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Instructor Bios
 
Tracy Brennan

Tracy is the owner of Claremont Yoga and has been a Certified Yoga Instructor since 2002.  She also teaches faculty/staff and student yoga classes at Pomona College and Mt. San Antonio College.

Tracy is a Southern Californian native and moved to San Francisco to attend SFSU where she received her B.A. in International Relations.  She worked in the software industry in marketing for 6 hectic years during the Year 2000 change over.  Her job took her to Chicago and then once the software bubble burst, Tracy left her corporate job to travel.  She discovered Yoga and a new life/job path opened up.   She spent a year and half practicing different styles of yoga at the Omega Institute for Holistic Studies in Rhinebeck, NY and took her first official month long Yoga Teacher Training Program on the Big Island of HI.  After traveling for 3 months in Asia, she moved back to Southern California and discovered Iyengar Yoga.  

Since her return to the I.E., Tracy has completed a 3-year Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training Program through the LA Institute and passed her Teacher in Training Assement in 2009. She also studied massage therapy and is a Licensed Massage Therapist.  Tracy combines her knowledge of anatomy and detailed alignment of yoga postures in her yoga classes and enjoys teaching students of all levels.  She currently takes yoga classes with Certified Iyengar Yoga Teachers Paul Cabanis, Carolyn Belko and workshops with Manuso Manouso when he visits Southern California.  She is honored and thankful to be part of such a beautiful, inspiring yoga tradition.

Marta Jasberg

Certified Iyengar instructor Marta Jasberg relocated to Southern California in fall, 2007, from Cleveland, Ohio, where she owned and operated her own yoga studio. She now teaches in Pasadena, Studio City, Los Angeles, as well as at Pomona College and Om Sweet Om.

Marta has studied extensively with senior Iyengar teachers Laurie Blakeney and Manouso Manos and in June, 2008, made her first trip to Pune, India to study with Geeta & Prashant Iyengar at RIMYI.

Brenda Scheibe

Is a certified yoga instructor since 2003. She earned her 200 hour certification from Devi Yoga in Claremont, CA. Along with raising four children, ages 13,14,17 and 19; Brenda also works as a nurse practitioner. She loves to encourage and inspire a healthy, active lifestyle for all levels of students. Her classes are classical Iyengar-inspired, emphasizing proper alignment and working with props. She also enjoys teaching classes that are therapeutic and restorative for certain conditions.

Marc Cohen

White Lotus Certified Teacher.
Marc's personal website


Brenda Anne Chandler, RYT

Brenda was first drawn to yoga and bodywork in 2002 when she was training for her first marathon. She studied massage therapy to learn more about caring for her body. This blossomed into an avid interest in holistic health and a career focused on helping others achieve wellness.

Brenda went on to take workshops with teachers like Erich Schiffmann (author of Yoga, The Spirit & Practice of Moving into Stillness) and Ganga White (author of Yoga Beyond Belief). In 2007, She spent two months in Mysore, Southern India, where she explored traditional Ashtanga yoga intensively. Brenda then obtained her teacher’s certification at Kripalu, Center for Yoga & Health, located in western Massachusetts.

As a teacher, she has learned to draw from a wide range of experiences. Her style emphasizes a personalized approach to yogic practices. Brenda strives to provide a nurturing environment, for beginning to advanced students, that supports physical, mental, and spiritual harmony.

Brenda's personal website


Nicole Schwander

My life with yoga began in college. I took my first class at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Champaign- Urbana while attending the University of Illinois. The experience changed my life: properly aligning my body to relieve persistent back pain, teaching me relaxation techniques to reduce college stress, and improving overall mind-body awareness. After graduating in May 2000 with a degree in nutrition, I relocated to San Diego. Still plagued with years? worth of lower back pain and sciatica, and after many futile visits with orthopedic doctors and chiropractors, I once again turned to yoga for its profound healing.

I started taking classes at the Ashtanga Yoga Center, which helped bring the alignment of my body back into harmony. Ashtanga Yoga, as taught by Pattabhi Jois, is a form of hatha yoga that focuses on asana (posture) and pranayama (breath control). While challenging, I found studying the primary Ashtanga Yoga Series was also powerfully relaxing and rejuvenating.

I later took my study and practice to Yoga One, a studio in downtown San Diego, where I was mentored by founder Amy Caldwell. There, I found that a regular yoga practice completely relieved my back pain, and I developed a profound spiritual connection with yoga philosophy. 
As my personal practice deepened, a desire to teach also developed. So in 2007, I enrolled in and completed an intensive teacher training program, studying Interdisciplinary Yoga with Caldwell and other teachers at Yoga One. Since then, I have been teaching all levels of classes and continue to refine my practice as both teacher and student. Most recently, I completed a 200 hour Vinyasa Flow teacher training with renowned Los Angeles-based teacher Diana Beardsley.

My classes are inspired by my daily personal practice that seeks a delicate balance between surrender and effort. I teach challenging flow sequences, countered with restorative postures, all the while focusing on linking breath with movement to create a moving meditation. Students find my classes physically demanding, though ultimately rewarding, inspiring, and progressive. My yoga practice continues to influence each facet of my life. I?m also a personal chef dedicated to whole-food cooking and am passionate about nutrition, sustainability, and green living.


