Becky has been teaching yoga since 2003 and has taught in studios in Virginia Beach, Norfolk, Charlottesville, and Nashville, TN. From 2005 to 2009 Becky owned and operated Body Balance Studio in Williamsburg, Virginia. Having studied different styles of yoga, under the guidance of James Barkan (Hot Yoga, Vinyasa), Cyndi Lee (Vinyasa), Roger Cole (Iyengar), Leslie Lytle (Prenatal, Iyengar), Shiva Rea (Vinyasa), and Judith Lasater (Restorative), Becky brings a well-rounded knowledge to her practice and instruction. She has studied yoga therapy with T.K.V. Desikachar and Dr. Timothy McCall and is currently enrolled in the Inner Peace Yoga Therapy program through Yoga Durango and Michele Lawrence. Becky continues to deepen her spiritual practice and inquiry with Anna Pittman and Graham Schweig.
Jade Arditti
Jade Arditti has been practicing yoga since 1998. She received her Yoga Teacher Training certification from the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, California where she was trained by Master teachers Ganga White and Tracy Rich in Vinyasa flow yoga. She has also studied with other well-known and influential Vinyasa yoga teachers such as Erich Schiffman and Sean Corne and completed a fluid power teacher intensive with Shiva Rea at Kripalu.
Jade draws her inspiration from an array of yoga traditions and influences; her Vinyasa yoga is known for its creative sequencing, smooth transitions, and focus on linking poses with the breath. Jade’s classes are a dynamic blend of sun salutations, standing poses, gentle backbends, inversions and unwinding postures, pranayama and deep relaxation. Jade offers modifications for asana to allow students to adjust the intensity of the practice. Jade also loves to practice yoga in Costa Rica and leads annual yoga retreats there at the beach.
Courtney Burton
Courtney Burton grew up in Riner, Virginia and credits the development of who she is today to a deep appreciation for the breathtakingly beautiful surrounding area. From observing nature, she believes that life is movement and the practice of asanas (postures) allows us to enliven deep physical, mental and spiritual pathways to benefit us as a whole. She believes that yoga is a vehicle for self exploration and discovery, quieting the fluctuations of the mind so that we can more clearly hear and understand the language that it speaks.
Courtney completed the Yoga Teacher Training program with Jeff Tiebot at the Blue Ridge School of Massage and Yoga and is currently enrolled in the school's massage therapy program. She has also studied with David Williams. Her classes are influenced by the elements of nature, giving a sense of grounding balanced with a sense of lift and weightlessness. She invites a feeling of riding on the breath to fluidly move through the practice, fueling the fire within.
Victoria Cederle
It has been four years since Victoria first stepped on her mat. For aKelly Hardy
long time, yoga was just another activity that she wanted to try; and
finally after many years she got the courage to take a class. From
there, her practice progressed rapidly; within a matter of months
Victoria was practicing yoga every day. It wasn't the physical aspect,
though, that kept her coming back, but the transformation she saw
within herself. Yoga has been a tool for spiritual growth in her life
and because of her experience she has been inspired to bring yoga to
others.
In June 2011, she completed her 200-Hour Yoga Alliance teacher training at
Flow Yoga: Go With It in Leesburg, VA with teachers Julia Kalish and Marcia
Hoffheins. Also through her journey, she has been blessed to work
with master teachers Max Strom, Simon Park, Mara Healy and Michael
Gannon.
Within her classes, Victoria tries to relay a connection between one's
actions on and off the mat. Emphasizing that yoga is much more than a
75-minute physical practice, it is when you step off your mat
that the yoga really begins.
Kelly found her way to yoga in 1999 after stumbling upon a class at a local gym in Norfolk, Virginia. Soon she was practicing on a regular basis at a local studio. The physical practice awakened long lingering spiritual questions, she she began to explore yoga on an intellectual level, reading the works of Donna Farhi, Rolf Gates, and other notable yogis. As her asana practice grew, so did her belief and dedication to the precepts of the yoga scriptures, and committing to the practice formally, she completed a 200-hour Hatha yoga certification in August of 2006. Striving to continue her spiritual growth, she completed a 500-hour program under the tutelage of Chandra Om of North Carolina School of Yoga in 2008. She has taught a variety of classes in Norfolk and Virginia Beach since 2006.
Kelly fell in love with Blacksburg and the NRV when she first arrived here as a student at Virginia Tech. Traveling back frequently over the years, she decided to make Blacksburg her permanent residence in may 2011. Here, she is finally home.
Al Heaney
Al began practicing Anusara yoga in 2002. He has studied asana and the teaching of asana with Aimee Brooks, Ali Certain, Kelley Gardner, Sara Faircloth, and Stacy Miller-Collins. Al believes that everything is perfect just the way it is. The challenge in life is to appreciate the beauty in every moment. Yoga provides a method that helps him experience that beauty. He never wanted to be a yoga instructor, but some thing are so wonderful that you have to share them with others.
