Yoga Instructor

Heather has been teaching since summer of 2016, after she graduated from our own Karuna School of Yoga. When she began working for chiropractors, she was able to do yoga with patients and discovered a strength in teaching about joint health and balancing muscles through asana. Although she enjoys teaching this type of yoga one-on-one, her favorite class to teach is yummy restorative.

Tatyana Leblanc is a certified yoga instructor and also is a founder of Yoga in RVA. She has been practicing yoga for over 10 years, and teaching Hatha yoga for about 6 years. Tatyana is a student with Ukrainian Federation of Yoga, the one of the biggest and well-known yoga schools in Europe.

When she moved to the USA in 2016, Tatyana received her Yoga Alliance Teacher’s Certificate through Karuna Teacher’s Training in 2017. In 2021 she finished her training with Sandhaana Yoga and became a certified instructor in this style.

Tatyana is passionate about yoga and never stops expanding and improving her knowledge in this field. She studied with Leslie Kaminoff, the student of T.K.V. Desikachar and the author of Yoga Anatomy; and Tom Myers, the founder of Anatomy Trains, one of the prominent movement and manual therapy pioneer in the USA. She participated in a month-long chest and upper limb yoga program developed by Kaya Yoga.

Tatyana is teaching her students to enjoy the physical movement. In her classes students learn to focus on somatic sensations, increasing their level of bodily perception, and learn about mind and body connection. She also applies pranayama (breathing techniques) and basic meditation practices in her sessions.

Shannah discovered her passion for yoga in 2018 through an online yoga subscription. She was inspired by the idea of “yoga for everybody” and wanted to become a teacher to bring accessibility of all kinds to yoga. Her belief in yoga can be best defined as, “Yoga is not about touching your toes, it’s about what you learn on the way down.”

Shannah was certified during the summer of 2020 through The Yoga Dojo in Richmond. Her classes always have a vinyasa-style base with bits of yin & restorative sprinkled in. By creating organic sequencing journeys accompanied by thoughtful playlists, Shannah’s classes allow people to shape their own uniquely valuable yoga experience. Amplifications and modifications are always provided to bring accessibility and growth to each class.

Off the mat, Shannah is a born-and-raised New Yorker with a passion for learning. You can often find her with coffee and a good book, on a walk with her dog, Ziggy, or binging a new BBC show. During the day, Shannah works as an Employee Experience Manager for a tech company in Richmond where she creates an authentic, engaging, and inclusive workspace.

Patricia Kinser, PhD, WHNP-BC, RN, has been teaching yoga in Richmond since 2005. She loves teaching gentle yoga and creating a warm, positive environment to help students find balance, peace, and joy. Her gentle classes incorporate a mix of styles, given her training in Kripalu yoga (a non-sectarian approach that celebrates diversity and cultivates inner wellness), LifeForce yoga (a compassionate practice that supports self-regulation and self-awareness), Iyengar yoga (a practice that involves props to support alignment), and Prenatal/ Postpartum yoga. A professor at VCU, her research focuses on the biobehavioral effects of yoga and mindfulness for various populations. She maintains a clinical practice as a board-certified women’s health nurse practitioner and she lectures nationally and internationally about research on yoga and mindfulness. She enjoys hiking, cycling, cooking, reading, and spending time with friends and family.

Claire began her practice of yoga to gain better balance and strength for horseback riding while away at college. By 2015 yoga moved to the forefront of her workouts as she felt the immense transformation in her fitness as well as her mental health; so much so that she felt driven to go for her teacher training so that she could pay forward the benefits she had received. She was certified during summer 2017 through The Yoga Dojo in Richmond. Trained in Ashtanga Yoga, with an understanding at rocket, she enjoys teaching in a similar style with a little gentle flow mixed in. She also loves practicing gentle and restorative classes from her yogi peers whenever possible. Claire was born in raised in the Richmond area, In her free time she can be found with her dogs, and her horse, and enjoys spending as much time outside as she can when the weather is nice!

Anna Bennett, MAT, BCBA, LBA, has been teaching yoga since 2010 in Kentucky, Georgia, and now here in Richmond, Virginia. With a wide variety of classes taught, including power yoga, vinyasa, hatha, yin, ashtanga, restorative, and children’s dance, her classes focus on improving alignment and increasing endurance as well as flexibility. She truly believes yoga is for anyone and has tailored instruction through teaching classes to the UGA football team, children and adolescents, and individuals with physical and developmental disabilities. Anna even completed her thesis study on the acquisition of novel yoga poses in children with developmental disabilities comparing video and live modeling instructional methods. Through her work in Applied Behavior Analysis and yoga instruction, Anna is passionate about fostering positive change in her community. At True North, Anna’s classes emphasize the power of breath and intention, while simultaneously building stamina of the mind and body. She’s excited to have you join her in class!

Influenced by teachers, peers, students, 200YTT in Integral Yoga in Rishikesh, India, and other travels, Aliza creates a supportive environment with a focus on individual empowerment in the classroom. Through pranayama (breathing), asana (poses), meditation, relaxing music and descriptive cues, she challenges her students both physically and mentally, providing variations to eventually calm the mind and achieve steady and comfortable postures. She started True North Yoga and Wellness with the desire to bring the Northside community together. Providing a space to find a better sense of your body and take control of your health – this sense of community and personal development is felt in her class.