Julia Baller
Studio Assistant
Julia discovered yoga when, during a time of intense grief, a friend dragged her to Past Tense. She found herself reconnecting to her mind and body and felt drawn to the studio's strong sense of community. Since then, yoga has helped her heal and find balance. Outside of yoga, Julia is a health policy researcher, focusing on improving access to and quality of care for Medicaid beneficiaries.
Liz Bernstein
Instructor
Liz has been practicing yoga since 2005 and teaching since 2009. She has been practicing Pilates since 2009 and teaching since 2014. Liz teaches everything from strength based vinyasa flow to senior yoga along with Pilates and meditation. Liz is an E-RYT 200 and is close to completing her 500 hour with and emphasis in biomechanics.
Monica Brinn
Instructor
Monica discovered Pilates 15 years ago to help her deal with pain from scoliosis. Later, she began practicing yoga and found she loved what it did for her body and mind. As an instructor, she recognizes we all must work with the body we have; she strives to guide practices with a focus on alignment that keep students of all ages and abilities safe, healthy and coming back for more!
Talia Calnek-Sugin
Studio Assistant
A longtime runner, Talia began practicing yoga to help her recover from an injury. She now embraces yoga as much for the mental as the physical benefits. Off the mat, she works in International Climate Policy at the World Resources Institute and loves trail running, biking, teaching, and anything involving good food.
Dan Carter
Instructor
Dan (or Danimal as his students know him) discovered yoga at a summer camp for nerds back in 2007 and has been hooked ever since. Dan teaches a Power Flow and incorporates energetic music, laughter and humor into all of his classes. Dan is an E-RYT 500 and is certified in Rocket Yoga, The Threes PhysiYoga Method and Foam Rolling.
Mary Champeny
Studio Assistant
Mary is a West coast transplant who started practicing yoga after moving to DC and discovering that mid-Atlantic winters make outdoor exercise very uncomfortable. Since then she has come to rely on yoga as a way to find ease in both body and mind.
Sara Curtin
Instructor
Sara began practicing yoga in order to explore the ever-growing relationship between mind and body. As a professional singer and musician she searched for ways to strengthen and relax her body. In her class, you'll build strength, increase flexibility and have fun!
Niki Dasarathy
Instructor
Niki started practicing yoga while living overseas in an effort to make new friends. Since then yoga has helped her grow into a stronger, less tense, and more flexible person, both on and off the mat. She graduated from Past Tense's 200-hour teacher training and, off the mat, she manages international rule of law projects.
Katie Davey
Studio Assistant
Katie began practicing yoga in 2002, and quickly found the mat to be a stabilizing home base, even as she moved from city to city. Yoga has been the perfect companion to a hectic and sometimes transient lifestyle - bringing balance, strength, flexibility, intention and focus to her life.
Kelly DiNardo
Owner, Instructor
Kelly discovered yoga when she was procrastinating on a writing assignment. Parked on a yoga mat, she not only cleared her writer’s block but developed a new passion. She has been teaching yoga for over fifteen years. She opened Past Tense with the hope of giving others the same strength, balance and flexibility she finds on the mat in a place that is open and welcoming.
Meagan Estep
Instructor
Meagan wandered into a lunchtime yoga class in 2007 after spending many years as a classical ballet dancer. She immediately fell in love with the freedom she felt in both her body and her mind. Meagan completed her 200-hour teacher training at Past Tense in 2017. In her classes, expect an unhurried investigation of movement, breath, and full body presence.
Nichole Ferrigno
Studio Manager, Instructor
Since discovering yoga in college, Nichole has embraced yoga as an anchor in her life and as a sanctuary from DC's hurried pace. She completed her teacher training at Past Tense in 2017 and you can expect to find your own sanctuary in her grounding classes that emphasize form and tuning in. When she's not in the studio Nichole works as a health coach, cooking instructor and full-time mom.
Christine Gallagher
Studio Assistant
Christine turned to yoga after low-back pain began impeding her running and biking. On the mat, she discovered the practice not only helped strengthen her back but also provided a respite from busy city life. Beyond yoga, Christine helps manage scientific programs that support communities’ efforts to prepare for and recover from impacts of weather events.
Jenna Grubman
Assistant Studio Manager, Instructor
Jenna has played multiple sports all her life, but it wasn’t until moving to DC from Indiana that she realized yoga was the perfect balance for her active lifestyle. Jenna was introduced to Past Tense by her sister, Sunny, a student assistant. Beyond yoga, Jenna works for Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C. and loves a good dinner party.
Jennifer Hopkins
Pilates Manager, Instructor
Jennifer believes in the core power found in Pilates, but also in its life-changing, full-body benefits. Jennifer sought out the classical method of Joe Pilates by studying directly with the Power Pilates studio in New York City. She strives to make Pilates accessible, to see individual needs of students and to work the core with laughter.
Clare Kelly
Instructor
Clare has been practicing yoga and Pilates since 1998 and teaching in DC since 2010. She is a playful and artful synthesizer of ancient healing traditions and evidence-based science. Her classes call students to explore their nature. Clare's love of nature runs deep; she is also a certified forest therapy guide.
Sarah Kirby
Kids Manager, Instructor
Sarah Kirby began her yoga journey in college as a runner seeking to balance her workouts with some regular stretching exercises. As her practice grew over the years, she discovered her own power to connect her mind and body with her breath. Sarah hopes everyone leaves her classes feeling a sense of balance in their bodies, peace in their minds and joy in their hearts.
Reana Kovalcik
Studio Assistant
For Reana the mental and emotional practice of yoga is just as important as the physical, and she is grateful to have had truly inspirational teachers over the years. Reana works for the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition, a DC-based policy organization that elevates the voices of diverse, sustainable, and organic farmers across the country and translates their wisdom and needs into meaningful, federal policies.
