Debbie Stevens

I've been teaching yoga for over 20 years. I began teaching while working full time as a Social Worker. It helped keep me sane! I am certified to teach yoga through Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA in 1992. In 1998 I opened The Yoga Center, a central space to practice yoga. Now I attend to my passion of yoga by teaching full time at The Yoga Center as well as in the Health and Human Performance Department at Roanoke College, for Seniors at Elm Park Estates, at Hollins University and at Health Focus.

I am a 500 hour Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with the Yoga Alliance, a certified Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy practitioner, certified Cardiac Yoga instructor, and a member of Kripalu Teachers Association and Integral Yoga Teachers Association. My style is gentle yet thorough, as well as eclectic, blending the compassion of Kripalu with ViniYoga flows and meditative elements of Yin Yoga. I like to encourage the individual student to find her or his "best" pose.

I am available for private yoga sessions as well as Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy individual sessions. I teach all levels of Yoga as well as Yin and Power Yoga.

I enjoy playing with my 2 cats, reading and writing poetry, looking at other's art and creating my own as well, and walking along the river. I have been seen kayaking at times!

Maggie Barchine

Margaret (Maggie) Barchine has always had the desire to teach a physical fitness class and after taking many aerobics and high-intensity classes, decided that yoga would be the most beneficial course of study for her because of the value it brings to her emotionally, physically and mentally.

She has been practicing yoga for more than four years. She has a 200-hour Hatha Yoga teaching certificate and is a member of the Yoga Alliance, the organization overseeing the practice of yoga. Her background and experience are in journalism, media relations, marketing and public relations. She was born in the Caribbean, grew up in Pennsylvania and relocated to Roanoke when she married. Every once in a while you may catch her island accent during her yoga instruction.

Maggie currently co-teaches Restorative Yoga with Debbie.

Maggie "frequently encourages us to pay attention to our breath, (she) suggests specific focusing. Her themes include detailed directions. Her narrative is detailed and sensitive to body sensations with frequent reminders to scan our bodies and honor our own awareness of needs." Maggie models "skillfulness and personal competence. She's relaxed and comfortable, so I am too, in her process." -- student Myra Bauer

Karen Ughetta

Karen teaches Yoga 1 classes with an emphasis on how to experience Yoga "from the inside out". She is an RYT200 level instructor and her teaching comes from an Anusara background with extended study in Yoga therapeutics. Anusara literally means 'flowing with Grace' and Anusara Yoga is a heart-oriented style of hatha yoga that focuses on optimal body alignment.

Karen's classes teach you overall postural alignment, hip alignment and shoulder alignment. You will increase your own body awareness and experience yoga in a new way!

Karen's 1st career as an IBM executive, although thoroughly challenging and exciting intellectually, left her searching for physical and spiritual balance, which she discovered through Anusara Yoga and now shares as part of her classes.

Gail Steele

Gail Steele is an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant, Registered Yoga Teacher, Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist and Certified Massage Therapist.  A graduate of the Kripalu School of Ayurveda, she also studied Ayurveda and traditional Indian bodywork in Faridabad, India and Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

Gail is the owner of Blue Ridge Ayurveda LLC, where she enjoys helping clients regain and maintain their optimal state of balance.  She can be reached at (540) 314-8109, email: blueridgeayu@gmail.com

Gail teaches Hatha Yoga on Monday mornings beginning October 31. She has been known to substitute teach at The Yoga Center as well.

Virginia Balserak

Virginia has been teaching  yoga for nearly 6 years.   Before that she was an Occupational Therapist specializing in early intervention.   She had been taking yoga for many years as a student and decided finally to spread the word about something she loved so much.   Virginia enjoys teaching  gentle yoga and emphasizes alignment in the postures for her students.   She also enjoys teaching senior yoga (seated in chairs) since she likes watching her students learn new ways of doing things and gain improved balance and strength.  She teaches a gentle drop in class at The Yoga Center.

Stacy Preston

Stacy is a recent Roanoke College graduate with a degree in Heath and Human Performance, with an emphasis in Exercise Science. She is ACE certified and has been teaching Zumba and Pilates for a year.

Stacy is a student of Pilates teacher Rennie Rauch. She continues to work on Balanced Body certification.

She coaches Andrew Lewis Middle School cheerleading, and plans to attend Occupational Therapy school in the future. Stacy works at Lewis Gale Medical Center as an OT tech. She enjoys hiking and playing with her Puggle and Boxer.

Visit Stacy at Zumba.com or on Facebook!

We are excited to have Stacy join us in our new space!

John Kortmulder

My yoga practice began when a hip fracture sidelined me from distance running (training for NYC marathons and half marathons). Practicing yoga for over 12 years, experiencing different approaches to yoga with several yoga studios, I have been teaching weekly classes since 2003. I completed a 200 hour yoga teacher certification program from The Breathing Project studio in Manhattan. Teaching experiences include open yoga classes for beginning and intermediate levels, weekly yoga classes at the VA hospital in Montrose, NY for veterans struggling with PTSD, yoga for Bariatric Surgery Support group at the Westchester County Medical Center, as well as instruction for clients with balance issues, illness (MS, Parkinson's, Cancer, Asthma) and emotional challenges such as panic attacks, anxiety, anger and depression.

I have worked for 2 years as a rehab assistant to physical therapists, at outpatient clinics and on the medical/surgical ward at Stonewall Jackson hospital in Lexington, VA. Experience includes Nursing Assistant on the Vascular ICU at Roanoke Memorial Hospital and current studies for Respiratory Therapy.

A study of Eastern religion and participation in week long meditation retreats at Chuang Yen Monastery in Carmel, NY has also taught me about relationships between body, mind and spirit. So have Chi Gung seminars with Mantak Chia, energetic healer, and studying with his senior students in NYC. Some of the Chi Gung exercises find their way into yoga practice.

Private classes are also available for health concerns and opportunity for personal practice.