Maya Yoga Teaching Staff - Kansas City Yoga Teachers

Maya Yoga Teaching Staff

Kathleen Kastner
www.kathleenkastner.com

Kathleen Kastner is the owner of Maya Yoga, which was founded in April 2002. Kathleen has been teaching yoga in Kansas City for the last ten years and now lives in Santa Monica, CA, and teaches at Maha Yoga and Marks Power Yoga in Brentwood, CA. " Yoga will change your body, the way you think, and most importantly deepen your connection to your Self, to God and to all beings, it's the best! Owning Maya Yoga has been such a gift, because I have been touched by so many amazing people from all over the country who share my love and passion for yoga. I love teaching yoga and watching people transform on the mat and in their lives. Yoga gives them a real sense of internal strength that transmutes into every area of their lives. I want to thank all of my teachers and students for sharing their love and wisdom with me, bless you all."

Kathleen is originally from Salina, KS and has a Master's degree in Exercise Physiology and a Bachelor's degree in Journalism, from the University of Kansas. After college, Kathleen worked in San Diego for Dr. Deepak Chopra as his Personal Trainer and she also worked for the Pritikin Longevity Center in Santa Monica as an Exercise Physiologist. Kathleen was also one of the co-founders/owners of the original Yoga Gallery from 1999-2002. She has completed yoga teacher trainings by Tim Miller of Encintas, CA and Max Strom of Venice Beach, CA. Her other yoga teachers include: Trish O'Reilly, Bhavani Maki, Karen Noble, David Williams, and her current Mysore teacher, Jorgen Christianson.

Kathleen is also a vegan and a passionate animal advocate.

Janine Mutchnick

Janine Mutchnick, a native of the Kansas City area was first introduced to yoga in 1973 at a Kundalini ashram in Phoenix, Arizona. During this brief time she participated in a daily practice of asana, pranayama and meditation, as well as experiencing her first kirtan. An innate fascination of physical movement led her to study ballet in her late twenties and complete 3 years as a dance major at the University of Missouri/Kansas City with an emphasis in teaching. She returned to a consistent practice and study of yoga 6 years ago when she discovered ashtanga yoga, a flowing style of yoga that appealed to her love of movement and awakened a spiritual awareness.

In addition to ashtanga she has practiced various styles of yoga including soft and hard forms of vinyasa, Jivamukti and Bikram. She has studied with Sharon Gannon and David Life at the Jivamukti Yoga Studio in NYC, Max Strom, Doug Swenson, David Williams, Bhavani Maki, Mark Blanchard as well as area teachers, Kathleen Kastner, Patricia Gray, Gretchen Robinson among others. She is also a certified trainer in the Gyrotonic Expansion System®, a unique system created by former dancer and gymnast, Julio Horvath, that incorporates key principles of yoga, martial arts, gymnastics, ballet and swimming with applications that range from cardiovascular fitness to orthopedic rehabilitation.

Sumya Anani

Sumya began her formal study of yoga by first exploring the Bikram system, but really got bit by the 'yoga bug' while living and working in Jamaica at the Negril Yoga Centre. She was taking hatha classes, and began studying the eight-fold path of yoga from books. Upon her return to the states in 1996, she was introduced to Ashtanga, but continued to explore the many beautiful and awe-inspiring styles of yoga.

She encourages everyone to seek teachings everywhere, from everyone. This last year alone, she has studied with internationally known and respected teachers Aadil Palkhivala, Doug Keller, David Lipschutz, Kim Schwartz, Max Strom, David Williams & Bhavani Maki. In April 2004, she finished up a year-long teacher training course with Yoga Vedanta Shala, where she co-taught the anatomy portions of the program. Her fascination with the human body began during her 2-year schooling as a massage therapist in 1993-95. Sumya is also a 4 time world champion boxer!

www.sumya.com

Michael Brisson

Michael has been practicing ashtanga yoga for 5 years under Kathleen Kastner. He was first introduced to yoga thru a co-worker while working at Eden’s Alley restaurant in Kansas City. Maya Yoga has provided the bedrock he's needed for a dedicated practice.

