Teachers
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JANET CARSCADDEN, PT - Yoga Alignment, Yoga for a Healthy Back
Owner, Evolution Yoga
Janet Carscadden took her first Hatha yoga class in 1995. As a licensed physical therapist Janet found yoga to be useful in improving flexibility, strength and clarity of mind. Gradually over time she discovered the healing art of yoga therapy and stared integrating yoga practices into her patient treatment sessions.
In 2000 she attended her first Jivamukti class. A whole new world of the eight limbed path of yoga was opened up to her. Janet traveled to Bali to complete a 200 hour certification in Vibrant Living Yoga Teacher Training that included instructors teaching Hatha Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Sivananda and Kundalini yoga. Her style of teaching has been influenced by instruction received from Daniel Aaron, Govinda Kai, Chris Kummer, Patrick Oanacia, Judith Lasater, Prem Carlisi. In 2009 Janet returned to Bali and discovered a love of chanting she learned to play the harmonium under the guidance of her teacher, Geoffrey Gordon.
Janet’s classes include flowing vinyasa asana, music, chanting, pranayama and meditation all built around a central theme. Drawing on her expertise of the physical body, Janet offers her students detailed instruction in alignment and adjustments to bring their practice to a new level. She challenges students to remain focused on being in the here and now; meeting their practice where they are at that moment in time.
SUSAN CLINE LUCEY, CD(DONA), CCCE - Vinyasa, Pre/Post-Natal Yoga, Young Yogis Children's Classes
Evolution Yoga Studio Director/Co-Creator, Evolution Yoga
For Susan, yoga exists in a myriad of forms: sometimes it's a full practice on her yoga mat, other times it's a deep breath during a tough parenting moment. Yoga practice comes to play during the intensity of birth and months later, stretching and singing in baby yoga. In her teaching, Susan blends her experience as a certified yoga teacher, childbirth professional/birth doula, modern dancer and mother to create a practice that is full of heart and joy.
Susan's love of teaching began in 1990 as a creative dance teacher to young children in her hometown of Lexington, Virginia. She continued her dance and teaching education as a student at Connecticut College, and later in New York City as a teaching artist in public school classrooms. Susan received her initial 200 hour vinyasa yoga teacher certification in 2001 from Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga Center in New York City. She began teaching pre-natal and post-natal yoga upon moving to Vermont in 2004, and co-created Evolution Yoga in 2006. Susan is a certified birth doula CD(DONA), a CAPPA certified childbirth educator (CCCE), and a CAPPA trained postpartum doula. She has an advanced certification in pregnancy and post-partum yoga from Colette Crawford of the Seattle Holistic Center. Over the past seven years, Susan has developed a unique series of infant, toddler and children's yoga classes which she draws from her knowledge of creative movement and which utilize activities appropriate for each child's developmental stage. She is the proud mother of two sweet boys - Emmett (6 yrs.) and Zinn (3 yrs.).
ANDREA O’CONNOR - Anusara-Inspired, Center of Power Core Strength Series
Andrea has practiced and taught yoga for eight years. With a background of study in Bikram and Astanga, she now teaches Anusara-Inspired Yoga and pursues training with John Friend, Todd Norian and other senior Anusara teachers. Anusara-Inspired Yoga includes a simple and powerful set of physical alignment principles that you can use while doing any form of yoga or standing in the grocery line or sitting at your desk. And this practice includes a life-enhancing outlook and focus on life that you may find to be inspiringand fun! Choose a gentle or vigorous class.
Here are a few comments from students on classes with Andrea:
“Andrea is one of the best yoga teachers I’ve ever had. It’s so clear that she lives her practice. Her genuinely welcoming, open demeanor and careful attention to my particular needs felt healing.”
“Well, I have been to CA and back…am now living on Martha's vineyard...and still looking for a yoga teacher who was as great as you are.”
“You have been by far the most influential yoga teacher I have ever had.”
