lotus
family 
amy pickholtz
amy is a certified hatha yoga teacher, a registered student teacher
with yoga technology, founded by guru rattana, and an
associate member of the international kundalini yoga teacher’s
association (IKYTA). her extensive study of kundalini yoga
and meditation, as taught by yogi bhajan, began in 1999. her
immersion into this unique form of yoga includes studying hundreds of
kriyas, meditations, and chants, as well as the ancient ethical and
philosophical teachings. founding eight chakras yoga in 2004,
amy taught in New Orleans at 3 locations prior to katrina.
now amy brings the yoga of awareness to several locations in east baton
rouge, ascension and livingston parishes, as well as
presenting intensive workshops in new orleans on a regular
basis.
"It's not the life that you
live, it's the courage that you bring to it." Yogi
Bhajan
audrey kaffkallides
having grown up in costa rica, audrey has great love for the outdoors
and nature. she loves to be and to play outside. nature brings calmness
and serenity to her usual hectic life with 4 boys and a husband. when
audrey began practicing yoga, she discovered that aside from the
wonderful way her body felt, it also brought her serenity. so in yoga,
she discovered a similar attribute of nature. audrey is a certified
instructor in yoga, pilates, zumba and group exercise. she also teaches
P.E. to young children.
“after a yoga session i always
feel more calm, grounded and relaxed.”
carmen board 
carmen fell in love with yoga about 12 years ago. it
was as if she had an urge to learn more and more. her
personal experience of yoga motivated her to teaching soon after, and
she has been teaching since.
carmen has a bachelor of science from LSU in fashion merchandising with
a minor in business. she worked in the fashion industry in
her country of colombia before she married her north american
husband. they have two boys ages 17 and 19. she
likes to share her light through her classes and watch it grow!!!!!
“the minute I open my eyes in
the morning I thank God for one more day here on earth, and I ask Him
to please help me help someone else today.”
caroline kennedy
caroline discovered svaroopa® yoga after her autistic son received
therapy from kim orr, one of the most highly-trained svaroopa® teachers
and therapists in the country. his improvement was astounding
and she decided to learn more through training with master yoga
foundation, the non-profit organization founded by the creator of
svaroopa® yoga. she now shares what she has learned by
teaching yoga in the svaroopa® style. students report
remarkable benefits, including regulating blood pressure, relieving
tension, healthier bone mass, and a general sense of well-being that
comes through a regular practice. her individual clients
report back pain relief, deep relaxation benefits, improvement in
spinal curvatures, and improved diet management skills. she
left her happy and rewarding museum career to work with master yoga
foundation, to continue with training, and to teach yoga in the
svaroopa® style.
“i hope to ease the stresses of
life for all students who take Svaroopa yoga classes.”
christine chrest
christine recently moved to the baton rouge from los angeles.
she has been practicing and teaching yoga for over 15 years, teaching
all throughout the united states, europe and japan. she has a
BFA in dance from point park college, an MFA in dance from the
university of california, irvine, and is a certified yoga instructor
through the prestigious white lotus foundation in santa barbara,
california. She has taught numerous dancers, fitness experts
and celebrities in both new york and los angeles.
“I began practicing yoga as a
dancer in 1990. I have to say that what immediately hooked me was the
healing aspect of yoga. As I deepened my practice and when I began
teaching I really grew to appreciate and fall in love with the shared
energy of the room. It is a mission of mine to have a non-competitive
environment where shared energy can be a useful tool to inspire
students, help people learn about themselves through others, and even
begin to become attuned to when another student needs their own
personal space. yoga is such an amazing practice to get an
individual in touch with their body, mind and spirit, to find the
balance of the yin and yang, sun and moon. i think that the function of
a group class is to help each individual find their balance in their
own time, on their own journey while being surrounded by support.”
hannah lane romero
hannah lane attended her first yoga class 8 years ago in baton rouge,
but did not really connect with her practice until 2002, when she
embarked on her spiritual journey. in savannah, georgia, hannah
encountered yoga instructors who made an impression on her soul. the
door to the journey was opened and through her practice, hannah began
to understand the mind, body, and breathe connection and felt the
benefits of mindfulness grounding her through life’s trials.
hannah received her BFA in illustration from the savannah college of
art and design and currently pursues her dream of painting and
illustrating children’s books. as a free-spirited artist, hannah found
her yoga practice to be a consistent form of structure and centering
easily accessible anywhere, especially during her travels.
to deepen her practice as well as share her experience with the baton
rouge community, hannah became yoga alliance certified through the
shambhava school of yoga on the big island, hawaii. the hatha
yoga program offered a strong foundation in meditation and yoga
philosophy, which hannah hopes to impart to her students. through her
flowing hatha classes, hannah brings a sense of awareness and
relaxation to her students. the students are encouraged to find their
personal edge on the mat while flowing through each vinyasa using the
breath to guide them.
“my goal is to challenge the
body while creating mindfulness and acceptance on the mat, making my
classes appropriate for any age and body type.”
jean cowan
jean was introduced to yoga in early 2002, and immediately knew it was
going to be a permanent part of her life. Recognizing yoga’s
power to change not just the body, but also the mind and spirit, she
knew she wanted to help others the way her teachers had helped
her. In late 2005, she decided to become a teacher and share
the practice, and she has been training to do so since then.
She has
studied with Victoria Robertson, and has also received teacher training
in Ashtanga and Integral Yoga styles.
