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Our Instructors

Our Instructors

Cyndi Bulka, ERYT | Owner & Director

Cyndi is the owner and director of the Moving Mantra Yoga Studio. She has been practicing Yoga for nearly 20 years and teaching as a profession for more than 13. Her teaching reflects a combination of years of study and practice which culminate in an eclectic approach, focusing on organic movement and gentle unfolding from the 'inside-out'. She studied under master teacher Esther Meyers in the Scaravelli tradition for many years and earned her advanced teaching certificate with Esther, whose teachings have had a major influence on her development as a Yogi and a teacher. Over the years she has studied extensively with several other master teachers, which has helped her integrate her experiences and knowledge into a loving, intelligent, relational approach to teaching.  She is particualry inspired by master teachers Joy Doherty, Monica Voss, Angela Farmer, and Judith Hanson Lasater.

Recent travels brought Cyndi to Thailand where she earned her certificate in Thai Yoga Massage from the Sunshine School in Chiang Mai.  Thai Yoga massage naturally integrates into Cyndi's healing approach to Yoga, and is a wonderful practice for wellness and healing.  Cyndi is available for private, semi-private, Thai massage or therapeutic yoga in your home, her home studio, or at Moving Mantra, as well as for onsite corporate yoga classes.

photo by Elizabeth Galecke

Diane Stakoe, RYT, LMBT #7449

Never having been much of an athlete, Diane was drawn to the stregnth and flexibility that the practice of Yoga asana offered.  After several years of primarily physical practice, Diance was ready to deepen her practice and her relationship with Self to become more balanced and present in her life.  Here she began what she calls her soulful journey to self-realization. She made a big career change from Marketing Director to Massage Therapist, Reiki Master and certified Yoga Teacher.  Since then, Diane has brought the joy of Yoga and embodiment to many, from pre-schoolers to the elderly.  Through her volunteer work with cancer and Parkinson patients, she ldiscovered how powerful breathwork, gentle and restorative Yoga can be.  It is her greatest desire to share her passion for Yoga with others beginning thier journey.  Diane lives in Raleigh with her husband and two daughters.

Nina Be, MA., .MED., NCC #87024
Nina Be has been teaching Movement Arts internationally for over 35 years . She is a Nationally Certified Counselor and Yoga Therapist, with an MA in Performing Arts and an M.Ed. in Counseling.  Upon completing work with the Joffrey Ballet Company and the American Dancemachine in New York and Japan, Nina created Body Centering, a therapeutic movement technique incorporating concepts from the Alexander Technique, Feldencraus, martial arts, Yoga and dance.

Nina began studying meditation and Yoga in 1986. She studied under master teacher Melanie Fawer, one of a handful of women certified by Patabi Jois to teach Ashtanga Yoga. Nina is currently attaining her Yoga Alliance certification with Lisa Clark. Nina practices as a Yoga Therapist with private clients suffering from chronic fatigue, depression, sciatica, addiction and food issues.
After evacuating from New Orleans in the wake of Katrina, Nina moved Raleigh NC.  She is the mother of 2 thriving teenagers.  Nina brings a sense of playful reverence and compassion to her teaching and practice.  Nina Be can be contacted  bodycentering@gmail.com. for private work.

Diana McPeak, RYT, Reiki Master

Through sharing the basics of yoga in the beginner class, Diana explores increasing flexibility, strength, and relaxation for students at all levels of fitness. Poses (asana), breath control (pranayama) and mind-body awareness are covered throughout the session. Diana’s goal is to offer a solid foundation for developing a lifelong yoga practice. She hopes to foster healing, with emphasis on both physical benefits and spiritual opening.

Diana became committed to the practice of yoga in 1998, came to Moving Mantra in 2000, and taught her first classes in 2003. She studied with Esther Myers in North Carolina and completed her certification through the Esther Myers Yoga Studio in Toronto in 2005. Diana is registered with the Yoga Alliance at the 500-hour level, and continues to attend workshops and teacher training. Her latest training is in Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy; she is planning to complete their Yoga Teacher certification in September, 2008.

