 Susan
Bowen [susan@thriveyoga.com]
Susan Bowen is the studio co-owner and a E-RYT200 and Certified ISHTA Yoga Instructor & Certified Baptiste Instructor. Susan's classes are challenging and inspire students to explore the practice of unifying the breath, mind and body to a place of comfort from the common western habit of distraction and discomfort. Susan's style is most inspired by Yogiraj Alan Finger and Baron Baptiste, and you will recognize the influence of ISHTA Yoga (Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra and Ayurveda), Kundalini Yoga and other Vinyasa expressions. Susan was first introduced to yoga 20 years ago while in college and has studied and practiced yoga all over the United States while traveling for 15 years in the corporate world. Because of many years in a high-stress job (tight shoulders and distracted mind), Susan sequences yoga classes to help students de-stress, de-tox and become more aware of their own vitality. Sometimes that means getting more fit through movement and breathing exercises… sometimes that means hands-on assistance to stretch an ailing or tight muscle!
Susan has been honored as a leading woman entrepreneur and as the Director of Programming has been responsible for bringing cutting-edge yoga and wellness programs to Thrive including a expansive menu of Yoga Teacher Teacher Programs, Workshops and Yoga Retreats. Susan has made Thrive Yoga a leader in community outreach through charity yoga events and partnerships with local recreation and wellness programs, including the Annual NIH Mind-Body Week. Susan is a mother of a 10-year old, Alexa, and a wife of Dave (Co-owner of Thrive) for 15 years.
 Dave Bowen [david@thriveyoga.com]
Co-owner of Thrive, Dave has studied world philosophies for human potential and transformation since nearly dying in a car crash in the early 90s. Dave has a MSW from Catholic University and committed himself to the welfare of children as a child abuse and neglect investigator for Montgomery County Child Protective Services before becoming a stay-at home dad in 1999. Before embarking full-time at Thrive, Dave was in private practice as a counselor and has coached several leadership workshops and programs for Landmark Education (The Forum). Dave studies Vipassana Meditation as taught by S.N. Goenka in the tradition of Sayagyi U Ba Khin and is in the process of completing his yoga teacher certification. Dave is also known for his creative abilities and led the construction of Thrive Yoga facilities and is responsible for many of the artistic touches! Paintbrush and OM!
Lisa Johnson
Lisa Johnson, RYT, is an Anusara-inspired Yoga Instructor and has over 500 training hours with Anusara Yoga's founder, John Friend, and his senior teacher trainers, plus additional training in ISHTA Yoga with Alan Finger. Lisa leads a supportive, uplifting class and encourages people to recognize their innate goodness. Students gain a clear understanding of healthy body mechanics and learn to "flow with grace" based on their unique abilities and limitations. A native of California, Lisa received a BFA in dance at University of California, pursued a professional dance career and instructed dance and fitness classes in the DC area. Later she directed the wellness component of a national at-risk youth program and had a private practice in therapeutic movement and massage before becoming a yoga teacher. A Thrive Yoga Teacher since 2005, Lisa thoroughly enjoys being part of its community and sharing the benefits of yoga with others.
Karen Bralove
A native Washingtonian, returns to the area after living in Los Angeles for 10 years where she became obsessed with yoga and began teaching. She had practiced yoga on and off for over 20 years, but it wasn't until she found just the right teacher, Julian Walker at Ana Forrest's Forrest Yoga Circle, that she immersed herself in the practice. She taught at Center for Yoga, MuDo, InHarmony and the Westchester Family YMCA. A teacher in her soul, and loving to work with children and teens, she taught acting for 24 years at the Sidwell Friends School. Her yoga style, spiritual in nature, is a combination of Hatha Flow and Anusara. Every summer, she and her best friend, Elizabeth Bunker of Yoga & Nia For Life in West Concord, Mass., lead a sublime yoga workshop in Italy, Bella Yoga in Bella Italia
 Marylou McNamara
MaryLou McNamara, MS, RYT500, is an Affiliated Anusara Yoga teacher and a Registered Teacher with the Yoga Alliance at the 500-hour level. She has been teaching yoga in Montgomery County for over seven years. Marylou teaches a fun and inspiring class focusing on the Universal Principles of Alignment and celebration of the heart. She is passionate about sharing the benefits of yoga and witnessing transformation in her students lives. Marylou has studied with John Friend, Kathleen Hogan, Suzie Hurley, Betsey Downing, Desiree Rumbaugh, Jenny Otto, and others.
