Instructors
JANE BARRETT, E-RYT 500, director/owner of Raleigh Yoga Center, began teaching in 1979. She is a licensed educator with a B.S. in Social Sciences and master studies in Learning Disabilities. A founding member of the Yoga Teachers Association of New York, she is also a current member of the Iyengar Yoga Associations of Greater New York and the Southeast. Having successfully run her own yoga business in New York for 19 years, Jane relocated to North Carolina and joined the staff of Raleigh Yoga Center in 1998. In addition to studying with nationally known Iyengar teachers for over 30 years, Jane has received teacher training from Joan White, Patricia Walden, Elise Browning Miller, Judith Hanson Lasater, John Schumacher and Bobbi Goldin. She has also taken multiple teacher training courses with Aadil Palkhivala and Doug Keller. For the past eight years, Jane has been honored to assist her dear friend and mentor, certified Iyengar teacher Bobbi Goldin, at an annual week-long Iyengar yoga retreat on Sanibel Island. She continues her studies and brings to her own classes her years of experience as a student and a teacher, a joyful heart and sense of humor.
KIRSTEN BACHMANN, E-RYT 200, NCLMT #1293, completed yoga teacher training with Stephanie Keach at the Asheville School of Yoga in 2001 and began teaching at Raleigh Yoga Center in 2005. She is most influenced by teachers based in the Iyengar tradition, including Bobbi Goldin, Erich Schiffmann, Doug Keller and Jane Barrett. Kirsten’s teaching style is lighthearted and encouraging and reflects her commitment to an alignment-based practice. She has been a practicing massage therapist since 1995.
LAURA WOODALL, E-RYT 200, has been formally teaching yoga since 2000. Although her teacher training certification is through the N.C. School of Yoga, she considers herself a teacher in the lineage of alignment-based yoga. Laura also completed teacher training with certified Iyengar teacher Bobbi Goldin and continues to be influenced by Doug Keller, Julie Gudmestad, Roger Cole, Lillah Schwartz and Tari Prinster. She teaches at Rex Wellness Centers and the NCSU Faculty Club and is also adjunct faculty member of Meredith College, teaching yoga for 8 years. Laura believes that yoga should be practiced with an open heart, a sense of wonder and exploration, but most importantly to cultivate compassion.
JEFF MANNING has been a student of yoga since 1992. Strongly influenced by alignment-based methods, Jeff has studied with Iyengar-certified teacher Bobbi Goldin of the Yoga Institute of Miami and Chris Moore of Raleigh Yoga Center. He has also studied with Stephanie Keach of Asheville Yoga Center and Peter Lavina on the Big Island of Hawaii and attended workshops with Doug Keller and others. Jeff has taught yoga to students, faculty and staff at NCSU from 2002-2012, at the Raleigh YMCA since 2002 and at Raleigh Yoga Center since 2010. He has also conducted classes for NCSU’s golf and tennis teams and co-taught yoga workshops for the Multiple Sclerosis Society. Jeff received teaching certifications in 2003 and 2004.
BETH ROBINSON, RYT 200, has studied and practiced yoga for 10 years. She began teaching in early 2010 after receiving her 330-hour teacher training certificate from Triad Yoga Institute. Her training is alignment focused, inspired by the teachings of Aadil Palkhivala and B.K.S. Iyengar. Beth believes in not only practicing the physical postures of yoga, but also in living yoga by practicing kindness, doing no harm, being in the present moment and believing in the wisdom of the heart. Her fun and engaging style of teaching will help you to improve your strength, flexibility and overall health.
LESLIE WAUGH, RYT 200, has been a dedicated student for more than 10 years. After studying at Raleigh Yoga Center for five years, she moved to Washington, D.C., where she continued studying at John Schumacher’s Unity Woods Center. In 2008, Leslie completed her first teacher training program with Iyengar-certified teacher Bobbi Goldin. In 2010, she completed a 200-hour teacher training course and received her certification from Boundless Yoga in Washington, D.C. She has attended workshops with Iyengar teachers Roger Cole, Manouso Manos, Lois Steinberg and Joan White, as well as with Doug Keller, Aadil Palkhivala and Donna Farhi. Leslie is strongly influenced by the Iyengar tradition but also draws on other traditions in her teaching. She teaches at a health-care clinic in Durham and also offers private lessons. Through a focus on alignment and open-hearted, inquisitive practice, she seeks to help students cultivate a deeper awareness of themselves and others and an appreciation for the power of the practice, on and off the mat.