In 2007, Diana received her Master training in the Usui Reiki System of Natural Healing from Vickie Penninger of Raleigh. She co-owns Reiki Creations, Inc. - Crystal Healing Jewelry, which produces items of sterling silver and semi-precious gemstones for various healing intentions. For more information, please visit www.reikicreations.com

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Cindy Widnes, RYT

Cindy is a Kripalu certified yoga instructor who appreciates the diversity of teaching vigorous vinyasa as well as gentle yoga classes.  Her intuitive approach of teaching fluid classes that are both fun and instructional for her students is a result of 20 years experience as an ACE certified group fitness instructor.  Cindy explored yoga for years before beginning serious study of Kripalu yoga with Joy Doherty in 1990. This overwhelmingly positive experience inspired Cindy to attain a 200-hour teacher training certification at the Kripalu month long intensive. She is currently pursuing her 500-hour level certification.  Cindy strives to assist her students into gaining a deeper knowledge of themselves through asana, pranyama and an internal practice of stilling the mind. Cindy is inspired by the belief that individual peace and self-awareness can help promote world peace.

Cindy can be contacted at cgwidnes@yahoo.com for private instruction.

Jonathan Baxter, HoopPath                                                                         Jonathan picked up a hoop for the first time six years ago, thinking it would help him rehabilitate some injured shoulder muscles. He never dreamed it would develop into a daily meditation that totally transformed him, inside and out. Over the years he
has logged in thousands and thousands of hooping hours--what we on the Hoop Path call "flight time." Baxter's commitment to his Practice has revealed to him many of the profound subtleties to be found this ecstatic movement. This extensive and direct
involvement with "hoopgnosis," coupled with Baxter's singular gifts as a storyteller and guide, make him an extraordinary teacher.  His course, The Hoop Path, equally emphasizes both the spiritual and the technical aspects of hoopdance. Through personal story and myth, Baxter deepens students' metaphorical and physical understanding of a wide variety of hoop moves and dynamics. His connection to his students is genuine and distinctive--as much as help you become skilled and graceful hooper, Bax wants to help you connect to your own personal and unique inner rhythm, and know yourself from that place. www.hooppath.com

Janet Banks  

Janet has taken yoga classes since the 1970’s and became a serious student in 2001. The healing power of yoga was such a critical awakening for her that following retirement from a 25 year sales and marketing pharmaceutical career, Janet decided to expand her practice and explore sharing the benefits with others. Good fortune led her to classes and workshops with exceptional teachers like Cyndi Bulka, Julie Suiter, Diana McPeak, Julee Snyder, and others who set examples for the type of therapeutic yoga she genuinely wanted to share with others. Janet has been teaching for 3 years and has also been a substitute teacher at Moving Mantra. As an apprentice instructor under Cyndi’s tutelage she will be leading a gentle beginner class on Monday evenings. The practice will be filled with centering (focusing on the present), “meditation-lite” (stress releasing tips), pranyama (breathing), asanas (gentle poses for warming and strengthening the body), vinyasa (flowing movement), and balance.  Poses will be customized with options based on student individual needs and safety. Smiling and laughter will be enthusiastically encouraged.

Julee is a certified yoga instructor, choreographer, movement therapist, and licensed massage therapist. She has been practicing yoga since 1995 and has studied extensively with master teachers, Lisa Clark and Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen. Julee recently completed her 4-year, 1000-hour movement therapy training in Body-Mind Centering™ and regularly integrates BMC into her teaching approach.  With 17 years of dance and more than 2,000 hours of therapeutic study, Julee brings to her teaching an embodied exploration of anatomy, a clear articulation of alignment and movement principles, a playful curiosity, and a deep love and compassion for the journey. Julee teaches a gentle and flowing class designed to meet those new and longtime practitioners dealing with pain, injury, disease or simply wanting to experience a gentle and restorative practice.

In addition to teaching, Julee has a small private practice integrating massage, movement, and yoga therapy.  She is a Yoga Therapist at Duke Integrative Medicine and is on faculty for Lisa Clark’s 200 and 500 hour teacher trainings in Chapel Hill.  For information about private bodywork and yoga therapy sessions visit www.juleesnyder.com.

Like many of us, Maureen came to her practice of yoga looking for a bit of balance and quiet amid all the busy-ness and demands of everyday life.  Through her study of classical yoga, including the yogic traditions, the asanas (postures), pranyama (breathing techniques), and meditation, Maureen not only found the quiet she was seeking but also a desire to share this with others through her teaching.  It is her hope to share the gifts of yoga with her students, in particular a means of invigorating and centering the body while quieting the mind and spirit...both on and off the mat.