Cat Matlock has been a student and practitioner of yoga since 1988 and began teaching yoga classes in 2001.  Cat is a licensed massage therapist, since 1993, and has devoted her career to the study of anatomy and therapies to relieve chronic pain and discomfort in the physical body.   She has taught in various yoga teacher training programs and was a highly regarded instructor of Kinesiology (the study of how the body moves), Integrative Massage, and Yoga at the Asheville School of Massage and  Yoga until she resigned to begin the West Asheville Yoga studio.  Cat now runs the studio, founded the Bodhana Yoga School teacher training program, and offers continuing education courses for massage therapists as well as teaches regular yoga classes and workshops at her home studio.  She is a lifelong student of chanting sanskrit mantras, and has studied with Sri Swamini Mayatitananda, the late Namadeva (Thomas Ashley-Farrand), and Vedic scholar, Dr. David Frawley.

Jacci Lea began yoga in New Orleans as a way to help with some back pain. Nearly fifteen years later she still practices yoga. After many years of studying Iyengar yoga she now combines the techniques and alignment of that style with flow yoga.

Deirdre’s most important accomplishment to date is bringing her son, Kai, into the world on December 27, 2007. She is incredibly blessed with a healthy son, a loving husband, a supportive family, amazing friends, two wonderful dogs, and the best yoga community in the world!
Deirdre, a certified Anusara Yoga Instructor, moved to Asheville in 2006 from New York City. She danced professionally in NYC for 13 years, as well as, discovered her love for yoga and teaching.

Meghan Ganser has been studying yoga and martial arts (aikido) since 2001, and she percieves the physical body as a vehicle which we may work with to steady, luminate, and free ourselves and others.

“Living in our bodies for a lifetime every aspect of who we are connects to our physical form.”
Christie grew up dancing in New York City and went on to receive a BFA in dance education and choreography at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her discovery of yoga unfolded out of her experience as a dancer and her love of the body as a healing and creative force.

Joe Taft is a certified Anusara Yoga instructor who has cultivated a steadfast and non-wavering dedication to the practice and study of yoga since 1997.  In his classes, Joe weaves Anusara’s life-affirming and heart-felt approach through myth, story-telling, tantric philosophy and the wisdom gathered throughout his own life’s journey.

Michael Johnson ERYT-500 is a certified Jivamukti instructor who has studied directly with Sharon Gannon and David Life in New York as well as with their Teacher Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India.  Michael has been a full-time yoga teacher in the Detroit area since 2001.  He continues to study Yoga and Buddhism with Geshe Michael Roach, Lama Christie McNally, Lama Sumati Marut, Kimberley Theresa and his Angelic wife, Stephanie Johnson.

Lindsay Fields is a certified Barkan Method Hot Yoga instructor. Like many Hot Yoga teachers, her introduction to yoga was the highly disciplined practice of Bikram Yoga.

Her classes offer the same benefits of the challenging Bikram Yoga practice as well as the in-depth and varied approach of her teacher and creator of the Barkan Method, Jimmy Barkan.

Jason Moore started to practice yoga in 2006 as he was searching for the tools to remember his inherent state of happiness. As a student of the saxophone since age eleven, he was no stranger to dedication and practice—and he was ready to make a radical shift in his life.  He moved to Asheville a few years after his first yoga class. After a year of developing a strong home practice, he found himself in Deirdre Smith Gilmer’s class at West Asheville yoga. Jason knew instantly that he had found a home studying the system of Anusara yoga.  

Ashley was first introduced to yoga asana through the practice of Amrit Yoga in 2006. Her practice began after experiencing an incredible emotional release and sensations of being with her own spiritual power during a long hold in Virabhadrasana I. Since, she has studied with teachers from the Jivamukti and Anusara yogic paths. Ashley encourages her students to deepen their relationship with their physical bodies that in turn can provide insight into the healing potential of one’s subtle body. She hopes to assist students in navigating life with grace, self-awareness and compassion. Ashley completed her 200 hr. teacher training with the Bodhana Yoga School through West Asheville Yoga. She is currently studying the integration of yoga practices with counseling and social work models of care and is passionate about brining yoga practices to a wider population of people while integrating yoga within a public health model. Ashley believes sincerely in the transformative and deep affects that a consistent, heartfelt yoga practice can have in one’s life.