 Maura Kibbey
Maura Kibbey, RYT200, is certified in Integrative Yoga Therapy and has experience teaching a wide variety of students, including students recovering from breast cancer and living with other chronic conditions. Maura first came to yoga to heal her own chronic joint pain and knows first-hand about the power of this practice. She enjoys challenging all class participants to open their hearts and heal themselves physically and spiritually. Her flow classes fuse breath with motion, opening energy channels, and releasing blocks in the body and mind. Her classes are most inspired by many years of Anusara yoga practice. She hopes that her students leave the studio refreshed and ready for life off the mat. Maura also has a Ph.D. in Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Neurobiology. She did cancer research for many years before working in biotechnology companies and then starting her yoga career.
 Tonya Bennett
Tonya is thrilled by the opportunity to share her love of yoga and art with children. An abundance of warmth, enthusiasm and compassion is awaiting the youngsters! Tonya’s classes offers a cozy, welcoming space for stretching, relaxing, and self expression. Tonya leads students to have fun while exercising their bodies, minds and creative spirits through the arts of yoga and craft-making. Tonya has taught children's yoga in the Washington, DC area over the past four years while also working as an actress and broadcast journalist.
 Dana Cohen
Dana
has shaped her life with the profound yogic principals for over 14 years. Her classes are influenced by Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa, Svananda, Restorative, & Yin styles. Dana's classes have a strategic flow that is guided by breath, encourages awareness in the present moment, and balances strength with flexibility. She infuses asana, pranayama, & meditation, as this is the traditional way of preparing students to go deeper inside. She gives nurturing adjustments, puts a strong focus on safe/correct alignment, and encourages students to observe limitations while working their edge. Dana has designed a unique programming just for kids and teens that playfully encourages them to celebrate their unique qualities, and self acceptance. Dana is also a certified practitioner & teacher of Thai/Yoga Massage.
 Gaby Rodriguez
Gaby, RYT200, is a Certified Interdisciplinary Yoga Instructor (Interdisciplinary Yoga encompasses a variety of yoga styles, including Hatha, Kripalu, Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga). With a degree in psychology, a Master's in Education, and nearly 10 years of classroom teaching experience working with children and adults alike, she has a deep understanding of the diverse needs of her students. Gaby's first experience with yoga was as a child, living in Sucre, Bolivia, where she practiced meditation and chanting. Her father was a Bolivian painter and sculptor who believed strongly in the power of positive thinking and in meditation as a path to peace and healing. Gaby has incorporated those practices into her own life. She became interested in yoga again after several painful life changing events in her mid-twenties and practiced primarily as a way to heal and find inner peace. She finds great joy in sharing the gift of yoga with others. It is her hope that through her yoga, her students will remember to acknowledge the light that shines within them and to love themselves unconditionally.
 Carla Kasun
Carla
is a special education teacher who has been practicing yoga for 9 years. Knowing yoga would benefit her students, she became certified to teach yoga to children with special needs in 2006. With a deep desire to share the joy and healing benefits of yoga with a greater number of people, she completed the ISHTA Yoga RYT200 in 2008. Carla’s enthusiastic, humorous, and joyful nature help her students connect with the beauty that resides within.
 Jessica Apo
Jessica’s number one passion in life is teaching. She has a Masters in Education and taught elementary school for six years when she found that yoga helped her manage the stresses of work and everyday life. She decided to make a career change to share her passion for teaching and yoga with others and completed her 200-hour teacher training through YogaWorks. She recently completed the 30-hour bridge program with Yogiraj Alan Finger and hopes to begin her 300 hour through ISHTA Yoga in the Fall. Jessica’s style of teaching includes Ashtanga, Iyengar and Vinyasa influences. Her vision is to help her students create balance in their lives through self-compassion and confidence, providing them with tools to live a more present life.
 Felicia Piacente
Felicia began practicing yoga in 2006, and it quickly became the perfect balance she was looking for, complementing a busy life and career. She recently completed the 200-hour Thrive ISHTA Yoga teacher training. A life-long teacher and administrator in special education, Felicia holds a Master’s degree in special education and believes in continuous personal growth on and off the mat. Her classes focus on balancing a physical practice with mental well-being and breath. Felicia’s positive energy and direct instruction inspires students to pay close attention to alignment while enjoying their practice. The mother of three grown children, she understands the importance of regular practice, and is living proof that there’s always room for yoga!
