Ayako Ishikawa
Ayako grew up studying to be calligrapher like her mother. As a teenager, her focus turned to judo, in which she developed into a national-level competitor. After high school, injuries and an opportunity to attend university in the America led to end her serious judo practice. After graduating from the City University of New York with a degree in Creative Arts, Ayako returned to Japan and embarked on a career as a writer and editor. It was while writing for a women’s lifestyle magazine in Tokyo that she first encountered yoga. For her, the practice was a revelation as right away it began healing lingering injuries from her judo days. Wanting to share the healing power of yoga with others, she trained to become an instructor under Duncan Wong, the founder of Yogic Arts, a combination of Ashtanga yoga and martial arts. Combining the major influences of her life, Ayako’s vinyasa classes are creative, physically challenging and inspirational. She has seriously studied the art of adjusting, and with boundless energy, makes deeply opening adjustments a focus of her classes.

Dani Rippingale
First introduced to yoga in New Zealand in 1995, Dani has practiced and studied various traditions of yoga in Canada and India over the years, including classical Indian Hatha Yoga, Yin Yoga and Ashtanga. A certified Hatha (Sivananda) and Yin Yoga teacher and background in psychology, Dani is infinitely inspired by how the practical and ancient tradition of yoga offers practitioners a means to heal and grow within and without. Yoga connects us with every aspect of our life, helping us to appreciate life the way it is…moment by moment. In her classes, Dani aims to create an atmosphere where students can awaken to their inner teacher and create a flexible and peaceful body, mind and spirit through breath awareness and energy flow.

Dylan Robertson
Dylan  is from Australia and has lived in Tokyo since 1997. He stumbled across yoga when researching ways to improve his flexibility for martial arts. When Dylan began practicing yoga in 2002, he was a typical stiff office worker with lower back pain, constantly tired and stressed; problems that yoga cured. He completed his yoga teacher training in 2008 at Prana Power Yoga School in Tokyo. Dylan’s yoga education was bilingual, and this helps him conduct his classes in English and Japanese. He is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 200-hour level (RYT-200) and is currently working towards his 500-hour registration. Since July 2008, Dylan has enjoyed teaching yoga in Tokyo, adapting to the needs of students. He understands the pulls and pressures of modern day life and shares with his students ways to get around everyday stress with yoga. Dylan’s classes focus on fundamentals of alignment which help students bring more awareness to their posture, build strength, and develop greater body awareness.
Dylan also runs HelloYoga.com, an online resource for Tokyo’s English-speaking yoga community.

Kaori Takahashi
Kaori practices what she teaches: restorative yoga. She believes that the journey to peace and happiness is a lifelong path best explored in a state of repose. Knowing the power of restorative yoga to refresh and expand both body and mind, she hopes to share her enthusiasm for taking the time to do nothing but relax in the present moment. Her interest in restorative yoga developed under Judith Lasater, with whom she has completed a teacher-training program and is certified. She  graduated from Be Yoga’s 200-Hour Teacher Training in 2005. Through workshops in Anusara therapeutics and Thai massage, she has continued to expand her knowledge of the body and perspective on how to bring it into a healthier state. Kaori grew up in London and Tokyo and, being  bi-lingual, teaches her classes in both English and Japanese.

Kazuya Yanagimoto
Kazuya began surfing, playing soccer, and learning Shorinji Kempo at the age of 4. In 1994, as a teenager, he realized that surfing should be his lifework. He first experienced yoga while a surfing in Bali. Soon his practice was healing sports injuries and other physical ailments and his eyes opened to the power of yoga. He took his practice deeper by studying Ashtanga with Ken Harakuma and later completed a teacher-training program at IYC. Kazuya now teaches Ashtanga, as well as hatha yoga, while continuing to study with Ken and pursue his passion to surf. Kazuya is the official ambassador of the yoga brand Suria.

Madoka Tanaka
Since she was a child, Madoka has enjoyed playing many sports, including swimming, synchronized swimming, scuba diving, snowboarding, wakebording and capoeira. In 2004, at the invitation of a friend, she joined an Ashtanga yoga class. Immediately after experiencing the powerful dynamics of yoga, she felt a sense of fulfillment and energy that she knew was life changing. Right away she made the decision to Tokyo to study yoga. She has studied and practiced many styles of yoga, but the one that has influenced her most is vinyasa flow, a creative and moving practice that links breathing and asana. Madoka  graduate from IYC’s  200-hour Ashtanga Teacher Training and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance. She also graduated from Sun & Moon’s 100-hour Teacher Training and Restorative Yoga Teacher Training.

Meg Hirasawa
Megumi started practicing yoga to rehabilitate from a running injury. Her interest grew as she saw the  benefit it had on her running. As she continued to deepen her practice, she began to see far more to yoga than its physical benefits. Through her practice, she has gained a more balanced and positive approach to life. She sees yoga as a pathway to a new sense of balance and sensitivity to one’s mind and body. In her Yoga for Runners classes, Megumi offers a non-competitive environment for runners to find their full range of motion in all their limbs, not just their legs. She see yoga as an effective way for runners to both stretch and strengthen the body, create physical balance, increase mental alertness, and help prevent injuries and discomfort. Megumi graduated from the Yogajaya International 200-Hour Teacher Training in 2008 and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with Yoga Alliance.

Michael Glenn
Michael Glenn found his way to yoga in 1997 seeking relief from running injuries. Though the effect was profound, the light turned on slowly. For years, Michael practiced yoga to heal injuries and counter imbalances that had built up from training for race. Years later, when yoga practice had finally replaced his training regimen, Michael could see one of the most enduring lessons of yoga: we all come to see the light in our own time. In 2005, Michael completed a 200-hour teacher-training program in Tokyo and has been teaching ever since. His experience as a student frames his beliefs as a teacher: Every day each of us has to figure out what is a well-balanced practice within our own life. Yoga may begin as simple stretching exercises, but in time it leads us to feel, heal and make smarter decisions about our bodies. Yoga becomes a light showing the way back into the body. And as our bodies grow whole, we begin to intuit the wholeness of life. Michael loves teaching yoga to athletes and non-athletes, beginners and serious practitioners alike. He encourages students to “play the edge,”  have fun, and experience change as it happens. His growing list of interests includes acroyoga, partner yoga, and yin yoga, which he has studied with Paul Grilley. His practices of pranayama and mediation have been deeply touched by experiences with Emil Wendel. When not teaching yoga, Michael writes. And, yes, he still runs. But only when the spirit moves him.