Studio founder Adri* Frick started practicing yoga in 2003 under Wanda Bishop. Many years later, while working on her MA thesis, Adri thought she was "too busy for yoga." As she slid in regular practice and deprioritized her own needs, she blew out both of her knees and took a year of physical therapy to be able to walk up stairs again. After she recovered, she realized the deeper significance of yoga in her life and decided to become a yoga instructor. Her focus is on yoga therapy for injury recovery and stress management. Her commitment is to bring stressed out, irritable, overwhelmed type A's a sense of relief and ease.

Her teaching style strives to balance detailed, informative instruction with a playful, light-hearted irreverence and based in her varied experience teaching many very different subjects to many populations, as well as her side interests in teaching theory, the humanities, cognitive science, and linguistics.

* pronounced ā'drē, "ay-dree," or in IPA: /eɪˌdri/.

Yoga and teaching qualifications:

• Student of Iyengar-influenced Hatha yoga since 2003, TA 2004-2006
• Completed 200 hour training from Yoga and Movement Center, Walnut Creek, 2010-2011 class
• Registered Yoga Alliance since 2010, International Association of Yoga Therapists (IAYT) since 2012
• Completed 85 hour Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher (RPYT) training at Yoga Garden SF under Marisa Toriggino and Gabbriela Yates, 2012
• Completed International Childbirth Education Association certified Prenatal Fitness Educator (ICPFE) program, 2010
• It's Yoga Kids Certified (IYKC) in teaching yoga to children ages 3-13, 2010
• Relax and Renew Trainer® Restorative Yoga training with Judith Hanson Lasater, 2011
• Completed 8 week Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR) course based on Jon Kabat-Zinn's clinical mindfulness work with friend of the studio, Wendy Beckerman (see below), 2012
• Continuing Education and conference study with Jason Crandell, Bo Forbes, Seane Corne, etc.
• Associate Teacher certificate in Early Childhood Education from Diablo Valley College
• Other teaching experience: 4 years in afterschool elementary program, occasional substitute preschool teacher and English class volunteer at local alternative education high school, 2 years college level instruction in English, Humanities, Art, Advertising, and Cisco IP Routing. Holds a graduate certificate in TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) from Anaheim University
• Comparative Studies experience: BA and MA degrees in Comparative Literature from San Francisco State University, 2006, 2009

Michelle infuses her yoga classes with mindfulness, physical and mental balance, body awareness and learning to actively synchronize the breath with movement. She incorporates classic yoga philosophy into her classes and promotes an environment of growth, support and self-discovery. Her primary goal with yoga instruction is to help students to identify and reach their goals as well as develop an understanding of the mind-body connection. At the same time, Michelle also encourages students to challenge themselves, as they will often be amazed at what they can achieve. Michelle has studied various yoga styles including Iyengar, Ashtanga and Viniyoga with Mynx Inatsugu, Melanie Salvatore-August and Angela Norwood. She graduated from the YogaWorks Teacher Training Program and holds a Master of Arts Degree in Counseling Psychology.

Adrienne went to her first yoga class at a little hole-in-the-wall place at her local small town shopping center. Being thrown into an intermediate class for her first time, she felt awkward, confused, and a little embarrassed, but there was still something that she could feel in this practice, something special. It was something fun and for some reason the only way she could finally get her mind to stop bouncing around her giant "To Do" list all the time. She was immediately addicted to this practice, and began to take the lessons she learned on the mat into her life, completely changing it for the better. Eager and inspired to spread the positive results of yoga to other people, she completed her 200 hour Registered Yoga Teacher training at the Integral Yoga Institute in San Francisco and is It's Yoga Kids Certified (IYKC) in teaching yoga to children ages 3-13

Casey ventured into her first yoga class with her mother in her teens years and she has been hooked ever since. Casey took a teacher training program at Asha Yoga where she earned her RYT 200 and studied the sequencing of Vinyasa Flow classes. She loves to lead students through dynamic classes with rhythmic movement guided by the breath. Her goal is to create an atmosphere that can challenge, inspire and soothe.

Family, along with Health & Wellness is the most important part of Lisa's life. An avid runner, having completed one marathon and many half marathons, Lisa yearned for a way to balance her "always-in-motion" routine. Lisa found yoga over ten years ago, practicing off and on in several different studios and gyms from Salt Lake City to Detroit. She is now focusing on her practice daily with movement and meditation!

Being a mother of two young children, Lisa encounters young mothers every day who are simply over-scheduled, frazzled and lacking time for themselves. Having worked in marketing/sales in corporate America for the past 12 years, Lisa has also encountered many overworked men and women who spend the majority of their time travelling for work or sitting behind a desk. Lisa has a profound understanding of the stressful lives these folks are living and is bringing her knowledge of the calming and therapeutic benefits of yoga to them. As well as the balancing and calming power of yoga, Lisa strives to bring a fundamentally vigorous workout with her teaching. She looks forward to sharing her knowledge, experience and style with her students!!

Lisa recently received her Flow Yoga Teacher Training from Leah Gillman at Barefoot Movement in Oakland, California and is certified with Yoga Alliance.

When our original front desk and retail manager, Lauren, found out she was moving in May of 2012, current Customer Service Manager Autumn had some big shoes to fill. As a local lady with a love for nature, meditation, and living life fully with mindful intention, she fit right in! She first discovered yoga in a course at Los Medanos College and has also attended basic meditation classes at Natural Healings in Martinez, CA. She's even practiced with Adri's teacher, Wanda, at DVC. With a great appreciation for Eastern philosophy, alternative medicine, and holistic healing, Autumn believes in a proactive approach to a low stress lifestyle. She expresses creativity within the local art and music communities and always welcomes an opportunity for personal growth.