We have an exceptional group of teachers.
Feel free to attend the great variety of classes taught & gain a sense of each instructor's style, personality, talents and gifts.
You're bound to have a wonderful & unique experience each & every time!

Anahita Tehrani, RYT 200
Anahita was first introduced to yoga in her early childhood.   Her mother an avid meditation practitioner took Anahita to her first meditation training at the age of five and yoga was always “just around”.  After studying many eastern traditions and attending a Buddhist University here in the U.S where she studied Writing and Dance, she worked in the fitness industry as a marketing consultant.  A student of all things spiritually oriented for over thirteen years Anahita has studied with a variety of teachers.  Finally it was during a sabbatical from her 9-5, while a volunteer at the Omega institute for holistic studies, that the power of yoga was revealed to her.  With a background in meditation and dance it seemed that yoga was the most capable vehicle for unleashing the wisdom of the body.  Anahita teaches with a focus on alignment (inspired by B.K.S Iyengar) as she guides her students to go within to cultivate their own unique understanding of yoga and it’s application. Anahita teaches in Washington D.C metro area and is certified through Yoga works at he 200hr-level.  She is currently enrolled in the 500hr program with Yoga works.

Annie Scheppach, M.S. & Certified Holistic Health Counselor

How do you feel when you wake up in the morning on a scale of 1-10? Happy, energized, excited, about the day, your life and its meaning? For Annie, the answer was often a two on a ten point scale when she was a busy government executive and single mom….until she tried yoga for the first time nearly nine years ago. Squeezing in a class now and then at the gym on lunch hours, she began to notice subtle changes, such as less muscle tension and pain. Then she took a Svaroopa Yoga class at the beach, lying supported on blankets thinking, “ I am not doing anything; how can this be doing me any good”…and then the class was over and she realized for the first time the “bliss of her own being”. What a realization that the answers and the gifts were not in the doing doing. It was easy to decide to take yoga teacher training at the Master Yoga Academy in LaJolla , CA with Rama Birch.
Since 2000 she has taught in California and now northern Virginia .

Annie loves inspiring her students softly and gently to open to the healing and transformation that they may be consciously or unconsciously seeking, while simultaneously supporting them in releasing life long habits, such as competition and self judgment, that no longer serve them. In 2005 she also was certified as a Stillpoint Life Healing Coach and graduated as a Holistic Health Educator/Counselor from the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.

Cara Valentino, RYT 200

Cara has practiced yoga since 2001, receiving yoga certifications in Kundalini Yoga from Darshan Yoga Studio in Herndon and in Holistic Yoga from Pure Prana Yoga Studio in 2004. She is registered with the Yoga Alliance and continues to evolve her yoga through a daily personal practice, weekly classses and regular workshop attendance, including sessions with Beryl Bender Birch and Ana Forest.

As an avid runner, Cara was originally attracted to yoga for its physical healing properties. As an irreverent yogini and big skeptic, she eventually gravitated toward the spiritual and meditational aspects of yoga. (She still questions that decision on a regular basis.)

Today, she sees yoga as a holistic health and wellness tool that integrates mind, body and spirit awhile providing an energetic kick in the butt. Cara believes in the importance of laughter and good music in teaching and practicing yoga. She brings a mix of drill sergeant and dharma to her classes.

Cara works full-time as a strategy consultant and part-time as a yogi.
Someday, she'll live at the beach as a full-time yogi and part-time surfer.

Caroline Johnson, RYT 200 : previously with pure prana & recently relocated to Arizona

Caroline grew up in England where she started studying ballet at the tender age of 5. Having auditioned to win a place at the Arts Educations Schools in Britain , she spent three years studying the performing arts and later was offered a place at “Mudra” an experimental Performing Arts School in Brussels , Belgium , where she began practicing Hatha Yoga, meditation, dance and drama when she was 17. Since then, Caroline has combined her many years of experience as a dancer and yoga practioner and turned her focus to the commitment of benefiting others through teaching her own blend of yoga.

Caroline’s belief is that the key to longevity and good health is a balanced life-style combining family, work, friends and fitness. “Yoga allows us all to find a deep calm, a wonderful openess of mind, body and spirit, and the strength in our bodies that define poise and bring confidence. Yoga enables us to retain those important physical aspects of our youth, flexibility and strength, that will lead us gracefully into older age”.

Committed to practicing yoga on a daily basis, Caroline is passionate about her yoga teaching and hopes to inspire others with her energetic but calming yoga style.
Caroline holds a 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification and has studied with various teachers and studios throughout the world.

