Alicia Bliss Hall, ND, CNHP, RYT  is a certified yoga instructor and nautropathic doctor. She received her yoga training through the school of Amrit Yoga in 2005, has taught here in Black Mountain for the past two years, and has been dedicated to her personal practice for more than 10 years.  Alicia feels that yoga is a vital component to obtain optimal health and her passion of healing flows into her classes as she encourages relaxation, meditation, and breath as well as poses to strengthen the body, mind and spirit.

Alethea Schaffer is a certified yoga instructor and massage therapist. She's been practicing yoga for over a decade and has been teaching yoga in Black Mountain for 3 years. Yoga and massage have become her path of healing and self-discovery. She recently traveled to Thailand to study Thai Yoga Massage. She practices massage and yoga therapy at Source for Well Being in Black Mountain.

Anna Ferguson came to yoga 8 years ago. Over the years, it has helped her overcome many obstacles in life, including serious physical illness and depression. She has studied all over the United States, most notably in Boulder, CO, Chicago, IL and Asheville, NC. She has studied Ashtanga, Vinaysa Flow and Yin Yoga, and continues to investigate Iyengar, Kundalini and Anusara yoga in her own personal practice, as well as T'ai Chi. She also works with the North Carolina Outward Bound School. 

Anna is a graduate of Asheville Yoga Center's Teacher Training program. Her experience in teaching is wide-ranging, from pre-teens and teens to seniors. She is interested in sparking the fire in your spirit to inspire you to incorporate the benefits of yoga into your life, enabling you to walk a path of health, peace and happiness. She especially loves working with students with the challenges of illnesses or injuries, as they are some of her best teachers in life. She offers her students her sensitive and responsive nature as an instructor, and her desire to teach you how to play yoga!

Brad Rachman has been practicing and teaching yoga and meditation for over 25 years. After struggling for over a decade with a potentially crippling form of spinal arthritis, Brad successfully restored motion, strength and “life” back to his body. His personal experience brings enthusiasm for working with those who never thought they could begin or sustain a yoga practice. Brad is also a renown Chiropractor and Holistic Physician; having lectured worldwide to physicians and patients alike. In his yoga teaching, attention to precise anatomical positioning, slow movements, and light-hearted verbal cues make his classes unique and fun.

“I owe my life to the practice of yoga and meditation. So sharing this gift with others is not a mere mission or goal. It is my passion, my honor and my way of paying-forward that which means everything to me.” -Brad

Cat Loftis began practicing yoga while living in San Francisco in 1998. Cat’s desire to practice and share the benefit of holistic healing has guided her training in yoga, nursing, massage therapy, and holistic health counseling. In the past, she has taught the benefits of yoga to office workers suffering from repetitive strain injuries. As a nurse at a local rehab hospital she utilizes yoga therapy in caring for her patients who are recovering from brain, spinal cord and other physiological impairments.

“Teaching yin yoga is a practice for me and I continue to be a student as I listen to my body and mind. I find that the benefits of my yin practice, that is, intention, stillness, acceptance and kindness toward my body and mind can transcend my yoga mat and influence my experience in everyday life.”

Gaia Boyd   began her yoga asana practice eight years ago while living in Oklahoma. It has ushered her through every geographic and life stage transition since. Through her studies of massage therapy, nutrition, Chinese acupressure, and yoga therapy, she has continued to develop understanding of the physical, spiritual, and energetic components of our beings. She has never limited herself to one "type" of yoga, believing there to be as many perspectives as there are teachers. The deepest learning, however, has come from her own personal yoga practice, which never ceases to offer surprising avenues of growth.

"I believe the body to be the source of our greatest knowledge and insight. My purpose in every area of my life is to share and witness empowerment of ourselves as individuals and as a community through our own unique developmental processes. This is the attitude I bring to my teaching as well as my learning."

John Bultman is a lifelong seeker of spiritual truth. He completed a yoga teacher training with David Swenson in 2007, and has studied with Tim Miller, Naomi Worth, Stephanie Keach, Todd Roderick and ,many other teachers across the U.S.  John is a full time geology instructor at AB Tech, fiddle musician, and is a student of Buddhism, Yoga Philosophy, and Christianity.

