Kelly Cox,  500 RYT, RPYT, LCSW, Birth Doula:  I have been teaching pre and postnatal yoga for over a decade and trained as a doula in 2014.  I completed several prenatal trainings over the years and became a Registered Prenatal Yoga Teacher in 2018 and established my own Yoga Alliance approved Prenatal Yoga School. I love being able to support women during their child bearing years, and can literally talk about labor and delivery for hours, if you let me.

 

 

 

Molly Duncan, RYT, Prenatal Yoga Teacher, DONA Trained Birth Doula: Molly has always been inspired and amazed by the journey women make through pregnancy and birth into motherhood. Her own birth was transformational and called her towards a path of uplifting and supporting women during this time period of their lives. She completed my doula training through DONA and is a certified yoga instructor. She completed her 85 hour prenatal yoga teacher training with Kelly Cox. As a Doula, her aim is to help facilitate a birth in which Mom feels empowered, heard and safe. Birth is an experience defined by the deepest emotions, and she is so honored to bear witness as new families are born. 

Molly also teaches at Hot Yoga Charlottesville.

 

 

 

Julia Gilchrist, RYT: Like many people, Julia got into yoga for the physical exercise and stayed for the spiritual and emotional benefits. Yoga has taught her so much about speaking her truth and practicing compassion towards herself and others. Julia’s goal in class is to inspire confidence and show people that yoga is so much more fun when you stop struggling; let go and let your practice flow. Julia attended Bikram Teacher Training in 2010 and taught in New York City and Austin before moving back to Charlottesville. In 2015 she completed Vinyasa Teacher Training at Mosaic Yoga. She also teaches at Hot Yoga Charlottesville.

​

 

Erin James, RYT: Erin discovered yoga when she was in high school, and it has been a beautiful and powerful force in her life ever since.  Little did she know back then that yoga would be so transformative in ways she had never imagined, including prenatal classes at Bend. The profound impact of yoga while pregnant with her first son 2017 led Erin to study Prenatal Yoga with Kelly Cox later that same year. 

She completed her Integral Yoga Teacher Training in 2008 and received her Calming Kids Yoga Certification in 2009.  Erin has also spent ten years as a classroom teacher, ranging from teaching in a Montessori School to Middle School, and has witnessed the powerful effects that mindfulness and movement can have on children.  In addition to teaching classes at Bend, she has taught Yin and Hatha classes at ACAC.

 

​

Rachael Kesler Palm:  Rachael found yoga as a means to process grief, gain perspective and calm, and grow into herself throughout the seasons of life. She is certified to teach prenatal yoga, after completing an 85-hour training program in 2019 with Kelly Cox. She’s also trained to teach a higher intensity fitness class called PowerSculpt, which she will be teaching in the community soon.  She loves the experience of empowering women to embrace their bodies and their power in pregnancy, labor, motherhood, and beyond. 

 

 

 

Jessica Palmer, MT, RYT: Jess has been teaching yoga in Charlottesville since 2015, and was a full-time elementary classroom teacher in public schools for 16 years.  She has trained to teach Power Vinyasa, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Childrens’ Yoga, and most recently, Prenatal Yoga with Kelly Cox.  Jess began her own journey into motherhood at 41, and hopes to share with new moms, experienced moms, and mamas-to-be the gifts within a yoga and meditation practice that help us create space in our bodies and being to integrate the new life force of our babies.

 

 

 

 

 

Chloe Watkins, E-RYT, Prenatal Yoga Teacher, ToLabor trained Birth Doula, Postnatal Doula: Jay Brown says, “family life is the yogic cave” and it is this idea that echos in Chloe’s personal practice and in her teaching. Drawing inspiration from everyday activities - raising a young family, juggling jobs and tasks and making ends meet - Chloe seeks the wisdom in our mundane experiences. Her aim is to provide her students the tools with which they can begin to notice the intricacies and joys of their lives as they are today - the good, the bad, and the indifferent.

Chloe was trained in 2012 at PURE Yoga in New York City under Yogi Charu and KayKay Clivio. She has been blessed by many incredible teachers over the years including Kelly Cox, Jen Fleisher, Shala Worsley, and Tiffany Cruikshank.  Chloe also teaches at Santosha Yoga.