Guest Teachers

Iva Drtina-Hall

Iva’s interests have always been in body movement. From an early age, she explored all facets of body awareness, from ballet to jazz dance, African dance, gymnastics and yoga.Her interest in health, nutrition and alternative medicine began when she studied Physiology at McGill University in Montreal, Canada, It was also at this time that she was introduced to Yoga by her mother in 1985.

Iva’s extensive travels throughout Asia, North America, Europe and Australia had broadened her view of different cultures, philosophies and traditions. She spent many years living and working in Japan, teaching cross cultural awareness, running a café-lounge with her husband in Tokyo and teaching yoga.

Her experiences and her studies opened the doors to many new  healing modalities such as fasting, cleansing, Ayurveda and vipassana meditation, which she incorporates into her yoga and meditation classes, workshops and retreats in India, Japan and the US.

Iva completed her Yoga Arts Teacher Training in 2002 in Byron Bay, Australia and is certified under Yoga Alliance.

She has been teaching in San Francisco, Japan and Austin  focusing primarily on Vinyasa Flow and Yin Yoga.

She continues her own education, participating in Yoga workshops from Seane Corn, Shiva Rae, Donna Farhi, Gary Kraftsow, Christina Sell and Ayurvedic studies with Craig Williams and Rajah Island team of doctors in Kerala, India. Her interests recently reside in the complement of  a Vinyasa Flow  practice with a Yin restorative practice. She has studied under great Yin teachers such as Paul Grilley, Sarah Powers and Bernie Clarke.

Iva hosts retreats and workshops internationally as well as facilitating on teacher training programs in Austin, Hawaii and India.

Christina Sell

Christina Sell has been practicing asana since 1991 and teaching since 1998. Known for her passion, clarity and creativity, Christina’s teaching style is a dynamic and challenging blend of inspiration, humor and hard work. Dedicated to helping people of all ages experience the joys of yoga practice and conscious living, Christina is the author of Yoga From the Inside Out: Making Peace with Your Body Through Yoga and My Body is a Temple: Yoga as a Path to Wholeness. Christina is the 2012 Art of Asana columnist for Yoga International Magazine. She is a faculty member on Yogaglo, which provides online global access to yoga education.

Christina has as BA in Counseling and Education and an MA in Integrative Education and Curriculum Design. She was certified in Anusara Yoga in 2003 and served the local and national Anusara community as a teacher, a teacher trainer and a member of the Ethics Committee, the Curriculum Design Committee and the Certification Assessment Committee. In 2011, Christina resigned from Anusara Yoga.  Christina is the founder and director of Live the Light of Yoga Trainings, Intensives, and Workshops.  In addition to her studies in Anusara Yoga, Christina draws inspiration from many master teachers in Iyengar Yoga, Ashtanga Vinyasa Yoga and from the intelligent and sophisticated system of Bikram Yoga.

Christina Sell maintains an active teaching schedule presenting seminars locally, nationally and internationally. She is a devoted student of Western Baul master, Lee Lozowick, and credits his Influence as the spiritual inspiration behind her life and work. Christina resides in Austin, TX with her husband, a retired greyhound and two cats. She enjoys practicing yoga, writing, reading, cooking, hiking and whitewater kayaking.

Martin Kirk

Martin Kirk, E-RYT 500, is a certified yoga instructor who has gained a reputation for excellent and inspiring workshops and teacher trainings. He discovered his love for yoga in 1993 while earning a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering. Martin’s understanding of the body is extensive and he has a special gift of taking complex subject matter and making it accessible, clear and applicable for the modern day yogi. His anatomy and therapy trainings are in great demand worldwide. Martin has also studied closely with his philosophy mentor, Professor Douglas Brooks, one of the world’s foremost scholars of Hindu Tantrism and the esoteric traditions of the Goddess. He has transitioned from a successful 20-year career as an engineer in the space industry to teaching and sharing his passion for yoga full-time. He is the co-author of the successful book, Hatha Yoga Illustrated and is co-writing (along with Ellen Saltonstall and Jordan Kirk) Yoga Anatomy: The Biomechanics of a Healthy Yoga Practice. He is approved by the National Certification Board for Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork (NCBTMB) as a continuing education Approved Provider. Martin instills excellence in all of his practice and teaching of yoga. Martin lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his wife and son.

Brooke Hamblet

Brooke feels she has been a yogi and a teacher all her life. From an early age she began studying books and videos about yoga in her small hometown of Rapid City, South Dakota. Her personal practice has spanned over 2 decades and her teaching began in 1999, organically out of her own experience on the mat.

Her studies with master teachers began in 2004 with Doug Swenson. Following that she began studying with other various master teachers such as Seane Corn, Manju Jois, Judith Lasater, Erich Schiffmann, Rod Stryker and others. She received her first of several 200-hour teaching certificates from Priya Yoga in Dallas in 2005.