Crissy Luna

discovered her yoga practice approximately five years ago. At first, she began “doing” yoga just to compliment a regular routine of aerobics and light weight training. She soon found that yoga brought more strength, stamina, and flexibility to her body, so she decided to commit all of her workouts to yoga. But, what she didn’t expect to find was the manifestation of inner strength, peace, and compassion that a yoga practice brought to her mind and to her heart.

After a year of personal study, her journey eventually led her to Green Tara Yoga in Upland where she began studying Vinyasa Yoga with her mentors: Marc Cohen and Gina Decker. In 2008, she enrolled in the teacher training program at GTY excited to share with others the joy and life-changing transformation that yoga can bring to them.

Emily

Emily first began practicing yoga with her grandmother who introduced her to mediation.  In college Emily began taking classes at a local hot yoga studio. As she got closer to graduation, she knew that pursuing a career in yoga was for her. Soon after graduating from the University of North Texas with a BA in Social Science, Emily began a teacher training intensive. Emily completed her 500 hr Yoga Alliance certification from Sunstone Yoga in Dallas, Texas. She is working towards becoming a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance and plans on completing the process in February. 

In her classes Emily enjoys sharing many different aspects of yoga and emphasizing alignment.  In addition to teaching yoga at Om Sweet Om, she teaches Yoga, Pilates and works as a personal trainer at LA Fitness. She specializes in working with clients that need help recovering from injury, gaining strength and increasing range of motion. Many clients are surprised to learn that the exercises she uses are yoga asanas! Emily loves to combine traditional exercise with modern exercise.


Laura Cline

After a couple of months of consistent Pilates exercise, Laura noticed considerable changes in her body and mood. Pilates mat and reformer work particularly, helped her lose weight, increase flexibility and muscle tone, improve posture, and reduce stress. Over the years, Laura has developed a strong passion for Pilates and is a firm believer in the lifelong benefits Pilates offers. Her ongoing desire is to share her gift of teaching, motivating and educating others to achieve a healthier lifestyle and have fun in the process.

Laura is a STOTT PILATES® trained instructor and a certified group fitness instructor. She began teaching Pilates in 2004 at various fitness centers throughout the Inland Empire. She is known for incorporating a lot of different Pilates styles to make each workout unique and effective.

Shilo Chou

has been a business executive for 20 years with a MA in anthropology. After enduring two years of physical therapy to recover from a workplace injury, Shilo started her spiritual journey in yoga and meditation. A dedicated Zen (Chan) practitioner with the American Zen Association, Shilo is a Certified Yoga Instructor, and a corporate trainer teaching business managers to meditate to enhance mental awareness, reduce stress for higher productivity and workplace harmony. Come join her for a special session to celebrate the blessings in life!



Judith Lutz 

is a Certified Iyengar Yoga teacher. She has been practicing Iyengar yoga since 1996 and is a graduate of the BKS Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles. Judith studies under Paul Cabanis, Marla Apt, Jim Benvenuto and Manuouso Manos. Judith is deeply grateful to BKS Iyengar and all her teachers, whose inspirational teaching nourishes her own practice and teaching. 



Miko Doi-Smith

was introduced to yoga in 1988 while attending the University of Hawaii but did not begin serious study until 1994 after sustaining an injury while dancing.  She received her teacher's training certification from It's Yoga in San Francisco in 1998.  She resided in Philadelphia for ten years and during that time studied with senior Iyengar teachers, Kofi Busia and Joan White and continues to study with her teacher Kofi Busia as often as life permits.  She has taught at various yoga studios in Philadelphia as well as Bates College Dance Festival  in Maine and Guong Dong Modern Dance Festival in China.  She was nominated and awarded Best of Philly by Philadelphia Magazine, in 2003 and 2005. In addition to practicing yoga she is also a professional contemporary modern dancer, a registered nurse and mom to a wonderful six year old.


Amy Gonzalez

is a STOTT PILATES® certified instructor in mat, reformer, cadillac, chair and barrels level 1 and level 2 as well as injuries and special populations. Amy's training emphasizes balancing strength with flexibility which leads to an improvement in posture and body awareness while achieving optimal functional fitness.

Amy is originally from Syracuse, NY where she was a dancer for over 20 years and instructed students of all ages. She recieved her BFA in Communications Design from Syraucse University and moved to California in 2002 when she discovered her love for pilates. Amy teaches pilates to people of all ages and fitness levels including group mat and reformer classes as well as private and semi-private sessions.




Danielle Flowers

Danielle teaches Children's Yoga and was trained at Next Generation Yoga.  Her goal is to help children become strong, confident, relaxed, healthy, positive kids!  She is a former elementary school teacher, who now stays home with her 4-year old triplets. Children make her world go around! She brings her passion to life with her business “Peas Be With You,” YOGA and Health Education, making the many health benefits of yoga and health accessible to younger generations.