True Power is in all of us.
Meaghan Kennedy Townsend
Meaghan Kennedy Townsend Meaghan Kennedy Townsend is the charismatic founder and owner of Up Dog Fitness, the state of the art yoga and spinning studio in the center of West Hollywood.Meaghan has taken her wealth of talents and years of experience to create her unique approach to personal development. She takes a genuine interest in the lives and needs of each of her clients and develops an individual program. Meaghan understands their fears and challenges, and yet with sensitivity and encouragement she gets them to achieve their goals. With positive reinforcement she builds their self-esteem. She gets results. As many have said, she changed my life. Meaghans motto is Each of us is powerful, if only you have the courage to feel it. Once found, all is possible."Meaghan loves to teach, coach and train. Over the last 12 years, Meaghan has studied many different styles of yoga, training and fitness. Meaghan has studied many different styles of yoga: Vinyasa Flow, Iyengar, Hatha, Power, and Thai yoga. Among her influences are: Vinnie Marino, Sara Ivanhoe, Shiva Rea, Steve Ross, Baron Baptiste, Erich Schiffmann, and Patricia Walden. She says she learns more from her students and clients on a daily basis than in a lifetime of academic studying. Meaghan graduated from Harvard cum laude and worked as business analyst before pursuing her passion to help people. The Divine Light in Me Salutes the Divine Light in You! Namaste!
Adam Goldstein
Adam Goldstein has been teaching for 10 years. His classes are fun, motivational, challenging and always set to great music. Adam is a Schwinn certified indoor cycling instructor and Yogaworks Yoga Alliance certified teacher, a personal trainer and, kick boxing instructor. in no way does Adam think of teaching as a job, it is a passion and please come along for the ride.
Brad Ong
Brad completed his Vinyasa yoga certification at Updog with Meaghan Kennedy Townsend. He is also studying breathwork and it's ability to transform energy to heal the mind, body, and spirit. When Brad is not doing yoga, you can find him on the spin bike. He recently cycled from San Francisco to Los Angeles in the Ride Against Aids. Brad runs a marketing and creative agency whose clients include Updog Yoga and Cycling!
Brent Lafoon
bio for Brent Lafoon will be available soon!
Bri Smyth
Very much a part of the entertainment industry from a young age, Briohny found yoga as a way to make time for her and feel serenity in her life. As she practiced different styles and discovered inversions and arm balances, Bri was able to add both physical and mental strength. She completed teacher training at YogaWorks with Annie Carpenter and Kia Miller, continuing to advanced certification with Annie Carpenter and Lisa Walford. Bri loves arm balances and inversions where yogis can create the space for confidence and strength to grow in a fun yet focused way. The playful aspect of yoga is just as important as its disciplined aspect. Bris classes are fun and rigorous with a focus on body awareness and key alignment points to help get in and out of risky poses in an intelligent and safe way. Expect to work hard and have a blast doing it.
Charlene Duarte
Charlene has been a spin instructor for the past 10 years certified by Johnny G and personally trained by Tevia Celli Recht. Charlene creates a highly motivational class that will challenge you, excite you, and affect you in a positive and meditative way. Outside of spinning, Charlene is a road cyclist and team leader for Pedal for Change, a fundraising team for the American Diabetes Association and continuously strives to make a difference in the lives of her students. Her primary goal: for her students to gain true self confidence and awareness of their sometimes hidden physical abilities.
Christian Castaneda
Los Angeles native Christian Castaneda has been teaching Indoor Cycyling for almost a decade now. Jonny G Certified. His classes are focused, no nonsense and strong endurance, all set to great high energy music carefully selected to inspire students to push themselves harder than even they thought they could go. Not only is he Certified for Cycling he is also a Certified TRX instructor. He is Motivational, Focused and Fun. Come for a ride.
Colin Kim
For over a decade, Colin Kim has achieved international recognition as a dynamic spin, yoga and meditation expert. Colin leads 400+ clients a week through individual and sold-out group formats. Top name celebrities, professional athletes and eager novices have entrusted themselves to his unique approach. His style is a blend of the yogic manners of Tantra, Kundalini, Ashtanga and Vinyasa. Grounding his students in stillness and guiding them through practice with firm discipline and compassion, he offers a path of discovery, unlocking the depth, potential and humor, that we are all destined to find within ourselves.
