Instructors

KENT BOND - Founder/Creator
Kent Bond, creator of Willow Glen Yoga in San Jose, California, is a well-respected Yogi from the Bay Area. He has many years of Yoga teaching, practice and study in several lineages of Yoga. Kent has developed a singular teaching style that is informative, challenging and uplifting. He has extensive and ongoing studies in the White Lotus tradition with Ganga White and Tracey Rich, including advanced and undergraduate teaching certifications from this prestigious center. In addition, he holds certification from Erich Schiffmann and has trained with numerous emerging masters including Duncan Wong, Robert Brook, and Russell Kai Yamaguchi. Kent leads specialized workshops in the USA and Europe and is an ongoing member of the White Lotus Foundation teacher training staff. More on Kent Bond

MIRA ALBERT Mira’s teaching and massage practice combine her knowledge of the body with love of Yoga. Certified in the White Lotus Vinyasa tradition and informed by years of studying Iyengar Yoga, Mira weaves many styles into her yoga practice including Vinyasa, Iyengar, Yin, Restorative, Gentle, and Ashtanga. Mira's joy in realistic everyday practice shows in her down-to-earth teaching style and sense of humor. Sessions incorporate chanting, pranayana, asana, and music. Mira strives to cultivate a sense of contentment, connection, and wholeness in her students; uplifting and energizing, while also balancing and calming.

Kris Cowherd A former fire fighter/paramedic, Kris began practicing yoga in 1998 and has been teaching since 2000. Her classes are an eclectic blend of Ashtanga, Power, and Iyengar styles bringing balance, challenge, and energy to students. She has certifications from the White Lotus Foundation, Bikram Yoga, Power Yoga, and the Iyengar Foundation. She continues to study and practice allowing for creativity and freshness to flow in her classes. Students learn to flow with breath awareness and body alignment. Kris takes students safely into the joyful world of yoga.

MICHELLE DUGUAY Michelle began yoga as a toddler mimicking her father and became a dedicated student in 1989. She is a certified yoga instructor and has taught for over a decade. She co-manages the Willow Glen Yoga studio in San Jose, California with founder Kent Bond, who she’s studied with for over nine years. She has taught the Cancer Supportive Care Yoga Program at Stanford University Hospital since 2005. Her work includes many public and private classes, along with lecturing on yoga and holistic healing. More on Michelle Duguay

LYNN CHENG KAYLOR, RYT began her love and study of yoga over 20 years ago while attending the University of Massachusetts in Amherst and has been teaching for over 10 years. While her formal training is mostly in the Iyengar and Ashtanga traditions, her classes incorporate aspects from her teachers, intuition, and personal study. Lynn’s teaching style emphasizes the importance of body alignment combined with the natural movement of the breath, inner awareness and the vision of the mind.

MICKI LOVE A certified yoga instructor and Professional Yoga Therapist whose involvement with yoga spans more than 20 years. Micki has a thorough understanding of the body/mind connection and an undying belief in the power of the body's innate healing ability. Her extensive understanding of anatomy and physiology allows her to create a practice that makes yoga accessible to everyone. She studies with Baba Hari Das.

LORIEN NEARGARDER cultivated her deep body awareness at an early age through dance and fitness instruction. Since 1999, she has studied with yoga teachers of various backgrounds, including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Bikram, Tri-Yoga, and Vinyasa. Lorien is certified through Yoga Educational Seminars (YES). She uses all of these methods in her teaching, but is primarily a Vinyasa teacher. Lorien's classes include practices in breathing, meditation and chanting, resulting in a complete exercise for the mind, body and spirit. She approaches teaching from the student's perspective, with compassion always in mind. For more information, go to www.yogabylorien.com.

JENNY NIKLAUS is a certified Yoga Instructor through Yoga Education Seminars (YES) and has been teaching Vinayasa Flow for over 7 years. Jenny has studied extensively with Kent Bond and Joyce Anue as well as many other local teachers. She is a dedicated practitioner of Yoga, and works to support each student’s unique expression in each asana through the breath, encouraging the development of swadhyaya, selfstudy. She works full time at Sacred Heart Community Service, a nonprofit organization working with the poor and homeless in San Jose, bringing to life daily the practice of santosha, contentment or gratitude. Jenny is also a Liscensed Marriage Family Therapist and brings her talent of listening from the heart to all her classes. Her teaching style is deep and intense with much compassion, humor and fun.

MAGGIE PAEZ took her first yoga class in 1970 and has been humbled by forward folds ever since. She is a graduate of the University of Santa Clara and the White Lotus Yoga Foundation (2000). Maggie has studied yoga with many renowned yoga masters over the years, most notably in classes and workshops here at Willow Glen Yoga since its first year.

ALYSSA TANNERT discovered and has practiced yoga since the mid-1990’s. She studied Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga with Larry Schultz at the It's Yoga Teacher Training Program in San Francisco. Alyssa's classes emphasize linking the breath and posture to create a dynamic Flow, which opens up the opportunity to relax and energize one's body and mind. She encourages her students to experience their own internal rhythm and energy through the flow of poses, proper alignment, and connection to the breath. Her teaching style builds strength, flexibility, and self-awareness. As a Guide and Student, she maintains a consistent practice and teaching schedule that exemplifies a sense of passion, humor, and patience

NANCI TUDISH was introduced to yoga in 1990 while on a meditation retreat. Her yoga studies began in L.A. with teachers Rod Stryker, Shiva Rea, Ana Forrest, and Bryan Kest. While pregnant with Giavanna in 2001, Nanci became certified in Whole Birth Yoga specializing in prenatal and postnatal yoga. Studying with Joyce Anue in 2003-2004, Nanci completed the Y.E.S. teacher training and became a Registered Yoga Teacher of Hatha yoga. She is a member of B.A.B.I., a certified massage therapist, a Reiki practitioner and a life-long student of Ayurveda and TCM. Nanci leads yoga and massage workshops for prenatal couples, partner yoga workshops, and workshops for women. For more information, go to www.aatmayogawithnancitudish.com.

SUSANNAH SHAMOS first discovered yoga in 1993 at Yoga College of India (Bikram) in San Francisco during her first year of law school. Since 1998, however, her practice has mainly been Vinyasa yoga, but with an Iyengar-based focus on alignment, primarily as a result of study with Kent Bond, both privately and as a student at Willow Glen Yoga. She also studied Ashtanga and "Power" yoga before realizing that often strength, as well as peace, can come from slowing down and moving more deeply into one's practice. After an 8 year career as a public defender, Susannah changed paths and became a Yoga Alliance certified yoga instructor through Avalon in Palo Alto. She wants each student to find the joy and peace that yoga has brought to her, and strives to do this with her own blend of knowledge, compassion, music and, of course, humor.

Extended Family

Maria Alfaro (Yoga Adventure)

Samantha Shakti Matthews