Inland Yoga

Christie Hall

Suffering from severe back pain, Christie Hall began studying yoga in 1995. The relief brought on by regular practice led her to start teaching in 1997. She has studied continuously with certified Iyengar teachers since 1997. In September 2005, she had the great good fortune to study under BKS Iyengar and senior teachers at the Yoga Journal Conference in Colorado. She attended the National Iyengar Yoga Conventions in St. Paul, Minnesota, in May 2004 and in Las Vegas in May 2007, where Geeta Iyengar led all instruction. In July 2007, she found her practice transformed further through the Iyengar Intensive at the Yogacharya Festival taught by the world's top Iyengar teachers. She completed the teacher training program at Yoga Place in Costa Mesa with Senior Intermediate Iyengar teacher Karin O'Bannon and completed a year of Iyengar teacher training with Eddy Marks and Mary Obendorfer in San Diego. Through working with her own severe joint problems ,she knows how to assist students sidelined by injuries or struggling with physical problems and the fear that often results. She also teaches yoga at Riverside Community College. She is an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) at the 200-hour level with Yoga Alliance.

Julie Wright

Julie Wright has been happily teaching yoga since 1998. Her background includes training from three traditional styles of hatha yoga: Iyengar, Ashtanga and Viniyoga. Her classes weave together a blend of inspirational stories, relaxing meditations, practical information, precise alignment, adjustments and integration of body, mind and spirit. Julie's inspirational, knowledgeable teaching style will keep you at ease as you receive personal attention and safe instruction to guide you on your path to physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well being.

Martena Wilson

Martena was born into a yoga family and started yoga in 1983 at the age of 9. She began Iyengar Yoga at the Yoga Room in Piedmont, CA and studied with Richard Rosen, until she was 21. Her early twenties were spent researching addiction and homelessness in the San Fransisco Bay Area. From 1999-2002 she studied at the UC Riverside Extension Centers' Iyengar Yoga Teacher Training Program with Peggy Cleve, and Marla Apt. She studied Ashtanga Yoga w/ David Swenson, Scott Miller and Briefly w / Pattabhi Jois. She has been trained in Iyengar, Ashtanga, and is a certified Kundalini Yoga instructor registered with Yoga Alliance and International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association (IKYTA). She co-founded Inland Yoga w / Scott Miller in 2001, and is the Director of the Inland College Of Yoga. Her classes include breath work, chanting, asana and on Kundalini Friday nights, DANCING!! Her thing is self-expression and experiencing your "Sat Nam!" (True Self) through yoga practice, but without taking yourself too seriously.

Scott Miller

Scott Miller began practicing yoga from a book at age twelve. Along with asana and meditation instruction, the book Be Here Now included the teachings of Neem Korali Baba. His message about experiencing life as a loving, present moment engagement is what continues to inspire Scott to this day. It was the inspiration behind opening Inland Yoga, and it continues to inform his personal yoga practices. The physical aspect of Scott's practice, however, is also heavily influenced by two opposite styles:

Having connected with "Ashtanga" master Pattabhi Jois in the early Nineties, Scott later traveled to India in order to receive more instructions from him, and though Scott teaches Ashtanga in a Neem Korali inspired, Be Here Now, manner, he continues to honor the sequencing taught to him by Mr. Jois. But Scott also balances the "yang" half of his personal practice, with a "yin" style yoga that he learned from Paul Grilley, and his teacher Paulie Zink. Called "Taoist Yoga," this style connects perfectly with the Be Here Now approach, and the connection is what inspired Scott to begin practicing and later teaching "Slow Deep Stretch." Plus, it is these two yin and yang yogas that became the hallmark of Inland Yoga, and while the studio is now able to offer other wonderful styles, we continue to be all about present moment balancing.

Emily Johnson Kronland

Emily took her first yoga class in 1996, and finally committed to a regular practice in 2001. Her background in modern dance and ballet has allowed her to feel right at home with Vinyasa/Flow Yoga, which links together movement and breath in a meditative practice much like choreography. She also has experience with Bikram, Anusara, and Power Yoga; and actively practices Iyengar, Ashtanga, and Yin. She became a Registered Yoga Teacher at the 200-hour level with Yoga Alliance in 2005. Emily has studied with more than ten significant teachers in six states over ten years and draws on this diverse background to create a unique and challenging class experience. Having relocated to Riverside in early 2007, Emily is very thankful to have found an inviting environment in which to grow her practice and give back to the community at Inland Yoga. Namaste!

John

John moved to Southern California from Washington State and took his first yoga classes with Lisa Ko in 2001. In 2002 he began taking ashtanga classes with Scott Miller at Inland Yoga. Ashtanga along with meditation and yin yoga make up his daily practice. John started teacher-training classes at Inland Yoga in 2002. He has studied restorative yoga with G.L. Gray and has been teaching since 2003. John is thankful for the deep sense of community at Inland Yoga.

Micah Carlson

When Micah stepped into his first yoga experience in 2000, he knew that he had found something extrordinary. His first introduction to Yoga was by route of Yoga Nidra at an Ashram outside of Riverside, CA. At that time, working as an artist and a musician, he discovered how a settled mind can unlock creative energy. A few years later in 2005, after hitting a few bumps on the road of life, he came back to mindfulness practices, including Vipassana Meditation. In July, 2006 he found Inland Yoga Centers. Micah continues a daily Asana practice under the guidance of Christie Hall, Julie Wright, Martena Wilson and Scott Miller. At Inland Yoga he has found two asana practices, Ashtanga Yoga and Yin Yoga that walk hand in hand with his daily meditation practice. Micah's teachings include philosophy, asana, meditation and relaxation. He feels that through settling the body and feeling good about ourselves, we open a doorway to the unimaginable, where we can allow ourselves to go inward into creative stillness and connect with our deepest sense of what is "real."