BILL O’CONNOR - Vinyasa
I remember the very first yoga class I took. After the 7th sun salutation I knew I would carry this practice the rest of my life. It was an instant realization. Now over 10 years later I have flowed with yoga and it has changed me profoundly. When I first started practicing others would come up to my wife and asked what had happened to me. The change was that apparent
I love sharing the joy, beauty, mystery, and peace of yoga with others. Teaching now for over 7 years I am constantly learning from masters and students alike. My style has evolved into a fusion of the different schools of hatha yoga I have studied. These include Astanga, Bikram, Iyengar, Ansuara, Vinyasa and now Prana Flow. I like mixing the best of each into a vinyasa or flow class with a constantly changing series of combinations and positions.
I look forward to discovering new ways to express my love of yoga to others. It is a bottomless pool of possibilities of not just the physical practice.
ERIKA NESTOR - Kripalu, Yoga for Athletes, Yoga for the Inflexible 
Erika received her 200 hour training from Kripalu in June 2010. Erika began practicing yoga to complement her marathon training over five years ago. Erika loves teaching athletes of all ages and has worked with young children, elementary, middle and high school students, and baby boomers. Erika has run 7 marathons including Vermont City Marathon, the Boston Marathon and the Chicago Marathon. She'll run the NYC Marathon in November 2011.
LYDIA HILL - Iyengar, Restorative
Lydia Hill is known for teaching in the classical Iyengar style, where focus on precision and alignment are predominant features of any class sequence. She attempts to soften the Iyengar reputation with her gentle humor and humility. Lydia began studying yoga in 1988 at the University of Pennsylania with Joan White, a senior Iyengar teacher. Since then, she has continued to study with Patricia Walden, Peentz Dubble and Janice Vien, as well as other renowned Iyengar teachers. She has completed two extensive Teacher Training courses and has received Iyengar certification. Lydia lives in Shelburne with her teenager children.
MARTHA WHITNEY - Kripalu, Restorative
Martha offers a mindful, inspiring and welcoming yoga environment that fosters an enhanced self-acceptance and embodied well-being. Her in-depth training in anatomy, movement and breath allows her to artfully guide postures that access body ease and aliveness. Martha compassionately meets her students where they are while encouraging them to stretch beyond what they have known and to experience more fully who they truly are. Students leave class feeling more comfortable, confident and resilient in themselves and in their lives.
Martha has been studying yoga and body-mind therapy since 1991. In addition to group and private yoga classes Martha is in private practice supporting life change through Hakomi, a body centered psychotherapy. Martha’s other great passion is long canoe trips in the open landscape of Labrador, where, as in yoga, she feels vastly alive.
JOHN McCONNELL- Vinyasa, Beginner's Series
John has been practicing and experiencing yoga for nearly 11 years. In his classes John interweaves a combination of humor, light-heartedness, and intensity - while maintaining a keen emphasis on celebrating the true joy of life! When not on the mat, John and his wife Jane Taylor can be found retaining their breath while rolling kayaks on Lake Champlain.
DANIELLE VARDAKAS-DUCKO - Core Vinyasa
Danielle Vardakas -Duszko E-RYT500 BFA began dancing at age 3 in Philadelphia. She continued to study dance at the Philadelphia Creative & Performing Arts High School. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from Temple University and the Tyler School of Art in 2001. Danielle fell in love with yoga at age 15 while dancing with a junior ballet company. Her practice continued to create balance in her body and mind through her professional dance career which included mainly Hip Hop and Breakin with a bit of Contemporary Modern. Danielle is a registered & experienced yoga teacher with her E-RYT 500 hour certifications from Yoga Alliance in Hatha and Vinyasa from Cara Bradley, Dharma Mittra, Johnny Gillespie, Rolf Gates and a holds a Yin certification from Paulie Zink. She has also attended teacher trainings & therapeutic yoga trainings with Desirée Rumbaugh, Kausthub Desikachar and The Krishnamacharya Healing Yoga Foundation, Anusara Founder John Friend & Deb Neubauer. Danielle has studied meditation with Scott McBride (ClearLight) and David Nichtern. She taught yoga for Oprah Winfrey’s Minority Womens Conference in Arizona and for the cast of “The Lovely Bones”(in theaters winter 2010). In summer 2009 Danielle’s teen yoga class won “best of the mainline” in Wayne, PA. She trained the Villanova Basketball and Womens Softball and the St Joseph University teams while living outside Philadelphia and was one of the youngest teachers at Verge Yoga (Voted Best of the Main Line for the past 7 years).
