Claire Hartley

Co-Owner and founder of Rising Lotus. British born Yoga teacher, Claire Hartley, found her passion for the practice of Yoga in the early 90’s at the Jivamukti Yoga Center. Their signature style of vigorous flow, chanting, meditation and exploration of the ancient scriptures began to reveal that suffering could be relieved and that the divine was experiential and not just a concept to be studied and discussed, for that she is eternally grateful and humbled by all the teachers she has studied with.

Her first training program was in LA under the tutelage of Peri Doslu. Peri introduced her to Iyengar Yoga which has become an important part of her practice and her teaching. Claire also trained with Lisa Walford and Annie Carpenter at Yogaworks and completed a six month apprenticeship with Lisa.

She remains an ardent fan and disciple of Vinyasa flow for it’s ability to touch the moving prayer that is always singing inside and step into union with the higher Self.

In April 2006 she opened the Rising Lotus Yoga Studio on Ventura Blvd., in Sherman Oaks with her good friend and colleague Daniel Stewart. Claire is the director of Teacher Training at Rising Lotus and loves to guide new teachers on the path of sharing the gifts of Yoga to others, it is an ever humbling path as the students continues to crack her heart open with the love and eagerness they bring into the room.

She is forever inspired by the love of her family, husband John and her daughter Nova. Jai Ma!

Ann Braden

She is inspired by Ana Forrest’s teachings to “create in each of us a sense of freedom, a connection to our spirit and the courage to walk as our spirit dictates”. Ann believes that the practice of yoga helps us become a source of peace, power and inspiration that extends beyond our mats into our communities.

Ann received her teaching certification from Yoga Works in Santa Monica, California, where she apprenticed with Jasmine Lieb, Paul Cabanis and Annie Carpenter. Ann is also certified by Yoga Ed. to teach yoga to children and teachers. She teaches workshops nationally to educators on how to bring the benefits of yoga into the classroom. Ann teaches classes and workshops in the Los Angeles area at studios including Rising Lotus Yoga (www.risinglotusyoga.com) and Yoga Works (www.yogaworks.com)

Arielle Silver

In a nutshell, I am inspired by the fact that joy begets joy, love begets love and well-being begets well-being. I've seen a million times how yoga changes each of us in significant and beautiful ways, fundamentally changing the world around us for better. For my students, I teach from the perspective that we practice balance, flexibility and strength on our mats to bring more balance, flexibility and strength into every aspect of our lives - physically, mentally, emotionally. In my classes we sing, sweat, laugh, breathe, and work through whatever we each individually need to work through in order to celebrate our bodies and hearts.

I was first introduced to Hatha Yoga back east at a music conference in 2000. My practice has been my companion through many transitions, including my cross-country move to Los Angeles 4 years ago. When I most needed it, I discovered Rising Lotus and found a kindred spirit in the loving, joyful dharma of the studio. I completed my Teacher Training here in 2009, have subbed for many classes on the schedule, volunteer with the Seva Foundation and sing with Daniel in his kirtan band. I am now thrilled to be joining my studio family as a teacher for the T/Th 6:30 Level 1/2.

Each of us makes the world a better place when we set aside these moments for ourselves. Join me, beautiful people, and flow in this sweaty, compassionate and joyful practice.  As Hafiz says, "The subject tonight is Love, and for tomorrow night as well." Arielle is inspired by the beautiful ways that compassionate self-awareness and care brings joy and well-being to the world around us. She was first introduced to Hatha Yoga at an east coast music conference in 2000. Her practice has been her companion through many transitions, including her cross-country move to Los Angeles where she discovered Rising Lotus. She completed the RLY Teacher Training in 2009 and has since been teaching beginning and mixed-level Vinyasa flow. Arielle volunteers with the Rising Lotus Seva Foundation and performs with several kirtan bands, including Daniel Stewart and Friends.

