Photo by Laura Dillon Rogers

Carroll Ann Friedmann, E-RYT500, YACEP

Carroll Ann is the co-owner of AYC and the Ivy Yoga School and married to Liam. She is Director of the Mysore Program and the Mysore Apprenticeship. She has practiced yoga since 2001, has over 10,000 hours of teaching experience and over 1400 hours of teacher training in the Integral Yoga and Ashtanga traditions. At the Ivy Yoga School, she and Liam Buckley offer Pre-Natal, 200-HR and 300-HR Yoga Alliance courses. She came to AYC in 2010 and was home, studying with Jennifer Elliott until 2020. Carroll Ann has made bi-annual trips to Mysore since 2013 to study with R. Saraswathi Jois and has assisted her at the KPJAYI. Carroll Ann directed the 2018 Saraswathi Jois U.S. Tour in 4 cities with over 600 students. She has worked with hundreds of students from all over the world comprising all levels of ability, experience and commitment.  She has also studied extensively with Richard Freeman and Ty Landrum. She is deeply committed to the Mysore method of yoga teaching and practice. She studies Sanskrit chanting and yoga philosophy with Dr. M.A. Jayashree in Mysore, India. She is writing a self-study manual for the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali.

Liam Buckley, E-RYT500

Liam is the co-owner of AYC and married to Carroll Ann. He has practiced Ashtanga Yoga at AYC since 2013 with Jennifer Elliott and Carroll Ann Friedmann. He has also made several trips to Mysore, India to study with R. Saraswathi Jois, Sri K. Pattabhi Jois’s daughter, at the KPJAYI. In addition to yoga asana, his practice includes work in sutra chanting and yoga philosophy with Dr. M.A. Jayashree and Prof. M.A. Narasimham at the Anantha Institute in Mysore. In 2016 Liam completed the Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Training for Teachers and Educators at the UVA Mindfulness Center. In 2017 and 2019 he completed the RYT-200 and RYT-300 Yoga Alliance Teacher Training Programs at the Ivy Yoga School. Generosity, positivity, non-judgment, and compassion guides Liam's teaching. Beginner’s mind is always encouraged!

Julia Prousalis, RYT500

Julia discovered Ashtanga Yoga in 2003 and has been a devout practitioner since under the guidance of Jennifer Elliott and Carroll Ann Friedman. She completed RYT-200 at Yoga Source in Richmond, VA with Jennifer Elliott and Sandra Pleasants in 2007. She completed RYT-300 in 2021 with Carroll Ann & Liam. She has attended workshops with Tim Miller, David Guarrigues, Dharma Mittra, and others. Julia initially came to practice for the physical aspect; however, mental and spiritual benefits made her stay. She enjoys sharing her experience and knowledge with the students and encourages her students to approach practice with self-compassion and enthusiasm.

Ted Jones, RYT200

Ted began practicing Ashtanga Yoga in 2010 and has been teaching yoga in the Mysore setting since 2017. He balances a respect for the lineage with the embodied knowledge gained on his own journey with the practice. Having come to the practice in his forties, he is aware of the seeming limitations of the body yet its profound potential to open and to release patterns that no longer serve us. Ted’s goal is to teach safely and with respect.

Kendra Moon, RYT500

Kendra has been practicing yoga asana since 2012 and was introduced to Ashtanga style yoga in 2018. She completed her 200 hour teacher training at Hot Yoga Charlottesville and her 300 hour training at the Ivy Yoga School. She enjoys all styles of yoga, but the autonomy of Ashtanga has been especially fulfilling. Her goal as a teacher is to provide support and encouragement to help others discover a way of practice that promotes a stable mind and body. 

Lindsay Gray, RYT500

Lindsay is most passionate about helping others find embodiment on their healing journey. She views herself as a helping hand along the yoga path that is so personal to each individual. She first discovered Ashtanga yoga in 2015, and completed her first yoga training in 2016. She has been a practitioner at AYC since early 2021 and completed the 300 hour training in December 2021. Lindsay is a full time massage therapist and brings this deep knowledge of anatomy to her yoga teachings.

Ina Stephens MD, RYT500

Dr. Ina Stephens is Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Pediatric Infectious Diseases at UVA Medical Center. She practices general pediatrics at Northridge Pediatrics and with By Your Side Pediatrics, a home-based care pediatric practice, with a particular interest in children with special needs and medical complexities, and is a pediatric infectious diseases consultant for UVA Children’s Hospital and Bon Secours Children’s Hospital. Ina is the co-director of the Medical Yoga Initiative at UVA Medical Center and School of Nursing. Ina graduated from Wake Forest University School of Medicine, where she also completed her pediatric residency and served as chief resident.  

