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.

Chris O’Loughlin, Co-Director of Acenda, is a 200-hour Registered Yoga Teacher, he completed his training in San Diego, California.

Yoga blessed his life in 2001, and he’s both passionate about and fascinated by its practice. Chris brings a lightness to class, while challenging students to grow in their practice and explore the depth of each pose. He brings years of experience in the fitness industry with him, providing a vast knowledge of the workings of the human body and it’s potential. This awareness paired with his commitment to meditation and mindful living provides the foundation for the well-rounded physical and spiritual practice he offers his students.

He feels it’s truly an honor and a pleasure to share the practice of yoga with the students at Acenda. Namaste.

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.

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 Martinez Atzberger’s style of yoga is vinyasa yoga, meaning flowing movement from one asana to the next, with the breath always leading the way. She is inspired by the Tantric philosophy that embraces and celebrates our differences while recognizing that we are all connected together by a higher divine existence. She believes that yoga is for everyone and that the more people that practice yoga the better world we all will share. To that end, she teaches yoga to the girls in the Cuyahoga County Juvenile Detention Center where she continues to be humbled and inspired by her students. She believes that yoga not only heals our bodies, but helps us to open our hearts and gives us the strength to live a more meaningful life. 

She has been practicing yoga for many years and received her 200 hour Yoga Alliance teacher certification in May of 2010, studying with Mitchel Bleier and Tammy Lyons at Inner Bliss yoga studio, in Rocky River, Ohio.  She is also an attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland where she works on behalf of children and families. Her other greatest teachers are her husband and children who support and motivate her to be a better person every day.

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.

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