Danielle & her family moved to Vermont winter 2009. Since then she choreographed & performed for the Quadricentennal Festival in Burlington and the VT Dance Festival and taught master classes at Liberate Music and Yoga Festival and VT Dance Fest. She currently teaches in the Burlington area. Danielle’s vinyasa style incorporates principles of alignment with power flows and bliss energy. She themes each practice so the student can evolve spiritually as well as physically.
She was sponsored by “Be Present” (2009 & 2010) and “Spiritual Gangster” (2010) and Lululemon (2011).
Danielle Vardakas-Duszko’s yoga classes are featured on www.yogavibes.com.
A teacher to teachers, Danielle directs Honest Yoga teacher trainings. She is a vegan, Tao cultivator and proud mother to an amazing little yogi.
UWE MESTER- Feldenkrais
Uwe took his first Feldenkrais® lesson in 1997 after recovering from lower back surgery. His pain symptoms immediately decreased, and Uwe developed a deeper interest in the Feldenkrais Method®. The Feldenkrais Method, with its gentle, slow movement, helped him understand how his body is organized and that even small movements can have a big impact. In 2001, Uwe started a four-year training (800+ hours) in Germany with Dr. Chava Shelhav (Israel), one of the few remaining original students of Moshe Feldenkrais, the Method’s founder. Uwe has been a licensed Feldenkrais Practitioner since 2005, teaching both Awareness through Movement (group classes) and Functional Integration (individual classes). He also holds a Masters Degree in Education and Social work.
In 2008, Uwe moved with his family from Wiesbaden, Germany, to Charlotte, Vermont. Uwe has been teaching the Feldenkrais Method in the Burlington Area since September 2009, and is very excited to offer Awareness trough Movement classes at Evolution. For further information on the Method and how it can help you reduce your movement-related effort, improve your yoga postures, and become pain-free, click here.
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ALISON AIKEN, PT- Yoga for a Healthy Back & Vinyasa
Alison began practicing yoga in 1999 to achieve grounding and stability. As a distance runner interested in emotional and cardiovascular health, she found yoga practice to be a nice complement to the repetitive stress that running places on the body. In 2005 she completed her yoga teacher training through The Yoga Institute with a concentration in Viniyoga. This style of teaching, which focuses on adapting and modifying postures for the individual rather than expecting the individual to conform to a certain ideal has expanded from her yoga teaching into her practice as a physical therapist. Alison’s classes include special attention to alignment, breath, and awareness. She includes vinyasa flow – linking movement with breath, pranayama with special attention to breathing patterns and metta practice. She will demonstrate how yoga postures and consciousness carry over into everyday life. Classes are taught with consideration of individual needs allowing the student to embrace yoga with curiosity and without judgment.
MICHELE CRANWELL-SCHMIDT - Vinyasa
Michele started practicing yoga in 1999 at Yoga Vermont. She fell in love with the Vinyasa practice because of the style’s challenging and empowering sequences, creative and explorative nature, and inspirational music. She has taught Vinyasa since 2001 and enjoys sharing with others what she loves about the practice. She teaches from a place of intuition and compassion and seeks to honor the wisdom of the heart, body and spirit as our own greatest teacher. Her practice is a necessary balance to her analytical mind and her work in program evaluation at the University of Vermont. She also loves taking photographs of Vermont’s natural beauty and seasonally changing landscapes.
Michele completed her 200 hour teaching certification at Yoga Vermont with Kathy McNames, which included study of Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, and Anusara-inspired yoga traditions. She has participated in workshops with Seane Corn, Beryl Bender Birch, Jonas Westring, Deb Neubauer, Manju Jois, T.K.V. Desikachar, and Lucy Martorella. Her style of teaching has also been influenced by practicing with and learning from Piper Petrie.
Set to world-style music, Michele strives to lead students through a creative and challenging sequence of postures. Her style infuses breath, bandhas, and alignment with holding of postures and flowing movement to open and strengthen the body and center and quiet the mind. She also loves incorporating core strengthening sequences into the practice. Practice is followed by a relaxing and renewing savasana.
