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.
Barbara Feer
Barbara Feer has been practicing Anusara yoga for three years. She especially enjoys the lightness and wellbeing it brings to her day. Barbara received her Budding Yogis Certification in the fall of 2008, and loves sharing her enthusiasm and spontaneity with young yogis. She is particularly interested in the calming aspects of yoga for young people growing up in a stressful world. Barbara also has an MA in Elementary Education, and has spent many years exploring children’s literature and story. She enjoys dancing, playing the piano, and singing in a women’s barbershop chorus. From her home in Arlington, Barbara loves to travel, cook and explore with her 15-yr old son, her husband and her yellow lab Sunny.
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!
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 de Latour
Dhyana believes yoga is a unique practice that harmonizes the body, mind, and spirit on a profound level. She loves to teach and has been teaching most of her life in various capacities and settings. In particular, Dhyana has been greatly influenced by her work with children and adults with autism and learning disabilities. Dhyana also lived and worked in Africa for two decades where she obtained her degree in sociology. In addition to completing a 200-hour teacher training with Hot Yoga in Washington, DC, Dhyana has completed the Budding Yogis’ Teaching Yoga to Kids training program. She has also studied with Judith H. Lasater and is certified in Restorative Yoga, and she has participated in an array of workshops with Shiva Rea, Max Strom, Simon Park, Sean Corn and Neva Ingalls.
Marta Beresin
Marta has practiced yoga for over ten years and has been teaching yoga to children since receiving her Budding Yogis Certification in November 2007. She has spent the last 15 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 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 12 and 7.
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.
Shauna Simon
For me, yoga is a holistic practice working on the body, the awareness and the spirit. It gives me energy while at the same time helps me feel calm and comforted. Yoga helps me feel my strength, and become aware of what I need to work on at the same time. I enjoy sharing the little I know with others. I began practicing and teaching yoga in the 1970’s, and have training in Sivananada Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Yoga Fit, and Kirpalu Yoga. I taught my own children, now 23 and 27, yoga while they were growing up and received Budding Yogis training at Circle Yoga 4 years ago. I have taught children from 3 yrs. old to teens and each experience brings a new and exciting view of life. I have been teaching music to elementary school children for over 20 years.