Teachers of RiverGarden Yoga Center
Payment should be made to the teacher whose class you are registering for; packages are not interchangeable between teachers
Maggie Kessell, M.A., MSW, Maggie is the founder of the Riverbend Yoga Studio. She has practiced yoga for over 40 years and was first certified to teach yoga through the American Viniyoga Institute, where she has also studied yoga therapy with Gary Kraftsow. Maggie is a student of Sonia Nelson of Santa Fe, N.M., and was certified in 2006 by the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation in Chennai, India. She is registered with Yoga Alliance as an E-RYT (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher) at the 500 hour level. She has trained with Jon Kabat-Zinn in Mindfulness Meditation, and for 10 years taught Mindfulness Stress Reduction classes at HealthPartners. Maggie practiced psychotherapy for many years and worked with Outward Bound in adventure programming. She believes yoga to be a powerful process for healing, as well as actualizing a person’s full potential.
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Beth Cleary is certified through the American Viniyoga Institute at the 500-hour level. She has been a student of yoga since 1984, and has been teaching in various settings--acting classes, nursing homes, yoga studios--since 1990. She has learned from excellent teachers in the kundalini and Iyengar traditions, and, in Minnesota, from Faye Berton and Maggie Kessell in the Himalayan and Krishnamacharya/Desikachar traditions. Beth's own complementary studies have included Feldenkrais and Alexander Technique, and currently, she is enrolled in the professional training program in Global Somatics/Body-Mind Centering work of Suzanne River. For Beth, yoga is ground and sky, root and dream. She is also an Associate Professor of Theater and Dance at Macalester College.
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Mary Salisbury, R.Y.T., is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 200 hr. level, and is certified at that level by Maggie Kessell and RiverGarden Yoga Center. In addition to her yoga training, Mary formerly taught secondary English, holds an M.Ed in Teaching and Learning, and also has an M.A. in Theology.
At a time of serious illness and stress in my life, I was lucky enough to find yoga. It gently challenged, changed, and healed my life on many levels. I now feel blessed to have the opportunity to help other people discover the transformational power of yoga for their own lives.
Liz Lacey-Gotz has completed a 200-hour training with Maggie Kessell in the tradition of Krishnamacharya and Viniyoga. In October of 2009, Liz traveled to Colorado for a Yoga Journal conference intensive in "The Healing Power of Yoga" that allowed her to study with Maggie's teachers: T.K.V. Desikachar, Gary Kraftsow and Sonia Nelson. Liz has been a student of yoga for more than 8 years, and appreciates the consciousness around movement and the stillness of mind that arises from a dedicated practice. She enjoys incorporating poetry, chanting, and yoga sutra study into her asana classes. Liz is also the Development Director for the Minnesota Waldorf School and she writes a monthly baking newsletter and blog for Land O' Lakes. She is well aware of the importance of relaxation and focus as a counterbalance to the stress we all face in daily life.
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Tami Eshult has been practicing yoga since 2000 and became certified to teach yoga through NETA in 2006. Her yoga classes are done in a vinyasa style, blending different aspects of yoga together. She blends her love of children and story telling with teaching yoga to create fun, explorations in yoga stories for children and families. She also combines yoga with her first childhood love of ice skating to create a yoga practice for figure skaters that emphasizes core stability and strength. Tami enjoys blending participants’ personal goals into her adult yoga class structure. This creates a yoga practice with greater potential for growth. Tami lives in St. Paul with her husband and 2 young sons.
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Lauren Sat Rattan Asheim began her Kundalini Yoga journey in April 2007 and finished Level I Teacher Training Certification in February 2008. She graduated from Saint Olaf College in 2003 with a B. A. in Interdisciplinary Fine Arts and an emphasis in Dance. Lauren is an active participant in the Twin Cities performing arts community. Principles of Creativity, Prosperity, Projection and Radiance have intersected in her experiences with the fine arts as well as her continued study of yoga, meditation and Sat Nam Rasayan.
In teaching Kundalini Yoga, my goal is to serve others in their quest for a connection within themselves and also a connection beyond themselves. I want to share the transformative tools of Kundalini Yoga so that my students can have the energy, focus and fearlessness to reach their full potential
Beth Berila, Ph.D. completed her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Senior Anusara Practitioners, Martin and Jordan Kirk of Kirk Yoga. Beth has most recently been teaching yoga to the recovery community in the Twin Cities.
For me, yoga has helped me reclaim my body, mind, and spirit by reminding me of the beauty and gift that we all have to share with our communities. I am particularly interested in the style of Anusara Yoga because of its emphasis on self-honoring, life affirming principles, cutting edge alignment practices (that teach us how to do the poses), and the yoga kula or community. Each of these principles fit perfectly with recovery principles. In my work with Women’s Studies, I have learned how many of us devalue ourselves and our lives. Yoga provides the tools through which to embody the value of our full potential, and rediscover joy, laughter, and connection.
