Ted is a yoga teacher, endurance athlete and freelance writer. He teaches his students to lessen fierce competition and increase compassion and acceptance in the yoga room, athletics and in all aspects of life. He regularly contributes to the Yogi Times and is the founder of Adventure Yoga Retreats, a company that assists yoga teachers in organizing, marketing and administrating their yoga retreats worldwide, some of which include surfing, scuba diving, skiing and other outdoor activities.

Vivica was trained at Yoga Works in 2003 by Chuck and Maty. She apprenticed with Annie Carpenter for six months. To further deepen her knowledge of Yoga she completed a Pre & Post Natal Teacher Training the following year. 

Vivica started teaching during her training and has since then given up her ‘other jobs' in order to fully follow her passion: Teaching Vinyasa Flow Yoga to students of all levels. Students are guided into postures progressively, so that the body is able to open up more gradually and the energy is able to move freely through the channels of our body.

Her personality is nourishing, her instructions clear and the music she plays facilitates the inward journey of Yoga.

“Yoga is an opportunity to meet ourselves, to become more aware of ourselves and life. Yoga allows us to create a state in which we are fully present. I encouraged my students to practice at their own pace and to follow the rhythm of their breath. Yoga is a healing practice, especially when we pay attention to what's going on inside our bodies and allow our minds to ride the wave of the breath. As we deepen our awareness we are also expanding our consciousness."

Like many people, I initially found my way to the physical practice of yoga following a sports related injury that resulted in surgery. During my recovery, I stumbled toward the notion that my physical salvation would eventually lay in my ability to touch my toes. Following my new found relationship with those oft ignored nether digits, I realized that my body was beginning to open up in ways that I could never have imagined and it just felt so incredibly good. It may have taken a while, but I was getting hooked.

Then came the even cooler part. I have a Masters Degree and Doctorate in clinical psychology and have earned my keep as a psychotherapist since 1992. The exploration of the inner self through therapy is a wonderful expedition and I have been no less humbled by both my own growth and the growth of those whom I have been privileged to guide. But through this practice of yoga, I discovered that the exploration of the physical body leads to a deeper connection to one's inner world and eventually to those spiritual threads, whatever we may call them, which connect as humans. That is indeed really cool.

I am privileged to have deepened my understanding of yoga through my training at the Santa Barbara Yoga Center and to have studied with such inspirational and deeply knowledgeable teachers as Erich Schiffman, Paul Grilley, Scott Blossom, Lisa Walford, Heather Tiddens, and Sarah Powers. And from the moment I first walked into her class, I have been, and continue to be, so greatly enhanced through my friendship with Linda Pushkin. I am a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) certified by the Yoga Alliance, and as I continue to progress and learn, my hope is to share with others the magnificent bliss that comes with discovery and the excitement of realizing that discovery is never ending.

I see yoga as conscious unity, and myself simply as a facilitator in the
process of yoga, for the true teacher is within all of us. We are already
our perfect self, we are already all that we need to be. We practice
yoga to see ourselves as we really are, and know that our timing in
life is always right. We practice yoga to know that when we gain
freedom in the body, we are that much closer to freedom in the mind! We are all lit from within, so follow the journey within and live with
intention!

Embrace your unique gifts, and bestow them upon the world, love your
imperfections-be proud, yet humble, and above all love yourself
unconditionally. Om shanti, shanti, shantihi

Elinore has over 20 years of movement and dance experience in the
styles of ballet, lyrical, modern, and jazz in her repertoire;
including a professional ballet career dancing with the Joffrey Ballet
in the Corps de Ballet, and as a soloist.  She was also on loan to the
San Francisco Ballet as a seasonal dancer for several years. Elinore
seemed to have a fulfilling ballet career until several injuries and
health issues led her to rehabilitate her body and mind. So when she
was 17 she went off to college and pursued a degree in teacher
education, and went on to get her Masters in Human Development, which led to teaching pre-k and kindergarten. With a love of education and yoga, Elinore pursued her passion for both and went on to complete her teacher trainings at Yoga Works in Santa Monica.  Elinore is Yoga Alliance certified at the 500 hr. level.

Elinore sees the journey within as the breath creating a vehicle for the
body, and the body creating a vehicle for the mind to still itself, and
transform itself. It is from the yoga practice, that the individual
learns "practice", is the best of all instructions. Her classes blend
Iyengar fundamentals and restorative postures with the aids of props,
along side a strong Ashtanga influence of flow and feel-for a
synergistic, yet mindful vinyasa flow. Elinore's teaching style fuses a
beautifully calming voice, with an equally engaging and supportive
voice, for a distinctly creative, energetic, playful style, encouraging
a courageous learning environment where fear dissipates, and hope
evolves into taking risks, meeting challenges that move students into
their next zones of proximal development within their yoga practice
internally and externally. Elinore is highly skilled at teaching the
individual learner, seeing their needs and meeting them to build a
strong student-teacher relationship built on trust, love, and respect,
leading to feeling comfortable in one's own skin, and a contentment and
acceptance with what is, and what may be in one's yoga practice and
life. Elinore's classes combine a love of movement, cultivating the
idea of feeling the movements and internalizing yoga philosophy,
attention to the breath-and linking movements with breath, proper
alignment, and specific attention to gross and subtle aspects of
alignment, supported by traditional and creative hands-on adjustments,
and particular attention to modifications and variations of poses
securing a safe and open environment. And ultimately, the joy of
assimilating and accommodating great gems of knowledge and
wisdom, deeply internalizing the feelings and senses of those movements and great mindfulness in the conscious unity of yoga-seeking the calmness within each of us.