Acenda Yoga

Acenda Yoga was created to serve all. While we offer a full range of traditional classes, our Adaptive classes aim to bridge the mind-body gap for individuals living with disabilities. Adaptive Yoga provides the link to bring the disabled student back to the full experience of being present in their body. Our teachers are committed to helping every student build a meaningful practice and experience yoga as a way of life. We strive to create the experience of satsang, a place of truth, for all who enter into our sacred space.

Founder of Acenda Yoga, Arabelle dreams of a world where yoga is available to everyone. Having completed her 200 hour certification under the instruction of Mitchel Bleier and Tammy Lyons, she continued her training in Adaptive Yoga with Matthew Sanford in Minnetonka, Minnesota. She created Acenda to bridge the gap between ability and disability while providing affordable yoga to the community. Her own practice is based on her study of the works of BKS Iyengar, for whom she holds the utmost respect. She is dedicated to her daily study and practice of yoga and committed to providing a genuine experience for all of her students. A mother of four beautiful children, her life is an abundance of sources of gratitude.

Kelly Novak embraces yoga with enthusiasm and love. In February 2008, she found herself in a yoga class as a last resort for stress relief, unsure of what to expect. That morning, and in the months to come, she found more than she ever expected – a development of mental and physical strengths and uplifting spiritual awareness. As a non-athlete, she felt relieved to find a way to step into her body in a fun, accepting environment. Kelly cultivated her nonphysical yoga practice as a way to deepen her mind and heart - and to laugh and be light! As her yoga practice continued – on and off the mat - she found courage and confidence and never looked back. Her vinyasa classes focus on a well-rounded physical practice with the incorporation of thoughtful concepts ranging from the contemplative to the humorous. She loves to laugh and brings that energy into her classes. She believes that how we navigate our yoga practice parallels our lives – finding strength, flexibility and balance. Kelly completed yoga teacher training at Inner Bliss Yoga Studio in Rocky River, Ohio, under the instruction of Mitchel Bleier and Tammy Lyons, and has been fortunate enough to learn directly from many talented practitioners. Her favorite teachers are her students, who truly teach her everything.

Jennifer Lenhart loves the way yoga makes her feel and loves sharing it with others. She never ceases to be amazed by its ability to transform the body, mind, and spirit. In her classes, she encourages her students to experience the full potential and beauty of each posture, to explore their breath, to be present in the moment, and to see that the gifts of a yoga practice can be carried off the mat and into our daily lives. Her classes are joyful, inviting, and inspiring, and she incorporates her down-to-earth personality and great music into each. Jennifer began practicing yoga in 1994. She is a certified yoga teacher registered with the Yoga Alliance and considers herself blessed to have undertaken 200 hour teacher training with Marni Task through the Jivasara School. For Jennifer, the study and practice of yoga is a lifelong endeavor, and she enjoys learning something every day from each of her teachers and students. Learn more at www.jenniferlenhart.com.

Like many, being sick and broken led me to yoga. It took me months of coming
to my mat to even attempt to do one downward facing dog. As my yoga practice
grew, I was able to find health, laughter, joy and peace on my yoga mat... and in
my life. After years of practice, my personal journey in yoga, running and biking
has led me to be the athlete I dream of being... today, in the body I have.
Helping others share in that journey with me is a true joy. Find more at
BethanyThomasUniverse.com

 

I feel I am a twenty-something in a mid-fifties body. My dominant feeling in life is delight. "Life is for constant exploration in ourselves, relationships, food, and travel".

I found yoga in 1992 after the birth of my third child. After years of feeling constrained my yoga practice left me feeling released. I cried. With all the early busy years of starting a family I felt lost to myself. Yoga opened the door to feelings that I had suppressed. It started me on a journey to let go and finally I ended on the doorstep of joy!

By 1997 I decided to be part of Teacher Training with Bhumi, a Kripalu-trained instructor who had recently returned home to Cleveland. It was a study of myself in postures on the mat, that moved to a study of myself and my world all the time. The stillness of time became a part of her life. More joy was found in the little moments that before seemed annoying. Life began to flow more smoothly. If I let go... if not forced into doing... all seemed to flow. I found parking spots for one!

