BIOGRAPHIES

Steve Abate has been practicing yoga for about 10 years ranging from homemade video tapes from hippies in the mountains, to ashrams in India, to shiny gyms in LA. All of these experiences and those in between have shaped his personal philosophy of yoga and in turn his teaching philosophy. One style that has always stood out in his practice is Sivananda Yoga. All of Steve's classes include 5 minutes of savasana at the beginning of class and at least 10 minutes at the end. His classes are well paced classes that give time to deepen each posture and find new alignment tips. You will also focus on smooth transitions to strengthen and tone the body. It will challenge those that wish to work deeper, but will always offer a proper balance between exercise and relaxation. Each class will vary in sequencing style based on what you feel like practicing that day and the overall theme of the class.

Anya Arax-Melnick is a dancer and yogini who has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. She first discovered yoga in 1989 as a compliment to her rigorous dance training in ballet and modern dance. Over the decade that followed, Anya danced in several companies and was a member of various art, dance, and music collectives in Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Miami. In 1998, Anya rediscovered yoga as a way to heal from a very painful dance injury while working in the public policy field in Washington, DC. She has a personally designed BA combining Dance and Anthropology, a Master of Library Science, is a Certified Yoga Teacher with the Jivasara Yoga School (200 hour level), and a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level.

Anya believes that yoga is a way for people to tap into their true natures and find the inner peace and love that is buried deep within us all. Through vinyasa (flowing poses), asanas (yoga postures), chanting and music, pranayama (breathing practices), meditation, alignment principles, and spiritual teachings, yoga can help uplift the spirit and help us realize our true nature, which is love.

Anya is so grateful to all of her teachers past and present who have helped her along on this amazing journey including Marni Task (her number one guru), Cheryl Wallace (her amazing mentor in dance), Max Strom, Tiffany Fraser, Rolf Gates, Shiva Rea and her grand-teachers Sharron Gannon, David Life and John Friend who through Jivamukti and Anusara yoga taught her spirit to fly. Anya's wish as a yoga teacher is to share the healing and love that she has found through yoga with her students, who ultimately are her greatest teachers.

Justin Blazejewski began practicing yoga a few years ago to help with a back injury he received while serving in the Marine Corps. He quickly realized the physical benefits of yoga when his back pain disappeared completely. Soon after Justin dove into a daily yoga practice for a few months and then went on a yoga/kirtan retreat to Bali with Alanna Kaivalya and Dave Stringer that was the turning point in his spiritual practice. Soon after Justin found his guru Sri Dharma Mittra and immediately enrolled in the "DMY Life of a Yogi" teacher training in NYC to deepen his practice with no expectations of teaching. After graduating from the 200 hour Teacher Training program Justin immediately realized he was giving a gift of representing Sri Dharma. He feels blessed to be part of the Dharma Mittra family and is grateful to teach in the spirit of his guru. Justin's classes consist of the Dharma's Shiva Namaskar Vinyasa sequences with pranayama and mediation. He strives to mimic his Guru Sri Dharma and be a vessel of light for him through his teaching.

Jennifer Crescenzo is a native Washingtonian who began practicing yoga in 2000 after suffering an injury mountain climbing. She thought yoga was a temporary stop on the way to recovery but soon discovered that it combined elements of two activities she already loved, dance and martial arts, with a deeper awareness of how we move, feel, and breathe. In 2004 she completed a month-long teacher training at the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Center in the Bahamas. And in 2009, she completed a second teacher training with Paul and Suzee Grilley, founders of Yin Yoga. Through workshops with teachers from a wide variety of traditions, from Shiva Rea to Dharma Mittra, she constantly enriches and enlivens both her teaching and her personal practice. Her study of belly dance and Tae Kwan Do also inspire her!
Jennifer’s style is a slower flow that generates heat and cultivates strength and vitality while allowing time to explore the more subtle elements of each posture. She enjoys working with students to find the variations or modifications that are right for them so that each pose is the right balance of effort and surrender. After class her students often tell her that they are exhausted but in a good way!

