Making The Most Of Meditation

TEACHERS NICOLE NICHOLS – Director Founder and co-owner, Nicole has 19+ years of professional teaching experience. She was born and raised in northeast Ohio and has a B.A. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. One week after graduating from UNC, she moved to New York City to work in fashion and study classical ballet. After 24 years of living in New York, Nicole has returned to North Carolina to share her expertise and open Republic of Yoga, a new yoga center and brand in the heart of Cary. Nicole completed her first yoga training in 1994, and began to teach immediately. In 1997 she discovered Jivamukti Yoga, and received her training from Sharon Gannon and David Life, co-founders of the renowned Jivamukti Yoga School. Nicole is an 800-hour Advanced Certified Jivamukti teacher, and served as a teacher and mentor at the Manhattan flagship from 2002-2013. In 2012 she completed a 6-year course in Tibetan Buddhism. Nicole has been a presenter at the esteemed Yoga JournalConferences in New York City and Estes Park, Colorado, and has taught internationally at the Jivamukti Yoga Centers in London and Munich, as well as workshops in Spain, Greece, Mexico, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. On the Summer Solstice of 2011 she had the privilege of guiding over 2,000 yogis to stillness amid the hustle and bustle of New York’s Times Square. She has been featured in Vogue, the LA Times, The Huffington Post and The Wall Street Journal. Nicole’s classes are taught in the flowing vinyasa style offering choreographic sequencing, breath and alignment and awareness, masterful hands-on assists, and meditation—weaving in a modern spirited take on ancient yogic philosophy. They are accessible to all levels from basic beginner to advanced, encouraging each student to explore her/his own potential for personal transformation, balance and joy. READ MORE READ LESS BRENDA SCHNABLE Brenda Schnable is a senior yoga therapist and instructor and an author of two award winning books:Access Your Inner Power: Awakening Your Health and Vitality and Qi Infused Yoga®. She has developed her own style of yoga, Qi Infused Yoga®, that melds the flowing movements of Qigong and yoga postures into one fluid vinyasa practice. She is passionate about helping people gain and maintain their health, sharing yoga to all, especially baby boomers. She holds the status of E-RYT500 with the Yoga Alliance, is certified in 24 Postures of Therapeutic Qigong, and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists.   JENNIFER CAMPBELL-OVERBEEKE Based in Nashville, TN, Jennifer is a registered E-RYT with Yoga Alliance (Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher) and is currently studying towards 1000 hour advanced teacher status with Hathavidya. Jen began her studies in a 285 hour program at Blue Lotus in Raleigh, NC studying with Jill Sockman. During subsequent advanced studies in Raleigh she met Will Duprey in a guest weekend immersion and was immediately hooked by the transformativeeffect of his teachings. She has been a student of Hathavidya ever since currently moving towards graduation from the 1000 hour program. Bringing inspiration both from daily explorations on and off the mat as well as regular study with her teachers, Jennifer’s classes emphasize personal expression through the foundation of hatha yoga. With backgrounds in classical hatha, vinyasa, yin and restorative yogas her classes are a truly holistic experience incorporating powerful asana, mantra and pranayama as is appropriate. Each class asks that any and all perceived limitations and/or assumptions be challenged to fuel the development of the individual. Students often leave surprised of their capabilities and the limitless possibility of the practice. She also offers regular private sessions in and around the Nashville area. Jennifer expresses sincere gratitude to her teachers Will and Susan Duprey and the Hathavidya community for the faith, perseverance and unwavering commitment offered andfor bringing the power of ancient lineage into the modern world. Jennifer serves as both Retreats Director and Wellness Co-director for Hathavidya. In addition to a full time teaching schedule in TN Jennifer travels to teach workshops, trainings and retreats around the world and loves offering the experience of yoga and exploration to so many! “The prudent (or spiritual-minded) person attains success through faith; none other can succeed. It should be practiced with care and perseverance.” Siva Samhita 3.16 READ MORE READ LESS JUDY LIU Judy Liu (RYT 200) is an ACE Certified Group Fitness Instructor and Duke University Certified Integrated Health Coach. Judy has a Masters in Public Health graduate degree from Columbia University, New York. She has practiced yoga for many years. Judy completed her yoga teacher training with LifePower Yoga in 2014. She has taught yoga classes with students of all ages. She has taught kids yoga at Triangle Math and Science public charter (K-8) school andfitness clubs. She has taught different yoga formats at Lifetime Fitness. In addition to the spiritual, mental and physical benefits of practicing yoga, Judy values the many friendships and people she has met in the yoga community and looks forward to growing the community through her teaching. READ MORE READ LESS KERI MARINO Keri graduated from Georgia Southern University with a degree in Nutrition and Food Science. She’s a yogini at heart with a passion