Jill Loftis, Instructor & Owner of Uttara Yoga
Jill Loftis began practicing yoga 10 years ago as a way to make peace with her body. As her practice grew, she began to awaken to the idea energy and creating a deep spiritual practice through the techniques of yoga. She discovered the Temple of Kriya Yoga and the teachings of Goswami Kriyananda and the Holy Kriya lineage, and everything shifted. She received her 200-hour certification from the Temple in 2007, and has also completed the Mystical Sciences and Kriology Level I courses. Recognizing the blessing that is yoga, she received certification in 2008 through YogaEd. to teach yoga to children and educators (ages K-8). She feels strongly that teaching yoga to children is the best way to help them to understand themselves, handle stress, and take care of their bodies. She is registered with the Yoga Alliance, and, in addition to teaching at Uttara, leads workshops regionally.
 Jill is ever grateful for her teachers, Kim Schwartz and David Lipschutz of the Temple of Kriya Yoga, who truly removed the darkness and brought in the light. She is also a student of Gabriel Halpern and Kathleen Barratt. She is a Kriya yoga initiate, and a disciple of Swami Enoch Dasa Giri. Her greatest teachers have been her three children, ages 12, 10 and 7, who keep her focused on what's important as she pursues her quest for balance between the home life and the work life.
Her classes are physical and spiritual; informal and fun. “I want everyone to become more comfortable with their bodies, understand the creative power of their minds, and connect with their highest and best selves.” |
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Mary Brown
A belief in and a curiosity about the indivisible nature of mind, body and spirit has led Mary to the profession of bodywork, the practice of yoga and the practice of the internal martial arts. She has been a licensed massage therapist since 1993. Her main areas of study include deep tissue massage, Thai Yoga Massage, CranialSacral Therapy and Tuina, an ancient system of bodywork that is based in Chinese medical theory. She believes that nothing in life or death is a coincidence and so knows that it is karma that gave her the good fortune to study Ashtanga Yoga with Jeff Tiebout for many years. His tireless effort gave Mary the opportunity to deepen her practice.
It was karma, again, that brought Mary to a conference in 2001 where she met her current teachers David Life and Sharon Gannon, co-founders of Jivamukti Yoga. Their artful style of teaching inspired Mary to complete a 300 hour Jivamukti teacher certification in 2003. Presently, Mary is furthering her study of Tuina and Chinese medicine theory under the tutelage of Jason Redinbo and the Laurel Creek Clinic practitioners. This study includes the practices of the internal martial arts and provides another fascinating investigation into the connection between mind, body and spirit.
Mary wishes to honor all her teachers by teaching with the same dedication and selflessness with which she has been taught.She wishes to honor all her students and clients for the teachers that they are to her. Mary resides in the Blue Ridge Mountains where she learns the most about the rhythms of life. She aspires to live her life in harmony with the greatest of teachers, Mother Earth. |
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Cathy Cannon
Cathy Cannon is a Certified Personal Trainer through the American Council of Exercise. Cathy has been certified in mat and standing pilates through the Physical Mind Institute. She has taught group exercise classes of all varieties since she was sixteen. At various stages in life, she has been a dancer and has always had a love for the art of creative expression through movement. Yoga is what she has been searching for all along.
 Cathy loves vinyasa style yoga that warms the body with the breath and thus challenges the physical body and calms the busy mind. She loves sharing yoga for the clarity and peace that it inevitably brings.
Cathy has received her formalized training through YogaFit and she has plans to attain her 200 hour RYT through the Yoga Alliance. Cathy finds her yoga practice especially useful at home while being a mom to three girls ages 9, 7 and 5. |
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Vanessa Fassié
Vanessa is a recent graduate of the Integral Yoga® 200hr teacher training program. She has an extensive background in teaching Dance and the Arts with a B.A. in Dance and an M.A.L.S from Hollins University as well as a M.F.A. in Photography and Film from Virginia Commonwealth University.
 A Roanoke native, she is very excited to bring her love of Yoga to the valley! Feel free to visit her at:
www.vanessafassie.com.
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Siobhan O'Connell Scro
Siobhan received her Yoga Alliance RYT 200 through YogaFit. She is currently working towards obtaining her RYT 500. She has been teaching yoga for seven years both in Maryland and Virginia.
