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Denise Benitez, Founder
(206-440-3191; yogaarts@comcast.net) 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. Along the way, she has dipped into the pools of Buddhism, Iyengar yoga, mountains, dancing, poetry, gardening, love, loss, brain surgery, and they have all been fantastic teachers. She kisses their feet in gratitude.
Denise began formal yoga studies in Boston in 1972 with Carol Nelson, a gifted Iyengar teacher. For the next 15 years, she studied with many other Iyengar teachers, most closely with Judith Lasater and John Schumacher. A graduate of Rhode Island School of Design, her yoga studies helped her survive a career as an apparel designer in New York City from 1982-88. In 1988, she moved from New York to Seattle, and took classes with Gail Malizia and Felicity Green, who at the time were two of only a handful of yoga teachers in Seattle. After 15+ years of study, she began to teach in 1988, and took a hiatus from studying with other teachers as she explored more deeply her own personal relationship with the philosophical, spiritual, and subtle energy aspects of yoga.
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. She has found that the Anusara community is a rockin' place to be, filled with dedicated, talented, and caring teachers. Denise has written for Yoga Journal, is a published poet, and writes her own columns for the SYA newsletter and monthly poems for the SYA ENews.
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. For this, and her life in general, she can only say, "Thank you, thank you, thank you."
 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.
 Lisa
Holtby, M.A (206.932.2939) www.lisaholtby.com.
I have taught at SYA since 1995 and am an Anusara-inspired yoga teacher. I wrote the book Healing Yoga for People Living with Cancer (Taylor Trade, 2004); teach nationally at CURE Magazine's conferences for cancer survivors; and founded Positive Yoga, a volunteer event that raised $240,000 for breast cancer research. My classes are supportive, nurturing, challenging, safe, and fun. I offer students what Ive gained from my own experience: the skills to build self-confidence and a strong, flexible, graceful body and, more importantly, skills to calm the mind. In a quiet mental state, we can see ourselves more clearly, choose to live with more aliveness, and so show up more powerfully for our lives. (www.photosbydebra.com)
 Bianca Raffety, LMP (206.391.9834) www.biancaraffety.com.
Bianca is a long-time student of yoga, having begun the practice in 1990 during a period of profound personal, mental and physical challenge. Through the beauty of yoga, Bianca began a journey of intense transformation, learning through the philosophy and practice how to step onto a path that led to deep compassion and strength. Through her dedication to yoga, she continues to learn what Maya Angelou meant when she wrote, "Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it allows me to survive, and better than that, to thrive with passion, compassion, and style."
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. She is an Affiliated Anusara Yoga Teacher and a practicing massage therapist.
 Elizabeth Rainey
(206.499.8255) www.elizabethrainey.com
Rainey is a Certified Anusara Yoga Teacher and currently sits 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. Her
practice and teaching is infused with her fascination and study of the world’s mystical traditions and
her passion for self-exploration. She creates a fun, safe and sacred space for others to nourish their
spirit, connect with their bodies and explore their infinite potential. She is known for her humor and
clarity and she relishes sharing this beautiful journey called Yoga with others. She teaches public
classes and private sessions in Seattle as well as workshops and retreats across the nation and
internationally.
 Shannon Patterson (yogashan@yahoo.com) approaches yoga with the philosophy that “how you do anything is how you do everything” (Cheri Huber). Yoga, then, provides a rich forum for discovering the ways in which we move through our lives. Through reflection and asana, it is revealed that there is relationship between how we respond to the pleasant, neutral and challenging sensations in our bodies and how we respond to the pleasant, neutral and challenging situations and people in our lives. Shannon invites students to practice from a place of discovery, humor, and lovingkindness. She has been practicing yoga since 1999 and teaching since 2001. She has studied with Ana Forrest, Brian Dorfman, Doug Keller, Denise Benitez and Douglas Brooks. Shannon is in love with Anusara Yoga and is dedicated to sharing its magic.
 Crystal Stephens (crystalbstephens@gmail.com)
One day, seemingly out of the blue, I picked up a copy of BKS Iyengar's Light on Yoga. I read only the introduction and was amazed at how complete and profound the practice of yoga seemed. I felt yoga could teach me to use my life to create freedom and to become a more loving person. I started taking classes in 2001 with Anusara Teacher Benhje Masson and have been teaching since 2004. It is my pleasure to teach this powerful practice as it can help us to cultivate a mind and body that are capable of experiencing a real and lasting joy.
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