LYP Founders

Charles MacInerney, E-RYT-500 hr. Charles has been a fulltime teacher of yoga, meditation and mind/body skills since 1989. He also offers weekend workshops, workplace yoga, specialized classes (such as cardiac care, nursing homes, athletes, dancers). Charles travels extensively, leading Yoga & Meditation Retreats and Yoga & Writing retreats in the US, Mexico and Guatemala. Charles' teaching style is a blend of the precision and alignment in Iyengar yoga, the balanced routine of the Hymalayan Yoga Instute, and input by his students from whom he continues to learn. Visit Charles' personal Yoga website at www.yogateacher.com.

Charles is also a public speaker and trainer. For more information visit www.expandingparadigms.com. Please feel free to call Charles at 512-459-2267.

Ellen B. Smith, M.A., CYT, E-RYT Ellen is an Intuitive Mentor, Performance Coach, and Certified Hatha yoga instructor. She has a Masters Degree in Spiritual Psychology, and has worked for decades as a mentor to people of all walks of life. Ellen uses her own blend of deep listening, uncanny intuition, and genuine praise to helps others see, claim, and act on their innately fabulous qualities. Ellen has a passion for learning, and integrates information about yoga, qigong, health, disease intervention, nutrition, meditation, psychology, exercise physiology, and countless other topics into her sessions. She offers compassionate instruction with a touch of humor, honoring each student's path and abilities. She is co-founder of Sojourn Retreats www.sojournretreats.com, offering transformational weekend workshops for women. Please feel free to call Ellen at 512-266-7926, or send email.

Donna Belk (original founder of the Living Yoga Program) left the program in Charles' and Ellen's capable hands at the beginning of 2009 and will be greatly missed. Donna can now be reached through her websites, www.restorativeflow.com which is a style of yoga she developed called Restorative Flow Yoga and she offers a manual and training based on that style. She also offers consulting in the area of Conscious Death and Dying with a Yogic Perspective (www.consciouslivingdying.com). Donna has been studying hatha yoga and meditation for more than 25 years. She began teaching after becoming certified from Barbara Germenhausen of Yoga House in Austin, Texas, where she also assisted with yoga teacher training there. Barbara later moved away from Austin, but Donna was so impressed with the quality of the course that she created the Living Yoga Program based on her experience in the Yoga House program. Later Donna invited Charles MacInerney to become part of the business and then the substance of Living Yoga Program expanded greatly. Very shortly after that, Ellen Smith was invited to be a part of the business, and the program benefitted from her contributions as well.

Others who assist with Living Yoga Program

Tara White has been a licensed massage therapist since 1994 and a certified yoga instructor since 1997. She has taught at The Lauterstein - Conway Massage School since 1997 as a core instructor. The focus of her practice is injury rehabilitation and chronic pain management. Human kinesiology and postural alignment are one of her passions and she loves to apply this interest in her massage and yoga practice. She has extensive experience working with many different populations from elite athletes to the elderly. Tara is certified in prenatal massage and is a Reiki Master. Other modalities she has specialized in include Deep Massage the Lauterstein Method, Thai Massage, Cranio-Sacral Therapy, myofascial release, sports massage and many more. Tara takes a holistic approach to bodywork believing that the shortest route to a higher quality of life is to address both the structural and energetic aspects of a person, facilitating their journey towards a balanced and pain free life.

Gina Caccavalla is a a Nationally Registered Multi-Certified Teacher and Yoga Therapist with over 25 years experience in the fields of Holistic Health & Fitness. Her compassionate and inspiring style emphasizes quality of life, while honoring each students unique mind, body and spirit while together exploring health and happiness along the journey of personal and spiritual growth. She specializes in custom programs for stress, weight and pain management through yoga, lifestyle, education, goal-setting, diet, movement, exercise, journaling, therapy, nature, balance and more. Gina says, "I Live and love this work, it gives me the greatest joy to share it with you."

Jogi Bhagat RYT-500, is a Certified Yoga Instructor and Yoga Therapist, has attended many Yoga courses and retreats in India, Europe and US during the last 28 years, including residential Teacher Training at Svyasa Univerisity (www.svyasa.org), intensive Iyengar Yoga course at Patanjala Yoga Kendra (www.iyengaryoga.in), residential Teacher Training in Yoga Therapy at Yoga University (www.yogapoint.com), Buddhist Vipassana retreat (www.dhamma.org) and 3 Art of Living courses (www.artofliving.org) . He had the honor of studying Yoga therapy from some of the best living Yoga Masters, including T.K.V. Desikachar (www.kym.org) and Swami Ramdev (www.divyayoga.com). He conducts classes and workshops for general fitness as well as for different ailments like back pain, arthritis, hypertension, asthma, digestive disorders, depression and diabetes etc. He has written articles and given talks and TV interviews on Yoga.

Heather Darden, a registered massage therapist, offers massages during the 9-day intensive. She graduated from Lauterstein-Conway in 2002. She believes we should all feel as divine as we are, so she designs each massage for the individual client. Utilizing the various specialized techniques she has learned from pregnancy, deep tissue, and Swedish massage while also incorporating Reflexology, Body Mobilization Techniques, Passive Stretching, and aromatherapy, she maximizes the benefits of each massage. She endeavors to meet each client wherever he/she is while nurturing the divine within him/her.

Mary Esther Middleton moderates the Living Yoga Program email list, LYP-all, which is open to all LYP attendees and provides a forum for sharing information and resources. Mary Esther attended the Living Yoga Program teacher training in 2003. She teaches gentle, eclectic hatha yoga classes that blend breathing and stretching techniques to enable you to enhance and explore your mind and body awareness and evolve your personal yoga practice. Mary Esther also teaches a class for breast cancer survivors. All classes are taught with compassion, encouragement and good humor! Visit Mary Esther's personal web site at www.yogasense.net. Please feel free to call Mary Esther at 512-343-1739 or e-mailThis email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it her.

Havilah Tower-Perkins, M.A. is a singer/songwriter, marketing consultant, certified dietary guidance counselor, yogini-in-training and Reiki certified. She has a Masters degree in Advertising as a Copywriter and a Bachelors degree in Psychology, both from the University of Texas in Austin. With over fourteen years experience in public relations and marketing for a variety of businesses including non-profit, for-profit and small business, she combines her passion for intuitive living with day-to-day business sense. A Jane of many trades, she owns Tower Relations and is the marketing consultant for Living Yoga Program and Texas Yoga Retreat as well as manages the internal Large Enterprise Marketing blog for Dell, Inc. She is passionate about her online business CompleteSelf.com where she shares her favorite healthy foods. When she is not consulting and writing, you’ll find her performing with her band Havilah Tower & The Seekers. Perhaps due in part to her Irish and Jewish heritage, or just her love of sharing a laugh, her philosophy is that most things in life taste better with a touch of humor.