Buddha B Teachers

 

Valerie Grange (Studio Co-Director. Jivamukti Yoga & Vinyasa Yoga Teacher)

Valerie is both the owner and studio director of The Buddha B Yoga Center, as well as a 300-hour Certified Jivamukti Yoga Teacher and a 200-Hour Yoga Alliance(RYT) Registered Hatha & Vinyasa Yoga Teacher. Inviting her students to be awakened and journey deep within, Valerie encourages practitioners of all levels to discover their true Selves through the healing power of a regular Yoga practice. Offering both gentle and restorative classes as well as dynamic and strength building sessions, yoga one-on-one privates and workshops, Valerie encourages yogis everywhere to listen to their bodies and adapt their time on the mat to meet their specific needs. Devoted to a complete union of body, breath, mind and spirit, Valerie’s classes balance the physical practice of yoga postures (asanas) with the powerful benefits of breath regulation (pranayama) and calming effects of deep relaxation and meditation. Valerie teaches her own style of practice where the  time on the mat focuses not only on the physical principles of each pose, but also on the energetic qualities of the shapes created. Her classes are rich in yogic history and spiritual readings. She considers her gurus to be Jivamukti teachers Sharon Gannon and David Life. She successfully completed their 300 hour teacher training this spring at the Omega Institute. She also draws from the teachings of Max Strom. For Valerie yoga is the greatest journey. It requires no tickets, no passports, but rather a simple intention to be awakened and be free.

 

Rexx Samuell (Studio Co-Director. Ashtanga Yoga Teacher)

Rexx Antony Samuell is the co-owner and studio co-director of Buddha B Yoga.  He is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the E-RYT-200-hour level and is a certified personal trainer through NASM. Since 2002 his primary practice has been Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga, practicing primary and intermediate series with David Ingalls and Keith Moore at the Washington D.C. Ashtanga Yoga Center. He is currently exploring Advanced A.  Since 2003, he began to explore Iyengar yoga under the guidance of Terence Ollivierra. Rexx has attended workshops with Richard Freeman, Godfrey Devereux, and Sri K. Pattabhi Jois. In his classes, Rexx is known for his clarity of instruction, his attention to an individual’s needs, and his emphasis on freedom through disciplined practice. His classes are sequenced based upon the needs of the students and draw heavily from an understanding of the principles of movement and progression. Rexx believes that the practices of Ashtanga Yoga and Iyengar Yoga are mutually complementary, with the former’s focus on breathing and sequencing inducing a meditation in movement while the latter’s focus on alignment and attention to detail strengthen the bodymind connection. Through concentration on alignment within the postures, free breathing and directed gaze, the postures can be gateways to greater awareness which then seeps into other areas of one’s life.

 

Abby Dobbs (Forrest Yoga Teacher, Licensed Massage Therapist) 

Abby graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and Marine Biology.  She is an avid SCUBA diver, free-flow dancer, tea drinker, reader, and yogini. Abby's yoga journey began when she discovered the immense passion that was brought forth exploring Forrest Yoga with her teacher and mentor Ana Forrest.  After completing her first 200hr teacher training through Forrest Yoga, she was given the opportunity to go further in another 200hr training with Natasha Rizopoulos of YogaWorks.  Through a dynamic and mindful combination of poses in Abby’s classes, you will have fun, get sweaty, and most importantly, breathe deeply.  Abby is so grateful for the opportunity to share her passion and delight of yoga to her students, both the physical asana, and the deeper philosophical, emotional, and spiritual aspects.  Abby wants to help her students find and ride the edges of their body and mind honestly and without judgment, and to connect to and trust their inner wisdom.

 

Andrea Browning (Yoga Teacher)

Andrea Browning began her yoga practice in the mid-1990’s first through the Sivananda tradition and in the years since has studied with teachers of Ashtanga, Iyengar and Vinyasa Flow. Certified at the 200-hours level through Yoga Works, her classes draw on her interdisciplinary path and incorporate many styles of yoga in a creative, lighthearted and music-filled practice that emphasizes strength, stability and attention to alignment. Andrea also incorporates aspects of mindfulness meditation in each of her classes. Off the mat, Andrea works in education policy and can often be found exploring the trails in Rock Creek Park or enjoying one of DC’s many farmers markets. She offers her teachings with gratitude to her many teachers, including Chrissy Carter of Yoga Works, Kyra Sudofsky of Inspired Yoga and Liz Marx of Unity Woods.

 

 Audrey Roxas (Yoga Teacher & Thai Massage Therapist)

Audrey Roxas has been practicing yoga for over 10 years and initially sought it as a way to take a break from the daily work pressures.  As her practice matured, she has also realized the spiritual and quieting benefits of yoga – the ability to stop the chatter and just be still.  Certified at the 200 level through YogaWorks, Audrey’s classes are fun, dynamic, and challenging.  They are focused on building strength and stability (aiming for form versus depth) but offers plenty of room for students to work on expanding their own practice.  With her continued desire to share her practice, Audrey is also certified in the healing art of Thai Yoga (assisted yoga).  She attributes her love for yoga, her center, and grounding from all the wonderful teachers she has and had. 