Tarti Djakaria, RYT500

Tarti’s yoga journey started in 1999 after her eldest daughter was born. For years, she had been primarily practicing Hatha Yoga with various instructors before being introduced to Ashtanga in 2018. Her very first experience was when she attended a teacher training session, where she immediately fell in love. She completed the training in 2018 at the Ivy Yoga School under the instruction of Jennifer Elliot and Carroll Ann Friedmann and completed her RYT-500 training in 2021. She has been practicing in the Mysore method since 2018.

Anthony Haro, RYT500

Anthony believes that peace and contentment is our birthright and that the practices of yoga help us to realize that truth. He is grateful to have been able to lead yoga classes since 2010 in both Virginia and South Carolina, with a foundation in Integral Yoga Hatha, Pranayama, and Meditation, and most recently studying Ashtanga Yoga through the Ivy Yoga School.

Jensen Montambault, RYT200

Jensen has been practicing yoga in the Ashtanga lineage since the mid-2000's, developing a regular Mysore practice at AYC in 2019. She completed her RYT-200 with the Ivy Yoga School in 2021 under the instruction of Carroll Ann and Liam. She enjoys assisting in the Mysore Room, helping new students discover their own path in yoga and experienced students find the best fit expression of poses for the given day. Her goal for teaching is for yoga to be a safe, positive and self-affirming community experience for people of all abilities.

Matthew Tyson, RN, RYT500

What started as a pandemic “lockdown” release for Matthew “Matt” Tyson quickly became something central to his daily life. Trained at the Ivy Yoga School under Carroll Ann Friedmann and Liam Buckley, Matt has been instructing in the Mysore apprenticeship program since November 2021. He enjoys the opportunity to work with all levels of students to improve their practice, evidenced through his mantra of “there is always work to be done.” Matt’s professional role as a registered nurse has provided him with the ability to combine his passion for caring for the community with self-care through yoga practice. Matt is a certified hospice and palliative nurse in Charlottesville and is a mind-body retreat facilitator for the Compassionate Care Initiative at the UVA School of Nursing.

Kara Snapp, MPH, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500

Kara facilitates trauma-informed transformational yoga experiences. It is her mission to help you cultivate health, resiliency, personal empowerment, and feelings of comfort and safety in your body, and joy in your experience of life. She does this by being present to you, regarding you as a whole person with integrity, and deserving of the utmost respect and kindness. She uses techniques founded in Yogic & Buddhist philosophy and practices, psychology and neuroscience, including movement, discussion, meditation, breathwork, bodywork, & creative expression.

Steven Le, RYT200

In early 2019, Steven found a home at AYC and commenced his regular Mysore practice. He completed his RYT-200 with the Ivy Yoga School under the guidance of Carroll Ann Friedman and Jennifer Elliott in April 2020. Steven is drawn to the beautiful order of the eightfold path of yoga and relishes the opportunity to offer a gentle, guiding presence to practitioners of all levels, meeting them where they are in every moment. He aspires to one day serve his community by providing therapy that integrates yoga, meditation, and other embodied practices for mental and behavioral health.

Blossom Dawes, RYT500

Blossom has been teaching yoga in the Charlottesville area since 1999. She completed her RYT-200 at Yoga Source in Richmond, Va. with Jennifer Elliott and Sandra Pleasants in 2004. She loves sharing the practice of yoga through teaching. By continuing to grow as a student of yoga, she is able to teach from her personal experience. She teaches self-compassion and mindfulness, and offers yoga as a way to create positive patterns in body and mind. Blossoms classes are offered online.

Sara Zia, RYT500

Sara has experience teaching a variety of yoga methods for over a decade and has attended nearly 200 births. She is a doula, midwife, and Founder and Executive Director of Virginia Prison Birth Project, a nonprofit organization serving pregnant people and new parents in prison with birthing year support programs. Prenatal and postpartum yoga is a practice dear to Sara’s heart-- where her passions for yoga and supporting the childbearing path come together. When she is not on her mat, or bearing witness to the beauty of others on theirs, or supporting families as they cross over to embrace new life, she is savoring her 7 year old daughter through time as she grows up fast. Sara grew up in Los Angeles and she has a master’s degree in philosophy from UVA. Rivers make her feel peaceful and the early morning dark before dawn is her most favorite time of day. Her prenatal/ new mom yoga classes are designed to foster community, connection and wellness.