Meet our yoga and Pilates instructors by following a link below, or scroll down for all bios:

Ingrid Anderson, BS, MS, RYT

I started practicing yoga over 16 years ago when I was pregnant with my first daughter. The practice of Yoga was so incredible and helpful in my pregnancy and delivery. I was amazed at my ability to do back bends with this large bundle of baby riding the crest of my back bends. Three lovely daughters later, I finally rose my head above the piles of laundry and discovered an even deeper need for my yoga practice as I nurtured my family and myself through my practice. It continues to be my personal refuge and breath of renewal.

I am grateful to all my teachers and for the teacher training I completed in 1999 at the Yoga Connection with Priscilla Potter in the Kriya Yoga tradition. I continue my study of yoga with many great teachers, including Rama Jyoti Vernon who has helped me understand the perfection of the unity of all beings and unity of self with God.

In 2004, I completed a 200-hour Pilates Mat Teacher training with Debbie Rocha and Nancy Woods. Their classical Pilates training has given me a greater awareness of movement connecting to the breath, as in yoga, and of core stability for increasing the long-term health of the back. My Pilates mat classes often include appropriate yoga postures (asanas) and stretches.

My classes emphasize the joy of connecting to breath in every movement, a building of strength and confidence in the body and connecting to the true self. At the heart of my teaching, I remember that I am teaching people, not asana. I continue to learn and grow with my students and in my own practice. I truly enjoy the connection with so many great people as we travel this path of yoga and I offer all that I know in honor and gratefulness to all my awesome teachers.

Jenny Kendall, MS, RYT

My journey to becoming a yoga teacher did not follow the straightest of paths. I first encountered yoga, as a child, with Lilias on our public television station. From the time I was a young teenager I was a seeker. On my journey to yoga I studied several martial arts, such as Hapkido and Aikido, did research in exercise physiology for people and horses, and became a statistician. When I encountered health problems in the mid-90s, I found my way back to yoga and knew that my seeking had both ended and just begun.

I have been blessed with many wonderful yoga teachers prior to my move to Tucson from central Iowa. It was June 2005 when I was moved to pursue Yoga Teacher Training through the Providence Institute here in Tucson. This training proved to be the perfect complement to my prior experiences, and continues to help me delve ever deeper into the eight-limbs of yoga.

My classes emphasize breath with movement and asana as I try to help each student to find his or her own yoga within the community of the yoga class. Through my practice of teaching, I share my learning with great gratitude to all of my teachers.

Sara Popadak

Sara was first introduced to yoga in her living room with a videotape in 1995. She took scattered classes where she lived in Portland, Maine. She knew she was onto something good, but somehow she managed to lose sight of the joys of yoga for a few years to follow. Years later, Sara again came to yoga as a tool, to find herself reconnected to her body and her spirit, in some difficult times. After becoming certified at the Providence Institute in 2006, Sara began teaching full-time and her life-transforming journey down the yogic path continues on a daily basis.

Sara currently teaches regular classes and workshops at many locations around Tucson including studio, gym, hospital, neighborhood center, and home settings. She is an advocate for alternative healing for surviving cancer and does volunteer and contract work for Sunstone Healing Center. Sara has completed workshops including: Restorative Yoga with Judith Hanson Lasater, Conscious Breathing with Barbara Benagh and Structural Yoga Therapy with Mukdunda Stiles, and has completed training in Restorative Yoga with Priscilla Potter of Yoga Connection here in Tucson. Sara incorporates into every class she teaches a gentle reminder to be grateful for what we do have in our lives, for all that is good.

Monica Eng, LMT

I have been stretching in some fashion all my life. In 1997, when I was introduced to Active Isolated Stretching (AIS), my view and experience with stretching changed forever. I am more flexible and injury free because of my AI stretching on a daily basis. I was fortunate to have had two weeks hands on training with Aaron Mattes, Kinesiologist, who developed AIS. Since then, I have been teaching AIS to my massage clients and massage students. It definitely is the way to have flexible and healthy bodies. Stretching is the key along with cardiovascular exercise and strength training for keeping ourselves healthy.

Currently, I am practicing Massage Therapy out of my home in Civano. I have been in private practice since 1983, working in variety of settings over the years with chiropractors, fitness centers, complementary health care clinics, healing art centers, yoga centers, retirement homes and nursing homes.

I graduated from Brenneke School of Massage, in Seattle. I massage from my heart using all my training and intuition to meet the individual needs of each of my clients. My education includes Swedish Massage, Myofascial Release, Soft Tissue Injury Assessment, Trigger Point Therapy, Advanced Sports Massage, Deep Tissue Massage, Trager, Reiki, Craniosacral, Chi Nei Tsang, Shiatsu, Aquatic Massage and Active Isolated Stretching.

My best stretching buddy is my cat, Uto. Our furry friends are incredible stretchers, oh to be so flexible! Looking forward to stretching with you at the Yoga House!

Terry Johnson

My first glimpse into yoga was in a high school P. E. class. It was like nothing else I had ever experienced. I wanted learn more but at that time in Michigan, yoga classes were not very accessible.

Moving to Arizona and the beautiful Sonoran desert inspired me to live a more healthy lifestyle. I started practicing yoga on a more regular basis when my sons were young and playing sports through the YMCA. I went to yoga classes and they did their basketball and roller hockey. It worked out well for everyone. In 2006, I became a certified hatha yoga teacher. I received my training at the Providence Institute here in Tucson, Arizona. I have had so many wonderful teachers through the program and I am grateful to all of them for their knowledge and insightful instruction.

I believe yoga is a gift. Its holistic approach has enriched my life in so many ways and continues to do so. Yoga gives us tools that allow us to live life with more awareness and balance. Through yoga we understand that peace, joy, and freedom lie in the process of life, with a focus on the quality of our actions, rather than the results of our actions. I am honored to be able to share the gift of yoga with you at Yoga House.

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