 

 Blandine Trouille (Yoga Teacher)

Blandine is a long time pupil of the Iyengar school of yoga.  She has been practicing with Liz Marx, at Unity Woods, since 2005.  She started to teach three years ago.  Her clarity, directness and humor help her guide the students into a practice which is precise, safe, and fluid.  Blandine best describes her classes as giving oneself –within the serenity of the studio- the permission to become aware and breathe inside-out.  For her, yoga provides an opportunity to meet one-self, to gain intelligence, and bring this intelligence into the real world.  Her favorite asana: backbends where the present meets the past to expand into the future, totally exposed, with an open heart! Blandine was born in Grenoble, France.  She grew up on a farm, and discovered the United States in 1995.  She has a Master in Economics (GA), and Environmental Law (VT).  She works at the Department of Commerce.  Her exploration of yoga included learning from masters such as John Schumacher, Patricia Walden, Ana Forrest, Max Strom, as well as Simon Park and Twee Merrigan. After 18 months practicing power yoga, Blandine decided to obtain her certification (2004) with the Sivananda school of yoga. Introduced to the Iyengar yoga approach, and finding its technical knowledge to be of strong support to her beginnings as a teacher, Blandine has been under this influence.  During the past two years, Blandine explored the breathing aspect of yoga practice.  Hence, she is building up her knowledge and practice of vinyasa/flow yoga.

 

 Dieu Tran (Yoga Teacher)

Dieu first took a yoga class about 4 years ago that she had no idea was an Ashtanga class.  Even though the class was challenging, she became enamored with the focus of using breath as a means of physical control.  After a few years of regular practice, Dieu embarked on her journey to become a Yoga instructor by enrolling in the Yoga Works 200 hour teacher training program.  Dieu explains her passion for teaching yoga is to help introduce new yogis to the art of slowing down the madness of everyday life by bringing the calming balance of breath and movement that yoga has to offer. She teaches Buddha B's Beginner's on Saturdays and Sundays.

 

Grace Li (Tai Chi and Qigong Teacher)

Grace has been coaching all styles of wushu and Tai Chi for the last 10 years in both China and the US.  She started training with the Beijing Wushu team under Grandmaster Wu Bin (action star Jet Li's coach) at the age of 5 and became one of the top female Southern-style Wushu champions in the world.  Throughout her wushu career, she won multiple awards and championships in Long Fist, Broad Sword, Staff and Traditional Weapons.  She competed and won many awards in the North American Sports Karate Association.  She was a member of Team Paul Mitchell, a professional martial arts competition team.  She has performed demonstrations all around the world and was one of the martial arts stars in the Cirque du Soleil show KA.

 

Hari-kirtana Das (Jivamukti Yoga Teacher)

Hari-kirtana's interest in yoga and yogic mysticism surfaced early in his life. The devotional philosophy of bhakti yoga eventually provided the foundation for Hari-kirtana's spiritual practice, and he was formally initiated into the Gaudiya Vaisnava tradition of Krishna bhakti, with its emphasis on kirtan, mantra meditation and the study of spiritual philosophy, in 1978. He spent the better part of the following four years living in ashrams and spiritual communities. Hari-kirtana expanded his yoga practice at the Jivamukti Yoga School in New York City in 2007 and dedicated himself to becoming both an accomplished practitioner and teacher of the Jivamukti method. In 2009, he became a certified Jivamukti Yoga teacher at the 300-hour level and completed the Jivamukti 800-hour apprenticeship program in 2011. He also maintains a Yoga Meditations blog. Hari-kirtana's Teaching Style:  In Hari's Jivamukti Yoga classes you'll experience the practice of yoga as a spiritual discipline. He blends a time-honored understanding of the goal of yoga with an innovative and energetic practice to help us reach that goal. Sanskrit chanting, yoga philosophy, deep relaxation and meditation are all integrated into his classes. Hari-kirtana teaches to an uplifting music mix of traditional kirtan chants and modern music tracks, encourages a devotional orientation to asana practice, and uses hands-on adjustments as an essential teaching technique. More than anything else, his classes are personal and fun. The result is a feeling of physical, emotional, and spiritual completeness.

