The 2012 Yoga Outreach Columbus Instructors
Listed in the order in which they are pictured
Loretta Zedella
Yoga’s life-transforming abilities inspire Loretta daily. She loves to share basic yoga techniques and also enjoys demystifying complex asanas with yoga explorers. She has been on staff teaching yoga at Ohio Wesleyan University since 2004. She teaches at several other locations. Loretta was motivated to found the non-profit Yoga Outreach Columbus while attending an incredible charitable class co-taught by Seane Corn, Shiva Rea, and Baron Baptiste. She has long thought that humor and April Fools Day could be celebrated more widely. Hmm, we wonder how will that play out on April 1? Loretta was first introduced to hatha yoga in the mid 1980s and she studied faithfully with her Cleveland area instructor, Maria Sarrossey. In 2000, when Loretta was introduced to a flowing yoga style of vinyasa yoga, she adopted yoga as a daily practice. Shortly thereafter she became an instructor. Loretta has deepened her practice with workshops taught by Elena Brower, Lino Miele, Paul Grilley, Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Ana Forrest, Sianna Sherman, Laurel Hodory, Rodney Yee, Todd Norian, and Bryan Kest. She completed a 200 hour teacher training and is encouraged by fellow teacher Kit Spahr and her yoga students. Loretta has completed several workshops with and is ever inspired by yoga master and main teacher Erich Schiffmann. Feel free to ask Loretta about her love of travel, long marriage, and four kids. www.LorettaYoga.com
Linda Chun
Linda first explored yoga in 2000 during medical school. Finding yoga was truly life-changing. She obtained her ashtanga teaching certification during 2001 and has taught yoga ever since. She is forever thankful for Columbus teachers Laurel Hodory and Martha Marcom for the vital roles they played in her development as a student and teacher. Other teachers that have or continue to influence her most significantly include Maty Ezraty, Chuck Miller, Tim Miller, David Swenson, Paul Grilley, and Seane Corn. Linda loves the physical expression of yoga combined with the meditative and spiritual aspects of the practice. Ask her what yoga teaches her and she will tell you about quieting the mind, breathing, finding flow, and building a healthy body. She will talk about cultivating patience, gratitude, and living compassionately in order to serve others. In her classes, Linda likes to focus on alignment for safety and balance so her students may enjoy a lifelong practice. She believes in the Mysore style of ashtanga where students may cultivate their own regular and consistent self-practice. Outside the yoga room, Linda is a general internist and pediatrician. She works at the OSU Center for Integrative Medicine as well as various Nationwide Children’s Hospital clinics. She practices integrative medicine and is learning medical acupuncture. In addition to studying ashtanga yoga, Linda loves learning muay thai.
Laurel Hodory, MS, E-RYT500
Laurel is a senior yoga teacher, a teacher’s teacher and has been studying and teaching yoga since 1992. She has trained and certified more than 150 yoga teachers, teaches workshops internationally and has trained the OSU NCAA Women’s Rowing team. She has also been sought out by The Ohio State University Dance Department to teach advanced yoga courses to dancers and dance faculty. Among many luminaries, her most influential teachers include Sianna Sherman, Paul Grilley, Doug Keller & Pattabhi Jois. Her inspiration comes form the power of yoga to heal, transform and empower others to access their true potential. This summer, Laurel will be leading a teacher training in Norway. When she’s not on the mat, Laurel enjoys music, being outdoors, good food, and spending time with her family and friends. For more information, go to www.laurelhodory.com.
Sally Roberts
Sally discovered yoga in 1998 when she attended a basic Hatha yoga class in Florida. She immediately began searching out yoga classes & teachers in the Columbus area while continuing to practice on her own. What she found was Ashtanga yoga and a whole new approach to living life. To deepen her practice and understanding of yoga she enrolled in the It’s Yoga Teacher Training 200 hr program, graduating in the fall of 2003. She continues to train in Ashtanga, Anusara, Anatomy and Yoga Philosophy. Her influences come from the teachings of Sianna Sherman, Seane Corn, Vicki Sorensen, John Friend, Paul Grilley, Laurel Hodory – as well as all her students! Sally hopes to share the energy balanced with peace and the insight balanced with humor that yoga has brought to her. Sally teaches at several studios & gyms in the Grandview Hts & downtown areas. She is currently teaching Ashtanga and Vinyasa (flow, hot & power style) Yoga.