David Ezekiel
The idea of a flexible body and relaxed frame brought David to his first yoga class. He found more than he originally sought, including a body and mind release he never imagined. The yoga mat became a parallel to life, learning to build strength over ego and a steady breathe over a chattering mind. David remains a devout student and guide to the best teachers, yourself. David is founder of Yoga Conservation Alliance, a non-profit for wildlife conservation that is nature's restorative yoga.
Dice Iida-Klein
Simply put, Dice loves Yoga. Always drawn to sports and being physically active from a young age, Dice had the opportunity to take a yoga class at the end of 2007 and complete a teacher training at City Yoga (Anusara) in early 2008 where he received an RYT200 certification. First drawn to yoga because of inversions and arm balances, Dices classes will always include some time on the hands. Though alignment focused, he considers himself a student of movement and flow with an emphasis on building a balance of strength and flexibility, so be prepared to move in unique and creative sequences, sweat and have fun.
Emily Celli-Recht
Emily has been teaching spinning on and off for 5 years. She was trained and directed by renowned spin guru Tevia Celli-Recht. Emily takes her classes on a ride that inspires and challenges in unexpected ways. She plays a mix of current music as background to a spiritual journey while testing physical limits - if you dare. Emily was even spinning a on the day she delivered her baby! She is also a licensed pediatric speech-language pathologist.
Emily Bernstein
Emily Bernstein was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. As a young athlete, her childhood was busy traveling to soccer matches, gymnastics competitions, tennis practices and track meets. As a teen, Emily performed as a rhythmic gymnast winning regional competitions. Most recently, Emily has appeared with a modern dance company and brings to her classes at Up Dog an inner grace, disciplined form and amazing music! She has been spinning for 8 years and continues to refine her own practice focusing on form and fun! Her class music includes throw backs and today's greatest hits. She strives to keep her students engaged and challenged while maintaining happy smiles and good times.
Gabe Corrigan
Trained by Tevia Celli-Recht, Gabe is a strong believer in form and rhythm. Gabe strives to motive you, inspire you, and challenge you with fun music that is bound to make you sweat and test your physical limits. Turn it up without being afraid.
Gordon Duvall
GORDON DUVALL. After attending my first spin class a few years ago, I thought I was going to die. I then bought a pair of spin shoes for my birthday and havent looked back! I was trained by Mark Morris and Michael Koth. After a few years of taking Marks classes, he allowed me to teach with him and to start subbing for his class when needed. I absolutely fell in love with it, became a regular sub, and was eventually offered my own class. I play an eclectic mix of pop and rock with a few fun songs and a little hip-hop thrown in every now and then. Its a pretty fast class with some tough climbs thrown in. Youll never do the same class twice! I am a rider with the AIDS/Lifecycle for the second year running and will start bike racing and triathlons later this year.
Graham LaBass
The original creator of Show Tune Cycle, Graham LaBass has created the perfect balance of an intense workout to your favorite show tunes. If you are not into show tunes Graham also teaches a Monday morning class to your favorite hits from the 70s, 80s, 90s and current! Graham promises to make you sweat, scream and laugh all in one class!
Grant Mattos
Grant is a graduate of the 2010 City Yoga Teacher Training Program and it is where he and his newlywed wife Christina, who also completed the training, spent their honeymoon. (Come on! Where else would you want to be!?) After a lifetime pursuing and achieving his goal of playing professional football in the NFL, Grant left the game in 2007 and found himself on the mat. One of the many wonderful aspects of Yoga that Grant enjoys is that it allows him to break down, acknowledge, accept, and let go of the self constructed barriers that keep him from being his true self. Through passionate energy and clear instruction with focus on alignment, he hopes to inspire others to challenge themselves daily by incorporating what they have learned on their yoga mat and using it outside in the world.
Hiro Landazuri
bio for Hiro Landazuri will be available soon!
Jake Ferree
Jake Ferree is not only a Yoga Instructor he is also a Nationally Certified Personal Trainer and a Recconective Healer with over 10 years experience in the fitness industry. Whether its a yoga class, private training session or a healing session Jake speaks and teaches from his heart. You can easily tell that he has a passion for what he does. Jakes yoga classes are highly inspirational, he has a gift in combining a powerful fun flowing Vinyasa class with a subtle spirituality aspect that leaves his students not only feeling like they have had a tremendous workout but they also leave their practice with a greater sense of peace and joy. He educates from the inside out helping his clients and students achieve more results through a deeper connection and better understanding of their own body.