Danielle Brand-LeMond, RYT 200

Danielle Brand-LeMond, RYT, MA is a certified Kripalu yoga teacher who delights in helping her students feel more at home in their own bodies. She brings to her teaching an eclectic mix of other styles which she has studied in her personal yoga practice. Danielle teaches yoga full-time throughout the Washington, D.C. area, including as an adjunct professor at American University.  She holds a Master's degree in International Peace and Conflict Resolution and facilitates workshops on spirituality and peacebuilding in addition to pursuing opportunities in freelance writing. In her writing, facilitation and teaching, Danielle strives to draw out the connections between wellness, and inner and outer peace; by encouraging self-reflection, compassion for self and other, and awareness of the ethical and philosophical aspects of yoga, she believes she is helping to create a healthier and more peaceful world.  Danielle lives in Alexandria, VA with her beloved husband and hound dog.

David McGuire, Certified Sivananda Teacher

David began practicing yoga as a child more than 20 years ago. In 2003, he completed his yoga teacher's training course at the International Sivananda Yoga Vedanta Centre in Neuville aux Bois, France. Although he draws inspiration from multiple approaches to yoga practice, David's teaching is based primarily on the classical hatha yoga style propagated by Swami Vishnudevananda, one of the first gurus ever to teach yoga in the west.

David's classes are fairly vigorous with a focus on developing the strength and body control to hold poses for longer intervals. All of David's classes place particular emphasis on abdominal and lower back engagement and strengthening.

By day, David is Director of Communications for the Center for Democracy & Technology, a think tank based in Washington, DC.

Ellie Gompert, RYT 200

Ellie completed the Holistic Teacher Training at Pure Prana Yoga Studio Fall 2005. She has also completed a 40-hour Ashtanga Teacher Training with David Swenson.   She continues to work towards her 500 hr. teaching certification and has studied with Beryl Bender Birch and Seane Corn.

By dedicating herself to a regular vinyasa practice, Ellie has not only experienced extraordinary physical benefits including increased strength, flexibility, and overall health, but she has experienced a profound sense of mental and emotional balance and well-being, connectedness with and compassion for the world around her, and internal and external peace.

She hopes that through her teaching all people will feel welcomed comfortably challenged and open to the countless benefits of yoga.

“Challenge does not build your character, it reveals it.” – Anon.

Jane Carey, RYT 200

Jane has been practicing Yoga for over 30 years and she has been a Yoga teacher since 1980. Jane's is a basic Hatha Yoga practice, focusing on the balance and unity of mind, body and spirit. She encourages her students to engage in a balanced approach to life, including good nutrition, sufficient sleep and regular exercise. She teaches Yoga to facilitate in her students and herself a reconnection with each other and with the Sacred within each of us.

Jane holds an M. Ed. in Guidance and Counseling and a Masters in Social Work. She is a Marriage and Family Therapist and has been in private practice here in Old Town for over 20 years. She integrates breathing and relaxation techniques into her therapy work with clients and strongly encourages them to consider practicing Yoga. She is the mother of an 18 year old daughter, Sara, who has been doing Yoga since she was able to crawl. Her husband Lou is learning the benefits of modified poses and her dog Chia does the best Down Dog in town.

Jasmine C. Rasmussen, MT-BC

Jasmine teaches the Family Music classes at Pure Prana.  She brings her skills as a board-certified music therapist to her classes.  She enjoys sharing the gift of music with parents and their small children.  Her son has been participating in family music class since he was four months old. 

Jasmine is a vocalist who has been performing since she was a child, and her talents have been displayed on the musical theater, opera, and dance stages. She also plays the guitar and piano.  She has extensive experience singing for weddings, anniversaries, parties, and other special events. She teaches private voice, piano, and guitar lessons.

For more information about music therapy, visit www.jasminevocals.com or www.musictherapy.org.

Jolene found yoga while living in New York City.  Yoga provided the balance and grounding needed to offset the busy city lifestyle, a severe back injury and a professional career characterized by competition, ego and stress.  Jolene has now made the full transition from collegial competitive athlete, to successful high-profile retail/operations executive to now Full-time Yoga Teacher and Boutique/Programs Manager for Pure Prana.  

Having found balance and grounding in her own life and having a college and career background in teaching, Jolene is now motivated to share and teach the benefits of yoga and a healthy lifestyle with others.  Jolene focuses on developing positive energy and her classes are structured around release, relaxation and rejuvenation of the body, mind and spirit.  Jolene's favorite posture is Hanuman asana, a posture that lends itself to surrendering and letting go. 

