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 SUSAN VAN NUYS (E-RYT 500)
Susan is the director of The Health Advantage Yoga Center. She has been a yoga practitioner since 1989 and began teaching in 1997. Susan has studied with many world-class teachers, focusing on alignment-based styles. She received a BS degree in computer science and linguistics from the College of William and Mary and she particularly enjoys applying the logic she learned while programming to the progressive teaching of yoga poses. Susan's approach is warm and clear with an appreciation of individual differences.
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JUDYETTE BAKER (INTERNATIONAL CERTIFIED PILATES INSTRUCTOR) 
Judyette is a Life Style entrepreneur who has been teaching Pilates for more than 18 years. She attained the Pilates Method certification through internationally renowned Core Dynamics, a comprehensive classical Pilates curriculum and teacher training program designed by Michele Larsson. Judyette expounded on her passion for health and wellness and studied at the Tulsi Holistic Living Natural Health Center in Washington, D.C. where she became a Certified Holistic Nutritionist. Her primary focus is on holistic health which is based on the premise that the body has an innate ability to heal itself. Given the right ingredients - appropriate nutrition, regular elimination of toxins, adequate rest and rejuvenation, physical activity, and mental/emotional balance – the body will metamorphose to its true optimal health.
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KRIS CARPENTER (RYT 200) 
In 2017, Kris completed the HAYC teacher training program. She has 10 years of experience providing one-on-one and group-oriented grief support to the bereaved as a trained volunteer for Haven of Northern Virginia. Kris is grateful that both her grief training and her yoga journey have prompted her to explore a variety of issues and to ask fiercely pointed questions, the answers to which have led her to reshape her body, mind, and relationships. In her classes, Kris hopes to combine grief training and yoga to create a nurturing environment that enables students to explore and study their own bodies, minds, and relationships.
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KATHY DUKE (RYT 500, E-RYT 200)
Kathy completed the HAYC teacher training program in 2000 and the advanced teacher training at The Himalayan Institute in 2009. Her yoga studies have allowed opportunities to study with many insightful teachers from a variety of traditions such as Kaustaub Desikachar, Erich Schiffman, and Judith Lasater. In addition, Kathy holds a Personal Training Certification from the American Council on Exercise and is a former ACSM Health Fitness Specialist. She earned a BFA from Virginia Commonwealth University and has worked and volunteered in the health and fitness industry for more than twenty years.
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 DAAN HUMBERG (RYT 200)
Daan began his yoga journey with an introductory class at Gold's gym at the suggestion of a trainer. He was so impressed with the flexibility it provided for strength conditioning that classes continued at HAYC starting in 2012. Daan completed the HAYC Teacher Training program in 2017. His teachers have been Angelika Stadel, Susan Van Nuys, Erin Scherger, and Patricia Pao. Daan enjoys sharing with others the practice of yoga and its techniques for improving flexibility, strength and mindfulness.
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 DOUG KELLER (E-RYT 500)
Doug has a strong background in the alignment-based styles of yoga, as well as in yoga philosophy and yoga therapy. He was a regular columnist in the internationally renowned magazine Yoga+ and is the author of several books covering all aspects of yoga practice. He holds a Master's Degree in Philosophy from Fordham University, and travels nationally and internationally, teaching workshops in philosophy and pranayama as well as hatha yoga. And of course he teaches regularly at the Health Advantage Yoga Center!
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 KELLY KESSLER (RYT 200)
Kelly started as a student at HAYC in 1993 and completed the HAYC Teacher Training Program in 1999. She studies therapeutic yoga intensively, drawing upon her own experiences as well as her work as a Neuromuscular Massage Therapist to teach the healing power of yoga to her students.
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NORA MAY (RYT 200, RCYT)
Nora is a National Board Certified Teacher/Exceptional Needs Specialist, and a licensed Elementary and Special Education teacher (Pre-K through 12) who taught for 20 years in elementary and high schools. She has been studying yoga at HAYC since 1995, and she completed the 95-hour Children's Yoga Teacher Training at Beloved Yoga in 2016 and the 200-hour Teacher Training at HAYC in 2017. Nora holds degrees in Psychology, Special Education, and Photography, and is a certified instructor in Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction
for Teens (MBSR-T).
