PLANET GRANITE SUNNYVALE INSTRUCTORS
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Tuesday 5:45 pm - Vinyasa Flow Jill Glikbarg (ERYT 500 - 500 RYT) has been practicing yoga since 1986 in the Hatha traditions of Ashtanga, Iyengar, Power and Vinyasa. She completed her teacher's training in Vinyasa Flow with Mark Stephens of Santa Cruz Yoga center, has completed intensive teacher workshops with Rod Stryker , Susi Aldous, Dharma Mittra and Shiva Rea. She has dedicated her life to teaching yoga full time in the Silicon Valley /Bay Area providing not only public classes but corporate and private sessions. She focuses her narrative on the intimate conversation between breath and body that is often drowned out by the musings of the mind. Her class sequencing physically and energetically culminate into a peak pose and then she guides her students toward relaxing into release and stillness. Practicioners are led with verbal cues and hands on adjustments into safe alignment while deepening their practice. Her narrative takes the mystery out of yoga and allows all levels of students to experience the practice with humor, grace and joy.
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Monday 7:30 pm - Vinyasa Flow Vinyasa - Yin Through her love of yoga and desire to help others obtain maximum well being, Joanie became interested in the healing arts. She is a BodyTalk practitioner (an energy based healing modality), trained at the highest level of the system. She has also studied Reiki, Sound Healing, and Healing Touch. The sensitivity and awareness brought about by her healing practice has augmented her yoga practice and teaching abilities. Her classes offer a welcoming environment that encourages a conscious experience. Allowing the space for the student to create a relationship with body and spirit while deepening awareness of Self. |
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Sunday 4p - Vinyasa Flow Eric has practiced and taught Yoga in the SF Bay Area for several years. He is certified by San Francisco's "It's Yoga" in the Ashtanga style but borrows liberally from other Yoga disciplines and has taught more than 1500 classes to adults, children, and people with special needs like climbers. He has had the good fortune to practice with a number of distinguished teachers and hopes to carry on their teachings with integrity and grace. His classes emphasize breath, dynamic flow, and finding calm and personal growth in the intensity of the asana. Current major influences include the teachings of Andrey Lappa.
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Monday 6:30a - Vinyasa Flow Styles of Yoga - Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Restorative, background philosophy I tend to draw upon many styles of yoga as I believe there is only one yoga and each style of yoga brings new understanding to the yogic path. I try to tune into the needs of each student whether it is building strength and flexibility or becoming more self aware in their own practice. I focus on alignment, infusing balance and creating space with each asana as, I consider, most injuries are caused by either being misaligned, out of balance or from a lack of space. |
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Sunday 11:15a - Vinyasa Flow Lorraine came to yoga in the 1990s after many years as a dancer. She began teaching classical ballet at age 15 and has continued sharing her love of movement with students ever since. She is certified by the White Lotus Foundation (Vinyasa) and Paul Grilley (Yin/Taoist Yoga and Anatomy). She also holds degrees in Dance, Biology and Cytopathology. Lorraine has trained extensively with her main yogic mentors Paul and Suzee Grilley and continues to study under their guidance. Other influential teachers include Ganga White, Sarah Powers, Gil Hedley and Jai Uttal. Lorraine’s graceful, flowing Vinyasa classes place equal emphasis on developing strength, balance, flexibility, breath awareness and mental focus. Her meditative Yin classes release deeply held stress and tension, improve flexibility, harmonize chi (energy) flow and calm the mind. Lorraine guides students to find the most beneficial postures for their unique bodies. She creates a nurturing space for students to deepen self-awareness and discover freedom in their practice. For more information about Lorraine visit her website at: |
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Linda is a Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher, RYT. Movement and Dance have been part of her life for many years, since revisiting a childhood love of ballet at age 21. After working as a professional Interior Designer for many years, and having children, Yoga grew as an important part of her life. Her Vinyasa Yoga Practice expanded over the years and she completed a 250 hour Teacher Training with Mark Stephens of Santa Cruz in 2008. In addition to practicing yoga, writing, reading for about a year, she apprenticed with Mark at Yogasource Los Gatos, gaining insight into the wisdom of hands on adjustments and his in depth knowledge of the spiritual as well as the physical practice. In Vinyasa and Yin, Linda helps each student come to their personal expression of each asana with verbal and hands on adjustment with connection to the breath. Visit Linda's website here. |