Rob Hess has been practicing yoga of many forms for 10 years. He completed his first training in 2004. After years of training with great teachers Rob found his home in the Prana Flow community with Shiva Rea and upon arriving he felt he had come home. Since that time Rob has been traveling around assisting Shiva all over the country. His style of teaching is fun and challenging. Rob believes that we shouldn't take life too serious and enjoys the journey rather than fighting to get to the destination. If you come his classes you can plan on moving in a mandala, a circle, connecting to the Pranic energy of the whole. Also Rob loves to get off his feet and turn the world upside down whether through inversions or arm balances he loves to see the world from a different point of view.

Salamah Magnuson first started yoga when we she returned from the Peace Corps. After realizing the healing properties by overcoming years of exposure to a variety of colorful bugs, Salamah became convinced that yoga helps guide and support a healthy lifestyle from the inside out, and outside in. Over the next twelve years, Salamah has pursued the study of yoga to deepen her own understanding and practice, as well as to share with her community. Salamah received her 200-hr (and is close to completing the 500-hr) teacher certification from Sunstone Yoga. Sunstone Yoga developed an approach to yoga focusing on alignment, combining an unusual understanding of muscle activation technique with yoga, to develop a 'pain free yoga'. Salamah first started teaching yoga in Juba, Sudan, as a way of relieving stress, staying centered, and providing something to do. Salamah offers an enjoyable, physical, and centering practice - drawing from a variety of styles.

Francesca McCann began practicing yoga in 2000 in Los Angeles. A former gymnast and triathlete, she quickly found yoga as a wonderful combination of strength, flexibility, concentration and grace. In addition, as a full-time financial analyst, she has discovered the balance and power that asana and breath can bring to a high-stress corporate career and aspires to share the discovery with others. Her practice and training incorporate a variety of yoga styles including Ashtanga, Iyengar, Bikram's, yin, restorative and vinyasa. She loves to dance and can be found bellydancing and salsa dancing in her free time. Francesca completed Georgetown Yoga's 200-hour teacher training with Yoga Works for Yoga Alliance registration.

Roxanne Naseem Rashedi has been practicing yoga since she was 16 years old. She completed the 200-hour RYT Teacher Training Program at YogaSource Los Gatos in California. Drawing from various styles of yoga, ranging from Power to Forrest to Yin, Roxanne's classes are eclectic. As a developing literary scholar (B.A. English Honors, UC Berkeley), she brings in beautiful readings of poetry and a taste of various theoretical and philosophical works, making the experience of her classes interdisciplinary.

For Roxanne, synchronizing movement with breath is essential because she no longer is immersed in the crazy world of midterms, papers, and deadlines. Living in the 21st century, Roxanne feels that this can be truly liberating and pleasurable to the mind, body, and spirit, allowing one to delve deep into themselves - their ways of moving, being, thinking, and feeling. As she guides her students through the flow, she hopes to provide them with the space to express themselves to their fullest potential, not only on the mat, but also, off the mat and into their everyday lives. While not teaching, Roxanne attends Georgetown University's Graduate School of Arts and Sciences.

Brion Trivers is Sivananda Hatha Yoga trained & certified at the 200 hour level. Accompanying his yoga is training & certification in Thai Yoga Massage & Pilates. Brion's movement background in various somatic techniques has moved, molded, and motivated him for the past 20 years. A friend's mother, a Kripalu Yoga practitioner & teacher introduced him to the practice soon after starting a personal practice of meditation that was encouraged by his doctor when he was 16, to help relieve stress related reflux. Stress management was one of the major factors for him being open to the practice of Yoga at an early age. It also fueled his interest in other spiritual practices (Reiki, Vipassana & various martial art). These spiritual seeds, planted early, were fertilized & sprouted during two soul searching trips to India & Thailand, where Brion delved deeply in the study, practice & cultural lifestyle of the East.

Brion has been highly inspired by Swami Sivananda, Swamiji Vishnu-Devananda, Shiva Rea, Simon Parks, Max Strom, Brian Kest, Amahji (The Hugging Saint), Goenka (Vipassana Meditation), Jason & Jenny (AcroYoga founders), Kam Thye Chow (Thai Yoga Massage Guru) & the countless glorious local teachers DC & Cleveland has to offer.

Brion combines yoga, gymnastics & Thai Yoga Massage to develop & strengthen young athletes as well as adults looking for a more therapeutic approach to mental, physical & in the end, spiritual wellness.