Matthew Sanford |
Matthew
is the Founder and President of the Board at
Mind Body Solutions. He has been studying Iyengar
yoga with Jo Zukovich for over fourteen years.
Eight years ago, Matthew began to share the
results of their work in an adaptive class for
people living with disabilities. About the same
time, he began teaching people without disabilities.
He found that the principles of Iyengar yoga
apply the same way in both cases. In fact, his
unique perspective on the poses proves invaluable
for people who do not share his limitations.
Matthew now just considers himself a yoga teacher
who happens to know something extra about disability.
|
Marla Bookhout |
Marla
has spent much of her life helping people feel
better. She has been a licensed, practicing
physical therapist for over thirty years and
is a renowned expert in the field of physical
therapy and pregnancy. Seventeen years ago,
she began to study Iyengar yoga. This combined
experience has given her an appreciation for
yoga as a wonderful tool for the relaxation
and rehabilitation of the muscular-skeletal
system. She has been teaching small group classes
with humor and love for the past fourteen years.
At our studio, she teaches two classes weekly,
a gentle class and a restful one. Marla is also
the loving mother of two beautiful girls.
|
Shari Manolas Danielson
|
In the
summer of 2000, Shari left her high-pressure
job in Denver, Colorado, and was looking for
a way to relax and renew. She took her first
hatha yoga class and was hooked.
A few months later, she became pregnant with
twins and continued her yoga practice throughout
her pregnancy. A year after giving birth, she
began yoga teacher's training with her prenatal
instructor, a certified Ashtanga practitioner.
Soon, she was teaching her own prenatal classes
while exploring other forms of yoga, including
Anusara and Bikram. In May 2004, Shari moved
to Minnesota. She took her first Iyengar class
here at Mind Body Solutions and has been coming
here every since. Shari's unique teaching style
blends elements of her diverse background: the
precision and strength of Iyengar, the athleticism
and breath-work of Ashtanga, the accessibility
and acceptance of hatha. She lives in Orono
with her twin five-year-olds, her husband and
her two Samoyeds.
|
Laura Erdman-Luntz
|
Laura Erdman-Luntz
has been studying yoga for over 15 years and
has over 7000 hours of teaching experience.
Her interest in the body and how it moves began
in high school. She obtained her Masters degree
in Exercise Physiology at George Washington
University in 1996. During her college years,
she became attracted to yoga and learning more
about it as a physical discipline. After college,
she met her main teacher, JJ Gormley while living
in Washington D.C., where she immediately felt
engaged with yoga as a physical as well as spiritual
practice. Laura's style stems from her heart-centered
approach and her knowledge of Hatha Yoga. She
is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the
500-hour level and is also a professional coach,
having graduated from CoachU's Coaching Program.
|
Ron Erdman-Luntz
|
Ron began
his mind/body exploration at 16 years of age
when he discovered yoga and meditation. He studied
yoga for four years before he took his first
tai chi class and decided to dedicate himself
to learning the art of t'ai chi ch'uan. He studied
with Master Kai Sung and Sifu Jim Ransom in
Rochester, New York, for many years before going
out on his own. He has now been teaching tai
chi full time for over 19 years and has been
practicing for 26 years. As a top national competitor,
Ron received a total of 36 awards in seventeen
tournaments from 1987 to 1991, 17 first place
finishes, 9 second place and 7 third. Ron has
also served as a judge at numerous Tai Chi tournaments. |
Momi Jhung |
Momi has
studied Iyengar yoga for twenty years with Manouso
Manos, one of the two most senior Iyengar teachers
in North America. She has twice traveled to
Pune, India to study with the Iyengars and is
a certified Iyengar yoga teacher. She serves
on the board of the B.K.S. Iyengar Association
of Minnesota and sat on the planning committee
that brought the Iyengar national convention
to St. Paul in 2004. She is the mother of two
wonderful teenage boys. Being able to share
her love of yoga with her students and community
brings much joy to her life.
|
Becky Kern
|
Becky’s
discovery of yoga occurred ten years ago while
recovering from a ski injury. She discovered
the calming benefits of yoga and was able to
strengthen her injured knee. Becky has studied
Ashtanga yoga and completed a year-long teacher
training program with The Temple of Kriya Yoga
in Chicago. When Mind Body Solutions opened,
she found her true self in the Iyengar method.