 Julie Alter
Julie has been working in a health related field for thirty years and enjoys hobbies anchored in wellness. Julie gravitated toward yoga about ten years ago looking to prevent other sports related injuries and soon realized that yoga practice nourished her physical body calmed her mind and brightened her spirit. In 2008, Julie completed the 200-hour Thrive ISHTA Yoga teacher training. Julie leads her class with a sense of humor and her students enjoy a fluid and challenging practice.
 Jheremy Sigler
A certified 200-hour Thrive ISHTA Yoga teacher, Jheremy discovered yoga while pregnant in Vermont with her son in 2001, and has been hooked ever since. She continued with her practice in three countries, as she lived abroad with her children as an ESL teacher, before returning to her native Maryland at the end of 2005. Jheremy finds that yoga provides her with physical strength, mental focus, emotional relaxation, and freedom of spirit. The balance she cultivates with yogic tools off the mat greatly aids her ability to be open, in the present moment, and patient with her two children and the rest of her life. In addition to being a mom, Jheremy is frequently found reading Rumi, brewing tea, or walking the family dog. Jheremy’s aim in teaching yoga is to offer other people a safe and nurturing space in which they can strengthen and reconnect with themselves.
 Ugonma Fontaine
A certified 200-hour ISHTA Yoga and 200-hour Kundalini Yoga teacher, Ugonma fell in love with yoga while studying psychology in college in Massachusetts. Ugonma believes yoga to be a balanced practice — both physically invigorating and spiritually expansive. Ugonma combines yoga with her love of energy work. Ugonma is certified to practice and teach both Western and Eastern ( Usui Reiki Ryoho) techniques through the Reiki Center of Greater Washington. Ugonma co-created Blissful Being, a holistic company dedicated to providing tools and services for health and wellness. Ugonma’s classes are energetic and she helps students explore the integration of their physical body with their spirit through creative sequencing, breath exercises and guided meditation. Students will practice with self confidence and self acceptance in Ugonma’s classes. Her voice is smooth as silk!
 Stephanie Rosenblatt
As a certified ISHTA Yoga teacher, Stephanie has been practicing yoga for 10 years. Stephanie has studied Iyengar Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Sivananda Yoga and Bikram Yoga. Stephanie’s classes are challenging and inspire students to build strength and flexibility, both in body and spirit! When Stephanie is teaching, you can expect fun dynamic flow sequences coupled with empowering pranayama and restorative savasana. Take the lessoned learned on the mat into real life! Stephanie is a mother of three children and before teaching yoga, was a kindergarten teacher.
 Alicia Patterson
Alicia is a certified Hatha Yoga Instructor. She began practicing in Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga and has found a connection with Vinyasa Yoga. Alicia attended her teacher training in an intensive environment at Yandara Yoga Institute. She began teaching at The Healing Path and Charm City Yoga in Baltimore before moving to the area. As a college tennis player, Alicia found that practicing yoga is an aid for the physical body. She has grown to enjoy connecting to the spiritual aspect of yoga practice and has discovered that the greatest joy of yoga is to still the mind and use the breath as a tool to calm herself. Alicia teaches a fluid vinyasa class and cues students to be curious and to look inside as often as outside to find joy and calm. Alicia’s wide smile and steady disposition inspire students to “flow’ as much as her intelligent cueing!
Sarah Thomas Gulden
Sarah has practiced yoga for 15 years, and is a 200 RYT and ISHTA Yoga Certified teacher. She also has a background in Ashtanga, Sivananda and Jivamukti and has a history of lengthy retreats at ashrams and monasteries in New York, Taos, the Bahamas and Bethesda. Her style of teaching is vigorous and deep. She is warm and encouraging, and loves to share her passion for the benefits and joy in yoga in life as well as in class. She is also a fundraiser for local arts groups and a mother of two young girls who have been raised in yoga starting prenatal!
 Michele Fry
Michele Fry (RYT500) holds a Master of Traditional Oriental Medicine and applies therapeutics of yoga along with acupuncture to help students ease pain and re-establish a healthy relationship between nervous and muscular systems. Michele works with students of all levels including athletes and students new to movement/yoga. Before joining Thrive, Michele was a Yoga Instructor at the Chopra Center and La Costa Resort and Spa in Carlsbad, California. She belongs to the International Association of Yoga Therapists, Professional Member, and is Reiki Practitioner.
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