Discover your Yoga Experience in Raleigh North Carolina

Your highly trained and dedicated instructors provide you  with a detailed and thorough yoga practice. Whether a new student or an experienced practitioner, you will find that your instructors are here to guide and support you, and to give you the encouragement and confidence to step onto your mat and into your practice! To learn more about Raleigh NC Yoga Instructors simply click on their image or bio. We look forward to meeting you soon:) Namaste.

Claudia

Claudia C. E-RYT 200

Since the year 2000 I have been a Certified Paramedical Aesthetician (Skin Care Specialist) working with Dermatologists and Plastic Surgeons in the Fort Lauderdale area. I found my speciality in Acne and working wtih pre-cancerous lesions. In 2003 I opened up my own private practice and achieved outstanding results with clients. I loved taking care of their skin and seeing their confidence build. The first impression people see is your skin. It is your shell. One of the most important ideas that I learned was that your skin being your largest organ, it is there to assist your body not only in regulating its temperature, but to assist your body in the constant process of detoxification. We can tell so much by one’s skin.

At that time I also began to study Herbology and began referring a lot of my clients to Eastern Chinese Medicine Doctors.

Detoxfication….Purification….Clarity

In 2003 I began to practice the art of yoga. As a child I remember my god father practicing different asanas on my native island of puerto rico. I could remember my great aunt wearing a bandana around her head and practicing thai chi on the balcony overlooking the ocean. It was always so enticing to see these beautiful postures and try to understand the philosophy behind them. You would think they were just breathing and stretching. But there was more….

Yoga Offers Health, Peace, and Happiness for the Body, Mind, and Soul In September of 2008, the time arrived for me to take my yoga practice to the next level. I wanted to teach yoga. After much research and thoughtful consideration I found Elizabeth Hoffman. She is an extraordinary instructor and I am very grateful that we have crossed paths. It was the right time and the right teacher for me.

Credentials:

Owner of Raleigh NC Yoga, LLC.
Certified Yoga Teacher 200 hour – Vinyasa certified by Urban Bliss
200 E-RYT with Yoga Alliance
Thai Yoga Therapist

Certified PIYO Instructor
Skin Care Specialist – Specializing in Acne, Pre-cancerous lesions, Anti – Aging Aromatherapy Oils
Currently studying Master Herbology – Trinity College

Rachel

Rachel M.

“Rachel took her first yoga class in September 2009 on a whim, and instantly became hooked. She decided to become a teacher after only a few months of practicing yoga, and completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training at Yoga Hari’s Ashram in November 2010. Rachel practices and teaches various styles of yoga, but especially has a great deal of experience both teaching and practicing the Ashtanga primary series. To balance out the vigorous nature of Ashtanga, Rachel also loves to teach restorative yoga, and in the future she hopes to expand her teaching practice into therapeutic yoga to help those suffering from both physical and emotional problems. Rachel is also a bass guitar player, composer, and avid fan of classic rock music. She has been a vegetarian since 2009 and a vegan since 2010 as a personal conviction to follow the yogic principle of ahimsa (non-violence) towards all living creatures.

Marc-Cristobal

Growing up, Marc was always the most nervous kid in the room. As Marc grew older, he put forth an
aggressive search to find ways to calm myself. Marc became an avid exerciser, but still felt he
needed more. Yoga much more intricately conditions both the mind and body than anything
else Marc had ever encountered. His mother began to practice yoga in the late sixties, and
exposed him to it when he was still a child. However, it wasn’t until around 2004 that Marc
became a truly ardent student. That’s when Marc began practicing Ashtanga yoga under the
wonderful intsruction of Tracey Oliveto. His practice further blossomed under the guidance
of Nina Be, without whose support he would have never been where he is today. He has been
blessed with amazing teachers.
Marc finds very little as rewarding as teaching people how to guide their mind and body
towards greater control and happiness. He is also an academic tutor (English, Math, and
Latin). Some of his most valuable moments teaching have occured when he has helped
someone better understand themselves, as well as the world they live in. Marc hopse to honor all
the wonderful teachers in his life, by helping other people in turn. Personally, in his yoga
practice, his favorite experience is when his breath and movement match each other in a
seamless rhythm. It makes Marc extraordinarily happy, and he hopes to share that with others.