Although he's tried classes in other styles like Bikram, Vinyasa, and Iyengar, Ashtanga is still his favorite. It seems to provide the most challenges and open-ended possibilities for the body. Michael definitely believes Yoga is suitable for every body. It doesn't matter what age, shape or size you are. It doesn't matter if you've never done yoga before. Everyone will find something they're good at right from the start. So don't focus on what you can't do, but what you can! The rest is just practice, and Fun! There's an endless parade of asanas (postures) waiting to physically and mentally transform you over time.

Katie Van Oermen

I found yoga nearly 14 years ago while living in Tucson, AZ. At my first class the teacher asked me if I had ever done yoga before and I told her no. Her response was, "well, you have yoga in your body"; yoga has since become one of the great loves in my life. I have taught on and off for 12 years and served as co-editor for the Arizona Yoga Associations Newsletter, before moving back to Kansas City.

Ashtanga has been my primary hatha practice but I have studied Iyengar, Bikrim, Anusara and what a lot of people refer to as flow yoga. While living in the southwest I was blessed with the opportunity to meet and practice under a number of truly gifted teachers. David Swenson and Maty Ezraty are two of my favorite Ashtanga teachers. I have also attended several of John Friend's workshops and find his understanding of the human body and flow of energy to be brilliant. I have the deepest respect and love for Bill Counter and Darren Rhodes who were my first teachers. They made class about lightness and connection and taught me that the practice is never about how it looks on the mat.

Married now with a 4-year-old son my primary practice these days is the yoga of mommyhood. I also am a spiritual counselor. I help my clients connect and communicate with their own spirits, loved ones who have passed and angel guides. My classes will be based on the Ashtanga Series with lots of variations. I hope they will be interesting and challenging on the physical level while giving each student the opportunity to discover the yogi within!"

Mandy Ratliff

Mandy Ratliff has been exploring her passion for yoga for 4 years, studying ashtanga with Kathleen Kastner for the past two. Her continuing education includes workshops and intensives with Bhavani Maki, Kim Schwartz, Bryan Kest, Govindas, Mark Blanchard, Doug Swenson and Saul David Raye. Most recently she completed an Ashtanga Second Series Intensive with Tim Miller at Mt Shasta. The balance and harmony it has brought her led to her desire to share the gift through teaching. Mandy views yoga as a spiritual, philosophical, and energetic journey that inspires greater understanding of and connection to the true Self within.

Lara Kieltyka

Lara believes that yoga can change everything and bring your life into balance. She has been practicing Ashtanga yoga for 5 years and has developed a deep love for practicing its sequence of postures and for the peace it brings each time we step to the mat.

Lara feels that the flow of breath is the most important aspect of yoga and reminds you that the balance you are seeking comes from the breath inside rather than the pose itself.

The wealth of experienced teachers in Kansas City including Kathleen Kastner, Xi Nguyen, Patricia Gray, & Emily Darling, have influenced and evolved her both in practice and instruction.

"Ashtanga yoga is the greatest gift to share with someone. It is the greatest vehicle to realizing your sense of self, humility, confidence, and peace."

Drew Corrigan

Drew was inspired to begin studying yoga in May 2004 after reading Kathleen Kastner's articles on the Maya Yoga website. As a licensed massage therapist and connective tissue bodyworker since 1997, Drew is fond of saying, "the issues are in the tissues". That means our unresolved emotional issues from the past, our habitual behavior patterns, and our ways of seeing ourselves, are mirrored in structure and function of our bodies.

For Drew, yoga is a compassionate path of healing, bringing inner peace, serenity, balance, a sense of freedom, and a reconnection to our Divine Purpose and Calling. His vinyasa-style classes combine his background in anatomy and physiology as a bodyworker, with a sprinkling of personal development insights and spiritual wisdom gleaned from many sources over many years of study.

