Sumana Brahman is originally from Chennai, India, and grew up in Guyana, South America. She has returned to the US after spending 10 years in Jakarta, Indonesia, where she practiced and taught yoga, while pursuing her career in public health programming. Her teaching style focuses on enhancing mind-body awareness in the pose and correct alignment, while increasing the student’s strength, flexibility and stamina. For her, the path of yoga is a deeply spiritual journey, and she is very grateful to her teachers, in particular, Swami Rudra Dev, who inspire her personal practice and teaching style. Sumana also holds Masters degrees in International and Development Education and in Public Health, and works in the field of international health and development.

Rob Phillips teaches yoga with an emphasis on simplicity, precision, and attention to the present moment. In his classes, even when you're working really hard, you'll be doing so from a place of calm awareness. His flow classes draw inspiration from classic styles like Ashtanga and Iyengar, but he also specializes in the much slower practice of Yin Yoga, which uses long-held poses to access deeper tissues, and provides an ideal place to learn mindfulness.

Rob’s teaching experience spans over 10 years and thousands of classroom hours. His training includes a 300-hour level certification in Yin Yoga with Josh Summers as well as a 200-hr level with Natasha Rizopoulos through YogaWorks. In addition to his asana practice, Rob has a deep passion for Insight Meditation and a true love for all Buddhist practice and philosophy. 

After 35 years of dance training and practice, Lisa found her way to yoga during the early months of the pandemic. In those first days of practice, she discovered her yoga mat as a safe haven and refuge that not only offered a way to explore a new arena of physical practice, but also brought quietude and strength to a season of external chaos. In 2023, Lisa completed the year-long yoga teacher training program at Circle Yoga and became certified to teach through Yoga Alliance. Her classes are informed by a dancer’s sensibility toward movement and flow, an ongoing curiosity about how bodies work, and a delight in the gift of sharing space with others. She works to create multi-layered practices that offer entry-points for many types of students, and to foster a community environment that is supportive, collaborative, and a little playful.

Lisa holds a BA in creative writing from Carnegie Mellon University and an MFA in dance from The Ohio State University. Her professional background includes five years as a company dancer for Laboratory Company Dance (LABCO) in Pittsburgh, PA, and three years teaching in the dance program at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, MI. She shares life with her husband and two daughters in a semi-urban neighborhood, surrounded by an aspiring native-plant garden, an urban zoo of wild rabbits, carpenter bees and mockingbirds, and a gaggle of neighborhood children climbing her crepe myrtle tree.

More than 18 years ago, Anne called her mom to report that she was leaving her desk job to train as a yoga teacher. There was dead silence and a lot of worry on the other end. Today, Anne has a job that she never could have dreamed up. As the Executive Director at Circle Yoga Cooperative, she gets to spend her work hours at a mission-driven, cooperative business, where she is barefoot most of the time. She loves working side by side with a such a talented and committed group of teachers and staff. After a 5-year break from teaching weekly classes at the studio, Anne is back on Tuesday mornings at 10:30am. 

Leyla is extremely grateful to her students and teachers. After spending a year-long residency at the Kripalu Center in Lenox, Massachusetts, Leyla became a Kripalu certified yoga instructor in 1998. A life-long learner, Leyla continues her yoga training by learning about anatomy, yoga for aging bodies, and yoga philosophy. She is also a certified Qigong Teacher. Leyla has been teaching at Circle Yoga since 2010 and is currently serving on the CYC Board. She has been fortunate to teach at a variety of locations including Glen Echo Park, Whitman Walker Clinic, Catholic University, the Federal Trade Commission, and the Supreme Court. In 2002, she co-founded Capitol Hill Yoga and remained co-owner until 2008. In addition to teaching yoga, Leyla is a professor of social work at Catholic University, a mindfulness instructor at Sibley Hospital, and a psychotherapist.

What to expect in Leyla's class

With compassion and clarity, Leyla creates a safe space for beginners and experienced students alike to connect with their breath and bodies. Each class will have instruction on breath, alignment cues for safe poses, and end with a guided sivasana/relaxation. She choreographs her classes to progressively open and strengthen the body with plenty of "warm up" movements to ease the body into yoga poses. Since yoga is a practice for all bodies, abilities, and ages, Leyla provides modifications to ensure everybody feels comfortable.

Wendy is a Yoga Alliance RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) and former ACE (American Council on Exercise) certified fitness instructor with a background in dance. She has practiced yoga regularly since 1994, starting with the Kripalu and Bikram styles in Burlington, VT. She began practicing Ashtanga in 1999, when she moved to Washington, DC. Wendy apprenticed with David Ingalls and began teaching at the Ashtanga Yoga Center in 2011. She completed her 200-hour teacher training at Circle Yoga Cooperative in 2019. Wendy is also a certified HeartMath Trainer and a certified Positive Psychologist Coach. She lives with her husband, two teenage children, and two dogs and loves to walk, meditate, practice yoga, and spend time with friends. She is thrilled to be able to share the gifts yoga with others as the practice has been transformative and remains a continuing revelation for her. 

