Teachers
Here is a list of our teachers:
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JANET CARSCADDEN, PT - Yoga Alignment, Yoga for a Healthy Back
Owner, Evolution Yoga
Janet Carscadden took her first Hatha yoga class in 1995. As a licensed physical therapist Janet found yoga to be useful in improving flexibility, strength and clarity of mind. Gradually over time she discovered the healing art of yoga therapy and stared integrating yoga practices into her patient treatment sessions.
In 2000 she attended her first Jivamukti class. A whole new world of the eight limbed path of yoga was opened up to her. Janet traveled to Bali to complete a 200 hour certification in Vibrant Living Yoga Teacher Training that included instructors teaching Hatha Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Sivananda and Kundalini yoga. Her style of teaching has been influenced by instruction received from, Daniel Aaron, Govinda Kai, Chris Kummer, Patrick Oanacia, Judith Lasater, Prem Carlisi. In 2009 Janet returned to Bali and discovered a love of chanting she learned to play the harmonium under the guidance of her teacher, Geoffrey Gordon.
Janet’s classes include flowing vinyasa asana, music, chanting, pranayama and meditation all built around a central theme. Drawing on her expertise of the physical body, Janet offers her students detailed instruction in alignment and adjustments to bring their practice to a new level. She challenges students to remain focused on being in the here and now; meeting their practice where they are at that moment in time.
SUSAN CLINE LUCEY - Vinyasa, Pre/Post-Natal Yoga, Children's Classes
Evolution Yoga Studio Director
For Susan, yoga exists in a myriad of forms: sometimes it's a full practice on her yoga mat, other times it's a deep breath during a tough parenting moment. Yoga practice comes to play during the intensity of birth and months later, stretching and singing in baby yoga. In her teaching, Susan blends her experience as a certified yoga teacher, childbirth professional, modern dancer and mother to create a practice that is full of heart and joy.
Susan's love of teaching began in 1990 as a creative dance teacher to young children in her hometown of Lexington, Virginia. She continued her dance and teaching education as a student at Connecticut College, and later in New York City as a teaching artist in public school classrooms. Susan received her initial 200 hour yoga teacher certification in 2001 from Cyndi Lee at OM Yoga Center in Manhattan. Upon moving to Vermont in 2004, Susan immersed herself in prenatal/postnatal yoga teaching, which led her to receive an advanced certification in pregnancy yoga and childbirth education from Colette Crawford of the Seattle Holistic Center. In the past five years, Susan has developed a unique series of infant, toddler and children's yoga classes which spur from her knowledge of creative movement and utilize activities appropriate for each child's developmental stage. She is the mother of 4 1/2 year old Emmett and 1 1/2 year old Zinn.
ANDREA O’CONNOR - Anusara-Inspired, Center of Power Core Strength Series
Andrea has practiced and taught yoga for eight years. With a background of study in Bikram and Astanga, she now teaches Anusara-Inspired Yoga and pursues training with John Friend, Todd Norian and other senior Anusara teachers. Anusara-Inspired Yoga includes a simple and powerful set of physical alignment principles that you can use while doing any form of yoga or standing in the grocery line or sitting at your desk. And this practice includes a life-enhancing outlook and focus on life that you may find to be inspiringand fun! Choose a gentle or vigorous class.
Here are a few comments from students on classes with Andrea:
“Andrea is one of the best yoga teachers I’ve ever had. It’s so clear that she lives her practice. Her genuinely welcoming, open demeanor and careful attention to my particular needs felt healing.”
“Well, I have been to CA and back…am now living on Martha's vineyard...and still looking for a yoga teacher who was as great as you are.”
“You have been by far the most influential yoga teacher I have ever had.”
Annelies Smith- Yin Yoga, Vinyasa
I combine patience with inspiration and a depth of knowledge that allows students 
to learn more deeply about themselves and find ease and satisfaction in a fully balanced practice. I weave together Eastern and Western wisdoms as I draw from my thorough training in somatic movement principles, modern dance, Shambhala Buddhism and Hatha Yoga. I am currently enrolled in the 500 hour Embodyoga Teacher Training, a foundation to all yogas, with Patty Townsend at Yoga Center Amherst. I have been teaching yoga for eight years.
