Every member of the YogaOasis teaching staff is highly qualified and expertly trained in the art of teaching yoga. To be eligible to teach at YogaOasis requires years of regular practice, hundreds of hours of a wide variety of yoga and yoga-related trainings, and at least one year of experience teaching yoga elsewhere. Many of our teachers are either Certified Anusara™ Instructors or Anusara-inspired™ Yoga Teachers who are working towards certification. This process usually takes around five years to achieve and the Anusara certification requirements are widely accepted as some of the most rigorous and coherent in the world of yoga.
We are confident that our experience, expertise, and total passion for the practice of yoga will serve you well in your practice. |
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Darren Rhodes
Studio Director and Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor.
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My mom began practicing yoga while she was pregnant with me. Throughout my childhood she practiced and taught yoga in our living room, which became an Anusara Yoga® Studio. My father, an avid meditator and scholar, has consistently shared his spiritual experiences and insights with me. My parents continue to support, guide, and inspire me on my yogic journey. In 1995 I did my first intensive with John Friend. During the first day I knew I had found my yoga teacher. At the end of the workshop I timidly asked John if he thought I might be able to teach yoga full-time. He responded, “You can, I know you can, and I’m going to help you.” Those Shakti-filled words manifested just months later when I became the director of YogaOasis. John Friend is my primary teacher, mentor, and spiritual guide. John turned my Yoga practice into a radical, rock’n life celebration, which is what I strive to share in my yoga classes. I am so grateful to all the members of the Tucson Kula—you've become my heart and home.
Daily dose: Darren consumes "Vitamineral Green", some dark chocolate, and takes a 20-minute nap on a daily basis.
Darren's 2008 National Schedule
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Bronwin
Rhodes
YogaOasis
Studio Manager and Kirtan Leader
I have
been a student of yoga since 1995. My primary
passion is devotional chanting, which I share
at the Sunday-night Kirtan.
Bronwin
celebrates John Friend, Krishna Das, Wah! and
Jai Ma! as her most influential teachers.
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Rachel
King
YogaOasis
Studio Manager and Instructor
I have managed YogaOasis for seven years now. I think that everyone needs at least two living spaces, and the little area behind the front desk at Central is my happy second!
I have been practicing and falling in love with yoga time and time again. I have studied primarily with Darren Rhodes, Elizabeth Little, and Mira Shani. My first serious introduction to yoga was registering for the Ashtangathon six years ago. This was a radical venture (classic Darren-style) of practicing the Ashtanga first series every day for forty days. After about day six of scraping the ice off my windshield at 5:45 am, I had a feeling that both the yoga practice, and the die-hard yogis I found beside me every day, would be present in my life always.
Since this time, I have discovered the wonder of Anusara yoga. I am continually stunned by the causal relationship between my own mind and body; and how somewhere in the middle of this dance, my heart keeps unfolding. Thus, for me, Anusara yoga has become quite a phenomenal tool for deepening self awareness, understanding, and love.
In my YogaHour classes, I hope to share the sweetness of this practice, and to provide an introspective and steady space for students to enter and enjoy!
sign: scorpio. year: monkey. favorite yoga pose: handstand! |
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Guy
Atchley
Hatha
Yoga
Instructor
“Yoga saved my life by showing me my life. I was living in a vacuum, a
hollow man running on empty. Where was the time to breathe? To think? To feel?
I had no clue.
It’s been said the first step toward a spiritual life is to get
in touch with your body. There’s a phrase you’ll hear a lot in yoga: ‘Listen
to your body.’ My body had been talking to me for many years. It had tried
to get my attention with anxiety attacks, backaches, and long episodes of depression,
but I refused to take time to listen. It was only when the pain became too intense
to ignore that I knew I must listen and must change—or else.
It has been my experience that some of the people with the worst problems eventually
become strongest in the areas where they were the weakest. Little wonder that
I became a yoga instructor. I immersed myself in body, mind and spirit.
After spending most of my life looking for answers out there somewhere, I finally
began to look inside. The mat has taught—and still is teaching me—honesty
and sensitivity. To honor my body for what it can do—and what it cannot
do.” |
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Lara Blommer
Hatha Yoga Instructor
I took my first yoga class at YogaOasis East in July of 2003 in search of a better way to deal with depression. At the end of that very first class I knew yoga would be a part of the rest of my life, although I never would have imagined what a huge role it would play. In fact, since that date, yoga has become one of the great loves of my life! My practice reminds me of the strength and courage I already have available to me and inspires me to allow those same things to grow and expand. Anusara reminds me that I’m not alone in wanting to live in a way that encourages looking to the good, the auspicious, the beauty in life. My teachers are honestly some of the best in the world, and they remind me of my own goodness with each class I attend.