Micah has studied Vipassana Meditation under teachers S.N. Goenka, Noah Levine and Ashin Thitzana. He receives his 200hr RYT certification on July of 2007. His asana study is Mysore Ashtanga as taught by Pattabhi Jois and Yin Yoga as taught by Paul Grilley, (both instructed via Scott Miller).

Darcy Weis

Darcy Weis began practicing yoga in 1996 while living in San Francisco. Prior to yoga she was dedicated to physical fitness but felt she was missing the deep connection that yoga has on the mind, body and spirit. She was first introduced to yoga and practiced with Tony Sanchez who developed the Yoga Challenge System, an effort to simplify the 84 classic asanas making them accessible to everyone. In 2000, Darcy began practicing Bikram and enjoyed the benefits of the heat in terms of flexibility and cleansing. After becoming pregnant with her first child, she knew that her practice would have to change. At this time she discovered Iyangar, which helped guide and support her through the nine months of physical changes.

In 2004, Darcy moved back to her hometown of Riverside and immediately continued her dedicated practice with Inland Yoga Centers where she was introduced to Scott Miller and the Ashtanga series.In 2007, Darcy graduated from Inland Yoga's Teacher Training program and received her 200 hour certification, and became a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. Currently, Darcy is teaching Mommy and Me where she enjoys sharing the joys of both yoga and motherhood with her moms/students. Her style is Hatha with an influence of the various styles she has practiced over the years.

Florence Stewart

Florence happily discovered yoga in 2005 when she and her daughter started taking belly dance lessons at Inland Yoga. She quickly gave up belly dancing to delve into the practice of yoga. The first style of yoga she learned was Ashtanga. After encountering other styles offered at the studio, Florence began the practice of Iyengar-style and Vinyasa Flow yoga. Although she likes to experience different styles of yoga, her main interest at this time is Vinyasa Flow. She loves the spontaneity of the practice and the connection of the breath to the movement. With a background in dance, martial arts, marathon running, and a lifelong interest in health and nutrition, Florence enjoys the integration of physical, emotional, mental, spiritual, and even social disciplines that yoga offers.

Barbara Chadderton

I have been practicing yoga for just over three years. I came to yoga for the exercise and physical healing that I expected to get. My body was thoroughly out of balance as the result of a car accident eleven years ago. My entire right side was injured and broken and because of that my left side worked very hard to compensate for that. What I found in practicing yoga is so much more than physical. Yes, my physical body is balancing out from my asana practice, but my mental and emotional being has been greatly enhanced by my practice! Bonus! I have completed Inland Yoga's 200 hour teacher training and am awaiting certification from Yoga Alliance and I have recently attended a 38 hour teacher training with Erich Schiffman to open my lines of energy and validate my creativity as a teacher. I love yoga and hope that in some small way, I may make a difference in people's lives as a teacher. Sat Nam.

G.L Gray

GL first experienced yoga in 1998. Soon after she began the Iyengar teacher training program at UC Riverside with Deb Murray and Peggy Cleve. She continues to study with Deb Murray and other wonderful teachers through various workshops. She found her spiritual home in the practice of Ashtanga yoga in 2001 and includes daily meditation in her personal practice. She began to practice with and study under the direction of Scott Miller at Inland Yoga. She has also studied Ashtanga yoga with Diana Christenson and briefly with Pattabhi Jois. She recently completed the teacher training course at Inland College of Yoga. Since 2002 GL has been teaching what she loves. Her joyful instruction of breath, movement and restoration makes it easy for practitioners to share in the loving experience.

Aziza Sa'id

Aziza Sa'id is a well known Mid-Eastern Belly Dance performer from Southern California. Originally trained in Denver, Colorado, Aziza now teaches and performs locally and throughout the United States. Winner of the 2001 Middle Eastern Dance in North America competition, Aziza is widely recognized for her powerful, joyous, and fiery style, her dramatic range and her capacity for creating unforgettable feeling in her audiences. Her performances range from folkloric to cabaret, from stately Egyptian and soulful taksims to sassy Turkish Karsilama and hot-blooded Gypsy and Flamenco fusion. Regardless of the style, Aziza's passion, humor, charisma and love of the dance always come through.

As a teacher, Aziza focuses on helping each dancer develop his or her own style on a foundation of solid skills and an understanding of Middle Eastern music and culture. In her 30 years of teaching, she has worked with thousands of students of all levels from first-time beginners through working professionals. She has taught for private organizations, universities, community centers, dance schools and on the prestigious Seminars at Sea Arabian Nights cruises.

Aziza has been the featured dancer at a wide range of Greek, Arabic, Persian, and Indian restaurants. With over 5000 performances to her credit, she continues to perform at Greek, Persian and Arabic clubs and events throughout Southern California. She has been featured on several cable TV shows and appears on the highly acclaimed videos Moon Over Denver Vol. 1 and Follow Your Soul with Morocco. She has been a regular contributor to a variety of Mid-Eastern Dance publications for over 30 years. Her credits include: Habibi, Jareeda, Zahgareet, The Shimmy Chronicles, and other dancer's journals. She is a contributing author for The Belly Dance Book by Tazz Richards. Aziza is also the author of the award winning Middle Eastern Dance website ZillTech.com. Aziza has also been the director of several dance companies including The Cleopatra Club, Scimitar Dance Company, and the tribal group Fringe Elements. In addition to Middle Eastern dance, Aziza has trained in Flamenco and Hula and has been a teacher and competitor in Ballroom Dance. In her other life, Aziza has made her living as an Engineer, designing and developing medical life-support equipment. Aziza lives with her husband Gareth on a small farm in southern California.