BILL O’CONNOR - Vinyasa
Bill O’Connor started practicing Astanga yoga in 2003. From the first class, he knew that yoga would be part of the rest of his life. He loves Vinyasa, Bikram Yoga and incorporates the principles of Anusara Yoga in his daily practice. When he started teaching in 2005, Bill developed a vigorous, eclectic Hatha style for his classes, drawing on his love for many types of yoga. With focus on breath strength and flexibility, each class is designed to bring you to a place of peace and relaxation that stays in the body and mind when you leave the studio. Bill calls it “the happy place”. When not teaching or practicing yoga, Bill sells and teaches about wines throughout Vermont.
MARGARET DUNN-CARVER - Anusara-Inspired, Evolve Your Yoga Series
As a little girl, Margaret joyfully “played” yoga on the braided rug in her living room with her younger sister, Kate. Twenty years later, through the influence of Anusara Yoga, Margaret has witnessed a new spark of celebration in her yoga practice. In 2005, Margaret completed her 200 hour teacher training with Todd Norian and is a certified Anusara-Inspired yoga teacher. Weaving in elegant alignment principles and the heart centered philosophy of Anusara Yoga, she brings an intelligent enthusiasm to her classes and encourages self discovery in all her students. Check out her monthly blog musings at www.lilayogavt.com or email her at lila.yoga.class@gmail.com.
JANE JARECKI LANZA- Kripalu, Vinyasa
Jane Jarecki Lanza is co-founder of the Liberate Music & Arts Festival and the Burlington Yoga Conference. Jane is a certified Kripalu yoga instructor who considers it her karma and honor to live yoga in the world. Through Jane's focus on non-judgemental awareness, relaxation, and on yoga as a healing modality- for any person, in any stage of life, she helps people to connect with their true self, one another, and the infinite. Jane recognizes we are more than meets the eye and what we need is love. Through yoga balance is available, along with peace and positive energy. View Jane Yoga Blog.
JENNIFER HARRIS - Vinyasa
Jennifer Harris has a fresh, inspirational teaching style that blends the physical and spiritual aspects of the practice. Her classes are challenging and packed with fun. She encourages students to listen to their own bodies and create a practice which will result in self-acceptance and joy. Jennifer has been teaching yoga since 2002. Her teaching has evolved through life, intention and Ashtanga and Anusara teacher trainings. Jennifer is a massage therapist, a chemical engineer and a mother of two.
JULIE EPSTEIN - Vinyasa,
Julie received her training as an interdisciplinary yoga teacher at the Nosara Institute in Costa Rica. Continuing her journey in India, Julie lived at an ashram in Rishikesh, received teachings from the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala, and began her inquiry of Ayurveda. Her meditation instruction draws on retreat experiences at PlumVillage with Thich Nhat Hanh and with Vipassana guide Mr. Goenka. An Anusara practitioner since 2004, Julie rejoices and takes refuge in her yoga practice. By teaching yoga she aims to support the evolution of each student.
LYDIA HILL - Iyengar, Restorative
Lydia Hill is known for teaching in the classical Iyengar style, where focus on precision and alignment are predominant features of any class sequence. She attempts to soften the Iyengar reputation with her gentle humor and humility. Lydia began studying yoga in 1988 at the University of Pennsylania with Joan White, a senior Iyengar teacher. Since then, she has continued to study with Patricia Walden, Peentz Dubble and Janice Vien, as well as other renowned Iyengar teachers. She has completed two extensive Teacher Training courses and has received Iyengar certification. Lydia lives in Shelburne with her teenager children.
MARTHA WHITNEY - Kripalu, Restorative
Martha offers a mindful, inspiring and welcoming yoga environment that fosters an enhanced self-acceptance and embodied well-being. Her in-depth training in anatomy, movement and breath allows her to artfully guide postures that access body ease and aliveness. Martha compassionately meets her students where they are while encouraging them to stretch beyond what they have known and to experience more fully who they truly are. Students leave class feeling more comfortable, confident and resilient in themselves and in their lives.
