All About Us
Leigh Ann
After taking her first Yoga class with Cindy Dollar in 1997, Leigh Ann Mertens was “hooked!” At the time, she was Artistic Director for add dance, a professional, contemporary dance company based in Asheville, North Carolina and teaching modern dance to all ages at the Asheville Center of Performing Arts. Having danced all her life, Leigh Ann minored in dance at Appalachian State University and upon graduation she went to New York City to study with and work for the esteemed Martha Graham Dance Company. She moved to Asheville in 1990 to dance with Ann Dunn & Dancers and to teach at the Asheville Academy of Ballet and Contemporary Dance. She also taught at the New Studio of Dance and for the Brevard College SGSA Summer Program. After the birth of her first child in 2000, Leigh Ann stopped performing and teaching dance and decided to focus on learning and teaching Yoga. In 2002, she opened Brightwater Yoga at a studio in her home and in February of 2005, she moved the studio to downtown Hendersonville where she currently teaches nine classes a week. In addition, Leigh Ann also teaches at the Kanuga Conference Center in Hendersonville. As a teacher, her enthusiasm and passion are infectious and her knowledge and clarity are reassuring to students of all ages and levels. Leigh Ann believes that Yoga is a personal journey that cannot be adequately described in words, but rather has to be experienced to be understood.
Brook McDade
Brooke McDade is a native to Hendersonville. She studied dance in her youth for 6 years and continues using body movement through Pilates and Yoga. After training with Mike Phillips at The Core - A Pilates Studio, Brooke then went on to get certified through PCC in Raleigh, N.C. She now teaches classes at The Core and is also in training at the Asheville Yoga Center with Stephanie Keach to become a certified Yoga Instructor. Brooke’s classes aim to facilitate health, balance, peace, and connectedness in people’s lives.
Meredith Boyd
Meredith Boyd is a new massage therapist in Hendersonville, N.C. and she has recently joined our family at Brightwater Yoga! She is a graduate from the Center for Massage and Natural Health. She is devoted to providing healthy healing tough through massage and other modalities, including wellness counseling information, to help others reach and maintain a sense of well-being. Meredith incorporates many different techniques into the massage based on the needs of the client.
Lara Skadsen
Lara Skadsen is a certified elementary school teacher and has been teaching art for the past 11 years in South Africa, Minnesota, the Middle East and the Virgin Islands. She was certified to teach yoga to children through the Radiant Child Yoga Program, with Shakta Kaur Khalsa in Baltimore, Maryland. Lara is also certified in CPR, and is currently working on getting her full yoga certification so that she is more trained in all areas and for all ages. Her personal yoga practice has included many years of studying privately with some of the best known and unknown instructors. Recent teachers have included intensive training with Lino Miele in Kerala, India. Valerie Jerimijenko in Doha, Qatar and other various studios in South Africa and the United States. As a teacher, Lara (Ms. Yoga) believes that exploring and discovering is a wonderful way to promote confidence and self-esteem in kids. All of her classes include a goal of developing a sense of awareness and respect for oneself and others. Her fun and energetic style inspires kids of all ages. Lara can turn any task into something fun and is simply an enthusiastic kid in an adult body!!
Kathleen Wallace
Kathleen Wallace is a certified Lebed Method teacher and accredited yoga teacher, approved by Yoga Alliance, an organization that sets standards for Yoga teachers and teacher training. She taught yoga in Newark and Granville, Ohio before moving to North Carolina. She has also presented yoga to children through dance classes and the Comfort Cottage Camp in Newark. She became certified in The Lebed Method in March, 2006. All her movement classes are based on gentle movement that allows for individual growth in strength, energy, endurance, and flexibility.
Shauna Whiteside
Shauna Whiteside (RYT & 'Anusara Inspired' Yoga Instructor) has been actively practicing yoga since 2000. In 2002, she began her first yoga teacher certification program (successfully completed in early 2003). Teaching yoga since 2002, Shauna has continued on her yoga journey by finding a home in Anusara Yoga. She has successfully completed a 60 Hr. Anusara Teacher Training and an Anusara Immersion I Training.
Shauna has over 10 years experience as a certified aerobics instructor and personal fitness trainer (prior to her active involvement in yoga). Her initiation into yoga developed as she realized the benefits of slowly stretching, moving, and manipulating the body in conjunction with the breath.
"As I began learning more about Anusara yoga and growing in my practice, I became more connected not just to my body, but to the wellness of my whole being. Through the universal principles of alignment, I was finally able to alleviate pain that I had carried for a long time. I still view fitness as a way to have a healthy body. But we are more than just our physical body. While teaching an Anusara Inspired class, I focus more on connecting the physical body to the spiritual heart. Im enjoying my journey - and that of my students - by taking my love of teaching and creating a classroom environment that is challenging, nurturing, and inspiring.
Shauna's devotion to Anusara yoga is evident in her uplifting philosophy, her emphasis on the heart, and the celebration of the Divine in all beings, all of these being distinctive hallmarks of Anusara yoga.
leighann@brightwateryoga.com
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