Bethany Dotson

Bethany found her way to her first yoga class in 2002 as a stressed out, depressed, over worked college student in Denton, TX. Having a history of battling depression and trying to make ends meet being a full time student and full time employee she was quickly caving and knew something had to change. One sweet, blissful savasana later, she was hooked for life. She relocated to Los Angeles in 2006 to pursue her dreams of acting, where the hustle and bustle of a big city drove her to stay committed to her yoga mat and breath. She has been inspired by countless teachers along the way including Max Strom, Brian Kest, Claire Hartley, Daniel Stewart and all of the amazing teachers at RLY. She has been teaching since 2009 and recently completed the 200 Hr. Teacher Training Program with Rising Lotus Yoga.

She believes yoga, like the art of acting, is a transformative practice which allows us to reconnect with our own beautiful human nature, heal and become more accepting of ourselves and the world around us. She teaches a strong, comforting vinyasa flow class and is committed to creating a sacred space where her students can listen, heal, forgive, uncover truths and come back home to the Divine within.

C. Josephine Wilkins

An intuitive her whole life, C. Josephine Wilkins has been studying yoga for almost twenty years and teaching for eight. Her teaching style comes from an extensive body of knowledge ranging from a number of styles of yoga to massage therapy, aromatherapy and metaphysics. 

Her unique knowledge of yoga asanas and intuitive development allows her to create classes that bring clarity, increase motivation and find inspiration in all types and ages. She created Intuitive Yoga because she is passionate about teaching people how to hone their own intuition as they practice yoga on their mat and off. She lives with her husband in Topanga and has two little pugs who are some of her greatest teachers of peace and love. For more about Josephine, please check out: www.learntheartofhumanbeing.com. 

Yin Class:

In our western world where we are a bit more yang (assertive, extroverted, hard working and caffeine addicted), the more grounding, muscle lengthening, immune system boosting experience of yin yoga is essential not only to balance out a more regular, intense asana practice but also to living in urban America. 

With long, extended stretching and holds, meditation and guided visualization, this class is designed to deeply restore and awaken your quieter energies that need replenishing. This class is perfect for wherever you are at and is designed to honor the feminine, intuitive side of all of us which needs attending and nourishing.

CJ Cevallos

CJ started practicing yoga to relieve stress, little did he know yoga would change his life and change it for the better. His love for the practice was immediate. "Yoga is a way of life, the stress relief and fitness aspects are just a bonus." Only after two years he decided to take the teacher training program with Rising Lotus Yoga. He started teaching immediately after he received his certification. Now teaching classes CJ's musical experience has become very useful. He sings, chants and sometimes uses his own music with the intention to help others feel better. "The breath is what bonds our mind, body and soul, let that be our focus."

Dafna Kaiserman

Dafna began her Yoga practice in 1999, following the advice of a physician, to alleviate symptoms of a medical condition. Having studied dance and dance choreography, Dafna felt at home within the graceful Yoga practice. Dafna was able to stop all medications and discovered that Yoga not only heals the physical body, but this moving meditation heals the mind and soul as well. With the desire to study Yoga in depth and share this practice with others, Dafna completed the 200 hour Teacher Training program at Rising Lotus Yoga in 2010. Join her in the beauty of Vinyasa Flow, a sequence that links breath with movement, creating a powerfully healing Asana practice that quenches the mind, body and soul.

Darby Orr

Darby began his Yoga journey years ago as a way of creating balance in his life amid career stress, long hours sitting in front of a computer and relationship changes. Through Yoga he developed physical strength and flexibility, mental focus and, to his surprise, a renewed and joyous creative spirit. Inspired to share Yoga’s transformational gifts, he formally began his Yoga training with The White Lotus’ Ganga White, Tracey Rich and Sven Holcomb.

Darby’s classes emphasize the perfection of the present moment and the enjoyment of the journey. There’s laughter, sweat and an eclectic mix of music to lift the spirit and impart a sense of balance both physically and mentally. He is continually inspired by his students and feels truly blessed to be a guide, partner and witness to their yoga experience.

Jay Averell

Jay Averell has been a student of Iyengar yoga since 2001. He graduated in 2006 from the three year teacher's training program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of Los Angeles and has recently passed assessment at the first level for certification by the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the U.S. His extensive medical background allows him a great knowledge and understanding of the anatomy of the human body, which he incorporates into his classes. He attended the Iyengar Yoga convention in 2007 in Las Vegas where he studied with Gita Iyengar. The senior teacher that he regularly studies with is Manouso Manos. He has been teaching yoga classes since 2005, and his love of Iyengar Yoga is evident to his students through his infectious enthusiasm.