Yoga has changed my life in so many ways, I can’t help but get excited. I tend to ‘geek out’ at least once a class, and I’ve been told my enthusiasm is contagious. and at the very least it provokes a smile or two. I strive to show my students that they can do things they never imagined they could do in the right setting, with the right intention and with the support of the Kula. I absolutely believe that there is no ‘off the mat’ when it comes to our yoga, and encourage my students to use their asana practice as a safe place to explore the inner workings of their lives outside of class. I learn at least as much from them as they do from me in each class, and for that I am truly grateful. I am also endlessly grateful for the support and wisdom of Darren Rhodes, and to my first teacher Claire Murphy who absolutely insisted I give teaching yoga some real thought.
I’m a Cancer, and am absolutely in love with the Moon. I have at least 108 favorite yoga poses at any given time, but they always include Hanumanasana, Urdhva Dhanurasana and Navasana. Oh, and Eka Pada Rajakapotasana… partially just because I like to say it.
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Bruce Bowditch
Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor
I took my first yoga class many years ago while working as an advertising Creative Director in Melbourne, Australia. Since my teens I had practiced a lot of martial arts and developed a lot of injuries in the process. By contrast, yoga was so much kinder and loving—it felt so healing. I immediately appreciated these qualities, yet I also liked the physical challenge. I later found Anusara yoga and began studying closely with John Friend, establishing a relationship that has changed my life in very deep ways.
My specialty is yoga therapeutics. I’ve taught many national and international workshops, intensive courses, teacher trainings and therapeutic sessions, and most recently served as Senior Practitioner and Head of Teaching at SPACE yoga studio in Taipei, Taiwan.
During classes and workshops my goal is to create a lighthearted atmosphere where each student can safely push his or her boundaries, reaching beyond perceived limitations to a more expanded, more creative experience of themselves. One of my guiding principles, which I strive to instill in my students, is that when we know how to make our bodies feel better the effect ripples through us, powerfully influencing our state of mind and heart. We actually feel happier, more enthusiastic and brighter about life as a whole. |
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P.J. Casey
Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor
I wandered into a yoga studio in Austin Texas, 1989, looking for somewhere to continue my interest in meditation. The studio owner had just said good bye to the student who was taking care of the property gardens in exchange for classes. He asked me if I would like to take her place and I agreed despite knowing nothing about yoga and even less about gardening. Something clicked on that worn wood floor and my love of yoga began to grow and has continued to do so into the present. Unfortunately the studio gardens followed a somewhat different trajectory.
In 1998, after practicing Sivananda and Ashtanga yoga, I took a class with John Friend at a national yoga conference. I forgot about the rest of the classes I had signed up for and followed John around for the rest of the week. I was touched by his kindness and desire to serve. I've continued to study Anusara yoga for its heartfulness and for its clear articulation of alignment principles.
I began teaching yoga in 1999. Inspired by my continued interest in meditation and stillness, I try to cultivate an environment of contemplation in my classes. Periods of fullness of action, periods of quiet emptiness. May our practice lead our hearts and minds into stillness.
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Jacqueline Chu
Anusara-inspired Yoga™ Instructor
An impromptu move from California to Tucson left me looking for something to which I could yoke myself. I’ve always described myself as having been grabbed by Anusara yoga, when I attended Darren Rhodes’ class and he encouraged me to open my heart, physically & energetically. As I’ve begun to clear the physical energy channels so have varied aspects of life become clear. Sharing this path with my family, friends and the Yoga Oasis Kula is such bliss.
In class I emphasize moving with the breath and being in the moment with asana. When the alignment principles and balanced energies of Anusara are invoked our bodies are safe from injury and even therapeutically supported. From here, heart expression & radiance—flowing with Grace—follow naturally.
I also support maintaining balance through a contemplative off-the-mat yoga practice; I’m finally in a place where I enjoy my dynamic relationship with balance!