for making the practice approachable and customized to the student. Her mission is to inspire others to improve their experience and quality of life through the practice of Yoga. When in college, Keri started practicing yoga with a DVD at home. She found it to be awkward and uncomfortable at first. A friend talked her into attending a class at the campus recreation center. Somehow after that first class – Keri felt light, fluid and happy in a way that she had never felt before…It was life changing! Through years of yoga practice Kerihas recovered from chronic eating disorders, low back pain, migraines and anxiety. Keri has completed numerous trainings in Vinyasa, Restorative, Therapeutic, Senior and Prenatal yoga through the Asheville Yoga Center since 2009. Most recently, she graduated from the 500hr program specializing in Therapeutic Yoga this past October. Keri has taught yoga since 2009 and has over 1000 hours of teaching experience working privately with students of all ages and physical abilities. She has seen yoga practice change the lives of so many wonderful students over the years. In her classes you can expect to be challenged and nourished with a soothing voice and a energizing practice. She enjoys incorporating the wide spectrum of yogic practices into classes. You may experience: gentle to vigorous movement, postural alignment, guided relaxation, chanting, meditation, and a variety of breathing techniques. READ MORE READ LESS LINDSAY DERUCHER Lindsay came to Raleigh from Northern California with herhusband and three children. She completed her 200-hour Teacher Training with Lila Rasa in 2012. In her classes, you’ll find a playful, lighthearted vibe and a room filled with joy! Lindsay offers thoughtful, easy to understand alignment cues that make yoga accessible and enjoyable for everyone from brand new beginners to seasoned practitioners. With intention, she weaves a heart theme into each class to uplift and inspire students and loves to create the perfect playlist to accompany the flow.[Lindsay offers the deepest gratitude to her family for their love and support, and her teachers Kerri Marchionni and Lila Rasa Brown for encouraging her to shine bright and abide in her abundant heart.   LINDSAY HILDRETH Lindsay comes to the Triangle area with over a dozen years of yoga teaching experience. Originally from Rochester NY, Lindsay also held a previous career as a high school biology teacher for 13 years. Her personal practice first started in college with the love of vinyasa,flowing through the poses connecting them with the breath. After teaching for a few years, she realized her practice and teaching was missing a deeper connection to human anatomy and yoga philosophy. Her innate love for the human body and wonderment of yogic philosophy led her into the linage of hatha yoga in the Anusara tradition. With over 700 hours formal teacher training, Lindsay guides her students through a practice that weaves vinyasa flow with postural cues that help them learn the yoga poses safely, efficiently, and playfully. Lindsay has unconditional love and gratitude for all of her teachers whom she continues to be inspired by.   MELISSA VERDICCHIO Melissa Verdicchio is a mother of four children, originally from Long Island, NY. She and her retired military husband met at Villanova University and they were fortunate enough to travel the world before settling in beautiful North Carolina. Melissa’s passion for yoga began over 10 years ago with Power Yoga and Ashtanga, whenshe attended classes after the birth of her third child. Subsequently, the benefits of the practice, competing in Half-Ironman and Marathon races, years of teaching children’s and adult fitness classes, and the peacefulness found in a focus of breath all led her to her first 200-hr YTT. After completing her first teacher training, her desire to learn and share with her students led her to complete a second 200-hr training with Nicole Nichols at Republic of Yoga in May 2014. She acquired the accreditation through Yoga Alliance as a 200 E-RYT at this same time. Bringing yoga to students of all ages from birth to adult has become a passion. Through the connection with body, mind and breath, Melissa fosters an honest, comfortable, non-judgmental yoga class. Her classes provide an environment where balance, confidence, strength and focus become tools to be used on and off the mat. Being a student of yoga as well as a teacher has led her to attend many additional trainings, and toincorporate these techniques confidently into her classes. These include Yoga 4 Cancer, Yoga for Athletes, Yin and Restorative, Safe Assist and Injury Prevention in Yoga, Sequencing and Trauma, PTSD and Connected Warriors Training. In addition, she has completed three children’s yoga certifications including YoKids for whom she is an Ambassador. Several of the teachers she has had the honor of studying with are Seane Corne, Jason Crandell, Dharma Mittra, Kino Macregor, Aadil Palkhivala, Maty Ezraty, Sarah Powers, David Keil and Rodney and Colleen Saidman Yee. READ MORE READ LESS MICHA FEDERICO Micha found her way to North Carolina from Los Angeles in the summer of 1999. When she arrived, yoga was almost nonexistent here. Deciding she wanted to teach and open her own studio, she headed back to L.A. to take her first 200-hour teacher training. She completed Mark Blanchard’s Power Yoga training in the summer of 2000, and began teaching right away, eventually opening Namaste Yoga Center