Instructors
Marti Yura
Marti’s journey has come full circle, from her first fitness studio in Charleston, SC in 1982, to the “birth” of Vista Yoga in Atlanta. For almost 30 years her passion for physical and spiritual well-being has led her from teaching various forms of fitness, including personal training, to her discovery of Yoga in 1998.
Both dynamic and therapeutic, Marti’s classes are infused with a thorough understanding of the body, ancient wisdom, her nurturing spirit and a touch of humor.
She is a Yoga Alliance Certified Teacher. After studying with a wide variety of Yoga teachers, she has spent the past 4 years extensively with Tias and Surya Little, of Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where she is pursuing her 500 RYT hrs.
She is also trained in Thai Yoga Massage therapy.
Marty Yura
Marty brings over 30 years experience working with individuals and groups in a wide variety of training environments. His talent is his ability to communicate precisely so that students understand and are able to implement. Applied to Yoga, this enables one to practice correctly, learning and improving in a structured environment.
"I've always been involved in the empowerment of people. It was usually in the domain of having them discover possibilities for themselves that they weren't able to see before. After beginning to practice Yoga with some regularity, I realized that I was able to quiet my mind and focus on what was going on right now, without the distractions that seemed to often accompany whatever it was that I was doing. My commitment is to provide people with the possibility of what Yoga can be for them."
Marty received his Yoga Teacher Certification from Peachtree Yoga Center. He is currently studying with Tias Little for his 500-hour certification. He has an MA and BA in Psychology from California State University and UCLA.
Elizabeth Yates
I came to yoga 18 years ago from the stress of corporate life. Realizing yoga’s healing potential when I discovered my pain was self induced from stress & tension, a lifelong love was born. The initial physical motivation has grown into a deep relationship with the holistic lifestyle teachings in the Yoga Sutras. Yoga Sutra II:46, the foundation for asana practice inspires asana practice & teaching, “Yoga pose is a steady and comfortable position.” To assist practitioners in finding comfortable and steady, I teach therapeutic techniques that strengthen and stretch targeted muscles/groups for appropriate use. Yoga is frequently associated primarily with stretching. However, weakened muscles hold tension more than strong ones, constituting the need for a balanced practice that includes both strengthening & stretching. Teacher trainings include: Ananda Ashram with a strong meditative focus, Peachtree Yoga Center with a vinyasa flair, Restorative Yoga with Judith Lasater and Yoga Therapy at the Krishnamacharya Yoga Mandiram in Chennai, India. My classes include energy & alignment principles to guide students through safe & supportive practices using the breath as a pathway to release deep seated stress. An ongoing relationship with God & my teacher, Mukunda Stiles, creator & author of Structural Yoga Therapy & Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy has transformed my life & yoga practice.
Theresa Barnett
Theresa Barnett is a certified yoga therapist, craniosacral therapist and wellness consultant. She has been in private practice since 1985, and teaching yoga since 1994. Theresa began her journey in the early 1980s. Led by her quest for inner knowledge and a better understanding of the mind body connection, she was introduced to the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in 1991. This innocent weekend retreat, unfolded into an “inner knowing” that she would return to Kripalu to become a certified yoga teacher. This knowing became a reality, and in 1994, Theresa opened her own yoga studio in Dunwoody. Throughout this time she continued to deepen her pursuit of yoga and studied with some of the most prominent teachers in the country. Through great good fortune, she encountered her teacher Diane Long. Diane possessed the gift of accessing and understanding the body’s innate beauty and intelligence beyond anything that she had previously experienced. With this, Theresa has created her own unique approach to teaching yoga that integrates physical movement of the body with a deep spiritual and meditative practice.
Todd Delaune
Todd's path to yoga involved much happenstance and fate. Decades of athleticism left Todd quite strong but extremely inflexible. In 2000 a friend challenged him to a yoga class to which he reluctantly accepted (thinking yoga was only for the flexible). Since he'd never been able to touch his toes then surely yoga was not for him. Todd's first taste of savasana at the end of class opened his heart to feelings and energies he never knew existed. He dove into the practice of yoga as he began to experience his body in a whole new way. Hundreds of forward folds later his hands finally reached the floor.
