Instructors
Linda Feldman, Director of Budding Yogis
Linda is a certified Next Generation Yoga teacher, a certified YogaKids Associate, holds a certification through Radiant Child Yoga Program, and has trained with the Samarya Center for Integrative Movement Therapy. She has been teaching kids yoga in D.C. since 2002. She began her own practice of Iyengar yoga in the early 1990′s in Chicago, and has continued to study in New York City and Washington, D.C. Linda holds an M.A. and has spent her professional life working for foundations and as a Public Television executive. Through her yoga teaching, Linda strives to inspire creativity in children and to help them develop healthy and peaceful minds and bodies. She works to encourage children’s respect for themselves, their bodies and others. Linda currently lives in Washington, D.C. with her own budding yogis.
Annie Mahon, Founder of Circle Yoga and Budding Yogis
Annie founded Circle Yoga and Budding Yogis to bring the practice of mindful yoga to children, families, and adults in the DC area. She trusts in the ability of these practices to bring balance and ease into her own life and she joyfully shares their gifts with her students. Annie is an Anusara-affiliated yoga teacher– although her first hatha yoga love was the Ashtanga yoga of Pattabhi Jois– and currently studies Mindfulness Yoga with Anne Cushman and other teachers at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in California. She has done several kid’s yoga teacher trainings, including Next Generation Yoga with Jodi B. Komitor in NYC, and Shakta Kaur Khalsa’s Radiant Child Yoga. Her main dharma teacher is the Zen monk, Thich Nhat Hanh. Annie has a strong interest in using mindfulness yoga to help people with emotional and psychological struggles, and has taught many children and teenagers with anxiety related disorders, such as OCD, anorexia, and bulimia. She has also taught conflict skills/peace studies and peer mediation in the DC schools. She lives in DC with her husband and her four teenager children.
Camille Martone
Camille is a certified Next Generation Yoga teacher and has practiced yoga for many years in traditional and nontraditional methods. She has been working in the fitness field for over sixteen years, with AFFA and CPR certification, teaching adults in aerobics, water aerobics, pre and post natal exercise, and teaching gymnastics to children, ages 3-6. She has a degree in Architecture and worked in the field for ten years before happily retiring to have her four children. Camille really enjoys working with kids and has been a volunteer in her children’s schools for the last ten years teaching art, architecture, science, and yoga. She is very excited to teach yoga to kids, and hopes to encourage kids to become more self-confident and comfortable in their bodies, as well as becoming stronger, more flexible, and more spiritually balanced. In addition, through her yoga teacher she hopes to encourage good nutrition and to inspire young yogis to know that eating right can positively affect the union of body and mind, because what you put in your body is also part of who you are. On any given day you can find Camille at home learning yoga postures from her four year old who knows them all, and some!
Cinema Wood
Cinema Wood is a graduate of the 400 hour, Anusara-influenced yoga teacher training program at Willow Street Yoga Center. Her classes emphasize alignment of body and mind, and the breath that connects them. She continues to study with Rod Stryker, at the Himalayan Institute and with other teachers of the tantric yoga tradition. Cinema enjoys outings with her dog, chanting kirtan and travel.
Debbie Helfeld
Debbie has been practicing Anusara yoga for nearly 10 years and recently graduated from the Willow Street Yoga Center’s 400 hour Teacher Training Program. Yoga has been such a transformative experience in her life that she wants to share its joys and benefits with others as she continues on her spiritual journey. Debbie lives in Silver Spring with her husband, 2 teenagers and 2 cats.
Debby Rager
Debby Rager began her practice of yoga in 1997 when she began her Masters in Social Work in Boston, MA. After working with children for over 10 years as a clinical social worker, she knew of no better way to build on her passion for supporting children’s emotional well-being than teaching yoga to kids. She was trained through the Budding Yogis program and was deeply inspired by Linda and Annie’s playful and loving approach. She quickly enrolled in a 200 hour YogaWorks teacher training to continue her training and is now a graduate of this program. Debby likes that yoga allows children to build resilience by strengthening their self-confidence, learning ways to calm themselves down and being creative in their play. Debby is really excited to be able to teach both children and adults the benefits of yoga. She loves the opportunity to introduce another activity that parents can engage in with their children that allows for positive and fun bonding!
Dhyana Delatour
Dhyana Delatour believes in a holistic and integrative approach to healing the body, mind and spirit. She began her career in the healing arts over fifteen years ago while living in Africa. In Mauritius, Dhyana received her Bachelors of Science in Sociology. During her spare time, she worked at a school dedicated to children on the Autism Spectrum. In 1995, Dhyana became a Reiki practitioner in an effort to calm her students suffering from tension and anxiety. In 2006, she became a Registered Yoga Teacher. Dhyana believes yoga brings a sense of harmony, peace and compassion to one’s life journey. Dhyana’s innate dedication to teaching and her natural connection with children encouraged her to obtain the following certificates: Budding Yogis, YoKid, and the Basic Course: Yoga for the Special Child. Dhyana continues to teach children and young adults on the autism spectrum and with developmental delays. She loves teaching children in a fun and playful way while simultaneously instilling in them the structure and guidance of a well disciplined yogi mentor.
Geneva Moss
Geneva is a certified Budding Yogis teacher with a heart centered approach to yoga and life. Being introduced to yoga at the age of twenty, she began a committed Anusara and Parayoga practice in 2001. After moving to Amman, Jordan with her newborn baby and husband in 2004, she began her dharma of teaching. Now back in the states Geneva continues to study with Rod Stryker and other senior teachers of Tantric Yoga. She credits her now 6-year-old daughter as being not only her constant teacher but her greatest blessing. Geneva brings her great love, enthusiasm and joy of being a parent, teacher and student into yoga.
Marta Beresin
Marta has practiced yoga 15 years and has been teaching yoga to children since receiving her Budding Yogis Certification in November 2007. She has spent the last 12 years of her professional life working as a lawyer for homeless families in the District and is constantly inspired by the resilience of the children and parents with whom she comes into contact. She is likewise inspired by the playful and open hearts that her students bring to yoga. She lives in Glover Park, D.C., with her husband and two daughters, Razi and Elez, ages 14 and 9.
Rebecca Gitter
Rebecca Gitter, RYT, is delighted to share the wonders of yoga with the littlest yogis and their caregivers. She completed her 200 hour teacher training in 2006 at the Yoga Center in Columbia, MD, and continues to study yoga with various teachers in the area. A certified facilitator of Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Babies, Tots and Tykes, Rebecca has also completed training through Budding Yogis and the Radiant Child Yoga Program. Her classes create an environment where kids can safely discover yoga through age appropriate poses, songs and play. As the mother of two school-aged children, her first yoga students, Rebecca understands the challenges of parenting and knows yoga can bring balance and support in raising healthy and joyful kids.
Wes Smith
Wes has been practicing yoga for over ten years and teaching for a bit less than that. He likes to bring a sense of fun, exploration, and growth to his classes. Yoga is a great place to find out who you are in that moment and Wes likes to see himself as a guide for your personal journey. A little sweat, a little flow, a lot of fun, and there you have it!