Dahlia Shaaban is a wellness consultant and the founder of BellySatva Holistic Health, a practice that integrates holistic health coaching, Thai yoga therapy, and yoga instruction to create sustainable paths to healing. Dahlia received her 200-hr teacher certification in the vinyasa yoga style from Flow Yoga Center and gravitated towards the prana flow method. She has since studied Thai Yoga Massage with Angela Cerkevich and Vanessa King. Dahlia offers playful, cathartic classes with a high funk factor and creates an atmosphere that allows students to channel their inner groove and, if they desire, to get downright goofy. Often working through mandalas or a circular practice, she utilizes deep assists, soulful music, and aromatherapy to create an emotionally and physically empowering experience for her students. She encourages her students to navigate through their chakras – the energy centers of the body – equipping them with the awareness to address their individual needs as yogis.

Dahlia Shaaban is a wellness consultant and the founder of BellySatva Holistic Health, a practice that integrates holistic health coaching, Thai yoga therapy, and yoga instruction to create sustainable paths to healing. Dahlia received her 200-hr teacher certification in the vinyasa yoga style from Flow Yoga Center and gravitated towards the prana flow method. She has since studied Thai Yoga Massage with Angela Cerkevich and Vanessa King. Dahlia offers playful, cathartic classes with a high funk factor and creates an atmosphere that allows students to channel their inner groove and, if they desire, to get downright goofy. Often working through mandalas or a circular practice, she utilizes deep assists, soulful music, and aromatherapy to create an emotionally and physically empowering experience for her students. She encourages her students to navigate through their chakras – the energy centers of the body – equipping them with the awareness to address their individual needs as yogis.

I am a wife, a mom, a teacher, a friend, a sister, and now...a Crossfit coach! I look forward to coaching as much as I do working out at Crossfit Critical Mass. What a great community to grow as an athlete and a coach!

Abby is the owner and manager of Kali Yoga Studio. She graduated from Northeastern University with a degree in Behavioral Neuroscience and Marine Biology. Her yoga journey began when she discovered the immense passion that was brought forth exploring Forrest Yoga with her teacher and mentor Ana Forrest. After completing her first 200-Hour teacher training through Forrest Yoga, she was given the opportunity to go further in another 200-Hour training with Natasha Rizopoulos of YogaWorks. Through a dynamic and mindful combination of poses in Abby’s classes, you will have fun, get sweaty, and most importantly, breathe deeply. Abby is so grateful for the opportunity to share her passion and delight of yoga to her students, both the physical asana, and the deeper philosophical, emotional, and spiritual aspects. Abby wants to help her students find and ride the edges of their body and mind honestly and without judgment, and to connect to and trust their inner wisdom. Off the mat, Abby is a Licensed Massage Therapist, tea drinker, free-flow dancer, and reader.

Mimi Rieger, ERYT has been practicing yoga since 1998 and has been teaching for the past ten years. Her physical journey began with ballet at the age of four through her teens and progressed to martial arts and yoga in her twenties to the present day. Mimi is passionate about her wellness exploration and her teaching encourages others to seek their most powerful and evolved selves. Through the practice of yoga and the evolution of the mind/body connection, students will find a greater sense of self and confidence on the mat by taking their physical practice to the next level.

Naomi fell in love with yoga at first downward facing dog and has been a passionate advocate for yoga ever since. Known for her ability to offer creative and intelligently sequenced yoga classes, Naomi combines a fluidity of movement and a playful spirit with a clear, precise focus on alignment. Naomi invites each student to explore their edges on the yoga mat in order to discover an innate ability to do things they never thought possible. Expect to sweat a little, laugh a lot and fall in love with your yoga practice all over again. An activist at heart, Naomi’s practice is informed by the idea that yoga is not just what we do on our mats, but the way we live our lives. Her teaching is grounded in the lessons she receives every day from being a mother to her sweet daughter Milly, as well as the simple yet profound discoveries that can be made by living and loving fully. Naomi is an E-RYT 500 Certified Yoga Teacher and has been teaching in the DC area for nearly 10 years. Find out more about Naomi at http://www.tothestickymatandbeyond.com.

​Kristen Krash has been teaching Yoga and Pilates for the past twelve years and credits the practice of these disciplines with her recovery from traumatic injuries to her knee and spine that left her with mis-alignment and chronic pain. Through the years of her practice, she has come to find that Yoga is not only a way of healing the physical body, but also a way of felling more centered, more grounded, and more present in daily life. ​Kristen has studied and practiced both movement and alignment-based styles of Yoga with several senior instructors including Richard Freeman, Tias Little, and her primary teachers, Liz Marx and senior Iyengar teacher John Schumacher at Unity Woods Yoga Center. Kristen has completed several advanced anatomy workshops and courses in addition to her teaching certification. She has also co-directed and co-taught a nationally recognized teacher training program for three years and teaches other training workshops on alignment and anatomy within the practice of yoga. ​Kristen’s teaching style is direct, precise, practical, and often humorous. She respects the lineage and tradition of Yoga, but she understands the needs and constraints of those living busy and often hectic lives. She brings the key aspects of the practice—postures to release stiff hips and shoulders and strengthen the core and spine, breathing exercises to relax and rejuvenate the mind—and allows her students and clients to experience the benefits in their own manner and time.