PETRA SMEJKAL- Yoga Sub
For over a decade now, practicing yoga has been healing my physical and mental wounds, balancing emotions, cultivating individuality and letting my spirit soar. As a mother, my life force flourishes with my little ones daily, and my heart grows fonder of our global culture, connection and oneness. My teaching is inspired by various styles of yoga, teachers, encounters, observations, and organically continues to evolve. As a teacher, I share my mission to nourish the mind, body and spirit through breath, unification, awareness, strengthening, balance and love. OM!
CHRISTINE HOLT - Vinyasa, CircusYoga
As a lifelong dancer, Christine first came to know and love yoga through vinyasa classes, and quickly noticed that the practice was not only nourishing her physical body, it was stirring-up her soul and making her spirit smile. She was first certified in 2001 through OM Yoga Center in New York City, and has since received further training in CircusYoga, yoga therapy, and mindfulness meditation in the tradition of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. In addition to teaching yoga classes for adults, children and families, she worked as a yoga therapist with cancer patients, families and staff at Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan, following her participation in Urban Zen’s Integrative Therapy pilot training program. Christine teaches alignment-based vinyasa classes with a playful spirit, and invites students to explore the practice as a movement meditation, cultivating peace and restoring balance with each breath. Christine bows deeply to all of her teachers, especially: Thich Nhat Hanh, Rodney Yee, Susan “Lip” Orem, Dana Strong, Kevin & Erin Maile O’Keefe, and Iyengar teachers Carrie Owerko and Genny Kapuler.
ANNEKE HOHL - De-Stress Yoga
Anneke is a certified Vinyasa and Restorative Therapeutic Yoga teacher. She is known for her grounded, calm, quieting presence, patient nature, gentleness, and soothing tone. In her de-stress yoga classes, Anneke offers a practice that combines gentle yoga techniques (including restorative and yin poses, and gentle vinyasa flows) with breath-work, pranayama, meditation, and other techniques to relieve stress and tension and invite relaxation.
A lifelong learner with unending curiosity, Anneke remains enthusiastic about exploring different styles of yoga and educating herself in yoga philosophy and meditation. She opens her heart to the teachings that each new day on this path brings.
Anneke holds a Bachelor’s degree in Psychology and a Master’s degree in Professional Communications from Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. She moved to Burlington from Colorado in June 2010 with her husband Patrick and their golden retriever, Seamus. Aside from practicing yoga, Anneke enjoys reading, cooking, and spending time outdoors – running, bike riding, hiking, cross country skiing, snowboarding, and gardening.
JENNY SUGAR - Vinyasa
As a little girl, Sugar was always doing handstands in the grass — so when she took her first yoga class in 1999, it sparked those same feelings of freedom and joy, that she knew yoga would always be a part of her life. She first began studying Iyengar, then moved to Ashtanga, and soon fell in love with Vinyasa. Since 1999, she's taught all types of yoga classes including Vinyasa, Partner Yoga, and Kids Yoga.
Her days are filled with laughing with her daughter, writing for the health and fitness blog FitSugar.com (check out her yoga sequences), going for runs with her goldendoodle Reuben, playing banjo and singing
with her hubby, and quilting, so she doesn't have a ton of time to practice. So when she steps on the mat, she kicks it up a notch. Her enthusiastic and playful personality make for classes that are fast- paced and fun. She encourages her students to listen to their bodies, follow their own breath, and to have the confidence to explore new poses.
JAMIE EBERT - Vinyasa
Jamie began her yoga journey long before she stepped foot on a mat. Gymnastics, skiing and horseback riding helped to inspire her mind and heart from a very young age. Discovering some preliminary yoga bliss as a teenager in a high school gym class, she found physical healing, stress relief, and increased strength in practice on and off the mat. Recognizing the challenges we face in our bodies on the mat teach us how to better face the challenges we encounter in our daily lives, she works to weave happiness, playfulness and calm into her classes. Studying with Susan Cline Lucey, Jamie is excited to share a wide-eyed excitement and adventure with young yogis in Tots on the Move. This October, Jamie finished up a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training with Piper Petrie at Burlington Yoga.