Without ever having the intention of teaching he received his 200 hour yoga training certificate in 2003 marking the beginning of an even grander spiritual journey. He spent the next 9 months traveling throughout the country exploring the landscape, people, and yoga. Upon his return to Atlanta his greatest desire was to share his life experiences through yoga - to give back.
In the last few years Todd has learned partner and aerial acrobatics and thai massage in addition to completing an advanced 500 hour yoga training. Todd brings to his teaching a wealth of personal and professional experiences, inspiring his students' minds and bodies with his intuitive teaching style. He brings a warm nurturance, a sensitive touch, and the inspiration for his students to achieve anything!
Marlysa Sullivan
Since becoming a physical therapist, I have sought a deeper understanding of the body and of the healing process. This search brought me to yoga as a way to understand the intricate link between body, mind, energy and spirit. After searching many different yoga traditions, I found Pranakriya Yoga and became a director in this tradition. This school allows me to combine my knowledge of the neuromusculoskeletal system with the philosophy and practice of yoga. By delving into yoga philosophy, as well as experiencing these deep practices, I have begun to understand what it means to feel fully alive in this world as well as becoming a more balanced individual. Marlysa travels across the country to lead anatomy and therapeutic yoga workshops and is an adjunct faculty in the physical therapy department at Georgia State University.
Tra Kirkpatrick
I was lead to yoga in the spring of 1998 after attending an open house at a local yoga studio. Despite my lack of yoga knowledge at the time and my inability to explain what I had felt during my first experience on the mat, I was deeply touched that day and my life has never been the same.
That visit to the open house was my beginning to a life of wholeness. The mat became my safe haven ~ the space to show myself compassion; to release judgment, expectation, and worry; to simply allow; to become. The first time I came to the mat I learned that every yoga posture is an expression of spirit and breath an expression of consciousness, and this lesson continues to show up in my practice today. Seven years after beginning my practice, I became a certified yoga teacher through the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health. I am also a certified Pranakriya Yoga Therapist, certified Thai Bodyworker (Saul David Raye), and nearing completion of my 500 hour level Pranakriya Teacher program.
Jocelyn Rose
Jocelyn Rose's love for yoga began, and she is eternally grateful! Her classes are a playful and challenging exploration of the spirit, linking movement and breath in one Divine dance. Jocelyn seeks and shares inspiration from yoga's many shining shapes through mantra, mudra, meditation and breath. Her teaching style is a blend of graceful and creative movement intermingled with her passion for alignment and attention to detail, which she believes ultimately leads to freedom in both the body and the mind.
Jocelyn has studied yoga and meditation in India, Chicago, New York City and Atlanta. She completed her 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher certification at Laughing Lotus in NYC.
Jocelyn holds a Masters degree in Vocal Performance and Opera. She is also a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist with an emphasis on deep tissue release. Her classes unite the healing art of touch with the truth of our own body's subtle movements.
Debbie Young-Arnold
For over 20 years, Debbie’s work has focused on creating experiences for children to develop a positive sense of themselves in the world. She became a Licensed Clinical Social Worker in 1995 and continues to work with kids and families in a wide variety of settings.
As her journey to motherhood began in 2001 Debbie started doing Prenatal Yoga, later using Yoga to reclaim her body, recharge and release. She feels Yoga saved her--body and soul--after a traumatic car accident in ’95. Together she and two young daughters have embraced YogaKids and Debbie has now completed her Advanced Training and Trainer Certifications. In addition to mentoring YogaKids professionals-to-be, she leads Children’s Classes; offers individual and group Yoga Therapy for Children; Parent/Caregiver and Baby Yoga; and leads workshops for parents, teachers and others who want to learn how to play yoga with children. She finds this unique way of connecting to kids and making a positive difference in young lives tremendously rewarding.