Becky currently studies with Momi Jhung here
at Mind Body Solutions and with Kristin Chirhart
at the BKS Iyengar Yoga Center in Minneapolis.
She lives in Minnetonka with her husband and
two Golden Retrievers. |
Ana Killingstad |
Ana brings
an international flavor to Mind Body Solutions.
She is a Brazilian who is fluent not only in
four languages, but in the mind-body connection
as well. When Ana was a girl growing up in England,
her mother introduced her to the healing power
of touch, but she didn’t concentrate on
the mind-body connection until fourteen years
ago. Since then, she has studied energy work,
healing touch, tai chi, and is certified in
Reiki. All this education occurred while living
in Brazil, Mexico, Hong Kong, France and finally
the United States. Then, six years ago, Ana
began studying Iyengar yoga with Momi and was
the very first student through the door at Mind
Body Solutions Yoga. Ana also plays a vital
role in our community outreach program at the
Courage Center. She believes that working with
people living with disabilities gives even more
meaning and purpose to everything she has learned.
|
Andy Lear |
At the age
of twenty-four, Andy sustained a severe spinal
injury. Three years after the injury, Andy’s
physical and emotional pain was exhausting and
debilitating. At the urging of his mom, Andy
contacted Matthew Sanford and discovered much
more than he imagined when he began his study
of Iyengar yoga. Not only would Andy’s
pain soften during his yoga practice, but he
also felt safe—something he hadn’t
experienced since his accident. His experience
inspired Andy to make time for regular yoga
instruction and for a home practice. He has
been practicing Iyengar yoga for six years with
Momi Jhung and Matthew Sanford and began teaching
in 2007. Andy teaches from his experience with
traumatic injury and rehabilitation, an experience
that has been a guide to deep healing in his
life. He will soon complete a degree in Native
American Culture and Healing Traditions and
plans to attend graduate school for a Masters
degree in Somatic Counseling Psychology. |
Julie Queenan |
Julie has
spent much of her adult life focusing on children,
first as a pre-school and elementary school
teacher, then as a mother of two and now as
Yoga Kids instructor She is deeply committed
to the physical, mental, and emotional development
of children. Not only does she teach the family
and kids’ classes at our studio, she also
organizes our outreach efforts. Julie began
studying Iyengar yoga in 1998 and combines this
training with her already honed sensibilities
toward children to create a nourishing and supportive
experience for our youth.
|
Lisa Shafer |
Lisa has always
been a detail-oriented person. In 1999 she sought
a new outlet to help her deal with the stresses
of working in the corporate world. When she
discovered Iyengar yoga, she found a system
that turns a focus on precision and alignment
into something uplifting and transforms details
into insight. A Masters degree in instructional
design and her background in corporate training
led Lisa to become interested in teaching yoga.
This allows her to combine her professional
expertise with a system that she loves and respects.
Lisa’s business experience is also put
to good use, as she assists with the operations
of the studio. |
Julie Welle |
Julie came
to yoga from a fine arts background and a love
of the human figure. Desiring more than to simply
paint the human body, she wanted to artistically
explore it through the flow of motion. Julie
started to casually study yoga in 1991, but
not until 1993 did she begin to grasp that yoga
was the creative expression she was seeking.
No longer confined to paper and canvas, yoga
moved her creative impulses more directly into
the world, both through her own body and that
of her students. Julie likens the process of
yoga to the process of gardening – another
passion of hers – one where the beauty
develops slowly and often with unexpected results.
Julie is a registered teacher with the Yoga
Alliance.
|
