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 Wednesday & Friday 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 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. In 2004 she completed White Lotus Foundation's 200 hour teacher training and several years later earned her 500 hour certification from Paul Grilley. Lorraine holds degrees in Dance, Biology and Cytopathology. She continues to study with her mentors Suzee and Paul Grilley and assists at their teacher trainings. 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. |
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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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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 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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Tuesday 6:45am - Strong Vinyasa Amy started her training in dance at the age of 4 years old and has been on the move ever since! Her childhood and teen years were spent devoted to dance, gymnastics, springboard diving and the mindset of always striving to "become better". She was introduced to yoga 12 years ago and was thrilled by the freedom of a personal practice that celebrates the path of the journey rather than the destination. She feels privileged to be a teacher and to be given the opportunity to play a part in the discovery and exploration of yoga for others. For Amy, the practice of yoga is one that involves having a student's heart and a curious mind. Amy's teachers have influenced her journey in every way. Kimberley Dashiell Danza, Mark Stephens and Jillian Glikbarg are wonderful examples of teachers who truly dedicate themselves to enhancing lives, furthering the knowledge base of yoga in our communities, and actively engaging as mentors to their students. Amy's training is in Vinyasa Flow yoga and she believes it is the dancer in her that is naturally drawn to this style. Amy's teaching involves creative and mindful sequencing - building a path that moves the body from one asana to another in a safe and fluid way. Amy enjoys offering her students a nurturing place to learn, a playground to push the edge in the physical practice, and a grounding space to find balance and calm. |
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Saturday 4:30p - Strong Vinyasa Nick Fortino was trained in Ashtanga Yoga, which is an eight-limb system designed to promote stability, strength, and flexibility of the body and the mind. Nick has studied anatomy and physiology, and currently studies psychology. He has been a personal trainer for many years. His formal education and professional work have been dedicated to investigating what is required to achieve optimal health. He finds all the answers in Yoga. Nick is honored to usher the teachings of Yoga into the lives of other people.
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Sunday 9:30a - Yoga Foundations Eva Alexander developed a passion for yoga in 2003 when she used it to manage the challenges of pregnancy and child birth. Shortly after her second child was born, she started taking vinyasa flow classes at Planet Granite. She realized the many benefits of yoga. Yoga sharpened her focus, lessened her fear for falling while climbing, and strengthened her whole body like no other exercises did. She loved that she felt the sense of "flow" and inner peace when she practiced. In 2010, she decided that she wanted to spread her love of yoga and be able to touch people's lives positively. She completed Mark Stephens' Vinyasa Flow Yoga Teacher Training and apprenticed with Mark Stephens at Santa Cruz Yoga and Jill Glikbarg at Planet Granite. Today she continues to grow and expand her practice by taking workshops from renowned teachers such as Rod Stryker, Tias Little, Mark Horner, Chuck Miller, and Govinda Kai. She is now pursuing 500 hours Joy of Yoga Teacher Training with Jennifer Prugh at Breathe Los Gatos. In her vinyasa yoga class, Eva emphasizes listening to one's own body to practice yoga safely, synchronizing breaths and movements, and having fun! Eva's recent focus is in Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, She likes that not only the practice is physically challenging, more importantly it offers constant opportunities for self reflection and meditation. Besides practicing yoga and rock climbing, Eva enjoys hiking and camping with her husband and children. For more information on Eva her website is: http://yogawitheva.weebly.com/index.html |