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Jill Cummings, LCSW, E-RYT, Reiki Practitioner
Jill found yoga in 2000 as a gentle diversion from a lifetime of playing soccer and other active sports (and loads of knee injuries). She was deeply transformed by the practice and began to feel the profound effects physically, emotionally and spiritually. Jill was initially trained as a children's yoga instructor. A career licensed social worker, she incorporated teaching yoga into her work of intervention with troubled families and therapeutic counseling with children. Since completing her 250 hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Corina Benner and Jill Manning as well as specialized training in Yin Yoga with Corina Benner at Wake Up Yoga in Philadelphia, Jill has been teaching adults, as well. Passionate about the healing and transformative nature of yoga practice, Jill later received further training in prenatal and postpartum yoga. Jill strives to inspire her students with her gentle, fun-loving teaching style to feel confident and find their inner strength, peace and healing through yoga. |
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Beth Filla, MSW, E-RYT, Reiki Practitioner
Beth met yoga at a gym in 1997. The classes were intense, and required a different kind of focus than anything she had previously encountered. Over the years, dabbling in different styles and types of yoga, Beth has come to recognize the effects of consciously quieting the mind and intentionally facing the physical challenges of yoga practice. The effects have included moving beyond the boundaries of what she thought was possible on her yoga mat and in the rest of her life. Having worked as a social worker with various community based programs in Philadelphia and as a high school English teacher right here in Collingswood, Beth has always been most inspired by helping people work toward finding their greatest potential. Since completing her Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training with Corina Benner and Jill Manning at Wake Up Yoga in Philadelphia and her Pilates Mat certification with Sylvia Byrd-Leitner at Pilates Core Center she has been encouraging her students to see the power of placing their intentions and the wonder of each breath. |
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Jill Blumenstock, RYT
Jill began her love affair with yoga in 2003 while braving the challenges she faced in medical school. She soon found herself buried in spiritual books instead of her textbooks and after three years of medical school and much soul searching, she withdrew from medical school knowing that she had greater gifts to offer the world through yoga. When something changes your life so profoundly and completely, you want to share it with the world. After moving to South Jersey, she began to teach in April 2006 and found inspiration in the creativity of Vinyasa Yoga. She is fascinated with yoga's healing properties and is currently researching and developing her own version of yoga therapy to improve the health and vitality of her students. With her extensive knowledge of anatomy and her cheerful sense of humor, she seeks to create a safe, warm, and light-hearted space for her students to peek inside, explore, and connect to the greatest teacher—the teacher within—in order to find guidance and discover more about their true divine nature. Inspired by spiritual texts, poetry, and life's latest lessons, she frequently designs her sequencing to explore a spiritual theme or challenge and invites her students to reflect on it and answer for themselves. Teaching yoga has brought her great joy and has become the ultimate way to practice yoga and learn more about herself. |
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Rachelle Damminger
Rachelle began her yoga practice as a complement to running. She quickly realized the cross-training benefits of yoga: a stronger core; balance in mind, body and breath; increased focus; and quicker race recovery. In addition to teaching yoga, Rachelle is the Director of Marketing and Communication for Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA.
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Lisa Korchma
Lisa's initial encounter with Yoga occurred at the age of 12 when her orthopedist recommended what he referred to as "stretching exercises" as a form of physical therapy for her scoliosis. It wasn't until years later, after the birth of her first child in 2001, that she began formally attending Yoga classes as a way to cope with the stresses and anxieties of being a new parent. Since then, Lisa's practice has evolved as has her respect and appreciation for the many gifts Yoga has to offer. She received her 200 hour Yoga teacher
certification from Yogawood, studying under her much admired and inspiring teachers Beth Filla and Jill Cummings. With careful attention to alignment and form, Lisa encourages students to develop their physical and emotional self-awareness through a strong vinyasa practice. It is her hope that students will then be able to maintain this awareness in their lives off the mat and find physical, mental, and spiritual balance.