Martha has been studying yoga and body-mind therapy since 1991. In addition to group and private yoga classes Martha is in private practice supporting life change through Hakomi, a body centered psychotherapy. Martha’s other great passion is long canoe trips in the open landscape of Labrador, where, as in yoga, she feels vastly alive.
MIRIAM LEFLER - Vinyasa
Miriam Lefler began practicing yoga in 1999. She has studied a broad range of styles including Iyengar, Ashtanga, Kripalu, Anusara and Vinyasa Flow. In 2003, Miriam was certified to teach by Jacqueline Heisel in Western Massachusetts. She is a certified practitioner of Thai Yoga Bodywork and massage therapy. Her own yoga practice continues to evolve as her knowledge of anatomy deepens. She strives to teach classes that are challenging and supportive – using yoga postures, breath awareness, meditation, and music to open the body, quiet the mind, and expand the heart.
PATRICK McANDREW - Kripalu
Patrick
McAndrew became a serious student of yoga at age 17 when he had an
oceanic experience learning Hamsa Sohum meditation from the dancer
Margaret Beals, a devotee of Swami Muktananda. In pursuit of deepening
that connection, he has practiced with many great teachers through-out
California, Vermont, and his native New York City. He is a graduate
of the Kripalu 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training, the Institute for Integrative
Nutrition, and Goddard College.
JOHN McCONNELL- Vinyasa, Hot and Spicy, Beginner's Series
John has been practicing and experiencing yoga for nearly 11 years. In his classes John interweaves a combination of humor, light-heartedness, and intensity - while maintaining a keen emphasis on celebrating the true joy of life! When not on the mat, John and his wife Jane Taylor can be found retaining their breath while rolling kayaks on Lake Champlain.
KELLI MAE WILLIS: Vinyasa Fundamentals, Flying Yoga, Circus Yoga
Kelli Mae began practicing yoga in 2002. Since then she has dabbled in hatha, vinyasa, bikram, yin, and most recently anusara yoga. But she found her true love at her first AcroYoga intensive at the Esalen Institute in 2007. Kelli Mae completed a hatha yoga teacher's training course in Nasik, India at Yoga Vidya Dham in 2007. She and her partner Sam completed an AcroYoga acrobatics intensive in the spring of 2009. Kelli Mae is also working towards a certification in Circus Yoga. She loves the playfulness and open communication that Acro brings to class, and has experienced profound changes in her own life through this practice. Besides holding people on her feet, Kelli Mae loves good food and gardens, having fun with kids, and doing work that welcomes people to live life joyfully.
DANIELLE VARDAKAS-DUCKO -Vinyasa
Danielle graduated Magna Cum Laude from Temple University and the Tyler School of Art in 2001. She is a certified Hip Hop instructor through Dance Educators of America in Funk & Hip Hop and the University of the Arts. Danielle performed at The Glass Fashion Show in New Orleans & NYC, The Vans Warped Tour 2004, and The Philadelphia Fringe Festival. She has performed and taught hip hop on both coasts and on two tours in Australia. Danielle has judged dance battles and competitions through out the USA and she directed and choreographed for the all female hip hop company B-Tru. She has also trained and performed Graham, Horton, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Belly Dance & Group Motion style improv.
When she was 15 she fell in love with Yoga. Danielle now has certifications in Yoga 1 & 2 and Pilates 1 & 2 from AAAI and ISMA and she is a registered experienced yoga teacher with her 200 hour certification from Yoga Alliance. Danielle is a vinyasa style teacher that incorporates principles of alignment with power flows and bliss energy. She taught yoga for Oprah Winfrey™s Minority Womens Conference in Arizona and for the cast of "The Lovely Bones" (in theatres 2009). Last summer her teen yoga class won "best of the mainline" in Wayne, PA. Danielle's family moved to Vermont last winter. She is excited & honored to begin to share her practice with the evolution community.