Debbie Harbin Keenan
Having spent a decade immersed in competitive mountain biking, running, and adventure racing, a life change was needed to build a family and continue education. This new era of marriage, children, and pursing a degree required a more nurturing exercise routine for an aging and often injured body. Recovering from pregnancy was slow going; however, returning to a faithful yoga practice created unexpected strength and flexibility, not only in the body but also in mind and spirit. "The added benefit of stress reduction through yogic meditation has truly changed who I am in the most positive way that can be imagined. Cultivating a meditative and posture focused practice inspired my yoga training and teaching style. Sharing all that yoga has to offer, with friends, family and community became a natural progression."
Debbie completed her 200 hour certification in Pranakriya Yoga, registered with the Yoga Alliance. She is the Music Director for the Preschool at the Heights (PATH), and is currently working on her degree in Early Childhood Education at Georgia State University. She lives with her husband and two sons in Decatur, Georgia.
Chrstina Scott
Teena has been practicing yoga since 2000. Her personal experiences with pre and post natal yoga as well as her training in that area cultivated a desire to reach out to people at all stages of life.
In July of 2006, she finished her RYT certification program with Stephanie Keach in Asheville, NC. She attained pre-natal yoga certification with Chandra Om at the NC School of Yoga. Beyond that, Teena has attended workshops and intensives with Doug Swenson, Mary Kay West, Jenny Otto, Steve and Elaine Nelson, Paul and Suzee Grilley, and Brian Kest. Most recently, Teena completed her Yin Yoga training, and has enjoyed introducing this healing style of yoga into her traditional flow classes.
As a mother of three as well as an active community volunteer, Teena has experienced the balance and harmony yoga has brought into her life as well as the healing it has encouraged in her body; it is her goal to share that experience with others.
Susan Mittleman
I've been practicing Yoga for nearly half my life, in some form or another. Even before my first official class, as a 'world traveler' I discovered the joy of being present, in the moment, a free spirit. Spending time in places like India, Thailand and Bali, parts of the world where spiritual practice is part of everyday life, still resonates with me. Yoga enables me to embrace that same feeling, without ever physically leaving the room.
Over the years, I've studied in different traditions including Kundalini, Classical Hatha, Sivananda, and Kriya yoga. In 2009, I became a certified yoga teacher in the Pranakriya tradition, and have nearly completed my Pranakriya 500 hours and Pranakriya Yoga Therapy certifications. I continue to learn something new from each teacher I encounter, and each time I sit down to practice.
As a journalist, I have experienced first hand the effects of stress on the body and soul, and how yoga can help calm the mind, strengthen the body and resolve, to allow healing on all levels. My goal as a teacher is to guide students to a place of discovery, joy, peace, strength and healing within themselves.
Shonali Banerjee
Since 1995 I have found solace, strength and profound expansion through yoga. In 2002, after a bicycle accident, still recovering from injuries, I joined the 500 hour teacher training at Be Yoga with Alan Finger where I also became Director of Yoga Teacher Training programs. Alan teaches a style of yoga called ISHTA yoga (the Integrated Science of Hatha, Tantra, and Ayurveda), which is a rich multi-faceted vinyasa practice. Simultaneously, I studied as an herbal apprentice, & explored rituals of chanting & aligning with the seasons & the moon. This fusion of healing through yoga while consciously connecting to universal rhythms is at the heart of my teaching. After moving to Paris, France in 2004, I did intensive study focusing on therapeutics & women's issues with T.K.V. & Kausthub Desikachar. I built a yoga business in Paris (shonaliyoga!) which allowed me enough experience to register as E-RYT-500.
Everyone can do yoga! My classes are grounded in breath & alignment for steady & safe exploration. We will flow & hold. We will strengthen, expand, soften, & nurture. With reverence for the unique process of each individual, I encourage students to make the practice their own. Be prepared to fuel yourself & to learn tools which enable you to move through life with a bit more ease & centered connection. In perpetual gratitude to the many phenomenal teachers who have inspired me: my students, my children, my husband, Alan Finger, TKV Desikachar, Carrie Wykoff, Robin Rose Bennett, Erich Schiffman, Mark Whitwell, Sarah Powers, John Friend, Michelle Jacobi, Hillary Cohen, among others! ... Namaste