Jessica Amisial
JESSICA AMISIAL has been studying the art of cycling for more than six years. Her inspirational ride combines rhythmic beats, endurance and core strength to push riders to challenge their limitations. Her passion for cycling coupled with a decade-long study of martial arts creates an experience for her riders unlike anything they have ever experienced. Jessica "brings Bruce Lee to the bikes!"
Joelle Parrett
bio for Joelle Parrett will be available soon!
Kris Nelson
KRIS NELSON is a certified Anusara Yoga teacher who lives and teaches in Los Angeles, and has taught both nationally and internationally. His journey to yoga began when he was five with encouragement from his parents to study art, science, and comparative religion, which would eventually lead Kris to Anusara Yoga. Being entirely home-schooled, self-educated, and a diverse world traveler, Kris brings a unique perspective to his yoga teaching. He views the yoga room as a spiritual playground that invites exploration, and weaves his enthusiasm for physical anatomy, the practice of hatha yoga, and yoga philosophy dynamically through his energetic and playful style of teaching. With great appreciation and respect, Kris is honored to be a part of the Anusara community and continually holds within his heart a deep gratitude for his teachers John Friend, Sally Kempton, and Carlos Pomeda.
Laura Carrillo
Lauras teaching style evolves from her lifelong experience as an athlete. Lauras class is a motivational-endurance-training class. Rooted in music that requires deep focus, spinners awaken their passion and desire to lift up mentally and physically! Laura saysI dont teach synchronized swimming on wheels. Its all about finding the heartbeat of the music, reaching into your gut and working from there.
Lori Bregman
Intuitive Healer, inspirational Life-Coach, Doula, & Transformational Body-Worker. Lori Bregman has over twenty years of experience assisting clients transform their lives and getting them onto their own healthy and unique paths. Many of the most famous and influential people in the world have sought out Lori for her life-transforming body work, intuition, enlightening wisdom and spiritual depth. She helps to guide them through lifes ups and downs, assisting her clients in finding clarity within the fog while shifting their energy by giving a different perspective and planting seeds of spirituality, awareness and consciousness in a subtle unique way. Through her own life experiences, education, training, studying and inner work, Lori has been fortunate enough to have studied with and learned from some of the most renowned healers and spiritual teachers. These teachers have shared with her their wisdom from metaphysics, spirituality, intuition, body/mind awareness, chakra healing, herbs/vitamins, aromatherapy oils, and the healing power of foods, doula work, body work, yoga, and energy work to numerous other forms of holistic healing. From all this, Lori has created a unique philosophy for positive living that supports a strong foundation to grow more in alignment with your authentic self.
Mac Nomura
Mac has been a student of indoor cycling (spinning) since 1995. Spinning with some of the great instructors throughout the years, his spinning style is the culmination of various techniques from his coaches coupled with his 15 years of riding experience. Certified in 2004, Mac took his indoor cycling passion and taught in Australia for a few years. With mentors such as Tevia Celli-Recht, Colin Kim and Darryl Gaines, Mac is excited to be teaching in the US. His classes are fun, instructional and challenging, both physically and mentally. Mac motivates and inspires his clients to push beyond their perceived boundaries with encouraging words, coaching and passionate music. Clients are left feeling positive, healthy and confident.
Marc Savas
MARC SAVAS has had the opportunity to study with some of the very best yoga teachers in the world while traveling extensively around the country. He completed Anusara Certification teacher training with Chris Chavez and put down roots in Los Angeles. Marc now dedicates his time to spreading his "FULL BLAST" philosophy in his life, in his practice, and in his teachings. During past few years, Marc is blessed to be a part of the L.A. yoga community and has inspired many yogis to new levels of practice. Known for his powerful arm-balance and inversion sequences, Marc's classes are unique, challenging, and a must for the yoga adventurist!
Michelle Gluss
Michelle first stepped on a yoga mat in 2002 and was immediately hooked. She loved the way she felt after practice, her increased physical and mental balance and her leaner, more defined physique. Over the next six years she strengthened and developed her practice while living in New York City. In 2008, Michelle became a certified teacher through Yoga Works under the instruction of Jodie Rufty and Chrissy Carter. Michelle moved to Los Angeles shortly after certification and began work at Yoga Works in their Teacher Training Department. Michelle took her passion for yoga full time when she started working at Up Dog Fitness in November 2010. At Up Dog, Michelle assists with managing the studio and also teaches a moderate vinyasa flow class on Monday evenings. Michelle has structured her class for participants of all levels - keeping the class basic for beginners to enjoy while offering flow and advanced asanas so more sophisticated students will also be challenged. Michelle plays great music you can make your down dog dance to!