Ashtanga became a part of my life in 1998 when I took my first class with the "Grateful Dead" instructor Larry Schultz from San Francisco. In a ballroom on the third floor of a Bexley estate in Columbus, 70 people practiced. I found joy and challenges in the practice. Since then many great teachers have instructed me through this journey. Martha Marcom, co-owner of Yoga on High in Columbus, was my first teacher. Martha started on this path many years earlier and I saw the Ashtanga group in Columbus as healthy and strong because of her. David Swenson and Tim Miller began almost yearly visits for workshops and teacher trainings and I attended all that I could. In Cleveland I photocopied a page of the Primary Series and began a Primary Series Flow class at 5 PM on Saturdays at any studio that was receptive. A small group practiced for years with the "cheat sheets" and the Cleveland Ashtanga community was born. When Pattabhi Jois visited the states for the last time in 2005 I practiced with the Master. Read more and find info about yoga retreats at my home in Costa Rica at http://ashtangacostarica.com/index.htm

 

Ellen's first introduction to yoga was at age 11, in the basement of her local synagogue. The practice didn't last, but the seed had been planted. Eleven years later, having moved to New York City, Ellen decided to try yoga out once again. She found the practice invigorating, challenging and refreshing. It was exactly the escape she needed from her hectic life in the city that never sleeps. 

Having moved to Cleveland, Ellen found a practice that really spoke to her in a class taught as a mixture of Jivamukti and Anusara yoga. Ellen completed her 200 hour yoga teacher certification with Marni Task in June of 2009 and has been teaching regularly since then. In addition to Marni, Ellen has studied with renowned teachers like Max Strom, Tiffany Frasier, Rowan Silverberg, Simon Park, and Dechen Thurman.

Ellen teaches a fast-paced, vinyasa flow class, where students are encouraged to challenge themselves and use their breath to realize and attain the unity of body, mind, and spirit. Modifications are offered. Previous experience for beginners is encouraged.

 

 

Sarah earned her 200-hour teacher certification in June 2009 through Marni Task’s Jivasara Yoga School.  That same year, she completed an Anusara Immersion with Sianna Sherman.  Her classes are vinyasa-based and are focused on breath, strength, flexibility, balance, motion, and stillness and are set to an eclectic mix of music. She’s inspired by her teachers (Marni Task, Laura Sutphen, Sianna Sherman, Amy Ippoliti, Elena Brower, Max Strom, Seane Corn, and Suzanne Sterling to name a few), family, friends, and loved ones. She continues to study and practice and hopes to share her insights along the way, encouraging others on their paths.  Sarah's purpose and mission statement for being a yoga teacher is to elevate consciousness by creating an environment for students to discover and access their creativity, strength, beauty, and wisdom so they can live to their fullest potential.

Jim Doughman, RYT200 - It's with a beginner's mind that even the most experienced Yogis enter each practice, one breath at a time.  Yoga is for everyone and can be as simple as sitting comfortably, focusing on your breath as you clear your mind of the daily jibber jabber;  or as physically challenging as gracefully gliding from a seated position into a handstand and back again.  That's why Yoga is a practice that forever deepens as opposed to a state of attainment that occurs, then immediately slides into our past.  Yoga is all about bringing ourselves into the present, finding that space between instants that leads us into the commonality we all share within.

My classes are more solar than lunar in nature, so they are meant to challenge you physically, while being accessible and, I hope, well aligned with your expectations given the class description on this site.  The asanas I offer are Ashtanga influenced, so you may notice a few subtle alignment differences from other practices, such as pressing the palms together in virabhadrasana A, utkatasana and anjenayasana.  I also have a pronounced sense of humor, so I hope you'll feel free to laugh (at me and even at yourself) and to raise your voice as you feel the muse.   I invite you to join me every now and then to stroll together along our Yogic path for a little while.

 

Jennifer’s style of yoga is “vinyasa flow,” with the breath always leading the way. She is the founder and Executive Director of Urban Lotus Youth Yoga (www.urbanlotusyoga.org.) a non-profit organization created to bring yoga to children in the inner-city through schools, community organizations, and detention centers.  She was inspired to create ULYY through her experience as an attorney working with children in the juvenile justice system and through her own studies as a student of yoga. She honors the Tantric philosophy that embraces and celebrates our differences while recognizing that we are all inter-connected. She believes that yoga is for everyone and that the more people that practice yoga, the better world we all will share.

