Our Instructors

Climbers have repeatedly said that one month of the Deep Core Class has greatly improved their climbing. The Deep Core class is greatly influenced by Pat’s renowned yoga teachers, among whom are Janet Stone, Les Leventhal,... Tim Floreen, and Mark Morford. Pat currently has undergone the 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training with Janet Stone, and has plans to move on to the 500 Hour program. As for her cycling classes, Pat takes her outdoor cycling workouts, puts them to music, and brings them indoors making for a highly motivating session. Pat’s cycling history includes the double centuries The Terrible Two (2 times first female finisher) and The Death Valley Double (first female finisher), and racing in the Pro 1/2 racing category for Touchstone Women’s Elite Team.

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.

Rebecca is an integrative health practitioner and mind-body educator facilitating inner exploration through sound, movement, and meditation. Through a synthesis of modalities, she crafts unique experiences of embodiment practice at the intersection of science and... spirituality. Each experience is creatively designed to support a reconnection to essence nature. Over the past 20 years, Rebecca has studied a variety of yogic traditions including Ashtanga Vinyasa yoga, Yin yoga, Tantra, and Yoga Nidra. She completed advanced teacher training in the Hatha yoga tradition, with emphases in yoga therapy and Ayurveda in Rishikesh, India, and is currently pursuing advanced training in East Asian Medicine.

Potouli Kalofonos (PK) started a dedicated yoga practice over 11 years ago following a series of snowboarding, longboarding, and climbing injuries. His initial relationship with yoga was focused on healing and expanding range of motion.... Yoga allowed him to keep riding and climbing more freely but also challenged him to be more present. PK’s personal practice includes Rocket Yoga 6 days a week and meditation. His hope is for the practice to teach us to live with broader awareness and physical ease while exploring the untapped potential within. Rocket yoga adds accessibility to its ashtanga roots by putting the student in charge and providing them with a modifiable and accessible structure. Each practice can ultimately be adjusted by the student to make it more or less vigorous through the use or omission of transitions and inversions. In this way, it is a tool to empower the student to own their practice by combining focus and breath to create growth and change.

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.

I have been teaching yoga since 2013 as a practice of listening and connection. I completed my 200 hour training with Yoga to the People in Berkeley, and have completed supplemental trainings with Niroga Institute,... Prison Yoga Project, and Namaste Yoga + Wellness. My trauma-informed approach to teaching is heavily influenced by my vipassana meditation practice.  I strive to connect with each student exactly where they are and invite them deeper into the practice from there. As a licensed and practicing massage therapist since 2019, I incorporate my knowledge of anatomy, kinesiology, and safe alignment into all of my classes. I look forward to the opportunity to practice with you!

Kelly started her yoga practice as a high-schooler in New York City where she attended donation-based yoga and fell in love. During her undergrad at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, she began teaching yoga on... campus and at the local climbing gym, Central Rock Gym (Hadley). In 2021, Kelly moved to Berkeley to continue her studies as a Ph.D. student at UC Berkeley and luckily, she was also able to continue her yoga practice and teaching here at Berkeley Ironworks.In her vinyasa-based yoga classes, Kelly aims to build an inclusive and supportive environment where students can have a positive and safe experience. She emphasizes listening to your breath and body to guide your practice and offers a variety of modifications throughout her classes. Kelly has been climbing since 2018 and loves to contribute to the climbing community as a yoga instructor.

Margaret was first drawn to yoga as a way to stay active when she injured her knee. After 3 surgeries, yoga has become one of the few exercises that makes her body feel good! After... realizing the physical and mental improvements from yoga, Margaret knew she wanted to share this with others. Margaret received her 200hr YTT in 2019 and recently deepened her knowledge through a 300hr YTT. She loves teaching yoga so that students can feel connected to their breath and body. Margaret makes sequences challenging with lots of modifications and variations to suit your practice.

As an E-RYT® 500, YACEP® yoga teacher with over 1,000 hours of training in yoga and yoga therapy, I offer therapeutic movement and meditation practices that cultivate spacious awareness for the hectic, modern life. My... public classes and one-on-one sessions aim to help you find balance and reduce stress by strengthening the body and mind, placing attention on healthy alignment, and making time for purposeful relaxation. I use the tools of gentle yoga, yoga therapy*, meditation, guided relaxation like yoga nidra, functional movement, and posture analysis to help you improve your lifestyle and holistic well-being. I’ve worked in a variety of clinic and studio settings, as well as instructed corporate mindfulness programs in the Bay Area. When I’m not teaching, you can find me on epic bike rides with my husband, climbing around on rocks, and enjoying nature and all its’ wonderful details.

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.

Movement and strength have always been a core part of Emily’s life, consistently seeking opportunities to grow through observation and challenge both on teams and through individual practice. The core is the basis of all... safe movements and a fundamental part of her movement practice and classes. Emily began a dedicated yoga practice 11 years ago and gained her 200hr YTT certification in the spring of 2014. She has been teaching movement classes ever since. Emily incorporates fundamental core and spinal movements into each class she teaches. She is thrilled to bring her lifetime of experience and enthusiasm to Berkeley Iron Works to assist practitioners in strengthening their bodies and finding greater ranges of motion. Emily considers a daily movement and meditation practice essential to growing our awareness and overall physical, emotional, and spiritual wellness. Apart from teaching, she co-owns a wellness-based business with her Husband and Brother-in-law centered on sharing mindful events and products to the SF Bay Area, and beyond. Emily is a seasoned traveler with a love for nature, people, and culture.

Kaushik discovered yoga at a very unhappy time in his life, being very unhealthy and immobile, he struggled through his very first yoga class. However, between the heated room, challenging postures linked with breath; he... found a higher sense of purpose – something clicked and he found himself taking class every single day. He discovered mindfulness and body awareness through yoga and started to use the lessons he learned on the mat, outside the studio walls. Soon he found himself taking classes everywhere, doing new student specials all over the Bay Area, not only that; he started to become involved in the community. One day while trying a new studio, he found a teacher who really spoke to him, and after working at the studio for a few months eventually signed up for teacher training. Since then he’s been bringing that same joy and freedom that he found in those rooms and in that heat to others, his classes are like yoga church with curious and unique sequencing, soulful music. Connecting to self through pranayam and play. He will urge you to dance it out if you need to, and follow your heart. His classes are intellectual without being overbearing; a provocation of a good time.

Lisa discovered yoga and rock climbing almost a decade ago in Berkeley. After her first yoga class, she immediately fell in love with the transformative aspects of yoga through breathwork, meditation, and strength building. Her... teaching philosophy revolves around discovery and exploration of the mind and body. Lisa’s classes incorporate power vinyasa flow, ashtanga principles and deep breathing exercises. She is passionate about sharing yoga with others and creating a safe and nurturing environment, where students are taught proper alignment and modifications that work for each individual body.