 She favors a vinyasa style of practice, one in which combines focused breathing and strength building for a total mind-body workout. Siobhan is also a certified Pilates instructor as well as a Les Mills certified BodyFlow instructor. BodyFlow is a choreographed routine which combines the arts of Tai Chi, Yoga and Pilates.
Siobhan is also a French teacher for Roanoke County Public Schools. She has two teenage sons. Her two favorite places to practice yoga are in the dark and on the beach. |
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Arien Reed
Arien has been studying dance for 20 years and received a BA in dance from Hollins University in 2006. She is fascinated with the body's tendency toward movement and the role of mobility in a person's overall health and wellness. From this understanding, she speculates that through movement the body can heal the mind...and ultimately that the mind can heal the body, when all is in tune. This is the goal of yoga: union of the mind, body, and spirit.
Arien has been moving and stretching intuitively since childhood, studied yoga formally for four years with Felicia Whitcomb, and completed the Ashtanga Yoga Teacher Training with Jeff Tiebot at the Blue Ridge School of Massage and Yoga. Arien loves Ashtanga yoga because it integrates the eight limbs of yoga into a strong physical practice, bringing attention to the inner journey. Ashtanga is based on the idea that the fruits of yoga are only obtained through a dedication to the practice itself, teaching one to experience life more fully. In the words of founder K. Pattabhi Jois, "Practice and all is coming!"
 Arien also received massage training at the Blue Ridge School of Massage and Yoga, is a nationally certified massage therapist, and has just started her own business, Anahata Healing Yoga & Massage. She practices an eclectic variety of techniques including Swedish, deep tissue, myofascial, and Thai Yoga massage and appreciates the privilege of holding the space for healing to occur. She is excited to be teaching at Uttara and to help to spread the joy of yoga!
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Miranda Spencer
Miranda has been teaching the art of yoga since 2002, emphasizing in Vinyasa Flow and Ashtanga disciplines. She received her Vinyasa Flow teacher certification from Stephanie Keach in Jacksonville, Florida through Bliss Yoga. In March 2007 she received her children's yoga certification through Karma Kids Yoga in NYC, and in 2009 received her pre-natal yoga certification through Holy Cow Yoga Center in Charleston, SC.
Miranda's background in science and education ranges from a BS in Biology, a master's qualifier in Natural and Complementary Medicine from an Australian university, and pre-primary Montessori training from the American Montessori Society. Miranda’s style of teaching is based on the spiritual, mental, and physical aspects of yoga, while incorporating pranayama and vigorous to restoring asanas. For children, she integrates fun yogic principles based on obtaining inner and outer peace, concentration, and self-confidence.
Her studies have taken her all over the world, and have finally landed her in Boones Mill, Va where she loves spending time with her fiance and baby girl. Believing that we are all still embryos to this ancient and spiritual practice, her intense love for yoga and ambition to continuously learn more is reflected in her classes and daily life. |
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Kimberly Vest
Kimberly grew up in Salem and recently returned from Seattle, Washington after being away from the Roanoke Valley for the past 15 years. Kimberly owned a yoga studio in Seattle where she taught many different styles of yoga. Her foundational training was in the Integral yoga tradition founded by Sri Swami Satchidananda. Kimberly also trained and studied in the Viniyoga tradition. This approach to yoga evolved out of the teachings transmitted by T. Krishnamacharya and T.K.V. Desikachar of Madras, India. Vini means to adapt and through this training, she became very skillful at adapting classes to the needs of the students. She is also a certified pre-natal, labor and delivery, and post-natal instructor. Kimberly has worked as a doula in the past and loves the role of supporting women during the birthing process.
Kimberly’s classes promote a gentle and restorative asana practice that connects the body, mind and spirit through the integration of pranayama (breathing techniques), meditation and relaxation. She honors the tradition of Yoga, and yet accepts the Western lifestyle with its fast and busy pace and the stresses caused by living in this chaotic world. Her loving kindness and graciousness of spirit are the reflections of a Yogic lifestyle, which she embraces every day. Kimberly has been teaching and practicing yoga for over 20 years. |
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Lisa Wade
Lisa Wade has been practicing Yoga since 1972 and began teaching Yoga eight years ago. She has completed both a 200 and 500 hour certification with Anna Pittman in Blacksburg, Va. Lisa continues to explore Yoga and continues to find inspiration in her students and many teachers. She recently completed a certification for Thai Yoga Massage with her teacher Cam Thye Chow in the Bahamas.