Having retired from full-time teaching, Nora now enjoys sharing the benefits of yoga with preschoolers through teens, and wants to bring the advantages of yoga practice to all ages and abilities. Retirement is also affording her more time to spend with other things she loves: playing with her grandson, working in her garden, and teaching and doing photography.
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 PAT PAO (E-RYT 200, RCYT)
Pat began her yoga studies with Betty Roi. She has studied extensively at HAYC since 1998 and has completed the HAYC Teacher Training Program, Radiant Child, Yoga 4 Teens, and Yin Yoga Teacher Training programs. She is also a Relax & Renew Trainer. Pat has completed intensive teacher training workshops with Kaustaub Desikachar, Paul Grilley, Anodea Judith, Judith Lasater, Elise Browning Miller, Sarah Powers, Erich Schiffman, and Rodney Yee. She is a former professional dancer and ballet teacher. Pat worked for over eighteen years as a movie casting director.
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 RITA SAMBRUNA (RYT 200)
Rita started her yoga journey in 2001 and is a graduate of the HAYC teacher training program. Rita holds a certificate from the Cancer Exercise Training Institute, and, having studied with Tari Prinster, founder of the Yoga4Cancer methodology (y4c), is a certified Yoga for Cancer teacher. Rita has also studied with Iyengar teachers John Schumacher and Julie Gudmestad, deepening her understanding of alignment-based yoga, and with Judith Hanson Lasater, becoming a certified Relax and Renew® Trainer. Rita strives to create a warm and nurturing teaching environment where students can progress at their own pace and unfold their full potential.
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 KARYN SANDELMAN
Karyn is the founder and principal of A Mindful Choice, which offers secular mindfulness programs in organizations, schools, and community settings. A former leader at Freddie Mac, she has over 25 years of experience coaching teams and facilitating learning programs. From 2015 to 2017, she also managed and delivered mindfulness curricula as Director of Adult and Elementary Programs for Minds Incorporated, a nonprofit based in Washington, D.C. Karyn is a highly trained, experienced mindfulness educator, qualified by the Center for Mindfulness at the University of Massachusetts Medical Center to teach the preeminent Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) program, as well as certified by Mindful Schools. She earned her M.S. degree from Columbia University and B.S. degree from Cornell University. In sharing mindfulness with others, Karyn draws upon 20 years of personal practice, along with her passion about the positive, transformative potential mindfulness offers to all.
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 ERIN SCHERGER (E-RYT 200)
Erin began her yoga practice at HAYC in 2005. She completed the HAYC Teacher Training Program in 2010, qualified as an Elise Browning Miller Yoga for Scoliosis Trainer in 2012, and continues to broaden her own studies. Drawing on her past experiences as a competitive figure-skater and childbirth educator, Erin enjoys light-heartedly encouraging others to tune in, find their inner strength, and move mindfully.
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 CAROL ANN SONNENFELD (E-RYT 200)
Carol Ann began her journey with yoga in 1997 and completed the HAYC Teacher Training Program in 2012. Her prior career of providing hospitalized patients with therapeutic interventions to reduce fear and anxiety has helped her understand how yoga can benefit each student in their unique journey to health and wellness. Carol Ann readily shares her positive energy in her yoga teaching, inspiring her students to see their full potential and face the rollercoaster ride of life.
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 CHERYL WASHINGTON (RYT 500)
Cheryl has studied yoga at HAYC since 1997. She completed the HAYC Teacher Training Program in 2004 and has taught recreation center and corporate yoga classes since 2005.
Cheryl has studied with leading international yoga teachers such as Barbara Benagh, Beryl Bender Birch, Paul Grilley, Judith Lasater, Elise Miller, Sara Powers, Rodney Yee and others. She teaches with a focus on physical alignment so her students fully benefit from the poses, and promotes flexibility and stress reduction. Cheryl wants students to experience the oasis of peace yoga brings to busy lives.
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RYT and E-RYT are registrations with the Yoga Alliance. These registrations represent levels of educational training and teaching experience for yoga teachers.
All HAYC teachers have met these standards and are registered with the Yoga Alliance. For more information, please visit the Yoga Alliance website: www.yogaalliance.org
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