Teachers
Teachers
Gretchen Robinson, Cindy Perley, Jennifer Shelton, Brian Landers, Kim Johnson, Ashley Simons, and Nancy Tucker
Gretchen Robinson
Owner/Director
After 20 years of being a fitness enthusiast and personal trainer, I came to yoga in 2000 because I thought it was important to stretch - I just didn't know what was going to be stretched! I have scoliosis and wore a back brace as a teenager. I was fortunate to be sent to a very progressive physical therapist who had me doing many of the things we do in yoga to become stronger in the core and more flexible to correct my curvature. Yoga relieved the pain in my hips and shoulders caused by the scoliosis, and it has brought so much more balance into my body and mind. I feel like I have come full circle with my understanding of what it means to be truly fit and healthy.
In 2001 , my incredible teacher, Genevieve Crosslin, encouraged and prompted me to teach yoga. I owe a debt of gratitude to her for leading me to this path of teaching and practicing - a beautiful combination for me. Besides studying with Genevieve, I consider Mark Blanchard and David Lipschutz as major influences in my yoga. I have attended many workshops with Doug Swenson, Max Strom, Bhavani Maki, Kim Schwartz, David Williams, Govin Das, Bryan Kest, Jeffrey Cohen, Mark Whitwell, Anna Forrest, and Keith Crosslin. Additionally, I travel to Los Angeles on a regular basis to attend classes with teachers there, as well as taking classes from many wonderful local teachers.
My teaching is an honest and true expression of what I feel and learn in my own personal practice, combined with what I have learned (and will continue to learn) from others. The greatest teacher we all have resides inside ourselves. Yoga can teach each person how to tune in and listen to their own voice, as well as how to learn from it.
I believe yoga is for everybody and every body, and encourage each person to work at his or her own level and be happy in the practice, wherever that may be, on any given day. I teach with a gentle spirit and a lot of love, sharing my passion for yoga.
Cindy Perley
Cindy has been practicing yoga since 1998 and has been teaching since 2001. She loves teaching the dynamic, intense form of yoga known as Power/Vinyasas, but appreciates the need for a soft approach to yoga as well. Cindy brings a caring, gentle energy to her classes with compassion and empathy for each person on the mat.
Having a husband who has pursued athletics all his life, Cindy is sensitive to the toll conventional sport (and life in general) take on the body. Having experienced several physical setback herself, ie. back surgery, she knows that with time and patience, a regular yoga practice is a wonderful way to reverse imbalances by opening up the body and increasing it's range of motion and help to heal the body. She also loves how yoga gives everyone an opportunity to gain an overall greater awareness of the body, mind, spirit complex, and can, if we allow it, make us aware of the quality and direction of our lives.
Mentored by Genevieve Crosslin and Gretchen Robinson, Cindy continues to enrich her practice and teaching by attending workshops with such notables as Doug and David Swenson, Bhavani Maki, Max Strom, David Williams, Mark Blanchard, Bryan Kest, Govin Das, Kim Schwartz, and David Lipschutz.
Jennifer Mies Shelton
Jennifer loves yoga. It has enhanced her athletic performances, but more importantly, yoga has shown her how to be more present, alive, and joyful as she moves through all experiences.
A natural with her students, Jennifer knows how to make everyone feel at home in her classes. She encourages each student to reach his or her personal best, and always takes into account each student's individual needs, and strengths. To Jennifer, child's pose is as beautiful and powerful as the trickiest arm balance. Jennifer always practices with honesty to where she is on that day in her body, expressing the true practice of yoga and sharing that with her students.
As a fitness devotee, Brian didn’t come to yoga for the physical practice. He came to the mat to increase his focus and awareness in an effort to go faster in a race car! After only a few practices, he realized he had embarked on a life changing experience, both physically and spiritually. Brian credits Gretchen Robinson as his primary instructor.
Brian’s classes are challenging and unique. While his passion is intense, he teaches with a calm and nurturing style. This combination of intensity and sensitivity is why Brian has been described as the “perfect dichotomy.”
Through yoga, he enjoys giving people tools to live a more fulfilled life. He is excited to see where his yoga journey takes him. Brian and his wife Maura, a professional dancer and dance instructor, practice their yoga at the studio together. Off the mat, Brian is a Senior Human Factors Design Manager for Sprint. He also teaches continuing education design classes at his alma mater, The Kansas City Art Institute.
Kim Johnson
Kim Johnson began practicing yoga in 1997, beginning with Bikram yoga, then finding – and falling in love with a Power/Vinyasa style that combines all of the things she was looking for into one, complete practice – one that is strong and flowing, with mindful purpose, and with an emphasis on the use of breath and energy in the body.
After spending three years competing in WNBF, an international, all-natural, body building federation, Kim refocused on yoga, finding a home at Mark Blanchard’s Power Yoga Studio with Gretchen Robinson. A personal trainer and certified, licensed massage therapist, Kim has studied strengthening, injury recovery, and the healing benefits of both exercise and massage.
A consistent and deepening yoga practice has helped Kim recover from knee and lower back injuries sustained during competition training. She continues to learn about the body – and she loves sharing this knowledge and experience with her yoga students, with other massage therapists and clients. Her mentors include Gretchen Robinson and local yoga teacher, Kory Jacobs.
Kim beautifully captures her feelings about yoga and why and how it resonates with her in the following way:
“The alignment and structural work of massage parallels yoga, but I am most intrigued by the yogic emphasis on the use of breath and energy in the body. I’m amazed, almost daily, how my own experience, body, and yoga practice advances, opens, and changes as I apply that knowledge in my practice and life.
The pure yoga style taught by Gretchen of only yoga, no levels and no props, frees me to focus on myself and my own yoga practice and journey. I have experienced the change that consistent yoga practice can make as it continuously brings me into balance. It has given me peace with myself, as well as understanding my place and purpose in life. Everyone can find and have that same experience through yoga. And that is where my passion to share yoga comes from.”
Ashley Simons
To know Ashley is to like her. She is warm, engaging, creative and fun – add to this a real dose of strength, toughness and the ability to draw out others’ potential and to challenge limits and previously held expectations.
Ashley brings her love of yoga and a balanced mixture of strength and toughness to her classes. She helps her students increase their strength and flexibility through creative flow sequences, and she places a distinct emphasis on the power of breath.
Ashley has a wonderful spirit – both light and airy but also very deep and grounded. Try one of her classes. You will discover something new about yourself and your yoga practice will be deepened. When Ashley is not teaching or taking yoga classes, you can find her teaching art classes at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art.