Instructors, FYTT I
Leah Gillman
Leah discovered a love for movement and the potential of the human body while executing highly inspired free-form investigations as a child.
Her formal training began at age eleven, when she launched her studies in modern dance and choreography. She graduated from high school from N.C. School of the Arts and received her BFA in Modern Dance with a concentration in Choreography from SUNY Purchase.
After college, Leah lived in New York City where she directed her dance company, The Gillman Troop, while working days as a bike messenger.
Leah first began taking Iyengar and Vinyasa yoga classes in 1994 in New York City. In 1996 she turned her energies entirely to competitive cycling and her yoga practice.
She began teaching yoga when she moved to the Bay Area in 1999 and was certified at It’s Yoga in 2000 in Ashtanga Vinyasa. She has also completed David Swenson’s Teacher Training with a focus on hands-on adjustments.
In 2001 Leah was certified in Acupressure Massage and in 2005, was certified to teach Ashiatsu by Edward Spencer. She continues her studies with Edward and is an associate teacher for the Ashiatsu (aka Barefoot Shiatsu) classes at the Acupressure Institute.
Leah has taught yoga classes at various yoga studios, fitness centers, elementary schools, out of her home-studio, and at different worksite locations. She has been certifying yoga instructors through FYTT since 2008.
Leah lives with her daughters Naomi & Olivia and her partner, Peter Ajemian in Berkeley, CA. Still enjoying dance and cycling, Leah can also be found in martial arts classes, on her bicycle and participating in the occasional sprint-distance triathalon.
Read testimonials about Leah’s classes
Carrie Adams
Carrie came to yoga via a circuitous path. Her first occupation was as a student of Nature. This grew from a childhood love, where she raised a wide variety of critters in her very tolerant parents’ garage and yard, into a passion and a career. Her love of the outdoors led her to learn to scuba dive, which led to a degree in biology from UCSC, which in turn led to a Masters degree in Marine Science. She has been fortunate enough to have worked at the Long Marine Laboratory in Santa Cruz, the Santa Cruz City Museum, the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and the Oakland Museum.
A combination of a deep belief in the interconnectedness of nature and a love of dance and movement led Carrie try her first yoga class in 2001. Since then she has been been a dedicated practitioner, and received her first teaching certification in 2002. In 2006 she became a certified Anusara Yoga teacher.
Carrie has taught people of all all ages and levels of fitness in a variety of locations in the Bay Area, including studios, senior centers, the Berkeley Public School System, and the YMCA. She believes in the power of yoga to change people’s lives, as is grateful to be able to offer back what she has so graciously been given from her teachers.
Carrie lives in Berkeley, with her husband, a 14 year old son, and a Guinea Pig. In addition to practicing and teaching yoga, she enjoys telemark skiing, mountain biking, kayaking, and dancing of any kind.
Mary Beth Ray
Mary Beth (MB) has been exploring yoga as a philosophy and physical practice for many years. She has studied with wonderful teachers and participated in classes and workshops in various traditions including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa, Yin, and Anusara. She is especially drawn toward the moving meditation of a vinyasa style of practice and since 2006 she has been a dedicated student of Ashtanga Vinyasa in the classical self-paced Mysore tradition of Sri. K. Pattabhi Jois.
As a teacher MB wishes to share yoga as a day-by-day, moment-by-moment practice of well-being. In her classes she guides you through dynamic sequences of movement while you play with the subtle alignment cues of the postures, and most importantly tune your awareness to the quality and presence of your breath during both exertion and stillness. Through the practice she encourages you to discover balance between effort and ease, to develop your own inner and outer strength and flexibility, and hone a more graceful engagement with your everyday life. In this way “yoga” can become a daily practice both on and off the mat. www.mbryoga.com
Karen JohnsonIn 1980 Karen used crutches to walk into to her first yoga class. It was a great type of physical therapy that led her to a career in barefoot movement and modern dance. She studied at Cal State University Long Beach, winning a Dance Magazine award and an A.D.F. national title. After leaving Los Angeles to live in the Bay Area, she received her degree in the LEAP program at St. Mary’s College then studied with Leah Gillman in her first flow yoga teacher training.
Karen loves the way yoga allows the mind to find itself inside the body, awakening the physical to allow the practice of mindfulness and the letting go of judgment. Her classes honor the moments between asanas as opportunities to deepen the breath and be fully in each moment. She connects the poses in a playful manner with the goal to
guide others through their journeys in a non-intimidating and fun environment. When Karen isn’t practicing inversions and half moons she is happy making messes as an art teacher at Lakeview Preschool and Redwood Day School.