JESSICA ROEDER- Children's Classes
During college in Boston, Jessica stumbled into the world of children's yoga and became a certified teacher. Working one-to-one with a young boy on the Autism Spectrum, Jessica was awestruck by the joy and peace yoga was able to bring to her otherwise rambunctious student. This experience inspired her to bring yoga to other children with special needs through her professional career as an Autism Interventionist, and will continue as she pursues her Masters in Social Work at the University of Vermont beginning in the fall. Jessica is excited to share her own creative twist to children's yoga classes here at Evolution.
JOEY CORCORAN- 6 week Mindfulness Series
Joey offers you the opportunity to establish a meditation practice and bring a mindful balance to your life. Meditation and yoga have been a part of her life since the 1970’s. In the past twelve years, she has been particularly interested in how to bring the quiet spaciousness of mind she discovers on silent retreat to the rock and roll of daily life!
In 2004, she participated in Jon Kabat-Zinn & Saki Santorelli’s Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction for professionals and found the value of pausing and opening the senses to the moment. She led Mindful Living groups and weekly meditation instruction at UVM from 2004 – 2006. Inspired by Thich Nhat Hanh’s heartful mindfulness teachings, she co-founded a sangha in his tradition in 2007.
As a psychotherapist and coach, Joey finds that a focus on the body’s felt sense is another aid to mindfulness. It provides a helpful way to ground the stress encountered in everyday life and loosens the grip of emotional patterns (for more info, visit her website: www.mindfulrest.com). In gratitude for the guidance she has received, Joey offers a combination of skillful means to support you in bringing a presence to your life that will make ordinary moments extraordinary.
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LINDSAY FOREMAN- 6 week Mindfulness Series
Lindsay
is a certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher. She has been practicing and studying yoga for six years and meditation for eleven years. In 2007 she co-founded the Gentle Heart Sangha, a mindfulness group in the tradition of Zen master Thich Nhat Hanh. Lindsay has led classes on compassionate communication, conflict-resolution, stress-management, and life transformation. For six years she served as a case manager and advocate in the social services, interweaving mindfulness practices into her work with women and youth. As a teacher and facilitator her primary focus is to create a container for people to come home to their true selves with deep compassion and acceptance.
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UWE MESTER- Feldenkrais
Uwe took his first Feldenkrais® lesson in 1997 after recovering from lower back surgery. His pain symptoms immediately decreased, and Uwe developed a deeper interest in the Feldenkrais Method®. The Feldenkrais Method, with its gentle, slow movement, helped him understand how his body is organized and that even small movements can have a big impact. In 2001, Uwe started a four-year training (800+ hours) in Germany with Dr. Chava Shelhav (Israel), one of the few remaining original students of Moshe Feldenkrais, the Method’s founder. Uwe has been a licensed Feldenkrais Practitioner since 2005, teaching both Awareness through Movement (group classes) and Functional Integration (individual classes). He also holds a Masters Degree in Education and Social work.
In 2008, Uwe moved with his family from Wiesbaden, Germany, to Charlotte, Vermont. Uwe has been teaching the Feldenkrais Method in the Burlington Area since September 2009, and is very excited to offer Awareness trough Movement classes at Evolution. For further information on the Method and how it can help you reduce your movement-related effort, improve your yoga postures, and become pain-free, click here.
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ALISON AIKEN, PT- Yoga for a Healthy Back & Vinyasa
Alison began practicing yoga in 1999 to achieve grounding and stability. As a distance runner interested in emotional and cardiovascular health, she found yoga practice to be a nice complement to the repetitive stress that running places on the body. In 2005 she completed her yoga teacher training through The Yoga Institute with a concentration in Viniyoga. This style of teaching, which focuses on adapting and modifying postures for the individual rather than expecting the individual to conform to a certain ideal has expanded from her yoga teaching into her practice as a physical therapist. Alison’s classes include special attention to alignment, breath, and awareness. She includes vinyasa flow – linking movement with breath, pranayama with special attention to breathing patterns and metta practice. She will demonstrate how yoga postures and consciousness carry over into everyday life. Classes are taught with consideration of individual needs allowing the student to embrace yoga with curiosity and without judgment.
