Russell Burns - Director

Russell is a full time yoga teacher, and the founder of the Austin Yoga Expo and Conference. He is a native Texan and has a love for all things Austin, having lived here for over 38 years, experiencing many of the exciting facets and changes of our dynamic city. In addition to his involvement in the Austin yoga community as Director of the Austin Yoga Festival, Austin Yoga Expo and as Vice President of Free Day of Yoga, inc., Russell is an artist ,musician, photographer and avid sailor.

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Mary Esther Middleton - Logistics Director

Mary Esther has been practicing yoga since 1997. She is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance at the 200 hour level. She attended the Living Yoga Program teacher training in June 2003. She started teaching the day after her training and has been enjoying sharing what she knows about yoga ever since!

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Denise Steusloff - Social Media Contributor

For Denise, Yoga is her most favorite thing. In January 2009, she went to a yoga class at the local YMCA and has been practicing yoga ever since. Yoga made Denise feel great and her goal is to share this wonderful practice with as many people as she possibly can. Her teaching style includes traditional Hatha and Vinyasa styles as well as Tai Chi, Chi Gong and a good sense of humor. Denise earned her RYT 200 under the tutelage of Kurt Johnsen, the founder of American Power Yoga and completed a second 200-hour training with the senior instructors of Black Swan Yoga.

Kimberly Bernstein, LCSW, CPT - Social Media Contributor

Director of Social Media and Marketing
Community Yoga Austin

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Libby Dembe - Presenter, Social Media Contributor

Libby Dembe, RYT 500, is an artist and dancer whose love for the human form and movement brought her to Hatha Yoga in 2000. She has been involved in the Austin yoga community since 2003, serving as a studio administrator, yoga teacher and teacher trainer.

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Whitney Lacey - Social Media Contributor

Whitney was born in England and raised in North Carolina. Her love for Yoga began in college, where she found peace from daily stresses. Discovering that Yoga was the connection of body and mind that she had been seeking, she decided to cultivate this love into a larger part of her life.  After college graduation she completed her teacher training with YogaWorks in 2009 under the direction of Jody Rufty. She has since studied with Shiva Rea and Sadie Nardini.

Life has since brought her to Austin where she experiences each day inspired by the words of T.K.V. Desikachar, “We begin where we are and how we are, and whatever happens, happens.” Whitney enjoys integrating philosophy, alignment, and laughter into her classes.

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