Denise Benitez, (206.440.3191) Info@SeattleYogaArts.com Founder of Seattle Yoga Arts, has been fascinated by the human body ever since she realized she had one! She has spent much of this lifetime delving into the curious phenomenons of embodiment and consciousness, beginning with candle-gazing at the age of 13. When she found the practice of yoga at age 16, which combined these two great passions, she was instantly and forever in love with its artful and profound approach to movement and being. She has studied yoga for over forty years, and has taught since 1985.
In 1998, she met John Friend, who opened wide all the doors of yoga Denise had been exploring on her own. John introduced Denise to the Tantric stream of yoga, which emphasizes a life-affirming, creative, devoted, community-centered and fiercely passionate approach to the practice of life and yoga. Since that time, Denise has been honored to be John's student; she is humbly and eternally grateful for his gifts in her life. In 2001, Denise proudly earned her Anusara Yoga Teaching Certification. She is now the Co-Chair of the Anusara Certification Committee, and helps oversee the mentoring, assessing, and certification of Anusara teachers all over the world.
Denise founded Seattle Yoga Arts in 1990. She thinks that being a yoga teacher is a high calling, and takes her student's well-being and development seriously, while also appreciating a good joke and loving to laugh. The greatest students and teachers in Seattle (probably the world) continuously stream to the studio, creating a vibrant, amazing, and big hearted yoga community, to which she is happy to welcome you.
Desiree Jordan, Studio Manager (206.440.3191) desiree@seattleyogaarts.com graduated in 1997 from the University of Washington where she studied Communications and English. Since then, her work history has been in marketing and promotions. Desiree is thrilled to be able to use her project management & communication skills, as well as her marketing background in such a way that benefits the staff and students at Seattle Yoga Arts. When Desiree decided to stay home with her two children in 2008, she still wanted to be part of a community outside her home. She never dreamed that it would be such a relaxed, inspiring place as SYA. The opportunity to work with the Yoga Arts teachers has been a true blessing for Desiree, both personally and professionally.
Elizabeth Rainey, E-RYT 500 (206.499.8255) www.elizabethrainey.com is a Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher and Director of Advanced Studies at Seattle Yoga Arts. She actively serves on the Anusara Certification Committee, mentoring teachers as they deepen their skills. She sees her extraordinary life as a testament to the transformational power of yoga and its invitation to experience ourselves as whole and holy. She has been practicing yoga over several decades and teaching for over ten years. She teaches public classes and private sessions in Seattle, as well as workshops and retreats nationally and internationally.
Meg Agnew, M.A. (206.525.9349) mtagnew@comcast.net is an Anusara-Inspired teacher who has enjoyed teaching at Seattle Yoga Arts since 1993. With carefully sequenced instruction and a light-hearted approach, Meg encourages students to experience the powerfully affecting principles of Anusara yoga. She believes that yoga is an exploration leading to self-acceptance, healing, and an ever-deepening experience of freedom and Love.
Bianca Raffety, LMP (206.391.9834) www.biancaraffety.com is an Anusara-Inspired Yoga Teacher, Director of the Therapeutics Program at Seattle Yoga Arts and a Licensed Massage Therapist. Having experienced the penetrating healing and balancing effects of a regular yoga practice, Bianca has felt compelled to share the possibilities available through yoga with as many people as possible. Bianca believes we all have deep inner wisdom which can be cultivated by the willingness and courage to explore yoga. Her classes are supportive, playful, and encourage curiosity and self-trust. She is graced with the guidance and support of her mentor, Denise Benitez, and other fabulous teachers. 
Beth Award (206.949.7084) BethAward1@gmail.com In 1991, Beth took two summer classes: DOS Programming and Yoga. The computer information didn't stick, but yoga captured her attention from the very first class: she felt taller and quieter (miraculous!). Since 1994, Beth has been a student at Seattle Yoga Arts and how she evolved to wear a leotard to work is still a bit of a joyful mystery to her. What she does know is that the practice of yoga opened her from the inside out. Inspired by Denise and Anusara, Beth left her corporate job to teach yoga in 2003. Since then, she has completed Level I & II Anusara Teacher Trainings with John Friend and is an Anusara-Inspired teacher. Beth offers a warm and compassionate instruction style that stems from her love and enthusiasm for the practice. She continues to be inspired, pulled, and prodded by life in all sorts of directions. 
Jane Hitti, MD jhitti@comcast.net took her first yoga class at age 35, looking for a form of exercise to help gain back the flexibility she had lost with years of running, gym workouts and an intense work schedule. She soon fell in love with asana as a gateway to the meditative and spiritual dimensions of this amazing practice. Jane is an Anusara-Inspired yoga teacher and is known for her creative and dynamic sequencing as well as her sweet, attentive and nurturing teaching style. She is deeply grateful to all of her teachers on this path, including Denise, Rainey and John Friend. Her teaching is informed by her love of nature and a wealth of experience related to motherhood and the practice of medicine. She believes that human embodiment, in all of its ever-changing beautiful imperfection, is a fabulous gift to be enjoyed in every moment. From this perspective, yoga can bring all of lifes sweetness right into focus and help us connect with a sense of ease and beauty present within and all around us. 
Grace Meyer, RYT (206.949.6424) www.GraceMeyerYoga.com After a decade of individual study and Iyengar training, Grace spent the last three years intensively training with Anusara's founder John Friend and certified teachers Sianna Sherman, Noah Maze, Denise Benitez and Rainey. She's completed Level I and II Teacher Trainings and has advanced training in yoga Therapeutics.
When she's not teaching yoga, you can find Grace singing and giggling, cooking up something tasty, bathing in the full moon light, and otherwise joyfully engaging in the extra-ordinary pulsation of Life. Grace invites you to come to the mat to celebrate your gifts, realize your challenges, and dance on the edge between with playful curiosity.
Rebecca Denk (206.427-9764), rebecca.denk@yahoo.com has been a student at Seattle Yoga Arts for more than a decade and is honored to join her teachers and mentors in offering classes. Rebecca completed Anusara Yoga Teacher Training with Denise in 2006 and with Denise and Rainey again in 2008. She has been teaching weekly yoga classes in her Central District neighborhood for the past 2 years. Rebecca's classes offer playful exploration of and gratitude for yoga's gifts of ever-increasing mindfulness, deepening self-love and -wisdom, and the amazing experience of physical embodiment.
Whitney Lawless whitneylawless@gmail.com jumped unexpectedly into yoga at 16 with a youthful determination to get to the center of things. Deeply committed to the journey of awakening, she started teaching in 2003 and has been on the path of Anusara yoga since 2004. Also an LMP and circus performer, Whitney combines anatomy, kinesiology, and the cultivation of presence with Anusara’s Universal Principles of Alignment to make her classes a joyfully integrated experience. As an Anusara-Inspired teacher, Whitney is excited to share the transformative power of yoga with all who have even the slightest inclination.
© 2010 Seattle Yoga Arts 
206.440.3191