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Rachelle (Shelley)
Cohen
Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor
I
began taking yoga at the
fitness club my parents belonged to back
in 1996 and was completely inspired by my
teacher, Dave Oliver. I was hooked from the
beginning. Before I began practicing yoga,
I was a total workoutaholic. I would dance
5-11 hours per week, swim, rollerblade, take
aerobics, and lift weights. Yoga was the
first thing that taught me the true meaning
of relaxation. The thing I love most about
yoga is the continuous unfolding of the whole
practice. My primary teacher is Darren Rhodes,
who I was led to by the grace of my teacher,
Dave Oliver. My yoga classes are fun and playful,
yet sometimes SERIOUS! hehe. I am always working
to deepen my understanding of myself and to
expand my mind through the studies of yogic
philosophy and life.
I am a double Scorpio with my moon in Taurus.
I love dancing, singing in the shower, spending
quality time with family and friends and
drinking Guinness (made with Dandelion root).
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Susan Frank
Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor
My first yoga class was in college, almost 20 years ago. Although at the time I thought I was just stretching, I now realize yoga was a significant factor in getting me through my last grueling semester of Architecture school. Since then, I only dabbled in yoga until 2002 when I moved back to my hometown of Tucson, Arizona, from Los Angeles. In Tucson, I found Anusara Yoga at Yoga Oasis and began my life-long practice.
Anusara Yoga has allowed me to begin the process of understanding myself. It has been the most humbling and the most enlightening endeavor I have ever undertaken. My yoga practice expands every time I take a breath and for this I am eternally grateful. I am truly honored to be passing onto others what I have learned from my teachers. I have studied extensively with John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga, Douglas Brooks of the Rajanaka Tantra lineage as well as Darren Rhodes, my primary teacher in Tucson. I am certified through Yoga Alliance and on the extensive and powerful journey towards Anusara Yoga certification.
I am also a product designer and have my own company, Fresh Design Inc. We design products for the home. Check out our website at www.freshdesigninc.com.
My sun sign is Leo. Not surprising, as I have the world's largest volume of curly hair that many often refer to as a "lion's mane." My other passions include cycling, videography, and most of all hanging out with my friends.
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Laura Greenlaw
Hatha Yoga Instructor
I found yoga at Gold's Gym. I quit smoking after 25 years of struggling with the cigarette demon and I needed something to keep me from gaining weight. My first yoga class stole my heart in a way that no other physical activity had ever done. It was such a challenge and at the same time I felt so good after class. It wasn't long and I was doing yoga 5 days a week. It had the amazing capacity to take away the "grumpies"as I moved away from my smoking withdrawal. Nothing else could do that.
It was here that I met my beloved teacher and friend Rachael Laing. She taught me it was ok to have fun at yoga. Her inspiration and encouragement brought me to Anusara yoga. I took my first teacher training with another of my gifted beloved teachers, Darren Rhodes, in Nov.-Dec. 2002.
The rest of my story is a continuation of my mad passionate love affair with th3"Divine Beloved" guiding me to my next extraordinary teacher and heart expanding experiences. I have been gifted with many extraordinary teachers. Therapeutics with John Friend, workshops with the magnificent Noah Maze and Sienna Sherman, 200 hour teacher training with Martin and Jordan Kirk. At home my practice is overseen by the gifted teachings of Bruce Bowditch and Chris Coniaris. My personal practice is a constant deepening of the Presence that breathes me. How many ways can I surrender my heart into the ever deepening Ocean of Bliss, and bring it back to the world as an offering of gratitude to my sweet Divine Beloved? |
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Permelia Harden
Hatha Yoga Instructor
Permelia has been teaching yoga for 15 years. She earned certification from White Lotus Foundation in 1988. She has trained with senior Iyengar teachers and Anusara founder, John Friend. Permelia focuses on alignment and the meditative quality of practice. Permelia has two children who remind her that yoga is not only practiced on a mat, but is a state of being that guides her every day. |
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Rachel Howard
Hatha Yoga Instructor
My first taste of Yoga came from an unlikely source. When I was about ten or eleven my middle school drama teacher, Mr. Pona, used Sun Salutations, dragon breathing and lion pose (with the tongue out) as a warm-up/centering activity before acting class. Even then I felt very much at home in a yoga pose.
It was not until my sophomore year of high school that I was first exposed to an entire yoga sequence. I have been practicing ever since. Darren Rhodes' mother Roxanne was actually one of my first yoga instructors! Both Roxanne and Michelle Synnestvedt introduced me to the concepts of Anusara Yoga, which I quickly learned could help prevent injury, promote health and flexibility in my own body, as well as connect me to a deeper spirituality. About a year or so before moving to Tucson I came to visit my dear friends Stephanie Eden and Rachel King and to practice at Yoga Oasis. I fell in love with the sense of community as well as the intensity of practice I could achieve by attending Darren's classes. Largely because of my desire to connect with the Yoga Oasis Kula I moved to Tucson in 2003.