Rachel's yoga journey began in 2005. What started as a means to “work out” very quickly evolved into a place of deep reconnection with the self. The process of integrating mind, body and breath opened a new world for Rachel. A world with more self compassion, self awareness, clarity, serenity and empowerment. Rachel graduated from RYT 200 program at Blue Heron Wellness in 2013. Her classes are light-hearted and lively and also offer an opportunity to dig deep into the potential of your postures and personal practice. You'll peel away the layers to re-connect with your natural, unique gifts and let your inner light shine. You can expect attention to alignment to help fine-tune your asanas, as well as a sweet flow. Rachel is continuously inspired by her three playful, young children and supportive husband. She is deeply grateful for her teachers, who bring inspiration to her practice and her teaching offerings.

Krista discovered yoga many years ago as a mother of two young children, and she is forever grateful for that discovery. She loves the beauty and joy found on the yoga mat and the peace that continues on and spills over into daily life. Through shifts, moves, job and life changes, her love for yoga stuck with her.

In addition to being a certified yoga instructor, Krista is also a certified personal trainer through the American Council on Exercise and enjoys how the marriage of the two of those disciplines informs her practice and teaching style. She teaches an alignment-based Vinyasa style class, a slower, steadier Hatha class with a bit of flow-inspiration, a Yin class where she asks everyone to slow down a lot, and strength classes that ask students to stay mindful in their practice while working hard. She is frequently heard telling her students to listen to their own bodies and to find gratitude for their strong bodies.

Krista teaches a joy-filled class and is always happy when her students leave a little more peaceful and relaxed than when they came in.....even in her Strength classes. On the weekends you may find Krista going on bike rides, hikes, or cross-country skiing with her just about grown kids. Krista received her RYT-200 through Sky House Yoga and is so grateful for her teachers and all she has learned through them.

Anjali started practicing yoga twenty-something years ago as a way to loosen up her legs after her long runs. But yoga soon expanded in her life as she saw how yoga connected body, mind, and spirit. Anjali’s curiosity led her to seek her 200-hour RYT certification in 2018, followed by a leadership coaching program that convinced her that connection to our hearts is critical to reaching our potential. In 2020, during the pandemic, Anjali continued her yoga studies and became a 500-hour RYT certified yoga teacher.

Anjali believes that yoga allows us to set an intention, offers us the ability to balance effort and ease, and graces us with the chance to start over with every breath. Yoga also gives us a rich opportunity to dive into the history, philosophy and knowledge of this beautiful practice.

Johanna has been practicing yoga since 2011. She gravitated to Circle Yoga soon after moving to the neighborhood, and it has become one of her favorite places to find ease and community. Over the years she has taken innumerable classes, worked the front desk and served on the board. Since completing her 200-hour certification through the Circle Yoga Teaching Training in 2017, she’s incorporated yoga philosophy and practice into her work as a leadership coach and consultant. In her classes, she focuses on breathwork and alignment and encourages students to create space and perspective. She believes that curiosity is powerful, that challenges make us stronger and that the practice of learning and incorporating creates confidence. She believes in the journey. She is on the path and invites you to join her!

Camille teaches yoga and mindfulness to kids and adults, and to individuals who are marginalized/vulnerable in a variety of settings—in studios, schools, at home, community centers, and homeless services organizations. She particularly likes to bring the practice to all to bolster their sense of body and spirit and encourage their self confidence and self worth.

Camille began her personal yoga practice in 1982 at a lunch time break from her historic architecture profession. She became an AFFA certified fitness instructor for the YMCA starting in 1988, where she taught aerobics, pre and postnatal fitness, body sculpting, Nordic walking, boot camp, beginner yoga, and kids' gymnastics. She became a certified children's yoga instructor shortly after Budding Yogis (the precursor to Circle Yoga) opened in 2003 and taught a variety of kids' yoga classes. She completed the 200-hour Circle Yoga Teacher Training in 2017 and now teaches Gentle Yoga classes for adults at the studio. She is particularly fond of teaching older adults who may otherwise find challenges as they age (as we all do) and have a great sense of humor.

Camille is also a mindfulness practitioner and facilitator at Opening Heart Mindfulness Community in the tradition of Thich Nhat Han, where she served on the board for several years. She is involved in several committees in this community with the Inclusivity Committee being the most relevant for her at this time, encouraging social justice to include opportunities and human rights for all. With yoga and mindfulness, and her love of nature, healthy food, and all living things, Camille hopes to bring more peace, freedom, liberation, and happiness to all beings everywhere.