Jennifer Black

Jennifer Black is a teacher of the heart. Her creative classes inspire us to take a deeper look into who we are, and to embrace life as it is. As a teacher, her greatest responsibility is to always be a student, learning from life and from all the brilliant yoga teachers who have come before her. In her room, you are loved exactly as you are, and we are all one.

Daniel Stewart

Co-owner of Rising Lotus Yoga, and an holistic Mind/Body Psychotherapist in private practice in Santa Monica and Sherman Oaks, Daniel is dedicated to the practice of being fully alive in each moment. 

His playful, heart-centered teaching, combines alignment, meditative breath, and spirit in vigorous vinyasa-flow classes that encourage reconnection to Self, renewal and joy. He incorporates music, eastern philosophy, depth psychology, poetry and laughter to create a stimulating environment where students can release physically, quieting their minds to experience a deep sense of peace and well-being.

Daniel shares his joy of music and bhakti meditation by leading Kirtan and playing sacred music monthly at Rising Lotus, at retreats and other studios in the yoga community. His kirtan is a unique blend of western soul and jazz style improvisation with authentic Sanskrit mantras.  The joy he feels singing is evident in the energy that grows in the room and the heart opening often experienced by participants.  He believes that together, the musicians and the audience find union as they create an ecstatic experience of blissful music and deep mediation.

Along with RLY cofounder Claire Hartley, Daniel co-leads the Rising Lotus Teacher Training program exploring Yoga Philosophy from an integrative depth psychological perspective.

Jerry Bianchini

Jerry is patient, focused and a good humored teacher with a wealth of knowledge. He has studied and taught HathaYoga since 1994 and is certified by YogaWorks and Jivamukti Yoga and has studied with Iyengar teachers around the planet for the last 10 years. His classes are designed to help your body experience ease and build strength and resilience and foster "in-the-moment awareness". 

Karen Rosales

Karen’s journey into yoga began six years ago as part of her effort to heal and rehabilitate her mother after suffering a brain aneurism. Not only did she find yoga to be a successful way to restore her mother’s physical health, she also discovered the profound healing properties of yoga for mental as well as emotional stress.

Karen earned her teaching certification from the White Lotus Foundation (Approved Yoga Alliance 200 hour program) in Santa Barbara, California under the instruction of Ganga White and Tracey Rich in August of 2007. She continues to study and participate in such workshops as Paul Grilley’s Anatomy. She has earned a certificate of completion from The National Multiple Sclerosis Society of Southern California. Through this program, she has developed many modifications for anyone who is working with an injury or health issue.

Her class guides students toward self-awareness and discovering the teacher within each of us. Karen offers a safe, simple, yet challenging asana practice suitable for students of all levels. She believes in a compassionate and nurturing approach to yoga. Students work hard, but there is a balance between working and resting. She believes that the most important part of yoga is using the breath to link the body, mind and spirit. She encourages her students to approach their practice with playful humor, and without judgment. Karen is grateful for the opportunity to share her love of yoga, and as a teacher, she finds that she learns from her students every day.

Lindsley Allen

Lindsley is originally from Hanover, PA and graduated from Philadelphia University of the Arts with a BFA in Ballet. She won a Joe Tremaine Dance Scholarship in New York and that same week moved to LA to purse her passion for dance. Yoga is one of the main reasons Lindsley has been able to maintain a long dance career. It has given her the tools to heal her body, mind and spirit over and over again. Yoga was the most organic transition from being a professional dancer and it has deepened and expanded her life beyond any expectations. Lindsley enjoys practicing, teaching and sharing the many blessings that yoga has to offer. Lindsley is a graduate of the Rising Lotus Teacher Training program.

Micki Duran

Micki began her yoga journey eight years ago. After surviving drug addiction, a friend invited her to her very first yoga class. She had no idea the effect it would have on her and her life. Through yoga she learned that the search is never ending, that the journey of the search IS the reason for living. The thread between each moment through every experience with every emotion being happy, sad, good, bad...IS yoga. After completing the 200 hour teacher training program with Rising Lotus Yoga in Sherman Oaks, Micki hopes to pass on what she's learned through where she's been and to give peace to those who are struggling. She believes with all her heart that we are all beautiful and lovable and worthy of great things.