in2002. She added to her teaching skills another 200- hour training in the tradition of Anusara in 2008. These 400 hours, combined with a multitude of workshops and continuing education over the years, continue to expand and grow her as a forever student of yoga, and a 15+ years experienced teacher. Her personal philosophy is that yoga should be a practice combining the physical, mental, emotional and spiritual aspects of who we are. Her teaching and personal practices include attention to alignment and breath to touch the physical and mental aspects, along with an intention or theme for the practice that we can take off the mat and back into our lives. The latter then brings our emotional and spiritual being to the practice. Classes tend to flow like a moving meditation. Conscious movement and breath united as one bringing the intention along for the ride. You may find yourself in a challenging pose and not even know how you got there!! It’s quite a treat. Micha’s passion to helpherself & others navigate this precious gift of life with more meaning and purpose drew her to life coaching as well. In the spring of 2015 she completed her training and has incorporated these new tools into her teaching of classes and workshops, as well as sessions ‘off the mat’. “I love to inspire & support people in being the best they can be, in as many ways as possible. Let’s love this life and love this world with EVERY PART OF OUR BEING!!!” Her training with Off the Mat, Into the World and her love to serve, in her community and abroad, makes her the perfect Seva Ambassador for the ROY community. Keep your eye open for opportunities to join her and the ROY Karma Krew off the mat.” READ MORE READ LESS MIRIAM TREMBLAY Miriam (RYT 200) has received her teaching certification through the guided talent of Nicole Nichols at Republic of Yoga. She took her first yoga class over ten years ago on a whim in York, Maine. As she continued to practice, the on-the-mat/off-the-mat correlationbegan to unfold, and she continues to learn every day. She honors the many teachers that she has practiced with and continues to offer gratitude to her very first guides, Rae Lynn Stackpoole & Jeff Peltz of Yoga on York. Today, Miriam sees yoga as a powerful methodology that provides physical, mental, emotional and spiritual opportunity. Her classes offer you a practice that is safe, light-hearted and fun; while fostering the possibility to embed lasting effects. READ MORE READ LESS SAM SATHER Sandra “S.A.M.” Sather is an experienced registered yoga instructor (eRYT) with certifications in Therapeutic Yoga, Vinyasa Flow Yoga, and YIN Yoga. SAM is currently pursuing her 500-hour yoga certification with Insight Yoga Institute (IYI) that integrates Yoga, Buddhism and spiritual psychology into a skillful practice to balance the body, heart and mind. SAM’s classes are mind and body alignment focused and centering. Her approach is cultivated from the energy shared from her students and theuniverse, and her life experience as a nurse, teacher and parent. She adjusts cuing in the class to the needs of the students, promoting learning and applying the balance of yang and yin on and off the Yoga mat. SAM’s Yin Yoga practice has influenced her life and teaching greatly. Her classes are mindful of the energetic pathways in our bodies, and she choreographs sessions to focus physically and mindfully on the health of the meridians through a series of postures and meditation. She uses her love of educating and facilitation in her classes to combine an experience for the mind and body in each session. She teaches a variety of classes combining her life and training experiences for classes that range from Vinyasa flow to Gentle Therapeutic Yoga to Yin Yoga. SAM teaches populations that include: new and experienced to Yoga, seniors, children & teens, mom’s soon to be, and those with various physical limitations. READ MORE READ LESS WADE OLIVE Wade is an Apex native, grew up on asmall family farm, and studied Animal Science at NC State University. He was introduced to yoga in 2014 at Republic of Yoga in Cary. His first class ever was an Open class with Nicole one Saturday morning, and in a few short months he began Teacher Training at ROY. (Nicole was so impressed with Wade that she hired him to teach before he graduated from TT, much in the same way she received her first teaching job in 1995).   Wade teaches a Vinyasa based class focused on breath awareness and alignment, set to an inspired musical soundtrack to maintain focus and intention.   Wade practices and teaches yoga as a mental, physical, and spiritual linking mechanism for an everyday life; a powerful unity that opens our body to a new level of transformation, changing the world as we see it. Through dedication of practice comes stability, and in that stability freedom is found.   ZORA SAVAGE Zora Savage (RYT 200) practiced her first Sun Salutation in her teens in the Czech Republic where she grewup. She started her yoga study with Dharma Richards in 2009 and attained her RYT certification through Yoga Garden in 2010.   Zora studies the Yoga Sutra with Subhash Mittal, and physical practice with Jill Sockman, David Garrigues, Judith Hanson Lasater, Tamal Dodge, Shana Meyerson and others. Expect to be challenged in Zora’s class, with variations offered for all levels. She teaches in a slow flow style that will highly develop your muscle tone and bring a meditative state of mind. Each class ends with a short meditation.