Jennifer is also an attorney with the ACLU of Ohio where she works to promote justice and protect civil liberties. She received her teacher certification through Yoga Alliance in May of 2010, studying with Mitchel Bleier and Tammy Lyons at Inner Bliss yoga studio, in Rocky River, Ohio. In addition, she has studied with many other gifted teachers including local Cleveland guru, Marni Task and world renowned teacher, Max Strom. She also completed her certification through the Street Yoga program from Portland, Oregon which is designed to train teachers to provide yoga classes to children and adults who have experienced trauma or homelessness. Her other greatest teachers are her husband and children who support and motivate her to be a better person every day.

 

Jackie Van Meter enjoys every aspect of yoga and what it brings to her life. In 2009, she enrolled in a beginners’ workshop to cope with the stress of balancing motherhood, work and life in general. After suffering a knee injury in high school, she found great relief in the asana practice of yoga and feels stronger, both physically and mentally. Being a spiritual person, Jackie found that practicing yoga has truly deepened her faith and learning to breathe has unleashed a new-found freedom in her own body and mind. She is a Certified Childlight Yoga Instructor (CCLYI) and is excited to teach yoga to children. Jackie loves that Yoga is accessible to everybody. Especially with children, she is excited to explore with them all aspects of yoga. Her classes are educational, as well as playful teaching new postures, offering team building and social skills in partner and group poses, and offering breathing exercises. Her hope is to inspire children to find freedom and strength in their own bodies and minds to realize their full potential. A mother of two children and a golden retriever, Jackie feels grateful for the many gifts in her life. In the spring of 2013, Jackie is enrolled in a 200-hour yoga teacher. Learn more at www.jackievanmeter.com. 

 

Joanne Russo LaPlaca, E-RYT, DiHom, Reiki Master, has been practicing yoga since 1984 and teaching Vinyasa Flow Yoga in Cleveland for seven years.  She received her certification from Sonic Yoga in New York City in 2008 and has studied yoga and meditation with Akhilesh Bodhi of Neoyoga, India, Rodney Yee, Colleen Saidman, Cindy Lee, David Nichtern, Max Strom, Mitchel Bleier, Bill and Margot Milcetich, Shannon Gannon and David Life, and Dharma Mittra.  Workshops include:  OM Yoga’s Women’s Cancer Survivor Teacher Training with Tari Prinster and the Lineage Project with Beth Navon.

Joanne travels throughout the year attending classes with her teachers at Sonic Yoga, OM Yoga, Jivamukti Yoga and Yoga to the People, most recently to India.

Passionate about all aspects of yoga and meditation, Joanne infuses her classes with yogic philosophy, spirituality, awareness and proper alignment, creating a purposeful vigorous Vinyasa Flow.  She is interested in the landscape of the inner self and the well-being people. 

Joanne is also a Reiki Master (2011)  and Homeopathic Consultant (2003).

 

Yoga was a natural and gradual transition for Erin on her lifelong spiritual journey. In yoga, Erin discovered an outlet to become more introspective, found meaning and purpose in her day to day life, and made a strong connection with her body-mind. Erin recognizes her teachers when the manifest in many different forms and is inspired to find the lesson in each story. This is her yoga.

Erin has bachelors of science degree in Exercise Physiology from Bowling Green State University. She is certified through Marni Task’s Jivasara Teacher Training. Anatomy is a passion of hers, and she enjoys teaching classes that are slow in nature so students can deeply feel their body, connect with the mind, and breathe. She believes that asana practice is only a fraction of what yoga has to offer and encourages her students to take their yoga off the mat.

Erin enjoys hiking, biking, rowing, paddleboarding, snowboarding, and anything else you invite her to do. She loves trying new things. She is passionate about a plant-based diet, live music, and documentaries. Erin is a friend to many, daughter to two amazing parents, sister to her best friends, aunt to three of the cutest little boys, and mother to an incredible dog, who teaches her every day to love unconditionally. Erin recognizes the importance of her support system, and credits them for her life's successes and is fortunate to lean on them during life's misfortunes.

Erin continues the study and practice of yoga everyday, on and off the mat.