JILL BRALY FURGUSON, RYT 200, has been a devoted and inquisitive student of yoga for over 10 years. In 2008, she received formal training and certification in traditional hatha yoga from the Yoga Vidya Gurukul ashram and yoga school in Maharashtra, India. In March 2010, she completed certification in the Yoga for the Special Child method and currently teaches yoga to children with special needs. Jill practices and teaches yoga to all people as a physical, mental and spiritual guidebook for life. She hopes her teaching will help your experiences on the yoga mat unfold into enriched living off of the mat.
LISA MCDOUGALD, RYT 500, has been a dedicated student of alignment-based yoga since 2000. She completed her 500-hour teacher training with Suzanne Newton and Terry Brown at the Triad Yoga Institute in 2010, and her 240-hour teacher training in 2005 at the N.C. School of Yoga in Raleigh. She continues to expand her yoga practice through regular classes and workshops with teachers influenced by B.K.S. Iyengar, including Bobbi Golden, Aadil Palkhivala, Bo Forbes, Elise Browning Miller, Terry Brown and Lillah Schwartz. She enjoys sharing her yoga practice with her students in her small home studio in Raleigh.
GABRIELLE WILLSON, RYT 200, was captivated by yoga following the birth of her third son, when persistent low-back pain was alleviated by yoga practice after all else had failed. Gabrielle has been taking classes at RYC since 2005. She completed the 200-hour teacher training program at Triad Yoga Institute in 2011 and regularly teaches small classes at her home studio in Cary. She is a follower of alignment methodology as influenced by the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar and attends workshops with Bobbi Goldin, Julie Gudmestad and Aadil Palkhivala. Yoga has a profound calming influence in addition to the myriad of beneficial effects on the body and Gabrielle encourages everyone to practice yoga!
MARY MARGARET MOFFITT, RYT 200, was introduced to yoga in college. She has been a dedicated RYC student since 2005. In March 2012, Mary Margaret completed her 200-hour teacher training and is currently working toward her Introductory Level I Iyengar certification. Mary Margaret teaches small private classes, a yoga elective at Exploris Middle School, teen yoga at Raleigh Yoga Center and (seasonal) free community classes at her local park. She frequently attends Iyengar workshops. In addition to her yoga practice, Mary Margaret has been a student of Dzogchen, a Tibetan Buddhist meditation practice, since 1993.
ELKA HARABIN, E-RYT 200, RYT 500, loves the precision and deep logic of alignment-based hatha yoga. Elka completed 200-hour teacher trainings with both Yoga: Mind, Body & Spirit in Chapel Hill and with Blue Lotus Movement Arts in Raleigh. In 2012 she completed her 500-hour training at the Triad Yoga Institute in Greensboro. Additionally, Elka received Senior Yoga Training at Duke Integrative Medicine. She has studied yin yoga with Paul Grilley, Sarah Powers and Heather Tiddens, and yoga as therapy with Doug Keller. Elka has been teaching since 2006. Her classes vary from power flow to alignment-based classes, from vinyasa to senior yoga. She has taught at the North Carolina Correctional Institution for Women and has also organized and taught free community classes at Fletcher Park in Raleigh.
CHRISTOPHER MOORE, RN-Ret., E-RYT 500, founder of Raleigh Yoga Center in 1985, conducts classes from a background in Western and Eastern approaches to health science. He has been a health-care professional since 1964, a yoga student since 1975, and a teacher and therapist since 1984. His teacher training includes study with Ruth Bender in 1978, Iyengar-certified teacher Bobbi Goldin at the Yoga Institute of Miami in 1985 and two trainings with Senior Iyengar certified teacher Felicity Green of Seattle, Washington. He has attended classes and intensives with and been strongly influenced in style by B.K.S. Iyengar and many of his senior teachers. In the past 5 years he has studied Anusara principles and received Therapeutics training with Doug Keller. Chris’ calling is informed by over 45 years of experience working hands-on with the human body and its function and alignment. This leads to his special interest in Therapeutics, rehabilitation and helping to develop a balance of strength and flexibility, improved health and posture, and self-awareness. Private sessions are available by appointment.
“The beauty of a lake reflects the beauty around it. When the mind is still, the beauty of the Self is seen reflected in it.” ~ B.K.S. Iyengar