulness and coming from a place of self love. Classes have elements of Hatha and Bhakti (devotional) Yoga styles. She can be reached at angela@bigyogalife.com and http://www.bigyogalife.com/. Please see what her local students have to say on Yelp: http://www.yelp.com/biz/big-yoga-life-berkeley

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

Jessie Holland

Jessie Holland is a certified Iyengar yoga instructor, emphasizing precise alignment, and sustained reflection on the connection of the body, mind and breath. She has been teaching Iyengar Yoga since 2004. She is a Clinical Ayurvedic and Pancha Karma Specialist, integrating Ayurveda and yoga to harmonize the systems of the body with the rhythms of nature. She has attended both a 200 and 500 hour Iyengar teacher training, studied with the Iyengars in India, and completed clinical Ayurvedic internships with Dr. Vasant Lad. She studies regularly with Senior Iyengar teacher, Peter Thomson. Jessie also completed a Masters in Traditional Chinese Medicine in 2016, Jessie's private alternative medicine practice integrating Ayurveda and Chinese Medicine is in Oakland on Summit Street. Visit her website at www.jessieholland.com.

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

Aliza Rothman Labowitz

Aliza has a master's degree in counseling psychology and expressive arts therapy. She has been leading groups for women for the past decade. Currently Aliza leads dance circles based on the Jewish calendar and facilitates various support groups for women. She has also worked with children and teens bringing the arts into her therapeutic and educational work.

Ada Lusardi

Ada Lusardi (E-RYT, YACEP) teaches workshops and trainings that marry the heart and science of yoga while offering nuanced and precise teaching with warmth and humor. Through the use of compassionate and clear direction, intelligent sequencing, and skillful hands-on adjustments, her offerings challenge and refine one’s yoga practice regardless of age or ability. A self-professed “anatomy geek,” she leads classes, retreats and trainings throughout California’s Bay area and around the country. She is a graduate, and faculty member, of The Berkeley Yoga Room’s Advanced Studies Program, a long time student of Donald Moyer and Mary Lou Weprin, and a perennial student of yoga and life. www.adayoga.com.
Contact: ada@adayoga.com / (510) 552-0155

Angela Madonia

Angela Madonia has been a student of yoga and mindfulness since 2005 and it has been an incredible support for her throughout her life. She is committed to bringing these techniques to people that may not otherwise have access to it. You can most often find her teaching in the community; at the local library, public school, non-profit or clinic setting. She works with organizations that support social justice, wellness and mental health and has taught classes to survivors of domestic violence, people living with HIV/AIDS, those dealing with eating disorders, homeless families, at-risk youth, and incarcerated women. She has also taught vinyasa, ashtanga, and yin yoga in studio settings and has a trauma sensitive approach. She is the mother of two toddlers and enjoys teaching family yoga and classes that support parents at all stages. She is also available for individual sessions. She completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training in 2007 at www.yogavermont.com and a 500-hour Therapeutic Yoga Teacher Training in 2010 at www.healingyoga.org. She is a current student of Chase Bossart, Kate Holcombe, Melanie Green and Cybele Thomlison.
Contact: A.grace.madonia@gmail.com. See www.angelamadoniayoga.com for more info.

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."
Contact: (510) 684-2007

Alexis Mulhauser

Alexis Mulhauser has been practicing Nia for over 20 years. In addition to teaching Nia, she is a certified Breema practitioner and instructor, and teaches Breema classes in the Bay Area, as well as abroad. Alexis also is a yoga teacher and somatic educator, and loves inspiring everybody she meets in life to live the life they most wish for. Please contact Alexis directly for any questions: yoginialexis@gmail.com
www.nourishtheessence.com

Mark Pasley/Simran

Mark has been a yoga enthusiast since 1987, when he began taking Iyengar classes in San Francisco. In 2001 he moved to Berkeley and discovered Cherie Carson's Kundalini Yoga classes. The breath work, chanting, mudras and meditations had such a profound effect on him that he decided to become a teacher in order to share this sacred technology with others. He enjoys teaching Kundalini Yoga to adults of all ages and levels, from beginner to experienced. Mark is also a Shiatsu practitioner & massage therapist based in Oakland, CA.
www.RelaxedEnergy.com
contact: marksimran@gmail.com

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.
contact: cybeleb@hotmail.com / (510) 258-8002.