Jeanette Lee
Instructor
Jeanette developed her love of yoga during law school, after which she immediately enrolled in her first yoga teacher training. Since 2008, Jeanette has been teaching dynamic flow classes that unfold from simple to more complex, allowing students to explore new challenges and to grow their practice. Jeanette is a certified Prana Vinyasa teacher and is an E-RYT200/RYT-500.
Paige Lichens
Instructor
A D.C. native, Paige has been practicing meditation and yoga for over 20 years and teaching since 2009. She completed her 500-hour Teacher Training at Kripalu and is also certified in Prenatal, Yin and Yoga Nidra. At Past Tense studio she teaches a monthly Sound Bath Meditation classes.
Kirsten Miller
Studio Assistant
Kirsten accidentally fell into the practice during her roommate's home sessions in graduate school. Since then, yoga has eased the tension that built up during many stressful life transitions and provides joy, tranquility and intention to her daily routine in DC. Off the mat, she works as a Physician Assistant in a pediatric emergency department and visits hammocks in Meridian Park.
Rachel Morrison
Instructor
Rachel is a dancer, yogi and strength training enthusiast who practices and teaches yoga as a process of self discovery to inspire deeper connection to ourselves and our world. She’s practiced on and off for over 10 years, has been teaching since 2016, and offers students a fluid Vinyasa experience focused on alignment and awareness.
Alicia Moyer
Director of Teacher Training, Instructor
Alicia has been practicing yoga since 1998 and teaching since 2009. She has studied in various traditions, and strives to bring them all together in her alignment-focused vinyasa classes and teacher training. Alicia is a native to Mt. Pleasant and still lives in her childhood home with her husband, daughter and rather large dog.
Mallory Newall
Studio Manager, Instructor
Mallory first joined the Past Tense community as a studio assistant, then graduated from the studio's first Living Yoga Teacher Training in 2017. Mallory teaches a power-inspired class set to upbeat music to give students the opportunity to find their edge in a lighthearted way. She is an RYT 200 and is certified in foam rolling and prenatal yoga.
Melanie Nguyen
Studio Assistant
After practicing on-and-off, Melanie decided to deepen her practice at Past Tense. She now appreciates the mind-body connection and space for self-reflection offered by yoga, especially as a busy graduate student. Off the mat, you can find her strolling around the neighborhood with her dog or enjoying a cup of coffee and a good book
Rob Phillips
Instructor
Rob Phillips teaches yoga with an emphasis on simplicity, precision and attention to the present moment. His teaching style draws from a variety of influences, including traditional Ashtanga, Iyengar, and Yin. In his classes, even when you're working really hard, you'll be doing so from a place of calm awareness and focus
Otis Ramsey-Zoe
Studio Assistant
The name Otis means “he who hears well” or “one who listens.” Yoga has become another opportunity for Otis to live out his mission in life as determined by the name given to him by his parents. A theatre artist, educator, and PhD student, Otis has maintained a committed yoga practice since 2010.
Emily Stock
Studio Assistant
After a lifetime struggle with being overweight Emily’s life changed when she moved to DC and had numerous opportunities to create an active lifestyle. After losing over 100 pounds she still struggled with a weak core, a loud mind and back issues. After her first class at Past Tense she was hooked and sore.
Sasa Tang
Studio Assistant
Sasa unexpectedly took her first yoga class in the high Atlas Mountains of Morocco during her Peace Corps service when she invited a lost yogi and her daughter to her village to stay for the night. Now in a Ph.D. program studying Middle Eastern politics, yoga gives Sasa time to find rest and to be fully present in her body on the mat.
Caroline Weaver
Instructor
After being introduced to yoga as a teenager, Caroline began practicing seriously in 2004 and teaching in 2008. Her principal teachers are Max Strom, John Schumacher, Mary Taylor and Richard Freeman. Caroline’s classes are carefully sequenced and moderately paced, with an emphasis on alignment, awareness, intention and breath.
Corinne Weible
Studio Assistant
Yoga has been an essential part of Corinne's life since 2004, helping her train her body and mind and cultivate awareness, contemplation, and engagement with each present moment. Outside the studio she is an avid cyclist and birder and can often be found wandering through Rock Creek Park.
Jennryn Wetzler
Instructor
Jennryn loves bringing the different elements of yoga to her daily life and travels. From practicing poses in mud huts as a Peace Corps volunteer in Niger, to stretching along the beach at a community development program in Thailand, yoga has served her as a home away from home. Jennryn teaches vinyasa flow and Prenatal classes.
Sunny Widmann
Studio Assistant
Sunny fell in love with yoga while practicing on a beach in Thailand, after completing her Peace Corps service in Togo, West Africa. She realized yoga was exactly what she needed to help her transition into the next phase of her life with ease and intention. When not practicing, Sunny can be found working as an arts administrator, traveling or baking.
Bethany Shaffer
Instructor
Bethany came to the mat after years of Buddhist study and meditation. She teaches a creative, alignment-based flow that emphasizes presence. Bethany is also a high school English teacher and believes in language, learning, and leaping off the well-worn road.
Emma Silverman
Instructor
Emma took her first yoga class with her mom in 1999 and finished her teacher training in 2007. She teaches prenatal, restorative, senior, and flow classes (a real smorgasbord). In her classes she plays music (usually), tells very bad jokes (always), and offers lots of modifications.
Mirtha Soto
Studio Assistant
After living in France for graduate school, where "too many baguettes, too little time" could have been her mantra, Mirtha re-discovered yoga as a complement to running. Since moving to D.C., yoga has been a constant, grounding presence. Outside the studio, Mirtha enjoys learning languages and playing with other people's dogs.