For those interested in deepening their personal knowledge and practice, ask our teachers about private instruction. Their contact information is below.
Jennifer Elliott, ERYT500 is a senior teacher and director of AYC. She has been studying yoga for 30 years and teaching for 20. Jennifer has studied intensively with Richard Freeman and Tim Miller, as well as Pattabhi Jois in India. She currently leads a 200 Hour Teacher Training each year.
Email Jennifer >434-531-5441
Mary-Lewis Meador, RYT is a Charlottesville native and mother of two growing yogis. She is a graduate from the Yoga Source/Yoga Alliance teacher-training program in Richmond, and has studied both the Ashtanga and Iyngar traditions. A dedicated practitioner and student of yoga, Mary-Lewis teaches in the Ashtanga/Vinyasa tradition and believes yoga should be energetic, fun and soothing to the soul. Email Mary-Lewis > 434-975-1952
Karen Thomas, RYT has been certified to teach basic hatha yoga since 2000, Karen also completed a nine month program in the art of teaching Vinyasa yoga in 2003. She continues to regularly enrich her teaching through trainings, workshops, and self-study. Karen hopes that her teaching inspires students to experience their yoga practice as an authentic, creative, and evolving process. Email Karen > 434-806-8501
Linda Winecoff, RYT has found yoga to be a source of quietude in an otherwise challenging environment of juggling children, schedules and work. In 2004, she completed the Yoga Alliance 200-hour teacher training at Yoga Source in Richmond. Linda has participated in numerous workshops with noted yoga teachers including Tim Miller, Dharma Mittra and Billy Goldman. Linda hopes to convey to her students not only an appreciation for the physical benefits of yoga but a passion for the practice and the exploration of the inner self it begins to cultivate. Email Linda >
Annie Runkle, RYT a long-time resident of Charlottesville and a graduate of UVA, has been practicing Ashtanga yoga since 2000. She completed the 200 hour 2004/2005 teacher training. She has a regular personal practice that has progressed under the guidance of her teacher, Jennifer Elliott. She has also participated in workshops with numerous teacher’s including Tim Miller, Dharma Mittra, David Garrigues, Billy Goldman and Desiree Rumba. She believes we have something to learn from everyone if we just stay open to that possibility. She enjoys incorporating what she learns into her teaching. Email Annie > 434-296-5222
Katie Tully, RYT began studying yoga in California and started her teaching career with a “Yoga for Runners” class to her undergraduate cross-country team. She completed the Advaita Teacher Training program with Margaret Townsend and Suzanne Leitner-Wise (certified through Yoga Alliance) in Washington, D.C. where she taught for two years. Katie teaches Ashtanga-based flow classes and enjoys teaching students of all ages and skill levels. She believes that we should all try to take our practice of yoga off of the mat and into our daily lives. Email Katie > 240-344-3113
Lydia Killos, RYT has enjoyed teaching yoga for more than four years, and has lead group fitness classes for 12 years. In 2005, Lydia studied extensively with Jennifer Elliott and completed the 200-hour Yoga Alliance program in Richmond, Virginia, certifying her as a Registered
Yoga Therapist (RYT). She approaches her practice and teaching with deep commitment to the intelligence of breath and proper alignment in yoga asana to create a limber, vigorous body and mind. In addition to her yoga and fitness training, Lydia recently completed her Ph.D. in Community Psychology at the University of Virginia. Email Lydia > 434-295-0877
Julia Schroeder, RYT, graduated from the Yoga Alliance 200-hour teacher training program at Yoga Source in Richmond. She has been practicing Yoga for 5 years and has an extensive background in group exercises. She also has participated in numerous workshops with noted teachers Tim Miller, David Garrigues, Dharma Mittra. Julia has an established Yoga practice under the guidance of her regular teacher Jennifer Elliott. Her classes are based on Ashtanga Vinyasa flow and are fun and explorative. She believes that yoga enriches one’s life in many ways and is beneficial for both body and mind. Email Julia >
Kate Hallahan, ERYT received her 200-hour.teacher training certificate in both Iyengar and Ashtanga Yoga at the Academy of Yoga in Colorado. Since 2003, she has traveled frequently to study with her primary teacher, Kofi Busia, who has held an Advanced Iyengar Teaching Certificate for over 30 years and is one of the world’s preeminent yoga teachers. Kate’s teaching combines precise physical alignment with a solid grounding in the philosophy of yoga practice. She is co-director of Charlottesville Yoga School where she trains and certifies other yoga students in the art of teaching yoga. Email Kate >