Kathy Judd, RYT 200 + Phoenix Rising Therapist

After focusing primarily on Ashtanga yoga for the first few years of her practice, Kathy began studying a variety of styles – Anusara, Iyengar, Power yoga, Kundalini and Phoenix Rising, all of which influence her teaching.  Her classes vary, but her style is generally a vinyasa-based mix that blends meditation, intention and restoration infused with generous helpings of “kick-your-assana” power-flow sequences and longer holds.  She encourages her students to become their own best teachers and to use the practice as a way to transform and heal themselves by uncovering their inherent wisdom, power and joy.

Kathy is a Yoga Alliance registered teacher at the 200 hour level and is working toward her 500 hour certification.  She is also a Certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy Practitioner (www.pryt.com) and a Certified YogaKids Facilitator (www.yogakids.com). Over the course of these trainings she has had over 1100 hours of advanced training in areas such as assisted asana technique, therapeutic dialogue, body/mind integrative techniques, applied anatomy, group facilitation, working with children and more.   Kathy is the mother of two awesome little kids, Grant and Samantha, who recognize that There’s No Place Like Om.

Mina Habibi, RYT 200

In attempt to calm frenzied nerves and keep scoliosis at bay, Mina began practicing yoga in 1998 and was hooked immediately. Her college friends soon found out she was into yoga and she began leading yoga practice in her apartment in Norfolk, VA.
Mina has studied various types of yoga including Anusara, Iyengar and Vinyasa (Flow) styles. In addition, she is certified in Pre-Natal/Post-Natal yoga. Mina has recently taken Yoga for Scoliosis training and intends to study further to specialize in yoga and scoliosis management.  She is also a member of the Mid-Atlantic Yoga Association.
Currently teaching an eclectic blend of yoga, Mina’s classes are all about feeling the joy of the movement, opening our bodies and calming our minds and allowing our innate goodness to shine forth. Mina strives to create an environment where students can open up and explore themselves physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually through the practice of yoga. As a yoga student and instructor, Mina continues to grow as does her style of teaching.
Mina has been in the fitness industry for over 13 years as a group exercise instructor. She also holds a Bachelors of Fine Arts from Old Dominion University. In previous lives Mina has been a Senior Telecommunications Analyst and a Senior Graphic Designer. Aside from instructing yoga, Mina is also a fine artist and the owner and creative director for Shabibi Creative Services, a graphic design and creative arts firm.

Sat Kartar Singh, KRI Certified
Satkartar is a dynamic, patient, inspiring Kundalini Yoga instructor. Born in the 50's and influenced by the events of the 60's, Sat Kartar met Yogi Bhajan in 1974. Immediately inspiried by this funny, loving, blunt teacher, Sat Kartar embarked on a path to study with the "master".

Yogi Bhajan declared that he came to America to train teachers for the coming "transitions" in all aspects of society and human existence. The Science of Kundalini Yoga and the Healthy, Happy, Holy way of life (3HO) is a beautiful knowledge that Sat Kartar is committed to sharing with his students, family and friends.















Tina Franco, RYT 200
Tina has recently moved to the DC area after spending the last 12 years in New York City pursuing singing, acting and dancing. Looking simply for some stress relief and increased flexibility, she took a beginners yoga workshop and has never looked back. While she found yoga to be the perfect compliment to her dance regimen, she started noticing the differences in her overall health and mood. When she discovered she could find a peaceful mind in savasana even with the honking horns outside, she knew this was something she needed to learn more about. Tina continued her study of yoga and eventually received her teaching certification from Sonic Yoga in New York City under the direction of Jonathan Fields and Lauren Hanna.  Tina’s classes offer her students a playground of exploration with creative and challenging sequences.  Learn to take some risks, breath more deeply and escape life’s honking horns…










Teresa Beerman, RYT 500
Teresa started practicing yoga 11 years ago while living in Darien, Connecticut. After returning from a backpacking trip throughout Australia, she enrolled in the teacher training at Be Yoga, now known as Yoga Works in NYC, under the direction of Alan Finger who began ISHTA Yoga. He incorporated Ithe science of Hatha Tantra, and Ayurveda, which is also a combination of Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Iyengar. The practice is designed to meet the individual needs of the students, so that they can find their own true path. Certified in 2001 Teresa has studied with Leslie Kaminoff, Sarah Powers, Judith Lasater, Baron Bapsite, Jenny Kapular, and Yodney Yee. Rachel Zinman a senior ISHTA teacher from Byron Bay AU, and Lois Nesbitt of NYC inspired her creative and intuitive style. Teresa really belives that yoga has changed her life and tries to practice living her life more authenticly. in

Teresa began teaching at Pure Prana at the beginning of 2004, moved back to upstate New York for a stint and is happy to be back at Pure Prana, which she feels is great environment of community, healing and warmth.








