Instructors

Christina Allen, founder of Ashtanga Yoga Center East (1998) and owner of Blue Raven Yoga and Healing Center(2006) wears many hats. Her original training was as a Physicist at UCSC and then as a Neuroscientist at the Salk Institute (MS from UCSD). She was keenly interested in the interface between matter and consciousness. When her mother died of cancer in 1994 she found herself standing at the gates that separate the worlds. Knowing she had stepped outside the acceptable realm of scientific inquiry she decided to pursue her quest for knowledge through spiritual disciplines, leaving the world of academics to journey to India and eventually Peru.

Chris apprenticed with Tim Miller of Encinitas as an Ashtanga yoga teacher in 1995 and began teaching yoga in 1996 after her studies with Sri K. Pattabhi Jois in Mysore, India. She has since studied under master teachers from many yoga disciplines, including Iyengar, Viniyoga, and Indra Devi. She teaches yoga at Blue Raven and as an adjunct professor for the Kinesiology program at CSUSM.

Chris is also a Lightbody Healer and a teaches Lightbody Healing as a senior staff member for the Four Winds Society. She has been practicing the art of shamanic healing, the quintessential interface between matter and consciousness, since her training with shaman, medical anthropologist and psychologist, Dr. Alberto Villoldo, PhD, began in the spring of 2003. Her Reiki practice started in 1999.

Chris brings compassion, integrity, caring, humor and grace to her teaching and healing sessions. She opens her arms and heart to all who are willing to embark on the journey of self-transformation and personal evolution. She invites all of you to become members of this rich, diverse and loving yoga community! She teaches Introductory Ashtanga Yoga classes Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, a gentler Hatha Yoga class Tuesday and Thursday evenings in addition to her famous Journeying (guided meditation) class on the First Saturday every month. You can reach her at (760) 510-6880 or email her at BlueRavenYoga@aol.com. See her in a recent North County Times video clip.

Liza Janda, RYT comes to Blue Raven Yoga with more than thirty combined years of experience teaching fitness, personal training, yoga, and childbirth education. Liza has worked at the famous Golden Door Spa, and Cal-a-Vie Spa. She is a certified yoga teacher registered with Yoga Alliance, and she is a certified childbirth educator with American Academy of Husband Coached Childbirth. Liza and her husband, Bill, have two children, Chloe and Dickson. "Both their births were transformational experiences for Liza. After having Chloe, naturally, using the Bradley Method, She knew she had to share what she had learned with others. In each of us there is this extraordinary Power that IS us. She thinks practicing yoga helps us all to get in touch with that Power. "I feel very privileged to be able to teach yoga. It feels like a gift to me," says Janda, "In every yoga class I've ever taken, I have learned something. I hope you will come and share your practice with me." Liza teaches Prenatal Yoga classes on Saturday mornings and on Monday and Wednesday evenings. For more info contact her at 760-716-6386, liza@yogajanda.com or see her website: Yoga Janda.

Kathleen Quinn took her first yoga class in 1978. So if you were to ask her, she would say that being a yoga teacher was just the natural progression of things. In 1998 she met Chris Allen, owner/director of Blue Raven, and had the privilege of studying Ashtanga Yoga vinyasa under Chris for the next 4 years. In January 2003, Kathleen began the BKS Iyengar Yoga Training Program. Since that time, Kathleen has completed the 3 year Teacher Training and 2 year Mentorship Programs resulting in her international certification. She continues to study under senior teachers—Manouso Manos, Gloria Goldberg, and Carolyn Belko. Kathleen is a member in good standing of the national and regional Iyengar Yoga associations, IYNAUS & IYASC. Kathleen’s classes are a unique blend of intensity, enthusiasm, and humor. “Yoga makes my heart sing,” she says, and it shows. Dedication to her own asana practice enables Kathleen to demonstrate a clarity and precision in her teaching style. Mr. Iyengar defines yoga as “skilled action.” Through exact instruction and sequencing, Kathleen teaches her students the skills to optimize their practice with confidence, mindfulness, and poise. Kathleen teaches Iyengar Yoga classes at noon on Tuesday and Thursdays and on Friday evenings. For more information call 760-533-9713 or email: garyandkat@netzero.net.