Abby Dorn, RYT
Abby received her 500 hour teacher training certification from Yoga Zone/BeYoga with Alan Finger in New York City in 2002, and she has been joyfully teaching ever since. She is influenced by many teachers including Mark Whitwell, Rodney Yee, Ana Forrest, Sharon Salzberg, and Lois Nesbitt. In 2003, Abby completed a prenatal yoga training with Carrie Parker Gastelu, and in 2004 she became certified to teach Itsy Bitsy Yoga TM for babies and toddlers. Originally from Delaware, she lived and taught in Brooklyn, NY for 8 years and moved to Columbus in 2008. She currently teaches a wide range of populations at Balanced Yoga in Clintonville, Grow Yoga in Grandview, and The Wellness Community in Powell. Abby is trained in the ISHTA style of yoga which is a blended style of hatha and vinyasa yoga that incorporates detailed alignment. Abby sees yoga as a practice of active gratitude for the life we are given, as a time to honor and nurture our bodies and to celebrate our vitality, and as a time to connect to ourselves and each other through heart opening and mindful attention to the breath. She is eternally grateful to all her teachers (including her students!) who share their yoga and help to guide her on the journey.
Julia McSheffery, E-RYT500, CPT
Combining a strong understanding of the body’s structure and systems as well as offering extensive experience and skill in yoga and its therapeutic potential, Julia provides her students the opportunity to easily understand and incorporate yoga practices into their lives in a meaningful way. Originally interested in yoga as a means of recouping some of the flexibility she lost because of sport rock climbing, Julia quickly realized the benefits of yoga and its healing of injury and illness in her own life. Besides having a degree in exercise science, Julia is also a certified yoga teacher and is registered with the Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT500 yoga therapy teacher (500hr, ShivaShakti Synthesis, Janice George) and as a teacher of vinyasa flow (200hr level, White Lotus Foundation, Ganga White and Tracy Rich). In addition to these certifications, Julia is thankful for her training with Todd Norian, Ann Greene, David Swenson, Shiva Rea, Donna Farhi, Amy Weintraub, Elise Browning Miller, Judith Lasater, and Tom Myers. Her experience includes teaching all levels of yoga in a variety of styles throughout the greater Columbus area. She currently teaches classes at studios and facilities throughout the city in addition to partnering in both levels of ShivaShakti Synthesis teacher training. Julia is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists, www.iayt.org.
Kelli Joyce
Kelli has been practicing yoga for over 17 years. She started doing yoga for the physical aspects of the practice, but soon discovered that yoga is
more than moving on the mat. Yoga helped her with so many
aspects of life that she wanted to share that experience with other
people. She enrolled in Hatha teacher training and began teaching in 2003. Kelli
has had the honor to be taught by some famous Yogis and Yoginis and
many not so famous who have inspired me to continue to learn more about
yoga philosophy and the physical practice of yoga. “By far, my most
inspirational teachers have been the students who share their practice
with me. In 2010 I opened Village Yoga in Powell, Ohio where I am
blessed to share a safe, mindful practice with my yogi friends!” Kelli is a
registered teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She teaches vinyasa, Hatha and
is certified in Prenatal yoga. www.VillageYogaPowell.com
Gina Eckel-Davenport
Gina owns and teaches at Breathing Space yoga in New Albany. She has been a longtime student of alternative wellness and holisitic health. She was led to a life-changing yoga practice in 1994 and further cultivated it by becoming a Yoga Alliance Certified teacher at Yoga On High in 2002. Workshop participation includes sessions with Rodney Yee, the late Larry Schultz, Victor Vankooten and Angela Farmer along with many other yogis and psychospiritual bodyworkers. She teaches mixed-level hatha classes as well as private, corporate, and small group yoga sessions. With special interest in families of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder, she’s an advocate for alternative therapies in the areas of Somatics and Kinesthetic Learning, botanical and herbal remedies, as well as sound vibration therapy. Gina is currently working toward certification as a Yoga Therapist with the ShivaShakti Synthesis Program at the Center for Wholeness in Columbus, Ohio. Her practice includes mixed disciplines of pranayama, meditation, Kundalini, and an eclectic blend of Iyengar, Ashtanga, and free form Hatha Yoga. http://www.bsyohio.com/
Janice George
Janice is a Licensed Independent Social Worker and Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT-E) and Yoga Therapist, who has been teaching yoga for over 20 years. She is the originator of ShivaShakti Yoga, a whole body approach to hatha yoga and ShivaShakti Synthesis, an integrative and therapeutic style of yoga teacher training and yoga therapy training. Her approach allows each layer of the body; the physical, mental/emotional and spiritual bodies to be deeply stretched and strengthened. Her major influences include Kripalu, Integrative Yoga Therapy, Doug Keller, Richard Miller, Iyengar, Laughter Yoga and Ayurvedic medicine. She offers yoga classes, individual yoga therapy sessions and Yoga Alliance accredited Yoga Teacher Trainings. For further information please contact Janice at www.shivashaktisynthesis.com. Janice is also one of the original founders of the Center for Wholeness and currently serves as the Vice-Chair. She believes yoga is for every “body” and participates in many community activities to assure that this healing modality is available to everyone regardless of their life circumstances.
