Our Instructors
Deena H. Blumenfeld RYT, RPYT, LCCE
- Lamaze® Certified Childbirth Educator
- 200-hr Registered Yoga teacher through Yoga Alliance
- Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher through Yoga Alliance
- Certified Khalsa Way™ Prenatal Yoga Teacher
Deena H. Blumenfeld, RYT, RPYT, LCCE is a Certified Khalsa Way™ Prenatal Yoga Teacher and Lamaze® Certified Childbirth Educator. She has been practicing yoga for more than 15 years. She became a certified Yoga instructor through 3rd Street Yoga in December 2008. She completed her 60 hour Prenatal Yoga training in February 2009 in Los Angeles at Golden Bridge Yoga with Gurmukh.
Her Lamaze certification was completed in October 2010, through Magee Women’s Hospital and Lamaze International. She is an advocate of empowered birth for women. Through the teaching of Prenatal Yoga and Childbirth Education classes, she helps women become more confident in their choices regarding pregnancy, birth and parenthood. Deena has also studied yoga with Doug Keller, Max Strom, KK Ledford and Shakta Kaur Khalsa. Her ongoing professional development as a Childbirth Educator has been with Ina May Gaskin, Penny Simkin, Gail Tully of Spinning Babies and other childbirth professionals.
Deena was the Guest Community manager for the month of February 2012 for Lamaze International’s blog for birth professionals, Science & Sensibility.
Deena is also a mom of two – a son, born via c-section in April 2005, and a daughter in March 2009, a VBAC. She is an active member of the local ICAN chapter, La Leche League and is a member of the Coalition for Improving Maternity Services.
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Elizabeth Newberry RYT is thrilled to be a part of the Shining Light Prenatal Education team. A yoga teacher and a mom, Liz was first introduced to the practice of yoga in 2000, during the course of her studies as a dance minor at Allegheny College. Before becoming a yoga instructor, Liz spent time teaching modern dance and creative movement for children. She earned her 200 hour yoga teacher certification through 3rd Street Yoga’s year-long training program in 2009, and has been teaching regularly for the past two years. Liz began teaching prenatal yoga when she was pregnant with her darling daughter, Claire. As a prenatal yoga instructor, Liz strives to help students find a safe, meaningful, and enjoyable practice that not only nurtures the body, but also taps into the dynamic emotions that come along with pregnancy.
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Gallina Tamburo (Harnek Kaur) found Kundalini yoga* as taught by Yogi Bhajan in 2008 and fell in love with the intelligence, grace and truth of this powerful ancient practice. From her very first class she felt profound transformation and healing at depths she had not experienced in any other modalities of healing, yoga or meditation she had tried before.
She trained at the Kundalini Research Institute in Espanola, NM in August 2010 where she received her 220-hr yoga teacher certification through IKYTA (International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association) and Yoga Alliance. She also trained with Gurmukh at Golden Bridge, Los Angeles, in February 2011 where she gained certification as a Khalsa WayTM Prenatal Yoga Teacher and Spirit Baby Postnatal Yoga teacher. Gallina is also a certified Yoga for Youth Teacher with Krishna Kaur.
As a teacher it is her intention to create a warm and safe environment to empower you towards a path of self-discovery, acceptance, and transformation. She is passionate about inspiring women to live in their full power and grace, while embodying consciousness to heal and uplift their relationships and families. Her classes often use the sacred healing sounds of the gong and singing bowls. Gallina is also a certified Primus Activation Healing Technique practitioner, a certified Crystal Resonance Therapist, and a vibrational sound healer.
** Kundalini yoga uses simple movements and postures that mostly anyone can do regardless of prior experience. It is a dynamic combination of posture, movement, breath, meditation and sound, which stimulate and balance your nervous and glandular systems to create positive change in your physical, mental, emotional and spiritual bodies which can be felt from your first class.
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Gabrielle SmithGabrielle is a Birth Doula, facilitator, artist, and mother of four lovely young people. She resides in Pittsburgh where she combines her passion for birth with the transformational power of creativity by offering mentoring and workshops. Gabrielle is a DONA-trained Birth Doula working with local families through Birth Doulas of Pittsburgh and The Birth Circle, respectively. Her lifelong mission is to become a traveling Expressive Arts facilitator, to grow an eco-village, and be fully self-expressed.
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Joni Sturgill RYT, AADP
Joni is a nutrition and wellness counselor, board certified with the American Association of Drugless Practitioners. She attended the Institute for Integrative Nutrition, one of the leading nutrition schools in the country. Joni is also a 200 hour registered yoga and meditation teacher, and the mother of two active little boys. Learn more about Joni and her work on her website, www.healthybodypeacefulsoul.com.
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Lauren is a graduate of Westminster College. She holds teaching certification in the areas of Elementary Education and English as a Second Language. Lauren is a former classroom teacher, having taught both first grade and English as a Second Language to students from kindergarten to twelfth grade. Lauren first used sign language with children in a daycare setting as a way to manage her classroom of five-year-olds a little more quietly. She began signing with her own son at 5 months of age. Encouraged by her son’s enjoyment of signing and the encouragement of her family, Lauren decided to take a formal American Sign Language class and become a My Smart Hands instructor. She is very excited to share signing with you!
“We had a natural birth, which was even better than we could have hoped for.My husband was more helpful than any doula could have been and caught the baby at the end. I know now how helpful the yoga and Lamaze class were for labor.Thanks for the great preparation!”~ S, October 2010