Mike Crowell, as a very physically active child, developed coordination and an appreciation for body intelligence at a young age. By the time he was in High School he was competing in gymnastics at a national level, and winning! Mike's early development of core strength allowed him to excel at off road motorcycling, skiing, skating, water sports and mountain bike riding as an adult. At 40 he finally found yoga! Mike completed a one year apprenticeship with Chris Allen in 1998, learning asana alignment, sequencing and how to sense individual strengths and limitations within a given student. He taught Ashtanga yoga at Family Fitness for a year before deciding to concentrate his efforts at Blue Raven. Mike now teaches the Thursday night Improv Ashtanga Yoga class in addition to subbing for Chris when she is unable to be at the studio. Mike also owns his own construction company, Reflective Landscape and Design, which focuses on high end landscaping, hard and softscape, remodeling and room additions. He built a house from scratch in 2004. You can reach Mike at (760) 747-4450, or email him at: CrowellDesigns@aol.com.


Susan Taylor, previous owner of Pink Cadillac Pilates and Yoga of Oceanside, started practicing yoga in 1995 with Chris Allen and apprenticed with her for a year in 1998. She has completed numerous yoga workshops and trainings with many different yoga masters and lineages since, including Tim Miller's Teacher Training in 2005. She has done several Ashtanga intensives with Patabbhi Jois and has studied Iyengar methods with Roger Cole. Susan completed her Pilates certification in 2000 through Pilates Inc. and Romana's Pilates of Irvine. In addition to teaching Pilates and yoga at Blue Raven she currently teaches Pilates at Joe's Studio in Solana Beach and privately on her own. Susan's understanding of the physical body, its dynamics, strengths and weaknesses is profound. Her classes offer in depth explorations of the poses and alternatives when the traditional form is not accessible. Susan also does excellent Kata body work! Suasan teaches playful Pilates classes on Tuesday nights and Sunday mornings and teaches the Sunday morning First Series Ashtanga Yoga class. She also subs for Chris when she can. For information contact Susan at yogisuepilates@yahoo.com.


Erin Noland is a Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance specializing in Mommy & Me and Prenatal Yoga. In addition to yoga, Erin has a strong background in Dance and Bachelors degree in History.  Born and raised in San Diego, Erin resides in Escondido with her husband and young daughter. She teaches the Infant Mommy and Me Yoga class on Friday mornings. Contact  Info: 760-315-2092 Email: mznoland@yahoo.com.


Kathleen Gregory's personal yoga practice is diverse and spans several years. It began as many do! Maintaining a career in finance, as a Corporate Trainer, she was very busy and exceptionally short on time so her first yoga experience was practicing yoga to a series of VHS tapes she watched at home over and over gleaning everything she could from them! Encouraged by the results and wanting a richer experience she discovered the joys and benefits of an instructor led class with local yogini, Lisette Hart, of Yoga Vista. She deepened her practice further two years ago when she brought her then 6 week-old daughter to Liza Janda's infant Mommy and Me Yoga class. A year later she attended Roots & Wings Yoga Teacher Training school in Vista, California. Her intention in completing the year-long, 200 hour certification was to deepen her personal practice and step into sharing yoga with others. Now a graduate of Roots & Wings, she sees there is a profound shortage of Mommy and Me classes for her daughter and others at the toddler level. Taking what she knows as a full-time mother and as a yoga teacher she has now combined them into a labor of love and offers her unique Toddler Mommy and Me Yoga class! Kathleen has a fun-loving spirit and a special affinity for invigorating Ashtanga yoga classes. She values a good active Hatha class and also fosters a deep appreciation for restorative poses. Her Toddler Mommy and Me Yoga class is on Tuesday afternoons and she teaches the AM Hatha Yoga class Monday and Wednesday mornings. For more information contact Kathleen at trimmersd@roadrunner.com.

Ildiko Demeter has B.A.s in French and Philosophy from Connecticut College for Women, where she also studied Dance and Movement. She has been a teacher in the public school system for over 20 years, has been practicing Ashtanga Yoga with Chris Allen since 1995 and doing Pilates with Suzanne at Georgias Dance Studio since 2000. Ildiko brings a solid understanding of yoga to her Pilates classes understanding intimately how they compliment each other. She also subs for the yoga classes when she is available. For more info contact her at ildiko1@cox.net.


Judi Norton has a BS degree in Elementary and Special Education, and a MA in Wholistic Education. Before moving to Californis in 1981 she worked with inner city blind and multi-handicapped, as well as emotionally disturbed, young children and teenagers for more than 9 years. She currently works with blind and visually impaired infants/toddlers and their families, and has since and has been since 1983. She is a Certified Infant Massage Instructor (1985) and has been studying Yoga and Pilates for over 13 years. She subs at Blue Raven and lends her expertise in Infant Massage regularly. You can reach her at psion4prpl@aol.com.