Lauri Bruce, RYT 500

Kellee McCluney, Certified Doula

Kellee is the mother of one who labored with the assistance of a midwife, doula, and birth assistant. She has firsthand experience in understanding the both the physical and emotional benefits of having the assistance of a doula during this time in your life. Kelle has had the honor of witnessing births in a multitude of settings. From hospitals to homes to birthing centers, Kellee has experienced births in the range of normal and at home with no medication all the way to high risk in a hospital with a team of medical professionals.

Kellee has been awarded numerous amounts of certificates in the field of Early Childhood Education. Before pursuing a career as a doula Kellee worked as an elementary level educator, early childhood educator, and director of a child care facility. This experience with such a wide age range of children ensures that Kellee will undoubtedly provide the best of care to mother, baby, and siblings.

After having breastfed for three years Kellee is not just an advocate of breastfeeding, but she is also excited about educating others about breastfeeding and lactation. Whether you choose to breast or bottle-feed she is eager to help you and your family welcome this very fulfilling stage of parenting.

With her experience as a childbirth educator Kellee is eager to share her wealth of knowledge in baby care and childbirth education. She is also First Aid, CPR, and AED certified through the American Red Cross.

Kellee is an active member of Doulas of North America(DONA, Childbirth And Postpartum Professionals Association (CAPPA), Bradley Childbirth Educators, International Center for Traditional Childbearing(ICTC), Nine In Nine Out(NINO), Mocha Moms Inc., Birth Options Alliance,  and is a founding member of the Bellydancers of Color Association(BOCA).

Workshops Include: Couples PreNatal Workshop, Prenatal Partners Workshop

Kathi Casey

Kathi Casey teaches her innovative programs combining Acupressure with Yoga or Pilates all over the East Coast. Certified in Integral Hatha Yoga at Yogaville in Virginia and Acu-Yoga at The Acupressure Institute in Berkley California, her programs are a mix of Western strength training and tried and true Eastern traditions. More information can be found on her web site KathiCaseyPilates.com

Workshops Include: Acu-Yoga

 

Kartar Singh

Kartar Singh Khalsa is a national sales manager for Golden Temple and Yogi Tea, and in his spare time teaches locally and travels nationally and internationally to teach. Helping people is his passion. He lives locally in Herndon with his wife and 16 year old son.

Workshops Include: Finding Peace in a Non-peaceful World, Compassionate Communication, Fundamentals of Kundalini Yoga

Jessica Silverman

Jessica Silverman, MSt, MA, RYT, has been studying and practicing yoga for 16 years. She holds graduate degrees from Oxford University in Sanskrit Literature and the University of Virginia in Religious Studies. Jessica has studied yoga with many of the world’s great yoga teachers in India and abroad. She has the unique ability to combine academic knowledge of the yoga tradition with a deep practical experience, unveiling the richness of the yoga tradition. She currently teaches World Cultures and Religions in Alexandria, VA to her beloved 6th graders.

Workshops Include: Into the Heart of Yoga: The Philosophy of Yoga in the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali & The Bhagavad Gita







John Stevens


John brings experience from 19 years as a Buddhist monk in the Theravadan tradition in monasteries in Thailand and England. Presently, he is a member of the Teachers Council of the Insight Meditation Community of Washington. He is also a qualified and practicing Craniosacral Therapist.

Workshops Include: The Miracle of Mindfulness, Introduction to Vipassana (insight) Meditation

Katie Alpigini, RYT :: yoga teacher & previous assistant creative director

Katie, her husband Bob and their little laughing boy Jack have moved to Virginia Beach.
We're very happy for her and her family.
Since she's returned to the state of Virginia, we plan on having her at Pure Prana for workshops and special events and look forward to her return.

Katie first began practicing yoga in 1999 and immediately knew this was a passion she needed to pursue. She became certified as a Hatha Kitaido instructor by Grand Master Teacher Jean Pierre Marques in 2001 in Coronado, California while at the same time working as a high school English teacher and federal grant administrator. After moving to the DC area, she decided to pursue yoga as a full time profession and in December of 2004 completed her 200 RYT teacher training program right here at Pure Prana. Katie is certified as a Pre-Natal and Post-Natal yoga teacher whose care and attention to each student is evident in her light-hearted, joyful and very real approach.