Susan Schwartz has been practicing Yoga for 4 years and is a Registered Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance. Susan completed her teacher training through Corepower Yoga; specializing in Vinyasa Yoga. After running 17 marathons in 6 years, Susan found the path of yoga later in life. Susan believes that everyone has the capability to find serenity and peace through yoga and meditation. My role as teacher is to guide students to make their practice their own and their intention personal - each student is encouraged to embark on their own spiritual journey. Susan warmly invites you to her join her in healing through mindful and meditative Vinyasa Yoga.
I am only here to be your guide. You know your body best, listen to it and follow your intuition.
Molly Mayer has been involved with movement arts since she was 12. Molly has explored a variety of movement based modalities including a modern dance degree from the U of M, Thai massage certification in Chiang Mai Thailand, yoga trainings from Sun Moon Yoga Studios in Mankato, and Donna Farhi Yoga training in Vancouver, Canada. Currently, Molly is obtaining a masters degree of occupational therapy from St. Catherine University. Her instructional experiences range from teaching dance, yoga, and Thai massage to a variety of students for the past 15 years. The classes Molly teaches are a blend of artistry and silliness, with a solid core of anatomical application. Her students describe the classes to be fun, physically accommodating, peaceful, and welcoming.
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Stephanie Mauceri a native New Yorker, has recently relocated to the Twin Cities area. She has been practicing yoga for 18 years, received her first teaching certification from Om Yoga in 2004 and has supplemented this with Prenatal, ‘Yin Yoga’, Anatomy, and ‘Yoga Therapy’ trainings. Initially beginning her practice in the Vinyasa and Ashtanga traditions, a motor vehicle accident in 2005 (getting hit as a pedestrian at a cross walk) caused her to rethink her yoga practice and embark upon the exploration of yoga as a therapeutic and restorative vehicle. As she began to create greater symmetry in her own body through this exploration, her teaching practice as a Yoga Therapist began to grow. Upon departing from NYC, she had been studying with Genny Kapuler at the Iyengar Yoga Institute, and had a private yoga therapy client base of twelve long-term, devoted students. She is also a writer and holds a BFA from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts in Drama. She encountered a great sense of joy in building community through five years of teaching Yoga in New York City and hopes to help to establish this same sense of community at River Garden amongst seekers of greater freedom -- in movement and in the way one’s life is unquestionably enhanced through the practice and art of Yoga.
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Darcy Karl is registered with Yoga Alliance at the 200 Hour Level and is certified in Integration Yoga through the Center for Happiness. From her study with several outstanding local teachers she’s acquired a working understanding of a variety of yoga styles including Kundalini, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Hatha, and Naam, for the purpose of meeting varied needs and desires in practice. Darcy owes her inspiration of yoga to her teacher, Helena Raghubir Kriel.
Darcy has explored the mind, body, spirit and emotional connection through her own healing journey. She’s found coming to know, accept, love and embrace oneself as fundamental to the level and quality we experience our human life. She considers yoga one of the greatest gifts of personal empowerment that moves us on many levels. Darcy holds a B.A. degree in Social Work from Concordia College and currently works as a colon hydro therapist, health coach and supportive guide on matters of the heart.
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Angela Doerfler is fully trained in Vinyasa, Hot Yoga and Fusion and certified RYT-200 through the internationally recognized organization Yoga Alliance. Angela provides new yogis a safe, un-intimidating environment, offering many optional modifications as they begin their yoga journey and for those with a more consistent, strong practice, an opportunity to challenge their bodies in each asana expression.
class description and feesSince 2000, I have been an avid athlete; running 11 marathons, countless half-marathons and various other races. I have found yoga to be an excellent form of cross-training and a peaceful outlet to my rigorous training and busy life. After a traumatic car accident, I found yoga to be the only accessible form of exercise to heal the body and calm the spirit. My passion for others and desire to help them experience inner peace and physical fitness prompted an intense immersion into yoga.
One of the Twin Cities' most respected instructors, Julie Schmit has taught Vinyasa (Flow) Yoga since 1991 to all ability levels, from beginners to professional athletes. She has trained extensively with Tim Miller, Ana Forrest, White Lotus and Shiva Rea. As a certified massage therapist and massage therapy instructor, Julie is grounded in anatomy and physiology. As a graduate of the Barbara Brennan School of healing, she has intensive training in energy healing and intuitive development. In 2000, Julie created a special curriculum in Yoga and energy consciousness for the University of Minnesota/Guthrie Theater actor training program where she served as a faculty member for three years. In 2002, Julie created a Yoga program for the University of Minnesota Gopher Football team worked with the players for six seasons. In 2005, Julie began working with the University of Minnesota department of Public Health and Epidemiology in a pilot program that uses Yoga to help lower the BMI (Body Mass Index) of girls in high school, as well as working with “Girls on the Move”, a program developed by Tolerance Minnesota, which also brings Yoga to High Schools. In addition, Julie teaches classes that at the St. Paul Yoga Center and has been on the faculty there since 1999.
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