Teri — Teri's first yoga class was on a Thursday night in March of 2001. She went to it hoping to "de–stress", not knowing exactly what yoga entailed. She was hooked with her first class, and by Tuesday of the following week was chomping at the bit waiting for Thursday to come! It's been a love affair ever since. Teri decided to get her teaching certification for the simple reason that she thinks everyone should practice yoga. She brings this enthusiasm for yoga to every class she teaches. Teri received her yoga teaching certification from the White Lotus Foundation after training there with Gang! a White and Tracey Rich. She has since studied with Ana Forrest and Shiva Rea. She thanks local yogi,teacher, and friend, Julie Lerner Schmit, for her guidance/mentoring and friendship, and her family and friends for their ongoing support.

Gillian — Gillian- opened Minnehaha Yoga Studio in 2006. She began doing yoga years ago when there was just Yoga-over the years she has practiced most styles of yoga as they became available in the twin cities and finds value in all styles of yoga. When she opened the studio she wanted to create a beautiful comfortable place where everyone would feel welcome. Every one can benefit from Yoga- what’s not to like about feeling better feeling a bit stronger, calmer and more open. You don’t have to stand on your hands or twist in to a knot but if you want to we can help you find it in you. Gillian completed her 200 hour Yoga Alliance certification training and Vinyasa training at Core Power Yoga and continued her studies with Tias Little, Julie Gudmestad, Max Strom and has done workshops with may other great teachers. She is trained in Thai Yoga massage and uses many of the techniques to adjust and assist in all her classes. Gillian brings elements of all her teachers and styles to her classes, in either a gentle class of a more vigorous Vinyasa trying is always more than doing. It’s in the process of trying and falling that we learn the most. Gillian believes that a guided group yoga class should still be an individual experience where each student is encouraged to find the version of a pose that best suites their needs. She loves that all of the classes are small and you will never be “you in the red shirt.” Gillian is very thankful to all of her fellow teachers here at the studio for their help, patience and guidance.

Erez —Erez grew up in Israel. At the age of eighteen he joined the Israeli Army, and was recruited for the Special Forces for four and a half years. Upon leaving he traveled the world. It was in Minneapolis that he discovered Yoga. He always knew he would do something in his life which combined the physical and spiritual. Erez found his destiny in the practice of Ashtanga Yoga. He has traveled to India, California and New York in order to study with his teacher, the founder of Ashtanga Yoga, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois. He has supplemented his training by studying with the only teachers in the world who are qualified to teach Ashtanga due to the fact that they have spent a lot of time in India in order to be certified by Pattabhi Jois. They are as follows: Manju Jois, Pattabhi’s son, Shirat Jois, Pattabhi’s grandson, Micheal Gannon, Govinda Kai, and Kino Macgregor. Erez’s newest favorite teachers are his two beloved children Lilly and Lucas whom he learns from each and every day! Erez teaches authentic, traditional Ashtanga, mixing the physical and the spiritual in a seamless flow.

Cindy — Cindy began her Yoga journey while pursuing her artistic career in music, dance, and theatre in New York City. Consistent with her felt destiny to practice Ashtanga she started practicing at Jivamukti and immediately was at home. Jivamukti, which translates as “liberation while living", was initially founded by students of its noted spiritual founder, Pattabhi Jois from Mysore, India. He is also known as the father of Ashtanga Yoga. Jivamukti’s focus on the relationship with and responsibility to the earth also resonated with Cindy, who has been a vegan for many years.

Upon her return to Minneapolis, Cindy focused wholly on Ashtanga, which led to her involvement with some of the world’s foremost instructors who studied in India and are exclusively certified to teach Ashtanga by Pattabhi Jois, such as Manju Jois (Pattabhi Jois’s son), David Swenson, David Williams, Micheal Gannon, Govinda Kai and Kino Macgregor. Additionally, Cindy also has a B.S. in Cultural Studies from the University of Minnesota and a M.A. in Teaching from Hamline University where her thesis and research was on Yoga and starting early in life.

Cindy offers her knowledge of Ashtanga and Yoga in a spirit of gratitude to all of her teachers and hopes her students will experience the joy, healing and blessings that she has experienced through this practice

Darcy — Darcy owes her inspiration of yoga to her very first teacher, Helena Raghubir Kriel. Darcy’s first yoga class was in 2001 with Helena and was Kundalini Yoga no less! Wow! Her heart melted, her soul ignited, her mind took a long awaited rest and her body said &dquo;ahhh&dquo;. She wanted more, and over the years Darcy has tried out many fitness and therapeutic movement modalities. She has creatively worked to transform her own health issues, emotional hang ups, and a debilitating back injury and always found herself coming back to yoga as her foundational form of salvation. YOGA-unification of the mind, body and spirit-is what Darcy claims as the most profound practice affecting her healing and quality of life.

Darcy is certified in Integration Yoga through the Center for Happiness at the 200 Hour Level. From her study with several outstanding local teachers she’s acquired a working understanding of a variety of yoga styles including Kundalini, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Hatha, and Naam, for the purpose of meeting varied needs and desires in practice. Darcy herself is forever exploring what the spice of life has to offer. She likes to wade through the sea of philosophies and approaches, experience what she can and then share, teach and assist in the integration process. As they say, all rivers lead to the ocean. But, some are more direct! So if you want to experience the good life, pick a yoga style you love and practice! Come alive from the inside out!

Darcy holds a B.A. degree in Social Work from Concordia College and currently works as a colon hydro therapist, wellness coach, and supportive guide on matters of the heart and path of one’s spirit. She is in training for Yoga Bonding™, a yoga sequence for mother or caregiver and baby.

Sub Instructors

Melissa — Melissa Culloton, a native of Norway, is a level 3YogaFit certified instructor as well as being Senior and pre-natal/post-partum trained. She continues her yoga education thru numerous yoga workshops – including chanting, balances and core building workshops. Melissa has been practicing yoga for five years and at Minnehaha Yoga for over a year. She has been teaching yoga for over three years. She loves teaching Vinyasa /Flow Yoga as it combines her love for music and yoga. In addition to teaching yoga she gives private voice instruction at PriorLakeSenior High School and through her church. Melissa holds a doctor of musical arts in voice and is a professional singer in the Twin Cities. Melissa lives in South Minneapolis with her husband Matt and their beagle Charlie.

Silke — Silke has been teaching yoga since 2000 and is a senior teacher/student of Rod Stryker's Para Yoga. Her studies also include yoga therapy with Doug Keller and pranic healing/mediation with Dr. Swami Shankardev Saraswati. Currently, she is working towards certification in both Advanced Sanskrit for Yogis and Jyotisha/Vedic Astrology in Boulder, CO.

As a Para Yoga-inspired teacher, Silke draws from Tantra and classical Yoga as the source for her teaching. Through a systematic and light-hearted approach, Silke's aim is to have students EXPERIENCE the great wisdom of the sages -- that to unlock and understand the great creative force of the universe, you need to look no further than your own body and mind. The ultimate goal is for each student to live compassionately, joyfully, fearlessly -- to thrive wholly in every aspect of their lives and in doing so, become the model for others to do the same