Our Instructors

William discovered Yoga in 1995 on the simple path to becoming a better rock climber.  He learned Yoga is a lot more than building core strength & flexibility. “Practicing Yoga is a great compliment to... any hobby because of the powerful psychological benefits & body connection to breath.  This metaphor is infinite as the power of breath is used every day, especially when we confront fear & anxiety.  The simple yet profound path to learning how to master our breath makes our life more manageable & teaches us how to let go of stress & tension in a healthy sustainable manner.” In addition to practicing victorious breath, William loves how Yoga reminds us to slow down & stay connected to living in the present & being aware.  Learning to do this this brings us peace & joy when we most need it. Invigorated by Yoga, William completed multiple Yoga Teacher Trainings at Akasha Yoga in Davis & CorePower in Berkeley. When he isn’t teaching Yoga, he can often be found rock climbing in Yosemite.

Lea discovered yoga in high school to destress and find inner strength. Ever since it has been a key part to her life and helps her grow in all parts of it. After her first... year of university in 2018, she got the opportunity to take her 200-hr teacher training in Rishikesh, India. This led to enriching her practice spiritually and deepened her knowledge of yoga from its roots. After that, she started teaching at her university in Boston alongside teaching Barre and when the pandemic hit, she continued with zoom classes for her students, friends, and family. It is important to have a supportive and inspiring community that allows everyone to grow along their path. She has been climbing on and off since fall 2019 and is thrilled to join the climbing and yoga community here. Off her mat and climbing wall, Lea enjoys hiking, cooking, painting, and music.

Sadie took her first Yoga class as a first-year college student some 12 years ago. She was quickly drawn to the breath & movement practice because of her childhood dance background.As she learned about the... world and dove into rock climbing, the Yoga practice seamlessly grew and supported her alongside that journey. Now a recently Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT 200) she’s continuing that journey by sharing her practice with those around her.

As a physical culturist, Alex finds joy and peace in moving the body. As a student of strength, he is passionate, constantly seeking to learn and share his passion and knowledge with others. His group... HIIT classes are fun, engaging, and well-rounded, giving you the best of strength and conditioning. When he is not coaching classes, he is often climbing or training with kettlebells. Not to mention he is also a tattoo artist in San Francisco’s Mission district. Outside of the gym, Alex enjoys spending time with his partner and child, spending time outdoors, and eating delicious foods.

Chelsea is a Yoga Therapist, bunny mama, and lover of climbing. In fact, she taught her very first yoga class in the foothills of The Appalachian Mountains at the Horse Pens 40 Climbing Comp in... 2009! For Chelsea, the practice of yoga has not only been a transformative physical practice but a deeply healing spiritual homecoming. Her students often describe her as warm, caring, and welcoming, organically teaching for what is needed in the moment. Chelsea is trained in a variety of yoga styles, including Ashtanga Vinyasa, Somatic Yoga Therapy, Yoga Nidra, and Tibetan Buddhist Yoga (Kum Nye). She is also a trauma-informed, Somatic Counselor in private practice, and utilizes this knowledge to help her students reduce stress and anxiety and live more empowered, joyful lives. Chelsea is so looking forward to sharing this practice with you!

Kelly is currently a doctoral student in the Fire Research Lab studying Mechanical Engineering at UC Berkeley. Her yoga journey began as a high school student in New York City where she attended donation-based classes... and fell in love with the Power Vinyasa Sequence. She started teaching Yoga in 2018 at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst where she completed her undergraduate studies. She began teaching at climbing gyms in 2020 at Central Rock Gym Hadley. Starting at Berkeley Ironworks in 2021, Kelly is stoked to continue teaching yoga with Touchstone Climbing. Kelly primarily teaches power vinyasa, vinyasa, and gentle flow; however, she also has experience teaching acro yoga, HIIT classes, and TRX. In her classes, Kelly aims to build an inclusive and supportive environment where students can have a positive and safe experience. Kelly has been climbing since 2018 and loves to contribute to the climbing community and work with climbers as a yoga instructor. Outside of climbing and yoga, Kelly enjoys hiking, rafting, and hanging out with her (crag) dog, Farley.

Mike considers himself an experimental acrobat. It has been noted that “the Greek term for ‘acrobatics’ literally means ‘to walk on the extremities’.” Carry this definition towards artist Lee Lozano’s statement, “Seek the extremes, that’s... where all the action is” and you have a working explanation of why. After what felt like a life-time refusing any coherent connection between his headspace and his corporeality, Mike took up an intensely dedicated yoga practice before realizing that dynamic movement and inversions offered him a more accessible route into an embodied capacity for the flow state. His goal as a teacher is to help you look at movements from a variety of different angles in order to find out what works best for your individual body, skill-level, or style. While he recognizes & pays attention to the fact that there are inherently “objective” bio-mechanical properties that need to be understood as the building blocks of any given movement pattern, he is strongly opposed to the insistence that these building blocks must be arrived at via a singular route or end up looking a specific way. He wants to help you figure out how to enjoy acrobatic movement in a way that fits you and your body. While learning tricks is cool, putting the work into teaching your body how to comfortably move in new ways is a larger part of his teaching pedagogy.

Victor Damian is your boxing instructor. He has been teaching boxing for over 15 years and has a background in Filipino Martial Arts (FMA), Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), and is USA Boxing Coach-certified. He is... certified in Positive Psychology in addition to all that, so if you join his class with a growth mindset, you will flourish, find flow, feel accomplished, be challenged, and create a deeper meaning in your mind and fitness in your being.