Kit Spahr
Kit has been practicing yoga for over 35 years and began to teach 20 years ago, first in the Kundalini Yoga tradition and later returning to her roots in the Hatha Yoga practice. Both her teaching and her practice began to really bloom after meeting and studying with yoga master and papa bear of yoga, Erich Schiffmann. Under his guidance, she learned to find her own yoga and to make meditation a larger part of her practice. These days, Kit is enjoying the work of Integrative Anatomy teacher and somanaut (self-explorer), Gil Hedley, who has taught her to hold her models of practice lightly (we all miss some bits and pieces of the puzzle), to be open to exploration, to have more fun! In addition, Kit spends 4 days every year immersed in yoga and love at the Ojai Yoga Crib...created and curated by the lovely Kira Ryder. There she reconnects with friends and fellow yogis, soaks up the teachings of a variety of teachers...especially, Erich Schiffmann and Jason Crandell (sequencer extraordinaire) and renewing herself for the coming year. Kit’s teaching encourages self-awareness and compassion. We prime ourselves to notice the moments of ease, of peace, and...to paraphrase poet and philosopher John O’Donahue...to take refuge in our senses, opening up to the small miracles of daily life we usually rush through. Kit has become a practitioner of slow yoga! www.kitspahr.com
Victoria McMahon, M.Ed, Counselor Education, RM, RYT-500
“StillFlowingYoga is my vision of physical, mental and spiritual wellness. This vision is inspired from the integration of knowledge and experiences in human development, Gestalt psychology and eastern philosophy and practices. I train with practitioners from the international yoga community- Erich Schiffmann, Angela Farmer & Victor Van Kooten, Richard Miller PhD and Rodney Yee. Additionally, I have trained with therapeutic practitioners such as Michael Clemmons PhD, Vijay Singh MD, Donna Eden and Deepak Chopra MD. My vision is inspired by the integration of these solid, traditional teachings along with phenomenological and therapeutic practices learned through post graduate certification in Gestalt Body Process (Gestalt Institute of Cleveland) and 500-hour certification in ShivaShaktiSynthesis yoga teacher training program. I maintain involvement with SSS (www.shivashaktisynthesis.com) through guest teaching and mentoring in both 200/500 hour training tracks. This program integrates history & philosophy of yoga, ayurveda (science of health), and therapeutics of yoga. Ultimately, my vision is about immersing and integrating spiritual teachings, writings and practices from all traditions to offer a deeper knowing of unity consciousness underlying every moment, both ordinary & extraordinary. I look forward to growing with you through our observations and experiences. To view the current teaching schedule, make an appointment or book a workshop/retreat, contact me at www.stillflowingyoga.com.”
Connie Phillips
Connie received her 200 and 500 hour RYT certifications from ShivaShakti Synthesis in Columbus, Ohio. Teaching yoga in Central Ohio since 2000, Connie's philosophy is quite simple; whether a person is doing yoga in a gym, a studio, or a corporate workplace, that individual deserves safe instruction in alignment and needs to be given the tools to create a life-changing practice. Yoga is for everybody, but not every kind of yoga is for every body.
Marcia Miller ERYT-500
Marcia has been teaching yoga for over 35 years and is one of the owners/founders of Yoga on High. She revels in teaching every level of student from brand new beginners to experienced yoga teachers. She co-designed and co-directs all the programs for the Yoga on High Institute for Teacher Training. http://www.yogaonhigh.com/
Lindsay Nova
Lindsay is a contemporary hoop dancer, modern dancer, choreographer, fire performer, yogini, performance artist, and teacher currently residing in Columbus, OH. She carries a BFA in dance in addition to yoga and Pilates mat certifications. She teaches and performs both locally and nationally from yoga studios to music festivals. Currently she enjoys teaching core-awakened/heart-opening yoga and mindful Pilates inspired by the Anusara practices of Shakti Sunfire and Madhuri Martin, as well as her prior Vinyasa teachers Michelle Stobart and Edward Clark. She regularly hoops for the band Papadosio, at events throughout Columbus with the High Jinks/Kristina Isabelle Dance Company, and has had the pleasure of dancing with the performance art group Anna and the Annadroids. You can find her teaching at such locations around Columbus as Pai Yoga and Fitness, Urban Active, and Infinity Dance Center. www.LindsayNova.com