In total I have been practicing yoga for over eleven years, and don't see myself stopping any time soon. Yoga has forced me to look at some very difficult blocks emotionally and physically, and through these challenges has connected me to a deeper place inside of my heart. I have often said that Yoga is what keeps me sane; it is what keeps me searching for the highest version of "me" which is ultimately connected to all things. My classes are generally upbeat, both vigorous and gentle at times, and always connected somehow to spirit. I believe the students who end up in my class on any given day are each an essential aspect of the whole energy of the sequence. Together we work to expand in a new way each time we congregate. |
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Rachael
Laing
Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor
Rachael began
studying yoga in 1992, reveling in the
physical release, the connection with Spirit,
and the sense of inner growth and peace
that her practice brought her. Eight years
later she discovered Yoga Oasis, where
Darren Rhodes became her key teacher. Since
then her own practice and the classes she
teaches have become Anusara-based. Rachel’s
classes offer a well-rounded approach in
a safe and comfortable environment where
everyone is encouraged to work to their edge
and to fully shine while honoring where they
are in their practice.
An Aries and a Vata, Rachel relishes those
moments where she feels truly grounded. She
writes, “I like to cook for people, to
give to people, to listen and just be. And
being part of the Kula (community of the heart),
what a blessing that is.”
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Elizabeth
Little
Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor
I practice yoga for the love of it, and in turn it gives me strength and heart. The most senior teacher I study with
is John Friend. For my day-to-day maladies
and questions I ask Darren Rhodes and Chris
Coniaris.
As a yoga teacher, I continue to appreciate
the endlessness of yoga philosophy, and I am constantly seeking ways
to integrate it into every moment. This is
THE moment; why are we running from it? In
turn I share my practice with my students who,
in turn, end up laughing at me a lot.
I’m a Scorpio.
I love chocolate and fun red wines, and I have
a loud laugh when I get going.
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Michael
Longstaff "MiLo"
Art
Director
I've been working to integrate the beautiful philosophy of Anusara Yoga™ into everything I do.
I carry much of the YogaOasis
graphic design and photography projects. And am working through Tirtha Studios to produce Anusara™ products such as the syllabus poster, From Tadasana to Savasana.
I am currently
on sabbatical from teaching classes.
Check out my work online:
www.MichaelLongstaff.com |
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Ilana
Markowitz
Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor
Yoga
has been a faithful companion since I started
practicing as a teenager in New York City’s
upper west side. While still in high school
I had the auspicious opportunities to learn
from both Swami Satchitanada and Swami
Muktananda. I experienced John Friend
at conference in 1997, and knew I had found
my hatha yoga path.
Everyone’s
life is an exquisite mandala. Mine is colored
by so many things including my Judaism,
background in psychoanalysis, my MSW and
work as a therapist, meditation practice,
and all the challenges I have grown through.
I truly know that my yoga (asana and beyond)
practice has saved me and has taught me
how to live my life with more faith, grace,
curiosity, open heartedness and aliveness.
My yoga practice is continuing to expand
from my mat into my whole life. I have
been blessed with a beautiful family: my
two children Zakkai (age 5), and Aliya
Malka (age 4) and my beloved partner Neil.
I wish to honor all my teachers and to
express my deep gratitude for the privilege
of being an Anusara yoga teacher. |
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Prema Paxton
Hatha Yoga Instructor
Bio coming soon! |
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Nicole Sanderson
Hatha Yoga Instructor
For me it feels very natural to teach what I know and love…and lucky for me, my amazing teachers have made getting to know and love the practice of yoga such a joy.
Every day my appreciation for the gift of yoga deepens as I discover new benefits and new ways to use the practice to serve—which I explore along with my students each week. My classes are quiet and contemplative as often as they are upbeat and vigorous, but all sincere—tending to vary and change right along with my own, always expanding, practice.
Outside of the studio, my days often include helping organize events around the world as administrative assistant for the Yoga Studies Institute, teaching (and playing in the school yard) at Khalsa Montessori School, admiring Tucson’s big blue sky from my bicycle seat, and laughing with my darling partner, Kyle.