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Wednesday 7:30pm - Vinyasa Flow Vinyasa - Anusara Inspired She is known for her eloquent explanation of alignment, ability to help students find freedom and healing in their bodies, for her fun, creative sequencing, and for her skill in teaching extremely advanced as well beginning Yoga students. Annika also works in the field of Yoga therapeutics, working with Pacific Therx, a leading physical therapy clinic in Portola Valley & Los Altos, as their Yoga Physical Therapist, helping clients to heal & rehabilitate from injuries, surgeries, & illnesses. Annika's classes combine a flowing Vinyasa practice with opening, strengthening, & healing alignment. Her sequencing reflects her dance influences & inspires the bliss of movement. Annika is a devoted student of the spiritual philosophy of Yoga, and she offers a compassionate & empowering space for us to open to our highest Selves, offering an opportunity for awakening to the beautiful, brilliant spirit at the heart of everyone's being. |
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Wednesday 12noon - Yoga Foundations As a registered teacher with the Yoga Alliance, Misako hopes to share her belief that the practice of yoga can offer dynamic opportunities to discover the youthfulness of the body and to open the heart and mind. She strives to infuse her classes with playful challenges, attention to healthy alignment, and a deep connection to the breath. Misako completed her Yoga TeacherTraining at Avalon Art & Yoga in Palo Alto and is currently a student of Chinese Medicine and Therapeutic Yoga. Her own studies of the Anusara Yoga and Shadow Yoga styles have inspired her to create an integral experience that seeks to balance the neuromuscular system of the physical body as well as the eternal nature of the spirit. |
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Sunday 9:30a - Yoga Foundations A student of yoga since she was a child Nimmi Kovvali recently completed her Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training program under the guidance of senior yoga instructor Mark Stephens in Santa Cruz, CA. Her love for the practice inspired her to share the benefits and joy of doing yoga with others. Nimmi’s personal practice is based on the principles of satya (truth), ahimsa (non-violence) and aparagraha (not hurting), which she strongly emphasizes in the classes that she guides. She offers a safe space for her students to explore their practice through the use of props and modifications to asanas. Nimmi’s classes have a strong emphasis on pranayama and mantra practices and are choreographed to music allowing her students to explore not only the physical practice but also the practice that develops deep within. Nimmi has studied under the guidance of several well known instructors including Scott Blossom, Marti Foster, Jill Glikberg, Mark Stephens, Ben Thomas, Kent Bond, Janya Wongsopa and Srivatsa Ramaswami. |
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Tuesday 6:45a - Strong Vinyasa Karen, CYT, CMT: Vinyasa, has been a student of Yoga for nine years. She first came to the practice as an augmentation to her overall fitness and has become devoted to Yoga for the positive effects it brings to every aspect of her life. She completed a teacher training program from Avalon Art & Yoga in 2008 as a student of John Berg. She has since completed advanced immersion teacher training in Anusara Yoga with Samantha Shakti and Stacey Rosenberg. Also a Certified Massage Therapist, Karen infuses anatomical alignment principals and injury-prevention techniques throughout her teaching. In her classes students find a supportive and safe environment in which to explore the deep connection to the spirit through challenging the body and mind. All levels of practitioner are welcome to share the experience. |
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Tuesday 7:30pm - Power Through offering to her students a challenging and playful practice, Elena encourages everyone to find their own boundaries and benefits of yoga. Elena believes that yoga aids an individual to discover hidden powers, brings greater self-confidence, and helps one to find inner peace and love within. Elena gives her students a solid foundation with emphasis on safety, alignment, symmetry, and space. She connects with her students and brings in a unique energy into class. Elena completed the Avalon Teacher Training Program and 100-hours Anusara Immersion. To find out more about Elena, visit her website at www.SplendorWithin.com. |
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Saturday 4:30p - Strong Vinyasa Kristin has been practicing yoga since 2007, taking her first Bikram Yoga class at Being Yoga in Burlingame, CA. She believes that the moment yoga entered her life, it guided her to rediscovering herself through inward reflection. Since her first Bikram class, Kristin has dedicated herself to developing and expanding her practice to also include Vinyasa, Power & Yin Yoga. It is through Yoga that she has a greater understanding of living in the moment, whether it is in life or through the process of progressing towards the full expression of a pose. Kristin received her 200-hour certification in August 2010 from Yoga Source, Los Gatos under the guidance of Linda Schlamadinger-McGrath. In addition, she has also studied with Angela Gavin & Katite Gumucio. With 10 years of training in Classical ballet, Kristin focuses on the concept of effortless effort, balancing elegance, energy, and strength in her flow sequences. Her classes are artistically dynamic, integrating the movement of the body with breath and grace. Her love of music, also finds its way into her class, integrated with the movement and pace of the class. Kristin has found a true passion for yoga and teaching. She seeks to learn more from other yoga practitioners around her, whether it is from someone who is new to yoga or from someone that has practiced yoga for 25 years. She hopes to provide an environment that invites her students to broaden their perspectives and escape the chaos of life.
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