Dharma Yoga Teachers

Keith Kachtick is founder and director of Dharma Yoga and has taught meditation and yoga nationally and internationally for thirteen years. A University of Texas Plan II graduate, he was from 1998-2005 senior instructor for the Lineage Project, a Buddhist nonprofit that offers meditation and yoga asana in New York City prisons. Keith's yoga classes, which combine elements of the Jivamukti and Anusara traditions, are infused with warmth and humor, his training in Tibetan Buddhism and the martial arts, and a love of music and world literature. He has written for Yoga Journal, Newsweek, Esquire, Texas Monthly, and the New York Times Magazine, and is author of two books on Buddhism: Hungry Ghost (a New York Times Notable Book of the Year), and You Are Not Here & Other Works of Buddhist Fiction. Keith was a presenter this year at both the Texas Yoga Retreat and the Texas Yoga Conference.

Camilla Figueroa is Dharma Yoga's co-director, a master's level social worker and clinical therapist, and a certified teacher of Thai Yoga Massage, Dharma Yoga, and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy at the 650-hour level. She has been practicing yoga for fifteen years and brings to her teaching a love for Buddhist meditation and a powerful belief in the transformative capabilities of asana practice for emotional and spiritual growth. Camilla is deeply grateful for the guidance of Saul David Raye in her certification in Thai Yoga Massage, Katchie Ananda and Alexis Britton of Anusara Yoga, Thomas Fortel of Esalen, and Frank Jude Boccio for his Buddhist-inspired yogic philosophy. Find out more about Camilla's blend of yoga and therapy at www.DharmaYogaTherapy.com.

Kelly Roadhouse is a Staff Teacher for the Yoga Studies Institute, certified in both the practice of Tibetan Heart Yoga and the philosophical teachings of the classics of yoga. Her classes are inspired by more than fourteen years of yoga and meditation practice and over 700 hours of teacher trainings. Kelly is a graduate of Diamond Mountain University's Advanced Buddhist Studies Course, a six-year exploration of Tibetan Buddhism, meditation and yoga, guided by her teachers Geshe Michael Roach and Lama Christie McNally. Find out more at http://www.yogastudiesinstitute.org.

Alli Horan has been practicing Hatha yoga for over eleven years. She gained her certification to teach hatha yoga five years ago and has taught weekly at Dharma Yoga ever since. As an Applied Clinical Nutritionist, Ayurvedic Health Educator, and Dharma Yoga instructor, Alli's teaching and counseling is grounded in the belief that we each have the capacity to tap into our inner truth, release negative patterns, and create harmony of body and mind. Alli also holds a Master's degree in Public Health and owns and operates Innovate Wellness Solutions, LLC, a health promotion company that offers wellness programs, yoga and preventive health education to businesses and organizations in the central Texas area. Find out more at www.innovatecorporatewellness.com.

Shawn Kent has a Masters degree in Counseling, is a registered massage therapist, and is a certified Dharma Yoga instructor. Shawn works full time as a counselor at Austin Child Guidance Center where he runs mind-body therapy groups for adolescents in juvenile detention. He also works part time as a massage therapist, specializing in Thai Yoga massage therapy. Shawn brings a gentle, practical, and therapeutic approach to the healing art of yoga.

Gioconda Parker (ERYT-500) has been teaching yoga since 1997 and is the director of the Yoga Teacher Training at Castle Hill Fitness. She has led national and international yoga retreats and continues her studies with Rodney Yee, Mary Romeu-Keator, and Shiva Rea. Teaching in the Vinyasa style, she encourages students to connect with their breath, their body, and their inner being in a playful and encouraging environment. Find out more at giocondayoga.com.

Melissa Spamer has thirteen years of teaching experience, leading classes, workshops, retreats and teacher trainings in the U.S. and S.E. Asia. Her love of yoga led her to become an Ayurvedic practitioner and massage therapist to deepen her understanding of the body~mind. Her approach to yoga weaves together teachings from Angela Farmer, Victor Van Kooten, Rama Vernon, Shiva Rea, Kali Ray and her studies in the lineage of Sri Krishnamacharya. Melissa’s classes flow with the rhythm of the breath, infusing music, poetry, energetic anatomy and yoga philosophy, guiding each student on a journey into the art of living yoga. Find out more at www.lotusintheflame.com.

Kate Bero is certified in Dharma Yoga at the 300-hour level and has been practicing yoga for seven years. Kate recognizes that we often have emotions and memories held deep within our bodies, sometimes for decades, and offers her Dharma Yoga classes as an Awareness-based exploration of how to interact with this inner landscape in ways that are healthy and self-nurturing.

Ally Marie has been practicing elements of yoga all her life. As a former professional athlete, awareness of breath, connecting to the body and calming the mind served as the foundation of her sports career. These elements are now further explored and deepened in the compassionate and truthful framework of hatha yoga. Certified in Dharma Yoga at the 200-hour level, Ally incorporates rich, insight-promoting aspects from Buddhism and traditional Indian yoga with fluid, mindful movements of the body, yielding clarity and inner peace. For more information visit www.yogawithally.com.

Julia Winston discovered yoga as an overwhelmed college graduate in New York City and, realizing yoga's power to illuminate truth, embraced it as a lifelong practice. Julia is certified at the 400-hour level and has trotted the globe practicing yoga in India, Nepal, Chile, Thailand, and Israel. As a health researcher, voice actor, and writer, Julia applies the fundamentals of Dharma Yoga to guide a vast variety of everyday actions. As a Dharma Yoga teacher, she aims to empower others and enrich their lives through mindful movement and breath.

Vanessa Muncrief holds a Masters and Doctorate in Physical Therapy from Columbia University and has taught and lectured both nationally and internationally on the use of yoga for injury prevention and rehabilitation. Prior to her career as a physical therapist/yoga teacher, she danced professionally in New York City. Vanessa now works locally as a physical therapist and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Her classes provide each student with a supportive space to learn about anatomy and alignment, the intersection of the science and spirit of yoga, and always the simple, undeniable joy of movement. Find out more at www.vanessamuncrief.com

Erica Santiago earned her BFA in Ballet and Modern Dance from TCU and has been a professional dancer, teacher and choreographer in Austin since 2005. Erica completed the Dharma Yoga Training in 2008, and has been teaching yoga to dancers in Austin ever since.   A trained massage therapist, her classes combine the healing power of touch, the stillness of meditation, and the mindfulness of movement found in vinyasa flow and dance to help her students cultivate compassion, courage, and a more grace-filled life.

Denise Deniger fell down the yoga rabbit hole in 1996 and has been immersed in the practice of yoga ever since. She completed her first teacher training with Bikram Choudhury in 1998, and gave birth to Dallas' first Bikram yoga studio in 2000.  While living in Dallas, she became a Licensed Massage Therapist and studied Thai Massage in Chiang Mai, Thailand.  Her journey then took her to Boulder, Colorado, where she trained and performed as a circus artist, performing aerial dance, tight-wire, and contortion. She also studied Sanskrit at Naropa University, completed her second yoga teacher training at Core Power Yoga, and discovered the teachings of Tibetan Heart Yoga and Buddhism. Denise is currently a staff teacher of Tibetan Heart Yoga for the Yoga Studies Institute. Find out more at www.yogastudiesinstitute.org.