Teachers

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We have exceptional staff here at the Bindu. Scroll down for detailed information about each of our talented teachers.

Click here to see information about our exceptional wellness team as well!

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Kelley Gardner, Yoga Instructor
Sari Weston, Yoga Instructor
Patti Boug, Yoga Instructor
Mary Kennedy, Yoga Instructor
Sally Phillips, Yoga Instructor
Lisa Tendler, Yoga Instructor
Memi Goings, Yoga Instructor
Pam Kessinger Best, Yoga Instructor
Jessica Bowles, Yoga Instructor
Mags Maurice, Yoga Instructor
Sandy Ferrell, Yoga Instructor

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Kelley Gardner

Kelley Gardner is a certified Anusara Yoga instructor and has been practicing and studying yoga since 1989. She is an enthusiastic teacher of yoga and its relevance to skillful daily living. Kelley has studied extensively under the guidance of John Friend and many other Anusara teachers since 2001. She has also had the pleasure of diving into the deep study of yoga philosophy and meditation techniques with Paul Muller-Ortega, Douglas Brooks, and Bill Mahony each of whom are considered world -renowned scholars of yoga theory.

Weaving life-affirming Tantric philosophy with clear understanding of body mechanics, Kelley’s classes are fun, challenging, and spiritually relevant. Kelley’s enthusiasm and knowledge inspire her students to grow in their practice both on and off the mat. As the dance of discovery grows richer through relationships, Kelley bows to the heart of her wonderful husband Joe, to her children, and to her students who keep her laughing and growing every day.

Kelley is the founder of the Bindu: Yoga and Wellness in Cornelius, NC. In addition to weekly public and private classes, she teaches Immersions, Teacher Trainings and workshops nationally and internationally.
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Sari Weston

Sari Weston took her first Anusara™ Yoga class from Sarahjoy Marsh in 2001 and has studied Anusara™ exclusively since 2002.  A former dancer, gymnast and karate instructor, she was profoundly stirred by the union of life-affirming philosophy and intelligent alignment offered in the Anusara™ tradition.

Sari recently completed a 200-hour teacher training and Anusara™ Immersion and is working towards becoming Anusara Inspired.  She looks forward to helping her students catalyze real and lasting change in body and spirit.  As a writer and poet, Sari infuses her yoga classes with graceful lyricism while challenging her students to engage themselves fully in the practice.   Sari continues her studies with Kelley Gardner and other Carolina Anusara™ Yoga teachers, including Sarah Faircloth and Stacey Millner-Collins.  She also bows to all of the other, excellent teachers in her life, especially her husband and son.  When she’s not upside down in a handstand, she can be found celebrating life in her garden, kitchen, or nearest playground.

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Patti Boug

After taking her first yoga class over 12 years ago, Patti was hooked!  She embarked on a path of study with teachers from across Canada, Europe and the United States sampling Ashtanga, Iyengar, Bikram’s Hot Yoga, Yin Yoga, Jivamukhti, Kundalini and Power Yoga classes.  She is forever grateful to Kelley Gardner for introducing her to Anusara™ yoga and strives every day to expand her understanding of this beautiful and intelligent practice.  She continues to grow in the Anusara™ light by studying with Kelley Gardner, Sarah Faircloth, Stacey Millner-Collins as well as the founder of Anusara™, John Friend. As a certified Yoga Therapist (230 hr) as well as a Children’s Yoga teacher (achieved through the Asheville Yoga Centre) Patti creates a calm and heart-felt environment.  In each session, students can expect to find a space in which to explore and discover themselves under the eyes and instruction of a skilled, confident guide.  Come take a class and step into the flow of grace!  She honors the kula of teachers and students who continually open her heart and mind.  Patti enjoys reading, cooking and relaxing by the water with her family and friends…when she’s not hanging upside down in her closet in a yoga pose!

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Mary Kennedy

After many years of running, aerobics, and tennis, Mary began practicing Vinyasa and Power yoga in 1999 in an effort to improve her flexibility and balance.  She discovered Anusara Yoga 3 years ago and fell in love with its life-enhancing qualities, along with its beautiful alignment principles.  She thought to herself, “Why isn’t everyone doing this?” and began teacher training so that she could share her enthusiasm for Anusara™ Yoga with others.  She completed her Teacher Training in March under the instruction of Kelley Gardner, Sarah Faircloth, and Stacy Millner-Collins and is currently working toward becoming Anusara™ Inspired.  Mary’s classes are bright and upbeat, and her students love her glowing positivity.   She passionately pursues furthering her Anusara™ and meditation studies with her primary teacher, Kelley Gardner.  She also broadens her knowledge by studying Anusara™ and tantric philosophy with teachers from around the region.  When not in the yoga studio, she and her husband James are raising three wonderful children.  Mary aspires to integrate the teachings of Anusara™ Yoga into all aspects of her life.