Lisa also earned her Master's degree in English from Seton Hall University and continues to feed her appetite for learning through the study of Yoga philosophy. Outside of her practice, free time is family time, with every moment spent immersed in the joyful chaos of her three young children and much loved husband, as well as the zany family dog, Go-Moo. |
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Jonathan Hochman
Beginning in 1997, Jonathan spent two years at Amaravati Buddhist Monastery located in Hertfordshire, UK. Amaravati is a western branch of Wat Pah Nanachat, a monastery in North East Thailand founded by the late Venerable Ajahn Chah specifically for non-Thai desciples. A former Theravada Monk, Army Ranger and continuing martial arts student, he is an experienced and capable practitioner in a variety of meditation techniques. |
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Lynda Maguire, E-RYT
Having more than 6 years of teaching experience Lynda is registered with Yoga Alliance at the E-RYT level. Her practice and teaching focus on both yin and vinyasa styles of yoga as she believes they complement each other and help students develop a well-balanced yoga practice. Her teaching style has been deeply influenced by Shiva Rea with whom she has completed both a basic and advanced teacher training intensive; Paul Grilley with whom she continues to study anatomy and practice yin yoga; and also Sarah Powers with whom she studies meditation and yin yoga. Lynda's classes focus on a non-dogmatic approach as she encourages you to challenge yourself while working at a level appropriate for you. Her classes are creatively sequenced, often infused with some great quotes or inspiring poetry, and always offered from the inspiration of her own personal practice. |
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Zoe Mai
Zoe began her practice of Ashtanga Yoga with Manju Jois in 1995. She completed her first teacher training with him and Dee Silvers three years later. In order to deepen her own personal practice and develop her teaching skills, she later completed a teacher training program with David Swenson. Zoe has traveled to Mysore, India two times, spending six months there each trip. While there, she had a daily practice with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy. In India, she also studied Sanskrit at the Ashtanga Research Institute and studied and chanted the Yoga Sutras with Jayashree, a scholar from the University of Mysore. Zoe currently practices six days a week with Eddie Stern at Ashtanga Yoga New York and continues to study Sanskrit with Vyaas Houston of The American Sanskrit Institute. |
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Kim Marish
Kim began practicing yoga when she was pregnant with her first child back in 2002 and has been hooked ever since. She realized quickly that yoga could help her not only in labor and delivery but in motherhood as well. She completed her 200-hour adult certification in 2003, earned a Kids Yoga certification in 2006, and then moved with her family to Hawaii for a year and a half. There, she studied with some wonderful teachers, improving her own overall practice and building on her the desire to put her trainings and life experiences together to teach others the benefits of yoga. Now that Kim has landed back on the "Mainland," she is enjoying teaching Prenatal, Vinyasa and Kids' classes in both Philadelphia and New Jersey. Kim lives in Collingswood with her husband, Rob, and their three kids: Owen, Waverly, and Poppy. |
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Karin Otto (née Bookbinder), E-RYT
Karin has been studying and practicing yoga and meditation for over ten years. As a Registered Yoga Teacher with the National Yoga Alliance, Karin holds a Yoga Teacher Certification from the Lourdes Institute of Wholistic Health, and has continued her training with Erich Schiffman and Joan White. She also completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Dance Performance / Choreography and Dance Movement Therapy from Goucher College. Her interest in movement, art and the yogic path are reflected in energetic, inspiring classes which emphasize healing, transformation, openness and gratitude. Karin loves sharing her passion for this sacred practice, and guiding students towards wholeness, joy and compassion both on and off the mat. |
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Micki Ramondt
When Micki Ramondt took her first yoga class many years ago it was love at first pose. Initially it was the physical challenge of it. Then she noticed how it started to calm her mind. She found that the world seemed more quiet while practicing, and she began to develop more love, compassion and contentment for herself and for the lives around her. In 2008, Micki completed her 250-hour teacher training at Wake Up Yoga under the watchful, caring and extremely talented eyes of Corina Benner and Jill Manning. As a teacher, Micki strives to show the many beautiful facets of Yoga, not just the asana practice. She encourages each student to appreciate their strengths and accept their weaknesses so they can begin to find their true Selves and a state of Yoga. When Micki isn't practicing yoga she is reading almost anything that has to do with it or she's cooking with her husband Steven...and maybe dropping vegetable
bits on the floor for her dog, Kiko, and her cat, Maxwell. |
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John Vitarelli
John has been practicing a variety of internal and external arts throughout the past decade. These include Chen Style Tai Chi, White Crane Gong Fu, and a number of Qi Gong styles. He completed his Yoga Teacher Training at Dhyana Yoga in Philadelphia.
A devoted practitioner of Vinyasa Yoga and lover of Latin Dance, John's classes begin with rooting and building a strong, balanced foundation. From there, postures connect through smooth, fluid transitions. Expect to be challenged through a vigorous flow and energized movement.
When he's not teaching or practicing, John's probably swimming, camping, hiking, kayaking, dancing or watching Kung Fu movies, the more ridiculous the better. |
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