Brooke’s love for teaching yoga and anatomy and energetic anatomy began long ago but was truly impassioned after studying with Dr. Ray Long and enthusiastically embarking upon a 500-hour certification with Tias Little at Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, NM. Included in her anatomy studies with Tias are complimentary therapeutic techniques and approaches such as trigger point work, myo-fascial release, injury rehabilitation, marma point therapy, the anatomy of the chakras and a deep study of the ancient teachings. She credits her first teacher, Seane Corn, for her love of teaching and studying energetic anatomy and teaching to the spirit.

All of these paths contributed to Brooke’s journey and education, but none as powerfully as her work with Baron Baptiste. Since 2006, Brooke has spent over 1500 hours training in the Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga system, and is a certified 500-hour Baptiste instructor, and currently travels with Baron Baptiste and his team to assist teacher trainings worldwide. She leads international workshops and teacher trainings on behalf of her Baptiste Affiliate studio, Indigo Yoga Texas and on behalf of the Baptiste Power Yoga Institute.  She is the the Director of the Indigo Yoga Teacher Training School, a Yoga Alliance recognized 200-hour teacher certification program.

What impassions Brooke the most is her work with Fort Worth Yoga in Action, a program she created out of a desire to take yoga into the community, outside of the studio. This program is passionately dedicated to taking Baptiste yoga to anyone and everyone in need, from the homeless people down on Lancaster where they throw down mats on the sidewalk, to drug and alcohol addicts at the Pine Street Alcohol and Drug Rehabilitation Center. Indigo also teaches breast cancer survivors, patients, family members and caregivers at the Joan Katz Breast Center, and victims of domestic violence at the SafeHaven and YMCA. By taking yoga to these people in need, Indigo Yoga is helping to change the economic and energetic landscape of the Fort Worth Community, and is changing lives in a profound way.

Brooke holds a Bachelor’s of Arts in English, French and Journalism, is 38 years old and resides in Fort Worth, Texas with her two boys, Freddy and Gray.

Lisa Taylor

I really enjoyed yoga and involved myself in the world of yoga wherever I could. As a volunteer at the Omega Yoga Conference I was assigned to watch the door of Baron Baptiste, a teacher of whom I knew nothing and did not even recognize in person. I loved the class and as it turned out was assigned to his room nearly every session. A month later I attended a Personal Revolution Weekend and knew something about yoga was changing for me!

Two months later I landed in Hawaii for Level One Teacher Training. In many ways I was set up to have the experience of my life, the first in a series of experiences to change my life. Each training experience has presented me with a gift. In Hawaii I discovered how to be present, to live in exactly right now. This was not something I had even tried before. In fact, I had perfected being anywhere but here. Later, at my Level Two training, I learned what to do with myself in all of the difficult moments that led me to wanting to be anywhere but the present. I expect I will always want to participate in training experiences, always want to continue growing and learning. These were my life changing yoga moments. Yes, I am still having fun practicing yoga but now I know I practice with a purpose and have been given the gift of being able to share my purpose.

My studio has come a long way over the past six years. We teach only Baptiste style Vinyasa.  I train teachers and get to watch the magical process of evolution happen for different people everyday! The studio is called Evolution Power Yoga because of the evolution my life has taken through the process of practicing and teaching yoga. I am so blessed!

Martin Morris

Martin Morris began his journey in Yoga at the age of 15 when he developed a deep curiosity about yoga. Martin has studied intensively in the Iyengar, Ashtanga, Shadow Yoga and Power Yoga traditions and began his journey as a teacher under the guidance of Baron Baptiste in 2004. Since then, Martin has shared his passion for yoga with hundreds of students in workshops and intensives in the USA, Spain and many parts of Latin America.

Martin balances a refined technical knowledge of alignment with a deep understanding of the heart’s journey to openness. Martin is down to earth and loves to share his knowledge of yoga.

He inspires and guides his students to greater fullness, power and freedom in their yoga practice.

Martin is the director of Power Yoga Colombia, the premier Power Yoga institute in Latin America and conducts teacher training workshops and intensives throughout Latin America. He also regularly assists Baron Baptiste in boot-camps and intensives. Martin holds degrees in arts and law and is currently completing a master of Yoga Philosophy. He currently lives in Bogota, Colombia.

KK Ledford

KK is a Certified Anusara yoga teacher who grew up in the forests of East Texas. She was blessed to begin her Anusara journey studying intensively with her teacher John Friend in 1998 and has thousands of hours of studying directly with him for over 12 years. Always passionate, KK has dedicated the past 13 years to teaching yoga full time and has spent 20 years studying and savoring the mysteries of consciousness. With a quirky sense of humor and fierce dedication, she brings together yoga, astrology, herbalism, and embodied spirituality to her dynamic classes. She inspires students to work hard, learn sophisticated and heart-centered alignment, deepen their commitment to their practice and awaken to their own innate power and splendor.