Ballard Health Club

MJ DanielsMJ is the Yoga Director as well as being a Yoga instructor. She 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.

Carey DemartiniCarey DeMartini, RYT 500 (Registered Yoga Teacher) has been integrating the powers of the mind, body, and creativity in her classes with people of all ages for more than ten years. Carey has completed teacher trainings with Ana Forrest, Shari Friedrichsen, The Samarya Center in Seattle and in prenatal yoga. Her classes emphasize core strengthening, breath awareness, and encouragement to practice from a place of ahimsa (non-violence). Carey is also a Licensed Mental Health Counselor and Board Certified Art Therapist.

Karen GambleKaren describes herself as “a human being practicing yoga,” which she has been doing since 1984. 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. It is so darn simple.” A teacher for more than three 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.

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.

Julie MorseJulie (LMP, RYT) began her journey with yoga when she took her first yoga class while pregnant with her youngest daughter in 1998. Finding relief from physical and emotional stresses by calming the mind, body and soul are what enticed her to follow the path of yoga and continue to keep her curious and motivated in delving deeper as a student and a teacher. Julie draws from her knowledge as a massage therapist and her YogaWorks teacher training, emphasizing Ashtanga and Iyengar principles, to safely guide her students through proper alignment while encouraging the connection of movement and breath, so that each student can gain a deeper awareness of their bodies, building strength along with grace in each pose.

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.

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.

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.

Sol AlberioneSol grew up in Argentina surrounded by the Latin flavors of her home city of Cordoba. She started to dance when she was just 5 years old. Since she can remember, dancing has been her passion. She has performed in different festivals and shows in her country. After moving to the United States in 2007 Sol discovered a way to share her upbringing and love of movement: ZUMBA. She became certified in 2009 and has been teaching ever since. Becoming a Zumba instructor has afforded her the opportunity to keep the passion of dancing in a fitness format.

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.

Anton du PreezAnton joined Ballard Health Club in February 2012. He grew up playing soccer and baseball, and ran cross country, but his knees gave him constant trouble. Through physical therapy and rehabilitative strength training, he was able to lose the support brace and enjoy fully-functioning knees. 

Amber FieldsAmber took her first STEP class in 1993 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.

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.