Besides practicing yoga and bodywork, his other passions include energy healing, teaching massage, preparing live-food cuisine, reading, spiritual cinema, and listening to music.

Carrie Scott

Carrie started practicing yoga in 2001, and after studying a variety of yoga styles, became enamored of the Ashtanga Yoga System created by Pattabi Jois. Ashtanga yoga, which features a flowing breath movement system, develops balance, strength and flexibility while impacting your body, mind and spirit.

Carrie firmly believes this this style of yoga not only handles the body, but also handles the mind. When your body feels good, your mental state follows. She is passionate about practicing and teaching Ashtanga yoga, and her traditional-style classes are full of great instruction for proper technique and alignment.

Carrie's motto is "do what you can do in the class." The most important part is that you show up, focus on your breath, and do the best you can. Any effort at all will dramatically impact your health and vitality.

Carrie has studied with Manju Jois and David Swenson, and has taken workshops with many accomplished yoga teachers, including David Williams, Bhavani Maki, Tim Miller, Baron Baptiste, Shiva Rae, and Rodney Yee.

Caren Lisondra

Caren has been a Seattle Native until 2007 when she moved back with her family to her husband’s hometown of Overland Park. She graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Recreation Therapy which later led her to become a part-time Fitness Instructor. After a few years of teaching, she then discovered Yoga and has been practicing for the last 7 years. In 2006 she completed 225 -teacher training hours with Pacific Yoga under Theresa Elliot & Kathryn Payne. Within the Pacific Yoga program she studied Iyengar-style as well as an in-depth study of the Yoga Sutras. In addition, she holds two Yoga Fit certificates in Level -1 and YogaFit Kids.

Her commitment to teaching children has been further enhanced since becoming a mother. She continues to discover the interest and fun children have with Yoga. Caren is passionate about animals and the environment and believes stillness can help connect all living things. "Yoga is deep within all of us"

Gwen Hull

Yoga is my passion, and I want to share the wisdom of this ancient healing practice with everyone I meet.Yoga is about immersing yourself in your life, and becoming completely present in each moment-Living in the Now. I hope to encourage my classes to practice yoga with a deep awareness of the breath and a receptive body, not a striving mind. A daily yoga practice helps us be the best we can for the world- allowing ourselves to be open vessels for God's spirit to move through radiating love and compassion.

My formal education was a B.S. in Health and Physical Education K-12 from the University of Missouri 1991, and a M.S. in Exercise Physiology & Biomechanics from the University of Kansas 1998. I was a Health/ Wellness teacher at Winnetonka High School and coached tennis & track my first few years out of college. I have taught fitness classes since 1986 and yoga for the last ten years to a wide variety of people-kids, seniors, pre-natal, rheumatoid arthritis and chronic pain sufferers, teenage rehab for drug addiction and obese people.

I studied formally with Genvieve Crosslin (Ashtanga/vinyasa style) and Mic and Stephanie Goodman of satsang yoga (sivananda style).I taught the anatomy and pre-natal portions of their teacher training the last two sessions.

Over the last ten years I've taught over 1,200 classes and, I have attended workshops by Doug Swenson, David Williams, Bhavani Maki, Max Strohm, Kim Schwartz, Mark Blanchard, Brian Kest, Saul Raye, Tim Miller, Anna Forrest, Joseph Le Page, Jeffery Cohen, and many others.

I have a commited self-practice outside of my teaching, and I practice weekly with the many wonderful teachers we have in Kansas City. I've practiced with Kathleen, one of my favorites, since 2002. Someday, when the kids are a little older, I would love to do a teaching intensive at White Lotus Foundation in California.

I have been married to a wonderful, loving man, Alan Hull, for seventeen years and we have four children; Tanner 14, Amanda 12, Natalie 8, and William 5. Yoga has been my saving grace during pregnancy and parenting. I bring all of this experience to my teaching, and before I begin a class, I open my heart to God's love and ask that my teaching may be what each person in the class needs at that moment. I look forward to practicing yoga with all who read this.

Peace and many blessings.