 

 

Julia Romano (Yoga Teacher)

A certified hatha and vinyasa flow instructor (Yoga Alliance), Julia's teaching focuses on coordinating breath with body movement in order to promote flexibility, strength, and peace of mind. Julia integrates the best of the many varieties of asana she herself has explored, including Vinyasa Flow, Power Yoga, Iyengar, Ashtanga Vinyasa, and Hatha. Julia's teacher, Bharath Kumar Shetty (Mysore, India), was himself a student of B.K.S Iyengar, one of the most inspiring and notable teachers of the twentieth century. Julia's belief in yoga as therapy stems from her own experience of its rehabilitative properties; traditional physical therapies having proved unproductive following reconstructive ankle surgery, she turned to yoga and gained not only the ability to again walk and run, but also a profound acceptance for the inevitably times in life when one falters. Julia's personal mantra is "as it is, be here now," a phrase you'll oft hear her repeating in classes. Therefore, Julia's instruction offers variations for every practitioner, from the injured, to the beginner, to the "advanced," though Julia herself deeply believes that there is no such thing as a "better" yogi, only a more conscious practitioner--and anyone, regardless of physical prowess, can practice with awareness. Such regular practice helps cultivate strength, flexibility, peace of mind through acceptance, and comfort in difficult positions--qualities that one can then take off the mat, and into daily life.

 

Julie Eisenberg (Guest Kundalini Yoga Teacher)

Julie Eisenberg came to yoga in the mid-1990’s as a way to decompress from a crazy job and to complement her workout routine.  After many years of Hatha practice, she discovered the power of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan.  Julie finds the combination of breath work, meditation, mantra, and movement that are the hallmarks of Kundalini to be both relaxing and empowering. The underlying theme of her classes is that we can come to a place of happiness and health by tapping into our inner strength. Julie is certified to teach Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan through the Kundalini Research Institute International Teacher Training Program. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance and a member of the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association (IKYTA). She teaches both Kundalini and Hatha Yoga at DC area gyms and yoga studios, in both English and Spanish.  She also works with YogaActivist.org to bring yoga classes to at-risk and underserved communities, and she teaches classes to the homeless at Miriam’s Kitchen and other social service agencies in DC. Julie believes that yoga is a powerful tool for social change and would like to see the practice  made more accessible to people from all wakes of life.

 

Katie Fox-Boyd (Yoga Teacher)

Katie Fox-Boyd is a 200 hour certified vinyasa teacher (RYT) through Tranquil Space Yoga. She started her personal practice in 2002 which has since led her all over the U.S. to experience different teachers and practice settings. Wherever she practices, Katie finds that the benefits of yoga improve her mental, physical and spiritual health and she offers these benefits to her students in her classes. She encourages students to build their inner awareness, develop a mind-body connection and to move through their practice with intention.  She provides a safe, supportive and challenging space for her students to practice and find their personal edge.

 

Laura Randeles (Yoga Teacher, Ashtanga Teaching Assistant)

After doing her first sun salutation in 2006, Laura knew that she had found a life practice in yoga. When ashtanga found her stressed and drained during law school in Florida, she was infused with passion and transformation to bring the gifts of breath, bandhas and drishti to others, and enrolled in a 200 RYT teacher training at Yoga Life Studio in Jacksonville. After graduating in 2008, Laura began teaching vinyasa and restorative classes regularly in Florida and uses Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’ infamous message, “practice, practice and all is coming” as the guide and foundation for all her instruction.  Laura has called DC “home” since late 2009 and has studied ashtanga with David Ingalls, Gail Harris and Faith Scimecca. Over the years she has taken workshops with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath Rangaswamy, Saraswati Rangaswamy, Manju Jois, Kino MacGregor, Tim Feldmann, Greg Nardi, Sharon Gannon and David Life.  Laura believes that providing mindful adjustments and assists during yoga allows the student to go beyond their physical limitations and experience the maximum benefits of practice.  Her next goal is getting to Tim Miller’s ashtanga retreat at Mt. Shasta in July 2011.

 

 

 Paige Lichens (Yoga Teacher)

 Paige was first introduced to yoga in the late 1990’s, attending an Iyengar yoga class, however didn’t enjoy the experience immediately. Meditation was a practice early on in her life though as a way to connect and relax with the mind and body. After a serious back injury in 2002, she knew exactly where to return though and has been practicing yoga ever since. Paige is a Licensed Yoga Teacher, at the 200 hour level, and completed her teacher training in 2008.  She continued her training, attending Teacher Training for children at YoKids (2009) and taught with their nonprofit program in the Virginia public schools. In the Spring of 2010 she completed Prenatal Teacher Training with Janice Clarfield through Lil Omm. Always continuing training as part of her Yoga Alliance license, she is now studying yoga therapy. As a teacher she incorporates a variety of yoga styles that includes Jivamuki, Ashtanga, Kundalini, Vinyasa, Yin/Yang, Sivananda, Dharma Mittra and Iyengar. Paige likes to have fun with yoga though. "There is no one way to do yoga; just find your own way and enjoy it, relax and have fun." Paige works full time as an accounting recruiter and lives with her husband, dog and two cats in Alexandria, VA. She enjoys yoga, travel, music, gardening, reading, stand-up comedy and helping others.

 

Sean Zimmermaker (Guest Yoga Teacher)