Meet the CYANWOOD Team
JEN
Founder, Co-Owner
Yoga Instructor 200E-RYT, 500RYT, YACEP
Branding and Creative Design Specialist
One-on-One Hourly Rate $65-$120
Jen is devoted to promoting and connecting individuals and communities to sustainable and natural services, products, and practitioners, and leading clients to greener lifestyle practices. Her approach is to share experiences, create offerings and assist clients in:
- creating natural homes
- connecting to natural cycles
- maintaining natural wellness
- exploring their personal natures
As a forever-student, Jen is always up to something and continuing to seek growth, uncover new lessons and challenge her mind with an unreasonable amount of information. ;) Here's just a little bit of her background, in case you need to know.
- 300 RYT Therapeutic Essentials with Nya Patrinos
- 200 RYT Kunga Yoga, Kristin Cooper-Gulak, Nicole Fitzwater and Noelle Whittington
- 100 Yoga Teacher Training Hours from Yogafit
- Winter Herbal Medicine, Milk and Honey Herbs with Jade Alicandro Mace
- Herbal Business, Foraging Courses, The Herbal Academy
- 2-Year Clinical Herbalism, Sacred Plant Traditions, with Kat Maier and Heather Wetzel
-Decolonizing Yoga and Deconstructing Racism with Nya Patrinos and Frankye Riley
- Yoga Nidra with Nya Patrinos
- Trauma Informed Yoga, YogaFit & Nya Patrinos
- Yin-Yoga
- Pilates Mat 1
- Reiki Level 1
- Clinical Aromatherapy
- Mindful Educators
STEPH
Co-Owner
Yoga Instructor 200RYT
Community Connections Specialist
One-on-One Hourly Rate $65
Steph has been practicing yoga for over sixteen years, and loved it so much that, in May of 2017, she became a 200RYT through Beyond Asana in Newport News, Virginia. She was initially drawn to yoga for fitness, but quickly came to appreciate the inner peace and calm it can provide. As a yoga teacher, Steph brings humor, curiosity and sincerity to her practice and works at establishing a sense of community among her students. She completed her Bachelors of Social Work at James Madison University and moved back to her beloved Harrisonburg with her family in 2013. Outside of her yoga practice, Steph can be found walking her dog around town, or out in the wilderness hiking and camping with family and friends.
- Beyond Asana Yoga Teacher Training (200 hours)
- Yogafit Yoga Foundations, Communication and Introspection (48 hours)
- Yogafit Anatomy & Alignment (16 hours)
- Yogafit Seniors (8 hours)
- Yogafit Mindfulness and Meditation (8 hours)
Practicing mindfulness for over 23 years, Greg has extensive personal experience with somatic meditations and mindfulness meditation, such as those taught by Jon Kabat-Zinn. Greg's evening Mindfulness Meditation classes will lead students through the sensations of the body and the breath while maintaining a relaxed, yet alert, state of being. Students will develop skill in focusing the mind and cultivating awareness of drifting thoughts and conditioned reactions.
During the day Greg works in the clinical research field and helps run his family's small homestead, taking care of the grape vines, chickens and honeybees. For fun, Greg enjoys beekeeping, yoga, hiking, mountain biking, skiing, snowboarding, reading and meditation retreats.
Fun Fact: Greg has been a National Ski Patroller for 7 years!
GREG
Mindfulness Meditation Guide
CATHLEEN
Yoga Instructor 200RYT
Cathleen has been practicing yoga since 2013, when she discovered community in a local yoga studio where her first mentors encouraged love and compassion. Over the years, she's found comfort in challenging hot yoga classes, restorative yoga, and the flowy movement of vinyasa. In 2018, Cathleen traveled to Bali, Indonesia to complete her 200 hour teacher training with Yandara Yoga Institute. She prefers to teach vinyasa yoga, and increasingly enjoys "slowing down" in her practice.
Cathleen's professional background is in technical writing and curriculum development. She has formerly worked for a large brewer and managed the learning programs for a yoga education start-up. She currently designs training for a government contractor in intellectual property. In her free time, she enjoys practicing yoga, cooking, and traveling with her partner, Luc, and being an aunt to her niece and 2 nephews.
- Yandara Yoga Institute (200 hours)
- Children's Trauma-Informed Yoga Training (95 hours)
Jennifer Perry is a certified Kundalini Yoga Level I teacher, as well as a certified teacher of Radiant Child Yoga. She has completed her Master Level III Reiki training and is currently pursuing further study in yoga and various healing modalities. Jennifer took her first Kundalini Yoga class in 2015 and received her spiritual name, Dass Priya Kaur, the following year. With a background in theatre, dance, costume, and textiles, Jennifer has lived and worked across the U.S. and abroad. She now lives in Harrisonburg, Virginia with her husband and three-year old daughter and loves to dance, read, travel, and be outside whenever possible. She believes that Kundalini Yoga is a profound tool for our times.
"Kundalini Yoga is a yoga of transformation. It builds not only our bodies but also our intuitive mind. It regenerates and balances energy within the body to help us deepen our 'inner knowing' so we may live and act more fully with conscious awareness. Sacred sound is always incorporated into class, along with time for deep rest. Most people find a Kundalini Yoga class unlike any other yoga class they’ve ever experienced. Kundalini Yoga can be practiced by anyone, by ANY body."
All are invited. Classes Include:
- Kriyas (specific sequences of actions)
- Pranayama (breath work)
- Mantra (intentional sound)
- Asana (body postures)
- Mudra (hand positions)
- Dhristi (eye focus)
- Bandhas (body locks)
- Meditation
- Kundalini Yoga Level I Instructor (KRI, 220 hrs)
- Radiant Child Yoga Certified Teacher (Levels 1-3)
- Reiki Master (Usui Shiki Ryoho)
JENNIFER
(Dass Priya)
Kundalini Yoga Instructor
Donna tried a yoga class out of curiosity in 2013 and has been practicing regularly since then. She loves yoga not only for its health benefits, but also for the mental clarity, sense of calm and self-knowledge it brings. Her favorite Asana styles to practice are Hot Yoga and Yin. Donna completed her Multi-Style Yoga Teacher Training at Chesapeake Hot Yoga in August 2020. As a former classroom teacher, she prioritizes meeting her yoga students as they are, and is always learning and unlearning. Donna’s professional work as a Physical Therapy Technician informs her yoga instruction for a class that makes sense and feels good. Some of her other loves are family, travel and music.
- RYT 200, Chesapeake Hot Yoga, 2020
- Total Spinal Fitness training, 2021
- Yoga for Seniors, Duke Integrative Health, 2022
- Advanced Yin Yoga Teacher Training, Online Yoga School, 2023
- Certified Sound Therapist, Institute of Conscious Evolution, expected 2023
DONNA
Yoga Instructor, 200RYT