“my classes blend these and
other styles to offer challenging physical postures within a calming,
meditative practice. My classes combine body, breath and mind
through asana (postures), pranayama (breathing exercises), and
meditation. Feel free to participate in any and all portions
of the class that you wish! I am committed to furthering my
studies not only of asana, pranayama, and meditation, but also of the
yoga sutras. In particular, I am interested in how yoga
philosophy is related to other world philosophies, including
Buddhism. I live in Baton Rouge
with my husband, dog, cats, goldfish, and various backyard wildlife
that have become dependent on me for a regular supply of seeds.”
jennifer
tenhundfeld 
jennifer was first introduced to yoga in 2003 seeking help with
flexibility and chronic pain that developed after 30 years working as a
dental technician hunched over a work bench. she gravitated to
svaroopa yoga because of the disciplined systematic approach that
produced dramatic effects in body and mind from the very first
session. she no longer has chronic sinus headaches, shoulder pain or
back pain. yoga has calmed her mind as well as
unraveled the tensions in her body. jennifer trained with
rama berch, the developer of svaroopa yoga, at kripalu in
massachusetts.
“i would like to help others
discover the benefits of yoga in relieving chronic
pain, in quieting of the mind, and in cultivating contentment and inner
joy. svaroopa yoga allows you to experience the bliss of your
own being.”
john eeds
john started teaching yoga after retiring from a career as a mechanical
engineer. As a certified yoga teacher, he has studied primarily in the
vinyasa and ashtanga yoga styles.
“i enjoy teaching a challenging
class and helping others to become aware of the inner strength and
transforming power that a regular yoga practice develops and nurtures.
finding one’s focus and awareness on the yoga mat helps each of us to
recognize what’s important in life and enables us to live fuller,
richer lives.”
lynn
b. oliver
lynn has been an AFAA certified instructor and personal trainer for 27
years. For the last seven years, her certification for yoga,
pilates, and cycling has been through international alliance, schwinn,
and yoga alliance through yoga steps.
“i believe that through the
daily practices of yoga, one can improve the physical, mental, and
spiritual aspects of the self. working with the chakras, one
may experience higher learning, clearer understanding of the universe,
and the underlying harmony of outer and inner peace.”
margaret culbertson
margaret has taken a variety of hatha yoga classes over the years, but
after she began svaroopa® yoga classes in 2003 with kim orr, she began
a consistent class and home practice. from the very first
class, she discovered an incredible lessening of physical and mental
tensions. within months, a number of her physical complaints,
including reduced range of motion from an injury, were resolved and
classmates were reporting much improvement as well, including reduced
pain, lower blood pressure, fewer headaches and a generalized feeling
of well being. margaret is licensed clinical social worker who most
recently worked as the stress management program coordinator in a
mental health hurricane recovery program, margaret began incorporating
many of the yoga principles into the stress management services and
people reported that those were very beneficial. “i
want to continue to share the benefits i have gained through svaroopa®
yoga with others.”
mary norman
prior to teaching yoga, mary had a career in pharmaceutical
sales. her in-depth training in particular disease states has
been useful in the instruction of hatha yoga. it has been very
rewarding to witness students’ ability to strengthen and heal from
within in conjunction with or as an alternative to the sole use of
modern pharmacology. her teaching style is vinyasa,
both intermediate and power. she is a 1982 graduate of LSU,
B.A. in journalism.
“i want to facilitate and
enhance the strengthening and union of mind-body-spirit working from
‘within’. I aspire to intuitively instruct, meeting all
students needs --- in turn bringing greater awareness and personal
intuitive power to each individual student.”
victoria robertson
victoria has been integrating hatha yoga into her daily life for nearly
30 years. she credits her teacher of 20 years, nancy clark,
with instilling her love of yoga. Also, TKV desikachar,
kaustaub desikachar, doug keller, judith lasater, david life and
personal ashtanga teacher and mentor, todd geiser, have informed and
inspired her practice of alignment and moving with the
breath. many hours on the mat revealed that pranayama and a
dynamic flow quiets the senses and develops a calm and less reactive
state of mind. she formed om yoga studio before coming to
lotus yoga. she has taught private classes, yoga for the
equestrian, yoga for kids, and presently teaches yoga for teachers at
the LSU lab school. monthly, she studies chanting and the
yoga sutras with a group in mandeville, LA. she is certified
and also registered with yoga alliance. karma yoga is
manifested through VIPS, co-advising the middle school youth group and
shut-in ministry through university presbyterian church. she
encourages all students to develop a meditation and an asana practice
with personal modifications that honors a healthy mind and
body. she is married and has two young adult daughters.
yajun thomas
zhuang:
grand master yajun thomas zhuang is one of china's top wushu
artists. In china, master zhuang began full-time wushu (chinese martial
arts) training at the age of eight when he was selected from thousands
of children to attend the jiangsu wushu Institute. at age 17
he continued his study of wushu culture at nanjing normal university
and subsequently he joined the faculty at nanjing Industrial
university. master zhuang specializes in the following styles:
chang quan (long fist), tai chi quan (the 5 main styles), xing yi quan,
ba gua zhang jian (straight sword), zui quan (drunken fist), zui jian
(drunken sword). visit him at www.taichiperson.com
dr. michelle boullion
dr.
michelle boullion is a louisiana native. she has been
practicing
and instructing yoga for several years and is also a certified pilates
mat instructor. michelle's classes tend to combine
traditional
flexibility and balance exercises with both higher intensity strength
and endurance exercises and many execises focusing on strengthening and
toning the core area of the abdominals and back. in addition
to
yoga and pilates instruction, michelle also engages in human resources
and training and development consultant work, teaches leadership and
management classes as an adjunct faculty member in the department of
human resource education and workforce development at louisiana state
university and as an adjunct faculty member in the department of
management at southeastern louisiana university. in addition
to
yoga and pilates michelle enjoys playing golf, traveling, working out,
playing softball, snow skiing, hiking, white water rafting, attending
lsu sporting events, and spending time with family and friends,