Erin Herring
Erin Herring has been practicing yoga since 1997. She has completed a 200-hour Hatha Yoga teacher training with Anna Pittman, a Vinyasa Flow teacher training with Stephanie Keach, and a Yin Yoga teacher training with Sarah Powers. Erin's classes draw from all of these teachings, combining flowing movement with attention to alignment. Breath and body awareness are also emphasized, allowing exploration of the true self and revealing one's inner light.
Chanel Jost
Chanel Jost received her 500-hour yoga teacher certification from Sunstone Yoga in Texas. She began teaching in September of 2009 when she started the Yoga and Meditation Club at Virginia Tech. She currently teaches Hot Yoga and continues to explore a variety of yoga styles to enhance her practice and instruction.
Brinson Leigh Kresge
Leigh began practicing yoga asana in 2000 and began practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 2003. As a dancer, she was drawn to the connection between breath and movement, the physical benefits, and the discipline of this practice. As she continued studying, she became increasingly dedicated to the philosophical and spiritual depths available and inherent in the Ashtanga system.
After graduating with degrees in Dance and Choreography and English, Leigh began dancing professionally while continuing to deepen her yoga practice. In 2007 she received her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification from O2 yoga in Somerville, MA. Over the last two and a half years she taught Vinyasa and Ashtanga Yoga in Osaka, Japan, while spending her winters studying Ashtanga Yoga in India with Lino Mieile, Rolf and Marci Naujokat, and R. Sharath Jois.
Leigh is currently working toward a certification as a Yoga and Ayurveda Health Educator (400 hours) studying Advanced Yoga and Ayurveda with David Frawley through the American Institute of Vedic Studies. In 2010 she received her Thai Yoga Bodywork certification. Leigh recently moved back from Japan to Floyd, VA with her husband, where they welcomed the arrival of their son in July 2011. She is enjoying the challenges and rewards of deepening all her practices with the Yoga of motherhood.
Christina Longobardi
Naming Blacksburg as home, Christina is happy to be teaching Hot Yoga and Vinyasa at In Balance Yoga Studio. Christina holds a BFA in Theater Performance from Virginia Commonwealth University as well as a Medical Massage certification from Blue Ridge School of Massage and Yoga. She also has completed a 200-hour yoga teacher certification with Jeff Tiebout. Embracing yoga as a heartfelt spiritual journey, Christina encourages students to challenge themselves yet to stay true to who they are in their practice. All judgment and toxic thoughts should be left at the door. Om Shanti Shanti Shanti.
Anna Pittman
Anna Pittman has dedicated her adult life to understanding both the function and mystery of the body/mind complex. She began her career as a modern dancer. From
1984 – 1990 she studied the Limon style of modern from a practicing Zen
teacher who used improvisational work as a means to access the
un-integrated emotions harbored in the body and sub-conscious. At the same time, Anna studied Hatha and Raja Yoga with Carla Sgroi of the European Yoga Alliance for 5 years in Milan, Italy. These
very personal and revealing practices formed the fundamental
understanding that the body, living in the past, and the mind, often
existing in the future, rarely meet in the present. Anna
continued her inquiry into her own life through extensive self-study
while acquiring certification as a 500 hour Advanced teacher of Hatha Yoga, Meditation, Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy, Shiatsu bodywork, Massage and Barratt Breathwork as well as now offering Soul Coaching by combining these various modalities. Visit Anna's website at www.thebreathingspace.org.
Holly Richardson
Holly Richardson began practicing yoga with her mother at a young age, and was introduced to Hot Yoga when she was in high school. She found peace and confidence through yoga and began to deepen her practice with meditation. Holly was inspired by the positive changes she saw in herself and decided to pursue the idea of teaching yoga. In the summer of 2010, Holly received her 200-hour certification in Hot Yoga and Vinyasa from In Balance Yoga. As she continues to expand her practice, Holly has found that her personal relationship with yoga is deeply influenced by music, especially the classical instrumentals and rhythmic chanting of India. By integrating certain styles of music into her classes, Holly hopes to help others find a deeper mental state during their practice. Holly believes that yoga has the capacity to calm the mind and warm the heart of everyone, and looks forward to the wonderful experiences she will share with her future students and teachers. Outside of the studio, Holly loves being with family and friends, cooking and eating just about anything, going for night runs, and finding stray animals to fall in love with.
Brittni Woolwine
Brittni Woolwine is local to the Blue Ridge Mountains. She began practicing yoga while studying massage at the Blue Ridge School of Massage and Yoga in 2008. She is a certified massage therapist and recently completed the Ashtanga-based yoga teacher training with Jeff Tiebout. Brittni has found both physical and mental healing and growth within her personal yoga practice. As a vinyasa teacher at In Balance Yoga she hopes to share these gifts by encouraging her students to always be present and breathe their way through their asana practice as well as through their lives outside of the studio.
Eileen and Rob Patzig
Eileen and Rob Patzig have been practicing and teaching partner yoga together since 2005. They both completed their 200 hour teacher training with Sri Dharma Mittra in 2007. Rob and Eileen teach vinyasa flow, partner, and gentle yoga at The Weight Club and at In Balance Yoga Studio in Blacksburg, VA . Eileen has been practicing yoga since 1999 and Rob since 2003.