Josephine Hernandez is a Bhakti Yogi. She completed her certification in Sivananda, Ashtanga and Iyengar Yoga at Synergy Yoga & Healing Center in Miami beach with Guru Gaia Budhi. She has studied at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck NY Kundalini Yoga, Reiki, past life healing, Kirtan, with many esteemed spiritual teachers. She continues her own studies and passes her knowledge and learning onto her students with great enthusiasm and joy. Josephine is a truly accessible teacher; one who fosters personal growth in her students. Most of all, her students tend to become “life-long” students and kindred spirits on the spiritual path. We are grateful to have her as a teacher at Black Mountain Yoga.

Joyce Atkinson Schwarz, MA, RYT has been practicing yoga for ten years. Joyce received her yoga certification in 2003 through Prana Yoga Teacher Training in New York City. Currently, she is teaching yoga at the YMCA in Marion, and in the past has taught at the Family Center, Common Light and Sacred Mountain Yoga in Black Mountain. Her classes focus on hatha and flow yoga, paying special attention to breathing techniques that rejuvenate the mind and body. Joyce lives in Black Mountain with her husband, Matt, their three boys, Liam, Zack and Cole, and their two dogs, Brooklyn and Zanny.

Katherine Caldwell began her yoga study at the age of 27 in the midst of health problems that appeared overwhelming. As they began to fall away, replaced by an alertness, vitality, and peace, her practice and fascination with yoga grew, becoming a keystone in her life for the past 17 years. A graduate of Asheville Yoga Center's teacher training program, Katherine creates a practice environment rich with tools for counterbalancing the urgent pace of modern life. Her CD "Yoga Nidra: the Practice of Stilling, Opening and Nourishing the Mind", available at Black Mountain Yoga, has helped many students find deep levels of peace, awareness, and life changes.

Martia Bennett (co-founder of Black Mountain Yoga w/ her life partner and teacher, Brad Rachman) has been practicing yoga and bodywork therapies for the past 14 years. In 1999 she fractured her spine in a severe car accident. In an effort to avoid surgery, she used yoga to successfully rehabilitate herself. Combining her history of ballet, knowledge of anatomy and physiology, and diverse study of yoga, Martia offers a flowing, deep, and intimate practice for anyone beginning or continuing yoga.

“Yoga to me means so much more than a series of poses. It’s about a deeper awareness of one’s whole being. Yoga IS connecting with God while sitting, moving and breathing; honoring this gift, the body- to live inside of it fully.” -Martia

Naomi Worth has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga daily since 2003.  In 2004, she spent five months in Mysore, India under the guidance of Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, Sharath Rangaswamy, and Saraswati Rangaswamy, where she received the blessings of the guru and experienced its grace.  Since then she has studied with Eddie Stern, Greg Tebb, Manju Jois, Todd Roderick, Stephanie Keach and Tim Miller.  She completed Ashtanga Yoga teacher trainings with Mary Kay West and David Swenson.  Naomi also practices Tibetan Buddhism, and studies under Geshe Michael Roach at Diamond Mountain University in Arizona.  Naomi is excited to share how Ashtanga helps her to open her heart to all possibilities of the universe each day.

Tara Stevenson

Tara has been practicing yoga for 5+ years and is an excellent teacher as her personal yoga practice is consistent with what she teaches. Since 2002 Tara has been deepening her practice and expanding its range. From the "heat" of Ashtanga and Hot flow, to the stillness of Anusara and Meditation (and other styles in between) Tara's background creates a flavorful, anatomical, fun class. She holds a ceritication in Ashtanga with Mary Kay West, and also graduated from Asheville Yoga Center's teacher training 230 hour course.

"My practice has become transformational in my life and the small spark of the desire that I had to teach became aflame. My passion for yoga manifests most visibly in my Ashtanga practice. This is where I will began my teaching journey..."