Ballard Health Club

Karen GambleKaren has been practicing yoga for over 20 years.  Yoga, she says, is like the saying, ‘it’s the journey not the destination’ – it is in the practice of yoga “that we find out who we are, in our bodies, in our breath and hopefully in our hearts.” A teacher for more than six years, Karen says the “unpretentious and honest atmosphere” at the Ballard Health Club allows instructors and students alike to “feel better, become stronger and live a healthy dynamic lifestyle from within". Karen recently became interested in weight training to balance her yoga practice and became a certified personal trainer. You can get a taste of that balance in her Iron Yoga class.

Maura BarclayMaura Barclay, a former Junior Olympian gymnast and professional fire fighter, began her yoga path with a mixed martial art called Budokon. It was in this Iyengar influenced Hatha-Martial Arts hybrid that she discovered the keys to floating and effortless arms balances. She also sustained a debilitating injury that was beyond the scope of Eastern and Western healing modalities. When she finally discovered Yoga Tune Up®, created by Jill Miller in Los Angeles, CA, she was pain free for the first time in over a year. So inspired by the speed and effectiveness of this therapeutic Yoga, she became one of the first teacher trainers and eventually went on to become the Director of Training and Continuing Education for Tune Up Fitness Worldwide. Currently, she enjoys teaching Yoga Tune Up® at CrossFit and traveling around the US teaching Embodied Anatomy modules for 200 hour Yoga Teacher Trainings.

MJ DanielsMJ has been with Ballard Health Club since it opened in 1998. MJ’s passions in life are many, but her primary focuses are yoga, working with animals, photography and her family. Her personal goals are to keep expanding her knowledge of yoga and core training, to travel and always have a positive outlook on life. MJ strives to help people find their strengths and their true potential. What she loves about working at BHC are the intimate atmosphere and authentic connections.

Tracy HodgemanTracy has been practicing yoga since the early 90s, and teaching for over 13 years. She trained at the Ashtanga Yoga School, and was the first yoga teacher ever hired at the Ballard Health Club. She initially started practicing yoga to help manage the residual neck pain that stubbornly lingered after an automobile accident left her with a fractured C2 vertebra. Now she says she’d rather fight than quit. As for why she loves the Ballard Health Club, Tracy says, “I have been teaching at the BHC since before most of you were even born. What keeps me here is the people. BHC is my family and my community and I am so grateful to have such a wonderful place to teach.

jessica lindmarkOver the past eight years, Jessica has developed a deep appreciation and respect for yoga as a powerful life tool that strengthens not only the mind and body, but our connection to the miracle of the world around us as well. Recognizing the profound effects of the practice on her own life, she traveled to Goa, India to complete her 200 hour RTY in April of 2012. Influenced primarily by both Ashtanga and more restorative elements of yoga, her classes blend the strength of vinyasa flow with the nourishing benefits of restorative asana.

Cobey MandarinoCobey recently moved to Seattle from New York City where he was a founding instructor at Stepping Stones Yoga.  He studied with Lisa and Charles Matkin, both disciples of Alan Finger (son of Kavi Yogi Swarananda Mani Finger) and Senior Teachers at YogaWorks.  While in New York, Cobey also taught at Bread and Yoga, Birchwood, and Devotion Yoga.  He is an actor, director, writer and acting instructor who continues to search for ways to integrate his yoga practice with these other elements of his life.

Charlene PowellCharlene has enjoyed various forms of exercise, sports, and exploring movement practices since childhood. Now, she says, it really only gets better and more sustainable! Charlene has been practicing yoga since 1988 and pilates since 1998, teaching fulltime for over a decade. The “freedom and structure to build self-expression and make connections with others” is just one of the many reasons she’s made the Ballard Health Club her home base.

Molly PriceAfter 15 years of studying dance, Molly Price came to yoga to heal an injured knee. She soon found that yoga was more than just a means to heal physically, but also spiritually. Molly graduated from the 2001-2002 8 Limbs Yoga Center's Teacher Training Program and has completed teacher training with Shiva Rea and levels l and 2 with Baron Baptiste. She is continually inspired by the many gifted teachers that the Seattle area is so blessed to have. Her style draws heavily from Ashtanga and power vinyasa while incorporating a sense of yin softness, surrender, and creativity into the strength of the flow. She always encourages students to modify the practice according to what they need at that moment. Her classes are fun, heated, flowing, and ultimately calming.

Heather RudinHeather completed yoga teacher training at the Mount Madonna Yoga Center in California and at Samadhi Yoga in Seattle. Practicing since 1992 and teaching since 1997, she enjoys teaching yoga group classes and private sessions full-time, as well as workshops and retreats when possible. One of the most important things to her is the particularly warm, welcoming and supportive yoga community at the Ballard Health Club. When she is not doing yoga, she and her partner Riva are busy with their three boys Taj, Eli and Lazlo.

David SeborerDavid has been practicing yoga since 1980 and teaching since 1999. His classes emphasize the use of traditional asanas/postures in a combination of Vinyasa flow and static holds, with the primary intention of helping students become more present in their bodies, and awaken their optimal strength, flexibility, and balance. His aim is to find the right ratio between parasympathetic and sympathetic activity, that is, becoming both relaxed and alert.