Issy

Why Did You Decide To Become a Teacher? I love to teach group fitness to others, but I especially love to teach Yoga because I don’t see it so much as a teaching experience but as an opportunity to share it with the world.

What is your teaching philosophy? My main philosophy in teaching Yoga is simply the mind, body and breathe working together as one. This basic philosophy can be applied to the one style of Yoga one decides to teach or practice on a regular basis or perhaps the style you decide to teach or practice on any given day.

Describe your teaching style? I enjoy teaching Vinyasa and Hatha yoga and even a combination of the two.

How has yoga helped you physically and mentally? It has helped me become more aware both in body and mind. I’ve learned to apply yoga in my daily life both on and off the mat, which helps both physically and mentally.

What was your first true yoga experience as a student? In my first experience with Yoga, I fell in love with it because of the challenge in the poses and how the next day I would feel muscles I had never felt before. I then began to apply everything the teachers would say during the class and in I would always walk away having learned something new either for my physical, mental or both. Now Yoga is not only a big part of my physical practice but its also a big part of my mental practice, and I love it!!!!

What can you offer to your students as a teacher? Guidance, assistance and support in their practice.

What is your favorite pose? I never thought I would say this, but its downward dog. I don’t only like doing it, I love teaching it. This is one of those poses that everyone thinks they are doing right until that one day comes along and it just clicks and then you’re like “Wow” that’s what its suppose to feel like.
C

Jonathan Miles (ERYT 200) journey into yoga really began as a journey into kung fu and capoeira in 1997. Noting the historical connection between yoga and kung fu, J began a philosophical investigation, studying text such as the Tao Te Ching and the Bhagavad Gita. In 2001, a friend led him through his first sun salutation. After a year of self practice, he went on to study Integral Yoga in 2002 with Nora Pozzi and later Vinyasa yoga from the late Arlene Bjork in 2009.

The style of yoga taught by J might be considered Hatha slow, vinyasa flow. The classes are rooted in the compassion of Integral Yoga, disciplined by Ashtanga, with the dance of Jivamukti. Students are skillfully guided through movements that build strength, courage and confidence. Each class is an invigorating blend, of philosophy, humor and a continuous effort to cultivate an inward awareness and focus on the body’s natural rhythm and patterns of breath.

J’s goal now is to use yoga to help as many as he can, in his local community and wherever the yoga takes him. In 2010 Jonathan co-founded a non-profit organization call Project Yoga Richmond (PYR), whose mission is to help spread the joy and benefits of yoga to those with the least access, and to create a stronger, unified yoga community. “Personally I get the most enjoyment out of spending time with my children, making human connections, and continuing to grow through martial arts and yoga”. For more information about PYR, visit projectyogarichmond.org.

Amanda Soltes

Amanda has been a student of yoga for over ten years and finally took the plunge to become a teacher in 2011. She completed the Raleigh NC Yoga Teacher Training with Claudia and is now a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She’s excited to share her love of yoga with everyone. Amanda practices meditation and all types of yoga styles, but teaches Gentle and Beginner’s yoga. Her classes are playful, inspired by her students, and she believes yoga has something for everyone!
“By connecting our body and mind to our breath we allow ourselves to heal and transform. We create space inside ourselves, which allows our inner beauty to grow and shine through into this world.”

Amelia R.

Amelia Reynolds, RYT, holds a Bachelor of Science in Special Education from the University of South Alabama and began instructing group fitness classes in 1994. After many years of teaching high impact aerobics and step classes, she was introduced to Anusara yoga in 2001– shifting her teaching, focus and practice to yoga and mind/body fitness. She is a 200HR Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT®) with Yoga Alliance®, trained through YogaFit® and has been teaching in the Triangle area since 2008. Influenced by her original teachers and the uplifting philosophy of Anusara yoga, Amelia teaches in a Vinaysa Flow style that is engaging, playful, and accepting of all skills and abilities. Amelia’s approach as a teacher is to educate students on the self-awareness that connects the body and the mind. She strives to encourage, support, and challenge students to feel strong, centered and create a consistent practice they truly enjoy.