 Lisa has taught Yoga classes in many different venues, including the Roanoke and Salem YMCAs, Roanoke City Parks and Recreation and Lewis Gale Medical Center. In the past, Lisa has also taught social work classes for Radford University and massage therapy for Dabney Lancaster Community College.
Currently, she teaches Yoga privately in her studio on Grandin Road and teaches Yoga and Mindfulness for Jefferson College of Health Sciences. A certified massage therapist specializing in deep tissue massage, Lisa uses her studio for both massage therapy and individualized yoga instruction. She has a well-rounded understanding of the body/mind connection. Her love for Yoga is transmitted in her classes where she stresses breathing fully and honoring and cherishing the temple that houses our spirits. Lisa is extremely excited about joining the amazing staff of Yoga teachers and beautiful studio at Uttara. |
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Wendi Wagner
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Wendi Wagner has been practicing yoga since 1998. She has studied Hatha Yoga with Debbie Stevens, Ashtanga Yoga with Jeff Tiebout and Anusara Yoga with Deirdre Smith-Gilmer. She finds the daily practice of yoga to be a system of self-care that creates strength, balance and flexibility of mind and body. She also loves how yoga continuously reveals how moving breath through the body allows individuals to become fully present in their lives.
 Wendi’s yoga style incorporates Vinyasa flow, building heat to stimulate engagement between body and breath; then moving more deeply into poses that dissolve tension and resistance. Wendi has been teaching dance and movement in the public schools since 1996, exploring the therapeutic potential of movement in healing mind and body. In recent years she has explored somatic practices such as Body Mind Centering, Feldenkreis, and Alexander technique. For two years she has been teaching Pilates mat classes in addition to yoga. Pilates focuses on developing core strength to enhance balance, energy, alignment and movement. Pilates compliments yoga practice with its focus on the potential of the breath to facilitate efficiency of movement.
Wendi is currently a dance educator in Roanoke City Schools and mom to Ciara, who inspires her and always makes her laugh. |
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Beth D. Bell
Beth is certified to teach Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan through IKYTA, The International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association. She graduated from The Kundalini Yoga Center 200 hour Teacher Training at The Baba Siri Chand Ashram in Altamont Springs, Florida.
Kundalini Yoga is known as the Yoga of Awareness and was brought to the United States in 1968 by Yogi Bhajan. It is a dynamic blend of postures, pranayam, mantra, music and meditation which teaches you the art of relaxation, self healing and elevation. It stimulates the glandular and nervous systems, heightens the capacity for creative potential and develops the intuitive ability. Beth is honored and humbled to be able to teach this sacred science and technology.
 She is a Nationally Certified Massage Therapist and Level Three Student of Healing Touch. Her practice is at The Center For Growth and Well Being in Roanoke, Virginia. Prior to dedicating her time and energy to her healing and teaching practice in 2004, she enjoyed a rewarding 25 year career as a Mental Health and Addictions professional. Beth is available to teach Kundalini Yoga and has joined with a colleague to offer adult self discovery workshops combining Kundalini Yoga and Epona based Equine Facilitated Learning. The workshops are held at Anam Cara Farm in Boones Mill, Virginia.
She is happily married to a wonderful man, Calvin. who is an artist, musician and yogi. Beth has two beautiful God Children and two “four legged “ children, a miniature dachshund and a saddle bred horse. |
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Shannon Cummings
Shannon Cummings received her yoga teacher certification from Yogafit, is a certified pilates instructor, and has received training in Yogalates. Teaching vinyasa style, she enjoys power yoga and anything that she finds a challenge.
 A Salem native, she attends Virginia Tech and studies English. She enjoys attending asana classes from a wide variety of teachers, particularly Eileen Crist in Blacksburg, Virginia who has helped to grow and shape her personal practice and teaching style.
Shannon also teaches at the Weight Club in Blacksburg. In her spare time, she enjoys going to concerts and painting her nails. |
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