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Sally Phillips

After decades of weight-training and endless hours on the treadmill, Sally found workouts uninspiring after the birth of her daughter.   She yearned for something that would soothe her mind and bring suppleness back into her body. That’s just when the Universe brought Kelley Gardner into her life.  That was 1997 and Sally continues her yoga journey, learning how to apply yogic principles both on and off the mat.

Sally earned her vinyasa certification in 2000 from the Asheville Yoga Center and has taught flow yoga for more than 10 years.  With the opening of the Bindu, Sally has become a dedicated student of Anusara Yoga.  This fall she will begin her AnusaraTM immersion studies.  In addition to being mentored by Kelley, Sally has participated in workshops from noted Anusara teachers Sienna Sherman and Suzie Hurley and from Anusara founder, John Friend. In addition, she has taken workshops from Bryan Kest and Kathy Budig.

Sally’s yoga philosophy is based on cultivating mindfulness to gain more balance and find greater joy in all aspects of life. Her classes are fun, lively and full of enthusiasm.   When not on the mat, she is a marketing director for a technology firm, a sporadic (and sometimes spastic) radio commentator, a voracious reader and fair-weather gardener.  She enjoys spending down time with her husband, Dave, daughter Brooke, and “Huskador,” Roxie.

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Lisa Tendler

Lisa Tendler has been an avid yoga practitioner and teacher for many years. She started yoga at the age of 16 using the book Richard Hittleman’s 28 Day plan. Soon after that she started studying dance at North Carolina School of the Arts, graduated and became a professional dancer allowing yoga to take the back seat. Yoga came back into to her life with a vengeance when one of her hips began to give out. That’s when she found Jivamukti Yoga center in the early 90’s, began taking classes all day, quit dance, started teaching there and the rest is history.
Lisa’s teachers along the way include Ravi Singh, Dharma Mitra, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Eddie Stern(studied w/Eddie Traditional Ashtanga 6 days a week for several years), Kevin Gardener, Micheal Carrol(Asana as Spiritual Doorways; 6 weekends) and(Pranakriya workshop; 6 weekends), Doug Keller( therapeutics workshops), John Friend, studied Ashtanga in India with Pattabhi.Jois (6 weeks). Other experience includes NY state massage therapy license, certification in PowerHouse pilates and mat, and the most valuable experience…practicing yoga almost every day for almost 20 years!
Ashtanga yoga is her main practice. It has helped her create a strong foundation and a deep and steady practice. She continues to study and apply to her practice all kinds of alignment and therapeutic information that she has learned from studying all forms of yoga.” She believes that yoga is a way back to who we really are as intuitive awake beings.

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Memi Goings

Memi’s first experience practicing Anusara was a “Dubasana” class with Kelly Haas, which connected the students to their roots using Dub music. After class she felt re-energized, connected and left wanting to learn more! It was after her second Anusara class that she and her husband decided to sign up for the 150-hour immersion, which she is currently enrolled in.

A background in dance and cheerleading led her to yoga. She is an UNC-Charlotte graduate where she received her B.A. in dance and was a member of the dance team for four years. Memi continued her dance career after college and became a professional cheerleader for the Carolina Panthers. Through her many years of dance she practiced yoga for the asana benefits of injury prevention and increased flexibility.

After a career in dance and teaching dance, she began to deepen her yoga practice by experiencing the full benefits of the mind, body and heart connection. In 2008 she was then guided to enroll in a 200-hour Power Vinyasa training. Upon completion, she began teaching community and private lessons.

Memi’s goal as a teacher is to share her love and joy for yoga. She is inspired to infuse her fun and challenging vinyasa flow (linking breath and asana) with the Anusara principles in her classes. In Memi’s classes you will tap into your creative potential and connect to your true essence on a deeper level. Most of all she encourages her students to CELEBRATE the GOODNESS in all.