Jaycie Puttlitz - Kids Creative Yoga
My first memory of yoga was watching Lilias Folan on PBS when I was trying to find my beloved Sesame Street, but it wasn’t until I took yoga for a college credit that I completed my first sun salutation in the early 1990s. I then began to use yoga as a form of stretching and body conditioning and expanded my interest into a regular yoga practice with guidance from teachers at Yoga Vermont a decade later. Since 2008, I have taught yoga to a variety of students ranging from elementary school children and Girl Scouts to health club members and seniors with limited physical ability. I often practice yoga with my two boys, ages 4 and 7. Together, we use yoga to have fun, creatively explore the poses, and positively express our bodies and emotions.
My goal for every class I teach is to provide practitioners with a positive, happy feeling of themselves and of yoga. I completed David Swenson’s Ashtanga Teacher Training, and have influence from Kripalu- and Sivanada-trained yogis as well. I have a yoga teacher certificate from Yoga Vermont and am a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance. When I am not teaching or practicing yoga, I can be found spending time with my family, coaching my son’s soccer team, snowboarding, skiing and cooking.
Vanessa Ament - Kids Yoga K-2nd Grade 
Vanessa grew up surrounded by the ocean in the San Juan Islands of Washington State.Growing up in a creative family of dancers with a deep connection to nature has inspired her life and yogic practice. She has been singing, dancing, and practicing yoga since childhood, and continues to evolve and benefit from the tools that yoga provides. In 2007, Vanessa graduated from Cornish College of the Arts with a Bachelor of Music Degree emphasis on Classical Vocal Performance. She then pursued her 200 hour RYT Vinyasa Yoga Certification through Samadhi Yoga Studio in Seattle, and began teaching yoga and fitness classes. She is committed to guiding her students to connect with their bodies, and come to understand themselves in a deeper and more authentic way.
Vanessa has taught dance, music, and art classes to children of all ages for over 12 years.She loves providing space for self-expression and fun. Vanessa’s kids yoga classes include meditation, breathing exercises, and poses inspired by nature, animals, and dance. She incorporates the benefits of more traditional yoga poses, and assists children in developing an understanding of how their bodies move. From personal experience she
knows that building a healthy foundation and connection to the body and mind can be a touchstone through adolescence and adulthood.
Andrea Trombley PT - Belly After Baby
Andrea Averill Trombley graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Masters Degree in Physical Therapy in 1997, after completing her undergraduate work at the University of Vermont in 1990. Andrea’s career began at Copley Hospital, in Morrisville, VT, where she treated orthopedic inpatients as well as outpatients, and served as the pediatric PT in the area schools. In 1999, Andrea moved to the Burlington area and began working at Fletcher Allen Healthcare, working with the orthopedic outpatient population. Andrea’s practice increasingly moved toward treatment of patients with chronic back and neck pain, and she spent 5 years working with a multidisciplinary team specializing in this area. In 2007, Andrea decided to make the leap from clinician to clinical researcher, taking a position at the University of Vermont with Dr. Sharon Henry, to study chronic low back pain in more depth.
Andrea has been exploring Anusara Yoga for the past 2 years, and has completed Level 1-3 Immersions, which are the prerequisites for entry into the Anusara Teacher Training Program. She enjoys blending her physical therapy background with yoga philosophy, and finding creative ways to help her patients overcome whatever challenges they are having.
Andrea is also a mom to two active and inquisitive tween boys. She spends her days exploring alternative education methods, taking long walks, preparing green smoothies and raising chickens.
Lisa Tidman PTA - New Explorers, Family Yoga
Lisa grew up dancing and adding yoga into her life was a natural and complete part of living life more fully. Lisa earned a degree in dance at Dean Jr. College and followed this with teaching dance at numerous art camps. Lisa found a PTA program and completed certification in Physical Therapy Asst. in 1995 and gradually began implementing yoga into therapy for her clients. This led to Teacher training at Yoga Vermont in 2005. Lisa enjoys teaching children and quickly added kids yoga as part of her classes and has attended: Circus Yoga level I, Yoga Ed. K-12 training, and more recently Anusara Immersion 1-3 and numerous Anusara workshops.