Michelle Neman
Yoga is Michelle's passion and she is so thrilled to be able to share it with all of you! She believes that yoga is for everyone, therefore, there are no prerequisites required for her class and certainly no judgments. Michelle's mission is to give her students the guidance they need to get the most out of practicing yoga. Everything in her life is inspired by the essence of yoga and healing the body, mind, and spirit. Michelle fills the yoga room with high energy and good vibes along with great music. Classes are challenging and stimulating, yet fun and playful. She is not here to push any specific teaching methods on her students; her only wish to spread peace, good health and her love for yoga.Michelle has trained with well known instructors including Shiva Rea, Meaghan Kennedy Townsend, Vinnie Marino and Mia Togo. Yoga is something Michelle is fully immersed. She loves sharing her passion with everyone!Peace and Love
Reilly Smith
REILLY SMITH: I am a poet on that bike - like Robert Frost or Bill Shakespeare. That doesn't sound too pompous, does it? Good. If I trained Rocky, Rocky would have never lost a fight. Ever. Seriously though, I'm incredible. Just incredible. I swear I'm Mick Jagger's son - a true child of rock and roll. I bring a lot of that to class - Mick and his friends, old and new. We tackle speed, hills, controlled movement. We work hard, we grow, we pick fights. We hold each other up through the good and tough. That room is not just 60 stationary bikes, it's something greater. Much greater. Teach ll take you through. Come on out. Incredible.
Sandra Harrison
Sandra Harrison has been teaching Spinning for almost 9 years. Johnny G. certified, Sandra's intense, challenging, heat-building classes emphasize the importance of form, rhythm and the ability of students to push beyond the edges of their perceived boundaries. She creates strong, flowing, ideally formatted classes that motivate and drive her students. Constantly inspired by her love for music, Sandra is always in search of the next great song to push her students further, making them pour sweat and focus on the beat while collectively challenging them into the next phase.
Sherly Sulaiman
Sherly comes to UpDog by way of Sydney, Australia where in 1996, she first discovered Yoga. She has been teaching Yoga and Meditation for over 12 years and was personally trained by the renowned Yogi, Acharya Upendra Roy. In 1999 Sherly completed the Advanced Teachers Training course at The Yoga Centre in Sydney, and expanded her studies and work to include Clinical Hypnotherapy. Her knowledge, experience and training, fully supports her specialized and integrated method of teaching the principles of Yoga and Meditation. She is the founding director of The Depression Relief Clinic and Inner City Hypnosis (Sydney, Australia) and has recently moved to Los Angeles where she established the New Stress Relief Clinic. Sherly draws on her varied and unique set of skills to provide a powerful and restorative Yoga and Meditation class.
Steve Stamstad
Activate your cardio with Steve! A certified spin instructor with 10+ years of cycling experience in LA, Steves class is a high-energy, indoor-cycling workout where youll train to great music and incredible instruction.His music a mix of dance, alternative, R&B and classic rock and his motivation will keep you moving for 40 minutes, burning as many as 500 calories, strengthening your cardiovascular endurance and toning your muscles.
Tevia Celli-Recht
TEVIA CELLI-RECHT is renowned for her sell-out indoor cycling classes, which take her students on a motivational and inspirational journey, and provide a total body workout, accompanied by amazing music. Her classes have attracted celebrities such as Cameron Diaz, Jodie Foster, Justin Timberlake, Nicole Kidman, and many others. Tevia owned Body & Soul Workout, a studio fitness facility for 10 years. In 2005, Tevia was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, but there was no stopping this motivational leader in doing what she loves most training and teaching fitness to her students. Since then, Tevia has raised nearly $900,000 for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, by leading annual Spin-A-Thon and Team Body & Soul events, with the help of her loyal and generous students. In 2006, Tevia created E-ryde, a 45- to 60-minute cardio workout that she and her partner Mark Dicks helped designed and co-branded with Spirit. Currently taking no medications for her MS, Tevia credits a healthy lifestyle as the main reason that she is symptom-free.