Memi is inspired by many of her teachers and continues to be a student of life. When she is not teaching and practicing yoga, she enjoys spending time with family, friends and traveling to Hawaii with her husband Nick.

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Pam Kessinger Best

Pam’s Yoga journey began thirteen years ago when a YMCA instructor brought Yoga to her small, rural town in southern Ohio for the first time. Feeling a deep connection between the movements of Yoga and gymnastics, her world opened into a practice that would change her life mentally, physically and spiritually.
In 2007, Pam completed her 230-hour Yoga Teacher certification at the Asheville Yoga Center. She is also certified in Prenatal/Postnatal Yoga and Vinyasa Flow Yoga. She enjoys the gift of teaching Yoga and believes Yoga can be an essential element to injury prevention and optimal health. We move and breathe in ways that open the body and allow blood and oxygen to flow more freely restoring our natural energetic state. She believes we have the ability to heal our bodies’ one breath at a time.
Pam considers herself a “Yoga Junkie” and loves to take classes and learn from teachers all over the world. She infuses her classes with love, light and laughter and hopes each student walks away a little brighter and lighter than before.
As the co-owner of Best Acupuncture, she is passionate about the healing benefits of acupuncture. She enjoys traveling the globe with her husband, Deleon, as well as sharing her joy for whole-food nutrition and her love for cooking. She has a black Lab named Bailey, and two cats, Jasmine and Mr. Bigglesworth. She loves music, concerts, exercise, dance, travel and anything involving the great outdoors. She looks forward to meeting you and being a part of your Yoga experience.

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Jessica Bowles

Jessica has been practicing yoga since 1996 and is a registered 500hr. level yoga teacher through the Yoga Alliance. She completed her 200hr. Hatha Yoga certification with The Bodhi Tree in Charlotte, NC and her 500hr. teacher training through the Asheville Yoga Center, where she completed her Yin yoga, restorative yoga, and prenatal yoga certifications.
In her classes, Jessica incorporates gentle movements with breath and deep opening poses of stillness, allowing the students to go at their own pace and connect mindfully to their own body and consciousness. Within this meditative flow, she feels that each time you step on the mat, it’s more than just a class….it’s an experience!
She has done extensive Thai Yoga Therapy training at Ritam Healing Arts in CA with Saul David Raye and the Thai Institute in D.C.. She is also currently studying at Kerala Ayurvedic Acadamy to become an Ayurvedic Wellness Counselor.
Jessica resides in Cornelius, NC with her husband and three little boys. When she’s not practing yoga, she also loves to read, walk outside, and spend time with her family and friends. Yoga has brought peace of mind and a sense of wellness into her life. She loves to share her passion with others and guide them along the path towards freedom in the body and a peaceful center.

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Mags Maurice

Mags (RYT, RCYT) is a yoga practitioner, yoga teacher, musician and music educator. She discovered her passion for yoga while seeking health and balance in her life as a musician and full-time elementary and middle school music teacher. Mags completed her initial 200 hour teacher training with Mitchel Bleier along with Anusara-Inspired™ teacher David Aukamp and Certified Anusara teacher RuthAnn Martin. She continued additional yoga teacher training under Christina Sell. She has also completed her Grounded Yoga Teacher Training and Certification by Anusara-Inspired™ teachers Cheryl Crawford and Amy Haysman. She currently studies with Certified Anusara teachers, Sarah Faircloth, Gina Minyard, Brooks Haislip and Kelley Gardner.

When Mags isn’t teaching yoga or music, you may find her next to your mat! She considers herself a perpetual student in her practice and enjoys learning from many different teachers, styles, forms and schools of thought. Mags frequently attends classes and workshops at a variety of studios throughout the Southeast. She looks forward to making more connections and learning from the students and teachers in her life. Mags is open to where the journey will take her and smiling along the way!

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Sandy Ferrell

Sandy began practicing Anusara yoga exclusively in 2007 when she begin taking classes with Kelley Gardner. She was hooked on Anusara after her first successful handstand and enjoys the lightheartedness that is integral to this intelligent and elegant practice.  A 2011 graduate of Carolina Yoga Teacher Training,  Sandy is dedicated to cultivating physical and spiritual awareness through asana practice and loves helping others do the same.

Sandy lives with her loving husband, Vernon, and 3 adorable frenchies: Louis, Rock star and Lilly. In her spare time, she enjoys cooking, boating on Lake Norman, and snow skiing. When not teaching you may find her practicing on the mat beside you!

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