Teacher Bios
Robin Mordecai
I love yoga because it makes sense. It gives clarity and pushes you to give. It lets you know what to work on for a peaceful life. I also love David Bowie, because he is weird yet beautiful, and people still like him – I noticed it when I was little, and it helped me like me too. I love dogs, mountains, and the river..and laughing.. and music! and dancing! And I love LOVE.
I teach at the Collective because Sharing is Caring! This applies to any information to give people better heads and hearts. Plus I want to build my community.
Teaching style and training: Robin has been practicing yoga for 15 years, and has completed two 200 hour yoga teacher trainings, in Iyengar, and Vinyassa and Yin. Yoga is where she goes to educate, strengthen, understand, heal, contemplate, explore, shine, and connect. She specializes in teaching yin and restorative yoga. The slow pace allows her to go more in depth with students on yoga philosophy and how we can be better people for ourselves, and our community. She believes in personal and
social responsibility and loving ourselves fully. Robin is also a certified massage therapist. The slower pace of yin and restorative yoga classes allows her to assist students into a deeper practice and facilitate compassion with touch. Robin teaches the Thursday night yin class at 6pm, and also facilitates our monthly Restorative Yoga Workshops.
Courtney Hynum
I love Yoga because of the way it allows me to feel! It touches every part of my life. It is challenging, fun, calming and always rewarding! I love being able to go to my mat and always learn something new about myself! I also love my Wife and our life together with our dog! I love snowboarding in the mountains and swimming in the Yuba River. I love eating and laughing and listening to live music. I love being under the sky and breathing in the smell of Jasmine. I love this life and the challenges it brings.
I teach for the collective because I appreciate and respect the philosophy of making Yoga accessible to EVERYONE! I also teach for the Collective because I feel supported and encouraged to be myself and grow as I offer a path for others to do the same!
Teaching Style and Training: Courtney teaches a playful, powerful Vinyasa Yoga with a strong awareness to the breath to help explore your own edge in you body and mind. She has been practicing Yoga for over 13 years from the midwest to the west coast under various teachers. She has attended yoga conferences with such teachers as Shiva Rea, Sean Corn and Rodney Yee and travelled to Kripalu for a retreat. She completed her 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training at Zuda Yoga Midtown. She has been teaching donation based yoga outside under the trees in Sacramento since May of 2010. Courtney teaches our popular Tuesday and Thursday noon classes at the Yoga Seed!
Bob Reed
What’s NOT to love about yoga? I also love warm summer days, being bare foot, moments of close personal connection with people, and cinnamon rolls
I teach for the Collective because I would like to give back what I have received from yoga, and help bring yoga to more people… to all people. Teaching is a form of my personal yoga practice.
Teaching Style and Training: Bob teaches an early morning mindful yoga class. Incorporating some gentle flow and occasional yin, this approachable hatha yoga class is designed tointegrate mindful awareness with yoga asana. All levels are welcome. The class provides opportunity for increased attention to principles of alignment and connection between mind, body, and breath. Bob completed a 200 hour teacher training program at It’s All Yoga in 2009 and has been teaching ever since. He’s taught hatha, yin, yang/yin, and flow classes to mixed levels, has provided private instruction, and assisted in teaching to groups with special needs. Join him on Wednesdays and Fridays at 6:30am for a one hour class!
Sara Johnson
I love yoga because it provides tools to transform the way we think, act, and move through this world. It is a brilliant system designed for the human body to help lift the restrictive veil that is placed on life by our conditioned minds. Once we get out of our heads and into our bodies, we can engage more fully in this beautiful life! I love yoga because it opens your heart, reminds us that we are connected, and makes us feel great and shiny and alive.
I teach for the Collective because I am incredibly grateful for my teachings bringing yoga to my life, and I want to share this wonderful system with everyone. I want everyone to be able to learn and practice and feel supported in doing yoga. I teach for the Collective because I believe in serving others. I’m also excited to be working for a new non-profit yoga business model, one that has community as its foundation.
Teaching Style and Training: Sara teaches a Vinyasa Flow and and Yin. Her classes are dynamic, fun, and are directed by intention, compassion, and the strong emphasis on practicing on our mats what we hope to practice in our lives. She also hopes that you will both sweat and laugh in her classes. She believes in challenging her students appropriately, but first and foremost, she strives to make her students feel safe, empowered, loved, and supported as they embark on the good work of utilizing (and loving) the body for the transformation of the mind. She completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training through Asha Yoga in Sacramento. She has also attended workshops in assisting, Anusara yoga, and various meditation workshops with Caverly Morgan of One House of Peace, and three 10-day Vipassana retreats. Sara teaches the late morning class on Saturdays at 11am, the Monday night Yin/Yang class at 6pm, as well as the Tuesday night beginner’s vinyasa yoga class for the LGBTQI community at 7:30pm.
Phil Smith
I love yoga becuase its a life-changing practice that has encouraged me to make constructive, healthier choices in my day-to-day activities. I also love Thai Food! It is the yoga of international cuisine: a remarkable fusion of spices and healthy ingredients, combined together with artistry and devotion, the product of which is capable of expanding the senses and experience.
I teach at the Collective because I believe that the nonprofit, volunteer spirit of the Collective provides a safe and nurturing space for the yoga.
Teaching Style and Training: Phil’s classes incorporate classic yoga postures with slow vinyasa routines, sun/moon/sea salutations, and pranayama as well as the use of bandhas, mudras, and relaxation techniques to enhance the yoga experience. Phil has received certification from White Lotus Foundation (Santa Barbara, CA) with Ganga White and Tracey Rich. He has also participated in yoga workshops led by Judith Lasater, Baxter Bell, Doug Swenson, Natasha Sedykh, and Donald Moyer. Phil has taught workshops on Salutations and Developing a Personal Yoga Practice. Currently, Phil teaches the “Yoga A to Om” series, a rotating 8 week course on Tuesday nights at 6pm, designed just for beinners. He focuses on safety, alignment, and the classic postures, and provides individual attention for the newcomers to yoga.
Zack Pasillas
For the past 10 years yoga has made an amazing impact in my life, initially the practice was a tool to deal with chronic lower back pain, but later developed unexpectedly into an ongoing transformative approach to life. It’s easy to get locked into routines and thought patterns that shape and limit what we think is possible. Yoga is a complete and unique system to de-condition and become a gentle master of mind and body. From the physical asana, awareness is developed, connection to the breath opens influence of the mind, and finally meditation provides the path to pure experience and creativity. These techniques and discoveries aren’t just book knowledge; instead, my personal experiences have lead to a sincere belief in the power of yoga, and the drive to share some of this wisdom with others.
Teaching Style and Training: Over the years Zack has been blessed to study with many great teachers in most yoga styles. His teaching approach combines insights from Iyengar, Ashtanga, Jivamukti, various martial/healing arts, and a classic approach to 8-limb Hatha Yoga based on Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. A typical class might include pranayama (breath work), a vigorous yet accessible asana (postures) practice, exploration of bandhas and movement of energy, and cultivation of a quiet mind, allowing for meditation. Zack also has a passion for arm balances and inversions; giving advanced students a challenge while providing modifications for all levels. He completed his Yoga Teacher Training at the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, and teachers at The Yoga Seed Collective Sunday mornings at 11am.
Other Yoga Seed Teachers:
(More pics and bios coming soon!)
Kelly Timmons
Robert Hallworth
Lisa Tseu