Lisa offers yoga in a flow, alignment vinyasa style and enjoys teaching babies, toddlers, preschool, kids and family yoga classes. When not teaching she is spending time with family, cooking, crossfit training and enjoying the outdoors.
Morgan Merrihew - Post-Natal Yoga, Infant/Baby Yoga
Morgan started practicing yoga in 2006 while going to Champlain College. After getting her 200hr yoga teacher training done in the winter of 2008 at Kripalu, she began teaching at both Champlain and Evolution Yoga. She then had a great opportunity to teach an adaptive yoga class for clients at the Howard Center. Honored to take this job, it reiterated the fact that anyone and everyone can experience the benefits of yoga and it's mind and body connection. It wasn't until her pregnancy in the winter of 2010 that she truly found an infinite and intimate connection with herself beyond what she thought was possible as a result of yoga. The experience of pregnancy was supplemented by attending a regular pre-natal yoga class, which helped encourage a peaceful environment and community, calmness through her body and connecting with her ever-growing baby. Now a new Mom, Morgan is keeping yoga as a consistent piece of her life, taking it's strength and refreshing breathing techniques and living through life with a reminder to stay grounded and connected.
Scott Duszko - Tao Yin Yoga
Scott Duszko RYT began practicing Qi Gong and Hatha Yoga in his early twenties. He later found Baptiste Power Yoga and Flow Yoga. He began to train extensively with Cara Bradley and Johnny Gillespie during a 200 hour YTT with Verge / Empowered Yoga (Wayne, PA/Wilmington, DE). He balances his power flow with Tao Yin Yoga. He is certified in Yin with Paulie Zink. Scott teaches Tao Yin, Yama & Niyama for the Honest Yoga 200 hour Teacher Training Program. He graduated from another 200 Hour Vinyasa & Meditation YTT with Rolf Gates. He had previously trained with Rolf in workshop settings. Scott has been studying Anusara with John Friend and is currently pursuing Anusara certification. Besides enjoying yoga, Scott has a degree in Audio Engineering and has produced 2 group albums and one solo hip hop album. He is currently working on several new albums. He creates inspiring and unique scores for his yoga classes. His Hip Hop Yoga style was sponsored by “Spiritual Gangster ” Clothing in 2010. He has studied meditation with Scott McBride (ClearLight), is a vegetarian and Tao cultivator. Scott lives in South Burlington with his wife and son Garnet.
Margaret Pitkin - Anusara
For Margaret, yoga is a tool for revealing the wild freedom and outrageous joy that is the birthright of every human heart. Through yoga we cultivate greater awareness and sensitivity to our bodies, our minds, and to the wonder-filled world around us, and as a result we experience profound opening, healing and delight. Margaret has been a dedicated student of Anusara Yoga for over ten years, a yoga teacher for over six years, and Vermont’s first Certified Anusara Yoga teacher since January 1st, 2011. She has spent over 1000 hours studying yoga under the guidance of John Friend (founder of Anusara), Deborah Neubauer, Todd Norian, and world-renowned scholars of the Hindu Tantra Douglas Brooks and Paul Muller-Ortega. Margaret is a national Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher. In each of her classes Margaret’s intense love of life, sharp wit, and precise understanding of Anusara’s elegantly simple principles of biomechanical alignment blend together to create an experience that is uplifting, transformational, and healing, whether it’s your thousandth time on a yoga mat or your first!
Jessica Roeder - Babies & Kids Yoga
Jessica stumbled into the world of children's yoga while at college in Boston, teaching birthday parties and preschool classes. She fell in love with the joy and peace yoga was able to bring to these young children, and became a certified children's yoga instructor in 2006. Teaching the Young Yogis class series at Evolution for the past 3 years has been an amazing experience, witnessing beautiful connections between child and parent through the practice of yoga. Her classes blend mindfulness, social/emotional development, music and movement in a unique yoga experience.
When not at Evolution, Jessica works as a social worker with young children and their families in the community. She also loves reading, hiking in the woods with her pup and experimenting in the kitchen.