Elliot TillmannElliott Tillmann is a 200 hour RYT certified yoga instructor and has been practicing yoga since 2009. She has come to find a profound joy in practicing meditation in movement within her yoga practice. Elliott believes that deep self-awareness is best facilitated by encouraging students to practice to their edge, but not past it and she focuses on postural alignment and proper modifications. She teaches a flow style of yoga that involves linking breath with movement as well as holding poses to allow the student to go deeper both in body and in spirit. In her classes, Elliott hopes to share a yogic journey of light-hearted fun, balanced with self-exploration. Here’s to finding the infinite beauty within ourselves and in the daily world!

Liziah WoodruffLiziah’s passion is to inspire people through yoga to connect with their unique and powerful selves by bringing greater balance, happiness and new possibilities to mind and body. Liziah has been teaching yoga to both adults and children since 2004. She has a BFA in Performing Arts, has recorded a CD entitled “Fire Inside a Kiss” and filmed a children’s yoga video, “The Changing Star”, that can be seen on YouTube. Liziah is currently a graduate student studying psychology.

Debra BaillyDebra, a Ballard native and fairly new to the fitness world, has always had an inner fitness warrior.  For the past 6 years, she has been on a journey to improve her own personal health & fitness as well as helping others live a more fulfilling, healthy lifestyle.

Jade DahleJade has been with Ballard Health Club since it opened in 1998 as a Personal Trainer, Manager and Fitness Instructor. Starting at a young age, she was involved in organized and personal fitness, including a variety of dance, team and individual sports, martial arts and of course, weight training. Jade believes that lifelong health and fitness needs to fit the individual. With as many ways to achieve optimal fitness as there are people, it is her goal to find that right fit for each person. Members have enjoyed taking Jade’s conditioning classes: AbLab and Butt and Gut for some time, and she has had the pleasure of training members over the years and continues to do so, as her passion never subsides.

Angela EvansAngela was born and raised in Washington and is the lucky mother of two beautiful silly girls ages 10 and 6. Her first passion was and continues to be dance. She began dancing at age 3 and continued through college. Fitness has also been a passion of hers and played an integral role in her dance experience and training, as well as her overall health. She continues to take a variety of dance classes, yoga, and other fitness classes whenever possible.

Amber FieldsAmber took her first STEP class in 1998 as a member of BHC and was hooked. She has certifications in Group Fitness, Kickboxing, and Spinning and has been teaching at BHC since 2000. For Amber, the gym staff, trainers, instructors, and members make BHC great and a fun place to work.

Aeron HansenAeron joined Ballard Health Club in 2009 as a Group Fitness Instructor. After spending 13 years prior to that in the coffee industry she realized she needed to shift gears – not only to practice a healthier lifestyle, but to be more present and available to her husband and daughter. A combination of being active all her life in sports and group fitness, thriving on the positive energy in group fitness classes, and feeling the joy watching others transform their bodies and outlook on life – Aeron realized fitness is what she wanted to do next! Aeron teaches Total Body Conditioning and Rise & Shine Boot Camp, and recently began fitness training with the intension to help each individual succeed on any level.

Galen HermeleeGalen has been a fitness instructor with the Ballard Health Club since 2000.  She has always been athletic, playing soccer and swimming in high school and college, but her career in fitness happened completely on a whim.  What has kept her in the industry for over 20 years is not only the joy in helping others reach optimal physical health, but the sense of community that is created in a group fitness program.  Exercising together is both physically and emotionally rewarding.

Johannah JuarezJohannah was born and raised in Seattle, WA.  she  went to Ballard High School and grew up doing gymnastics, soccer and photography in her free time. She then went east for college, after having received a scholarship from Boston University  majoring in international relations with a concentration in film studies, and then went abroad to Madrid her junior year and elected to take all classes and her internship in Spanish.

Lane McCormickSince the tender age of three, Lane has actively been involved in various forms of dance.  Recently, she graduated from college, leaving her cheerleading career behind.  Needing to fill a void, Lane discovered ZUMBA.  Not long after she started taking classes, she soon found her new favorite form of dance.  Lane immediately fell in love with the music, rhythms, and energy, which made class the ultimate party.  This was seen by her instructors who urged her to obtain her certification.  Her passions about both dance and fitness have been translated into ZUMBA: the perfect blend of both.  One of her favorite things about ZUMBA is that it is, in essence, a workout in disguise. Lane believes ZUMBA is for everyone; her philosophy is simple, “feel the music, dance like nobody’s watching, and shake what your momma gave ya!”

Allison RainesAllison joined the Ballard Health Club team in June 2012, and is excited to be on board! She recently moved back to Seattle after pursuing a dance career in New York.

Jose RiosJose Rios stumbled into the fitness world back in 1988 when he desperately needed money for rum and cokes. An ACE certified fitness instructor for 22 years, he plans to keep torturing the Ballard Health Club crowd as long as his heart allows. Jose is also husband to Rachel Hart, father to Alessandro (7) and Luca (5), and associate professor of Science Education at UW-Tacoma.