Nicole Woodard

A devoted teacher and student, Nicole teaches heart-based vinyasa flow classes, with the intention to use the practice on the mat as a safe way to explore and heal our hearts, bodies, and minds, to break down the layers of the self and have a more authentic and loving connection with ourselves and others.

As a professional dancer, she has a love of dance and movement that the vinyasa flow yoga style provides, incorporating ways to flow through the asana with grace while calming the mind and not attaching to outcomes. Nicole's practice began in 2000, and in 2009, she completed her 200 hour, Yoga Alliance certification at Rising Lotus Yoga, under the instruction of Claire Hartley and Daniel Stewart. She is forever grateful to her teachers and students, and for the priceless gift of yoga. www.nicolewoodardyoga.com.

Noelle Beaugureau

With nearly a decade of yoga practice Noelle Beaugureau views yoga as a journey of understanding the connection to the true self within. As a heart based teacher, she believes that the yoga practice should help one release layers of the ego to find a more authentic place internally, while cultivating strength in the body to calm the mind. Through work with the breath, the movement of the body,and letting go of incessant thoughts, Noelle communicates that one can find healing and inner strength. Along with a strong background in Vinyasa Flow Yoga, Noelle's classes are challenging, fun and allow for greater physical and spiritual development. She encourages students to discover more about the deeper layers of the self to initiate change, growth and healing in ones life. With a love of arm balances and inversions, Noelle actively teaches how to incorporate these types of asanas into a yoga practice in a playful and intelligent way. Having studied with many world renowned teachers including Ganga White and Tracy Rich of the White Lotus Foundation, Noelle has cultivated a strong Knowledge of Asana, Pranayama, and Yogic Philosophy. She loves to share with her students all that she has learned over the years and hopes that they can use their yoga in every aspect of their lives. Noelle is deeply grateful to all of her teachers. http://noellebyogini.com/home.html

Ruth Zalduondo

Ruth, who trained with master teachers, including Lisa Walfor, Erich Schiffman, and Rod Striker, is always growing as a yogini and as a perpetual student of yoga and the sutras. Her classes are all heart and she creates a nurturing, supportive atmosphere where students can explore and grow.

Sarah Sol

Sarah Sol has been a student of Yoga since 2000. As a teacher, Sarah combines the glorious breath-focused movements of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois' Ashtanga Yoga with the finely-tuned alignment of B K S Iyengar to create a dynamic Vinyasa Flow. In her classes, you will be encouraged to safely flirt with your physical, emotional and mental boundaries; always with Self-love and infinite compassion. Sarah believes that a Yoga Practice is a dear friend who will see you through the ups and downs of life, all the while expanding and evolving as you do.

A New York transplant, Sarah now resides in Northridge with her beloved husband and their newborn daughter, Sky. She has studied several different schools of yoga from NYC to India, and has now found herself right at home here at Rising Lotus. As a graduate of the Rising Lotus 200hr Teacher Training Program, she is so very grateful to all of her teachers here in CA and abroad

Shannon Branham

Shannon Branham has been teaching yoga and fitness in the LA area for over 10 years. She most recently trained with Brenda Strong, the creator of Female Balancing. She has practiced and trained with many local instructors including Gurmulkh for her own pre and post natal practices. She brings a unique knowledge of both the athletic and spiritual body to her classes and works to help women cultivate a deep awareness and connection to their most important feeling centers.

Terry Littlefield

Terry Littlefield, 200-RYT and long-time practitioner, adores sharing yoga with anyone and everyone because she knows how yogawesome it is!  She began practicing yoga in 2002 and never looked back – except in downward facing dog!  She is passionate and knowledgeable about breathing and stretching (yoga) and knows yoga can make a difference in every body!  Terry is an educator with a big sense of humor and an even bigger heart.   She trained at Rising Lotus Yoga with Claire Hartley and Daniel Stewart.  She looks forward to continuing her yoga journey with you!