Before I started CrossFit, I had already tried P-90x, Insanity, the local gym, running, walking, Couch to 5K, group classes, spinning… you name it. I was at my lowest point right before I started Foundations at CrossFit Critical Mass (Columbia, MD). Not only did I not feel good about myself, but I was also extremely unhealthy. Then, I started CrossFit because my husband, Coach Mike, had really gotten into it. So I joined CrossFit Critical Mass and I haven’t looked back. Now, I am healthier and stronger than I have ever been in my life. In fact, I love it so much that I am spreading the love of CrossFit to my children through the Crossfit Critical Mass CrossFit Kids Program and I hope to inspire a lifetime love of fitness in them. CrossFit is a family affair for us! I decided to become a CrossFit coach because the people at CrossFit Critical Mass are amazing and I am committed to helping them to achieve their goals. My family and I are looking forward to the many years of CrossFit and fitness that we have ahead of us!

Brandon began practicing yoga as a way to relieve mental stress and focus on being more mindful. The journey he has been on, exploring the body's capabilities and opportunities, has brought joy, love, and insight to his personal life and to the lives of others. He is a graduate of Yoga District's 200 hour teacher training and has received hundreds of more hours of instruction on asana, alignment, nutrition, and philosophy from many dynamic yogis including: David Kyle, Marie Belle Perez Riviera, and James Brown. Brandon became interested in yoga at Howard University where he went on to get a bachelors of science in Psychology with a minor focus on Philosophy. Brandon encourages you to be creative on your mat and create your own practice one pose at a time. He finds ways to challenge the most advanced, as well as the new and unsure, students. His mission is to enlighten people to their own potential and to help cultivate their internal sources of power, creativity and love.

Brandon began practicing yoga as a way to relieve mental stress and focus on being more mindful. The journey he has been on, exploring the body's capabilities and opportunities, has brought joy, love, and insight to his personal life and to the lives of others. He is a graduate of Yoga District's 200 hour teacher training and has received hundreds of more hours of instruction on asana, alignment, nutrition, and philosophy from many dynamic yogis including: David Kyle, Marie Belle Perez Riviera, and James Brown. Brandon became interested in yoga at Howard University where he went on to get a bachelors of science in Psychology with a minor focus on Philosophy. Brandon encourages you to be creative on your mat and create your own practice one pose at a time. He finds ways to challenge the most advanced, as well as the new and unsure, students. His mission is to enlighten people to their own potential and to help cultivate their internal sources of power, creativity and love.

Klydie was introduced to yoga in 1999 and started teaching a couple years ago. She believes that yoga is a beautiful dance that illuminates our truest selves. Sometimes that dance is graceful and elegant…sometimes not. Other times, that dance is energetic, funny, clumsy, tough, wild and crazy! Klydie encourages yoga practitioners to be in the dance of the moment and tune in to their physical, mental, and emotional bodies to rock on and allow their inner beings to shine through. Check out www.fairyyogi.com for more info.

Megna has been a dancer and yogi all her life; she learned to sit in lotus before she could walk and spent most of her school years either practicing, performing, or teaching dance. Megna found her passion for fitness as an undergraduate at Duke University, where she studied Cognitive Neuroscience, started teaching spin classes, and fell in love with Rocket yoga. Her love for barre unfolded shortly thereafter, and she trained at b.fit barre here in the District. Megna studies Rocket with David Kyle and dedicates herself to a daily Mysore Ashtanga practice with Faith Scimecca. In her rare moments off the mat, Megna muses about life, love, and fitness on her blog, megnapaula.com. While Megna's teachings are rooted in traditional Ashtanga, she is known to be a bit rebellious from time to time… come to class to work, play, and discover your own inner strength!

Megna has been a dancer and yogi all her life; she learned to sit in lotus before she could walk and spent most of her school years either practicing, performing, or teaching dance. Megna found her passion for fitness as an undergraduate at Duke University, where she studied Cognitive Neuroscience, started teaching spin classes, and fell in love with Rocket yoga. Her love for barre unfolded shortly thereafter, and she trained at b.fit barre here in the District. Megna studies Rocket with David Kyle and dedicates herself to a daily Mysore Ashtanga practice with Faith Scimecca. In her rare moments off the mat, Megna muses about life, love, and fitness on her blog, megnapaula.com. While Megna's teachings are rooted in traditional Ashtanga, she is known to be a bit rebellious from time to time… come to class to work, play, and discover your own inner strength!

Krista grew up with the practice, starting her journey into yoga at 12 years old. Anxiety over an upcoming math test prompted her to join her mother's nightly Yoga Zone VHS ritual, and she instantly connected with the practice. Even though she failed the exam miserably, those nights of down dog in the basement took her down a road she would enthusiastically pursue. She's studied with Sharon Gannon and David life, earning a 300-hr Jivamukti Yoga certification in 2010, and delved into the world of vinyasa flow through Sean Corn’s teacher training intensive in 2012. She'll continue her education this November with Kathryn Budig and Gina Caputo's 200-hr training. Currently she practices ashtanga yoga with Jen René and Peg Mulqueen, studying the tradition and human nature every morning in the mysore room. In addition to her yoga education she attended the Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD), graduating with a graphic design degree in 2011. Design, much like yoga, is a process in taking elements that appear separate and organizing them into a unified piece to relay a message or evoke a feeling. Her work in art has encouraged her to become a problem solver, a quality which she brings into the poses she practices and teaches. She is beyond honored for the opportunity to share my love for yoga in Washington, DC and surrounding areas. The pursuit of fun, fearlessness, and a deep understanding of the self fuels her practice which she aims to playfully present to her students. It is her highest hope that through her teaching practitioners are reminded of the fun, child-like aspect of their spirit and come to realize their self-worth.

Fitness has always been a huge passion of mine. I've worked as a Trainer, Group Exercise and Fitness Coach in Los Angeles, New York and now Washington, D.C. Coming here and opening up these studios has been the next step in my life and I can't wait to provide you with the best exercise experience in the city.