Westside Yoga Studio Teacher Bios

By sincere dedication to their own practices, these teachers have developed a broad range of teaching styles, and are all trained to work with the varying needs of students. At the studio you will be taking classes directed toward self-discovery, with a deeper aim of self-realization. Every member of our staff is committed to helping you find the yoga that works for you. The studio supports the pursuits of students at all levels, so whether your legs are behind your head or you haven't seen your toes in years, please come visit us soon!

Eddie Modestini

Eddie Modestini is known as a teacher's teacher. He has been practicing and teaching yoga since 1983. Initially, he was certified in Iyengar yoga, at a time when the certification was difficult and elusive. He spent many years studying with Pattabhi Jois and eventually received the blessing to teach Ashtanga yoga. He is well versed in both systems with an eye for detail that translates to a profound ability in reading students' bodies.
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Nicki Doane

Nicki Doane had a wanderlust that led her to India in 1991 to study yoga. She went to Mysore to meet Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and immediately realized she had found her teacher. Nicki started teaching in 1992. She cites Pattabhi Jois, along with Eddie Modestini, Gabriella Giubilaro, and Tim Miller among her most influential teachers. She is an authorized teacher of Ashtanga Yoga. 
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Mirka Kraftsow

Mirka Scalco Kraftsow is a health practicioner and educator. In addition to her role as Co-Director of AVI and Co-Teacher of the AVI Yoga Teacher TrainingProgram, Mirka has been a yoga teacher in the Viniyoga ™ methodology since 1981 and a Yoga Therapist since 1988. Born and raised in Italy, Mirka traveled and studied different modalities of dance, movement, psychology and meditation in India, Europe and the United States. Over the years Mirka has helped hundreds of individuals develop and maintain a personal practice and manage challenging personal and therapeutic conditions.
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John Smith

John Smith began his yoga journey over 20 years ago, and maintains the traditional method of Ashtanga Yoga. He travels frequently to Mysore, India to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and Sharath Rangaswamy. He is one of only a handful of practitioners in the world who has been certified by Pattabhi Jois and The Ashtanga Yoga Research Institute in Mysore.
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Nancy Kate Williams

Nancy Kate teaches predominantly the Maya Yoga curriculum of her current teachers, Eddie Modestini and Nicki Doane. She believes that the alignment of the pose is integral to creating a sustainable yoga practice, and it is through a safe and conscious practice that the student is able to heal their body and calm their mind. She lives in great appreciation of the philosophy of yoga, and loves to share this with her students.
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Mariah Betts

Mariah's vinyasa classes are an inspiring blend of fun flow rooted in traditional aligment. Her classes focus on feeling, breath, integrity, and core strength. They provide the space for people to explore their power, delight their spirit, move with their breath and go deeper into their True Self. She is also a graduate of the Institute for Integrative Nutrition as a Holistic Health Counselor and has a Bachelors of Science in Health Psychology from Bastyr University. Mariah empowers people to live with intention in a body that feels amazing. Read more about Mariah Betts 

 

Leigha Nicole

Leigha Nicole has been teaching yoga for 25 years and taught at Yoga Works in Santa Monica, California from its inception in 1987. Her extensive and thorough knowledge of anatomy stems from a bodywork practice that spans two decades. She has been traveling to Mysore, India for the past 18 years to study with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, and was authorized to teach by him in 1996. Tim Miller is her main teacher in the West.
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Kathy Cooper

Kathy Cooper has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga consistently for 33 years. David Williams and Nancy Gilgoff of Maui were her primary teachers. They taught her all of the series and pranayama. She also studied with Guruji (K Pattabhi Jois) on many of his extended trips to the US, and in Mysore, India.

The inherent wisdom of Ashtanga yoga has led Kathy on a transformative journey. In her words: "Being present in the body through the connection to the breath and bandhas is the key which unlocks the blocks." This union is the place where the mental/emotional/physical bodies find their release and begin to unwind.
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Banyan Gallagher

Banyan Gallagher has been closely studying the arts of movement since the age of 12. His background as an NCAA athlete contributed a strong discipline in his current practice, and a deep understanding of the limitless movements the human body has evolved to make. Banyan practices a form of Tantra-Hatha Yoga, a series of techniques designed to accelerate evolution and overcome our limitations on a subtle plane. Read more about Banyan Gallagher  

 

 

Erick Thuss

Erick Thuss started practicing yoga in 1996 with Gayna Uransky in the Iyengar tradition. He went on to study Ashtanga Yoga with John Smith, and maintained a personal practice rooted in both traditions. Through the practice, Erick has witnessed the vast healing capacity of yoga, and the radical depth that yoga awakens in people. This has become the fuel for his current practice, which is growing and changing under the mentoring of Eddie Modestini, Nicki Doane, and John Smith, all of whom Erick thankfully acknowledges for the backbone of his yoga education. Read more about Erick Thuss 

 

Collin Thuss

Collin Thuss came to yoga when he was 25. He started studying Maya Yoga with Eddie Modestini and Nicki Doane, and immediately refocused his life in the direction of yoga. He continues his study with them, as well as Ashtanga Yoga senior teacher John Smith. Read more about Collin Thuss

 

 

Ginny Robinson

Ginny Robinson began practicing yoga at Bikram Yoga in Atlanta, Georgia. With gratitude, Ginny has experienced the transformative effects of yoga on the body and mind. She studied Power Vinyasa Yoga under Baron Baptiste who teaches a style that is both rigorous and accessible. Through her current study of Maya Yoga under Eddie Modestini and Nicki Doane, she has discovered a deeper awareness of the body and of the practice. Inspired by her teachers and peers at Westside Yoga Studio, she offers students a space to welcome love, integrity and peace into their lives.
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