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Danny Morris an electrical engineer by day explores Buddhism, Yoga, Meditation and the parallels with modern physics by night. His influences grew by the introduction to the mind and life institute which joins western objective science with eastern contemplative science. launching his study of the “mind/body” to include neuroscience, psychology, quantum physics, integral theory, and various meditative techniques. When he moved to Burlington in 2006 his yoga practice began to unfold studying in the traditions of Ashtanga, Bikram, Kripalu, Anusara and Jivamukti with all of the wonderful teachers that Burlington has to offer.
He has studied with Kathy McNames through the Yoga Vermont teacher training as well as completed the Anusara Yoga Immersion with Todd Norian and Ann Green. Danny has deepened his meditation practicing Basic Mindfulness with Shinzen Young and Shamata as taught by Alan Wallace. Danny leads Mindfulness and Yoga at IBM with the intention to develop innovative and healthy minds in the workplace. There is much about objective reality that we have learned through the careful rigorous observation of phenomena, but to limit our view and experience to this materialistic reduction is to do a disservice to our true selves. He believes that it is also necessary to look inward at our subjective experience and cultivate the tool of our minds in which we use as the lens to view our relative reality. Yoga is one of many paths capable of helping us to achieve this goal.
CAROLYN CONNER, RYT- Anusara-Inspired and Mama Yoga
An intuitive woman who brings insight, compassion and levity to her yoga classes, bodywork sessions and life. Since 1996, the core of her learning and teaching has evolved through practice, self-study and grace. In 2005 she completed a 300-hour Anusara Yoga Teacher Training with Todd Norian and has stepped wholeheartedly into the practice and study of Anusara Yoga. Carolyn is an Advanced Certified Thai Yoga Bodywork practitioner, she holds certification in Reiki and she is enrolled in the Zero Balancing certification program. She is available for private consultations and specializes in creating programs for those with medical concerns, injury rehabilitation and structural issues. Out of the studio she dances the Tango with her beloved Jared and savors the outdoors whether swimming, hiking or simply strolling with her beagle-shepherd, Phoebe. In 2009 her daughter Genevieve was born, swept her off her feet and incited a passion and vibrancy she had never experienced, which she is now integrating in her practice, classes and bodywork.
MICHELE CRANWELL-SCHMIDT - Community Class
Michele started practicing yoga in 1999 at Yoga Vermont. She fell in love with the Vinyasa practice because of the style’s challenging and empowering sequences, creative and explorative nature, and inspirational music. She has taught Vinyasa since 2001 and enjoys sharing with others what she loves about the practice. She teaches from a place of intuition and compassion and seeks to honor the wisdom of the heart, body and spirit as our own greatest teacher. Her practice is a necessary balance to her analytical mind and her work in program evaluation at the University of Vermont. She also loves taking photographs of Vermont’s natural beauty and seasonally changing landscapes.
Michele completed her 200 hour teaching certification at Yoga Vermont with Kathy McNames, which included study of Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, and Anusara-inspired yoga traditions. She has participated in workshops with Seane Corn, Beryl Bender Birch, Jonas Westring, Deb Neubauer, Manju Jois, T.K.V. Desikachar, and Lucy Martorella. Her style of teaching has also been influenced by practicing with and learning from Piper Petrie.
Set to world-style music, Michele strives to lead students through a creative and challenging sequence of postures. Her style infuses breath, bandhas, and alignment with holding of postures and flowing movement to open and strengthen the body and center and quiet the mind. She also loves incorporating core strengthening sequences into the practice. Practice is followed by a relaxing and renewing savasana.
PETRA SMEJKAL, RYT- Pre/Post Natal and Vinyasa
For over a decade now, practicing yoga has been healing my physical and mental wounds, balancing emotions, cultivating individuality and letting my spirit soar. As a mother, my life force flourishes with my little ones daily, and my heart grows fonder of our global culture, connection and oneness. My teaching is inspired by various styles of yoga, teachers, encounters, observations, and organically continues to evolve. As a teacher, I share my mission to nourish the mind, body and spirit through breath, unification, awareness, strengthening, balance and love. OM!
CHRISTINE HOLT - Vinyasa Fundamentals