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Mira
Shani
Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor
Teacher, Programs, and Community Coordinator
Yoga and I fell in love with each other in the mid '90s when I was in college. Like for many, it was love at first feeling and we've been close companions ever since. Sure, there have been ups and downs, like the time when I came down with Valley Fever and I felt like Yoga just didn't understand me at that time in my life. Or like when I was feeling very pressured to choose my favorite Yoga and didn't want to hurt anyone's feelings. But every time, Yoga has arisen, always, in the highest; always made it so clear that it has no agenda with me. All Yoga wants is for me to be my greatest. All it wishes is for me to feel deeply alive, purely peaceful and perfectly at home in my body and my heart. And each time I come to my mat, Yoga offers me something new with which I can embrace the deepest parts of me and then turn around and offer it back.
I hope to challenge my students to use Yoga to be self-empowered and encounter their own greatness. My classes offer a blend of humor, Tibetan Heart Yoga techniques and Anusara principles. My main Teachers are the splendid Geshe Michael Roach and the glorious John Friend.
I'm a double Taurus, Pitta Vata, with an affinity for dark chocolate, which is actually a pre-requisite for teaching at YogaOasis. When I'm not yogaing (as my father calls it) I study at a nearby Buddhist university called Diamond Mountain. I also do the graphic work for YogaOasis and coordinate all of our many incredible events.
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Annie Smith
Hatha Yoga Instructor
I took my first yoga class when I was 17 and the moment it was over I knew that I would practice the rest of my life. I studied many styles of yoga over the next few years until I found Darren and Yoga Oasis and have been there ever since. Since then my practice has continued to expand and I am deeply grateful to Darren and all my teachers, yoga and non-yoga, who help me continue to grow through their wisdom and guidance. I try to make my classes fun, interesting and challenging! I also enjoy kirtan and sing sacred “lullabies” in each class during Savasana. My debut cd “Live” came out this year which is available at Yoga Oasis and on my website at www.anniesmithmusic.com.
I have the support of my amazing husband the love of my life, Joe, who inspires me everyday. I graduated in 2007 with a BA in Psychology and a minor in Art History. In my spare time I enjoy making jewelry, traveling with my husband, cooking, and morning runs through Sabino Canyon.
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Vivianne Uyeda
Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor
When I finally broke my twenty-two year habit of smoking cigarettes, I turned
to yoga as a way to detox. As my practiced deepened, I realized how yoga
affected every facet of my life.
Yoga is a path that allows me to be more present
in my life. The more my body expands, the more
my life expands. The more I open myself to
grace (divine love...the universe...endless
possibilities) the greater my sense of freedom. I
owe endless thanks to all my teachers; Darren,
PJ, Chris, Noah, Michael, Elizabeth, Lisa,
Desiree, Mitchell, Sianna and the rest of
the Tucson kula who continue to be a source
of wisdom and inspiration. I love it when
someone notices how my practice has evolved
and I can say, "Thank you,
I have excellent teachers...the best."
Other
joys in my life: I am a massage and craniosacral
therapist and I am a potter. I love to travel,
I love to eat and I love to laugh. |
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Ginny Visan
Hatha Yoga Instructor
I began my yoga practice in 1996 with an inquisitive mind. I found myself practicing whenever I could, and wanted more, and more information. My curiosity morphed into a strong devoted home practice that would propel me to my first yoga class in Tucson…
I moved to Tucson in 2000 and found YogaOasis online, but didn’t have the courage to step foot in the studio. I would finally take my first class in 2002 and felt like I belonged at the studio instantly, and have ever since considered it a home away from home.
I happened to be going through some very difficult times when I arrived, and found that yoga not only helped me be more in my body, but also allowed me to process the long seated feelings of grief and anger. Those first three years were some of my most challenging and without yoga I wouldn’t be in the same seat that I am currently. Through Yoga I become more of the person that I want to be and ultimately already am.
Teaching at YogaOasis has been such an honor and I look toward my students, teachers, and life for inspiration. My class tends to be on the fun side but with monkey-like seriousness.
I would like to thank my yoga teachers, Darren Rhodes, Bruce Bowditch, Elizabeth Little, Shelly Cohen, and to all the other yoga teachers that have been so supportive. A great thanks goes out to John Friend who developed this highly refined and beautiful system. Most especially, thank you to all of the students that show up day after day to practice and help create this strong and vital part of our community.
I enjoy dark chocolate, making pies (cherry and pumpkin), baking anything, hiking, dancing, biking, and eating chocolate, pies, and baked goods My astrological info is slightly confusing as in Western astrology I’m a Virgo with a Scorpio rising, and in Vedic astrology I’m a Leo with a Libra rising. I guess that means I get to choose?
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