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In Reno’s classes you can expect to get a good overall physical workout through a variety of poses with an emphasis in focus and relaxation as well, and breathing techniques are used to calm the body and mind. The postures practiced in class either focus on a particular aspect or function of the body/mind or are an overall selection of poses aimed to integrate, energize, and relax the entire body and mind. Reno also teaches classes at the Sacramento Yoga Center, The Yoga Solution, and Rise Yoga Studio in the Sacramento area.
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Michi Abday has been studying yoga for more than 10 years and assumes it will be a lifetime learning process. She teaches the Yoga for Beginners classes at Shanti Yoga. Her Sacramento yoga classes reflect her own joyous enthusiasm for yoga -- both her own practice and sharing it with others. She has a talent for communicating the complexities of a pose in language that a beginner can understand. Michi comes to yoga teaching after a background in retailing and accounting and appreciates how wonderfully yoga works to balance a busy life. 
Ruth Blacksea has been studying yoga since 1996 and teaching since 2000. It wasn't long after her first yoga class before she began experiencing the profound benefits of yoga practice. She knew then that she wanted to learn the discipline thoroughly enough to share it with others. She has studied a variety of practice styles and became certified to teach hatha yoga at Let it Go Yoga in Santa Barbara. Her original plan was to just teach yoga for kids, but this has evolved into teaching classes for all ages and levels including restorative yoga, teen yoga and yoga for seniors. Ruth's eldest student is now 86.
Leah Briggs is a certified teacher of Ashanga Vinyasa and Raja Yoga. She has traveled and studied Yoga, Buddhism and Eastern philosophy and psychology in Thailand, Burma, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka. She has a black belt in Shaolin Kung Fu and is attuned in Reiki, energy healing. 
Bill Counter has been teaching yoga to all levels of students for over 15 years. His playful style encourages students to have a good time with the practice and gradually improve their skills in a non-competitive atmosphere. 
Kirsten Ferries took her first yoga class in 2000. However, it was not until the summer of 2006 that her practice blossomed under the guidance of Natasha Sedykh and Robert Hallworth. She has been fortunate to have many great teachers over the past two years that have encouraged her to listen to her body and take care of herself. Yoga has greatly reduced her stress and anxiety, increasing her ability to find joy and happiness in the present moment. While she practices many different styles of yoga her preferred style is gentle, restorative yoga with meditation and pranayama.
Harsha Gandhi started learning yoga at a young age from her father in India. Her yoga studies at home continued through her high school years and beyond. She received additional training and refined her teaching abilities while at a residential course at The Yoga Institute in Mumbai, India. She came to the United States in 1976 and has continued to explore both the teaching and practice of yoga here. Her teaching of yoga emphasizes building strength and enhancing flexibility while exploring the mind/body connection that is the heart of traditional hatha yoga.
Reno Gorman just started teaching our Tuesday 5:30 pm Level II Hatha Class. He's been practicing Hatha Yoga for about 5 years, and also enjoys practicing tai chi and chi kung. Six months ago he became a vegetarian in following of the non-violence principle of Ashtanga yoga. He takes yoga seriously, but he still likes to have fun and laugh! Reno is a junior at CSUS majoring in Sociology and minoring in Psychology. He keeps busy as a student and yoga instructor and also tutors children and adults in academics, from elementary to high school and college level. Reno is also a passionate musician and plays drums and percussion for a local Sacramento band. When he’s not working on academics, music, or yoga, he’s probably foot-bagging with his friends, or sleeping. Reno recently completed his yoga teacher training in Rocklin at the Sierra Center for Yoga Studies in Ananda-style Hatha Yoga. Ananda means “bliss’ or “joy” and this style of yoga is a holistic approach to the practice of yoga that seeks to integrate the body, mind and spirit. 
Robert Hallworth has been teaching yoga in Sacramento for 4 years and most recently arrived from India at the beginning of March 2006 having gone through the yoga certificate program at the Satyananda Ashram in Munger, Bihar, India. He received his spiritual name of Ganapati and learned a much more traditional approach to yoga that emphasized more of a yogic lifestyle that includes: Asana, pranayama, mudra, bandhas, and the more subtle techniques of meditation and concentration. 
Yvonne Macias, R.Y.T. originally was trained as a modern dance and children's creative movement teacher who started to incorporate yoga principles into her work. After college, she began practicing yoga seriously and in 2004 completed her yoga teacher's certification at Canyon Spirit Yoga Studio in Auburn, CA.
Setareh Mahdavi was born into a yogi household in Tehran, Iran – her father is the founder of the first and most well-known yoga/meditation center in Iran. At a young age Setareh decided to follow in her father's footsteps, later taking the Sivananda teachers training course in South India and is now a certified international Sivananda teacher. Her style integrates the teachings of her father and other styles she's studied, resulting in a meditative combination of Iyengar, Sivananda and Ashtanga. She currently teaches our Sunday morning class.
Alicia Patrice has been practicing for over ten years and believes in the healing potential of yoga. Her multi-level classes strive to foster community and trust. They include gentle and relaxing asanas, breathing practices and meditation. Alicia's welcoming spirit and encouraging manner sets students at ease and allows them the space to turn inward, concentrate and become present. She enjoys using music and poetry to enhance the practice and utilizes a hands-on creative approach to her teaching. A lifelong musician, Alicia is also devoted to the study of Sufism and is a dance leader for the Dances of Universal Peace. She's a Yoga Alliance registered teacher.
Natasha Sedykh lived in the Satyananda Ashram in Munger, Bihar, India where she was trained in this yoga tradition in 1995. Natasha started teaching yoga in Sacramento in 1996. She has been sharing her practice that is a fusion of various styles such as Satyananda, Sivananda, Iyengar, and Forrest yoga. Natasha's particular approach emphasizes the meditational aspect of yoga practice whether the class you take from her is basic or challenging Natasha was born and raised in Central Russia and makes yearly summer trips back to her homeland. This picture was taken during the summer of 2006 and was used on the cover of the leading yoga magazine in Russia. 
Lillian Shoupe is our prenatal yoga instructor and has given birth to two sons who are well on their way. While she has been active with her Rolfing and movement therapy practice here over the last 12 years, she found that she was missing being around new mammas and babies. She studied and began teaching infant massage in 2005, and took her doula training in 2006. Teaching prenatal yoga in Sacramento is an extension of this strong desire to connect with women, birth, babies, and the wonderment of life.