Jen Fleisher, RYT completed her 200-hour training in 2005 and has been dedicated yoga practitioner since. She is Co-Director of Charlottesville Yoga School. She has studied closely with Michael Hamilton, Tim Miller, David Garrigues, and Kino MacGregor. Jen spent a month in India with her primary teacher, Lino Miele, with whom she studies whenever he’s in the States. Jen teaches Mysore at AYC. Email Jen>
Ty Landrum Ty has been practicing Hatha yoga since 2005. He has studied closely with David Garrigues, Tim Miller and Dharma Mittra. In the summer of 2009, he completed the 200-hour certification course at the Dharma Mittra Yoga Center in New York City. Ty’s teaching draws from a devoted daily practice and an ongoing study of classical yoga philosophy. Ty is currently a doctoral candidate in the Department of Philosophy at UVA. Email Ty>
Katie Burke, RYT completed her Yoga Alliance 200-hour teacher training in 2008. She has studied the Ashtanga and Iyengar traditions with Jennifer Elliott and Sandra Pleasants. She has also participated in workshops with Tim Miller, Steve Dwelley, and Melanie Fawer. She tries to make the Ashtanga practice more available, in philosophy and physicality, to everyone. Email Katie> 919-928-4168
Tracey Wood , RYT a Charlottesville native, UVA graduate and mother of four has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga since 2001 with her primary teacher, Jennifer Elliot. She received her 200 hour teacher training from the Charlottesville Yoga School in January 2009, and has participated in workshops with Petri Räisänen and David Garrigues. Tracey’s classes are based on the Ashtanga/Vinyasa tradition. Email Tracey> 434-242-3653
Lindsay Mackay Ashmun, RYT500 Lindsay’s formal studies in movement began as a student of classical ballet and modern dance as a young child growing up in Virginia. In 1994 at sixteen years old she was first introduced to Hatha Yoga by Swami Satchidananda at Yogaville, and participated in the Living Yoga Training program. In 1997 Lindsay graduated from the somatic movement therapy program at Moving On Center in Oakland, CA under the mentorship of Martha Eddy, PHd and practiced Iyengar and Astanga yoga regularly at Rodney Yee’s Piedmont Yoga Studio. While pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Dance and Contemplative Arts at Naropa University in Boulder Co, she became a dedicated practitioner of Astanga Yoga at Richard Freeman’s Yoga Workshop from 1999-2004. In 2004 Lindsay completed The Yoga Workshop’s 200 hr Yoga Teacher Training, as well as The Pilates Center’s 900 hour teacher training. Lindsay has had a successful career as a professional modern dancer since 2001, and has toured the world as a performer and teacher. A member of the class of 2010 in Charlottesville Yoga School, Lindsay is dedicated to teach intelligent, focused and creative classes from her Vinyasa-style practice as it always inspired by her teachers and life experiences. Email Lindsay > 917.254.3553
Gwen Sojourner In 1985 I took a community ed. yoga class as a “stretching” program to complement running, tennis, and long-distance bicycling activities. I quickly learned that yoga was much more than just physical exercise and began to research the other seven limbs for a master’s thesis in counseling. Fast-forward through years of parenting, social work, high school teaching, travels, et al. to 2007, when I completed a yoga teacher certification program at the Sivananda Centre in Orleans, France. My teacher Kathleen Hunt at Samadhi Yoga in Seattle then introduced me to my current teachers, Sharon Gannon and David Life. I received a Jivamukti Yoga teacher certificate in 2009. At this point in my life, I feel humbly grateful for opportunities to share what I have learned from all my blessed teachers with other seekers on the path of yoga. Email Gwen >
Caitlin Pitts found yoga during her last year of college at William and Mary, then moved out to California where she studied intensively with many wonderful teachers (Sarah Powers, Rodney Yee, Tias Little, John Friend) in between her shifts at a collective organic restaurant. She is continually inspired, amazed and restored in her practice and loves to share that in her classes, exploring the refinement of alignment, the nature of the breath, the energetic imprint of the poses and the depth of pure relaxation. She teaches vinyasa, yin and prenatal yoga.