Ted McDonald

Ted McDonald is a yoga teacher, fitness trainer, endurance athlete, entrepreneur, philanthropist and modern day adventurer. A former Elite Adventure Racer and a Lacrosse player at UCLA, he has been an athlete his entire life. He began teaching yoga and meditation over a decade ago and continues to compete in marathons, triathlons, trail races and ultra marathons. Educated in both Iyengar and Ashtanga styles of yoga, he focuses his yoga sessions on strength, alignment and breathing, in order to help students increase their flexibility, strength and focus. He teaches many forms of meditation and a yin or restorative yoga class specifically designed to lengthen connective tissue, prevent injuries and open energetic pathways in the body. He is the founder of Adventure Yoga Retreats, a company that organizes premium travel adventures that enrich lives and inspire people to live life at their highest level. His versatility and knowledge allows him to successfully tailor his teaching and retreats to a diverse audience, including professional athletes, business professionals, yoga teachers, as well as beginning students. He owns 5 Point Yoga, the premiere yoga and fitness studio in Malibu, California. Ted co-created Tony Horton’s p90x:2 yoga DVD and is featured in p90x:3 Yoga, p90x:3 Isometrix as well as Tony’s yoga “expert” for his one-on-one video series. He is a long time lululemon ambassador and is the designated yoga teacher for the Tour de France winning pro cycling BMC Racing Team. He is a featured teacher on Yogavibes.com and created the yoga program at The Ranch at Live Oak Malibu which was named in Travel & Leisure’s World’s Best Spas for 2012 & 2013.

For more information, programs, adventures or to contact Ted visit www.teddymcdonald.com, www.adventureyogaretreats.com, or www.5pointyoga.com.

Philipp Manser

Philipp Manser’s approach to Yoga is guided by his compassion for the human condition inspired in part by his own life’s journey. He works with people that have never practiced Yoga before as well as the seasoned practitioners to improve their strength and flexibility within the body and mind.

For the beginning student Philipp focuses on teaching alignment in the various beginners poses to prevent injury but also to remind that alignment with all that is creates stillness, strength and flexibility.

More advanced students benefit from Philipp’s strength building sequences with classes designed to flow or holding the various poses longer to build stamina, strength and flexibility.

Philipp’s teaching style is supportive yet demanding of my students’ true beauty and strength from with-in. His classes focus on the need of the student on the particular day we practice together.

Philipp’s Yoga Teacher Certification is from Yoga Works.  He is a Registered Yoga Alliance Teacher (RYT-200)

His teachers are my students; as well as the great Masters including: Patanjali, Sri T. Krishnamacharya, T.K.V. Desikachar, B.K.S.Iyengar, Patabi Joyce, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Baba Muktananda, Sai Baba of Sirdi, Gandhi, Paramahansa Yogananda, Sri Yukteswar, and Krishnamurti

Tara Kamath

Tara has been a happy explorer of yoga since the 1980’s, and is a student of Srivatsa Ramaswami*, with whom she completed her teacher training in Vinyasa Krama Yoga (200 hr. 2009).  She studied with Larry Payne from the early 1990’s and became a certified Prime of Life Yoga instructor in 1998.  She also has a certificate in Restorative Yoga with Jillian Pransky.

Extensive massage training since 1985 taught Tara how bodies are constantly shaped along lines of force, and how conditioned habits of movement, posture, and breathing can be our strongest allies or our worst enemies.  In yoga as with bodywork, Tara helps you discover your restrictive patterns and free yourself, starting with your next breath.

If you are a beginner or are healing from an injury, classes may challenge you physically without pushing beyond your ability.  If you are a skillful yoga practitioner, classes may feel gentle, challenging you to refine awareness of alignment, breath, and attitude (svadhyaya) and inviting you to dive deeper into the meditative aspect of asana and pranayama.

* Srivatsa Ramaswami was a student of Sri T. Krishnamacharya for 33 years.

Donna Sorce

Donna (E-RYT 200 with Yoga Alliance) has been a Yoga Instructor since the year 2000 and is blessed with a diverse group of clients ranging from children to older adults in a variety of settings. The inspired Teacher Training she received at Yogaworks in Santa Monica with Maty Ezraty and Lisa Walford has enabled Donna to bring an alignment based and balanced flow to both her life and teaching practice. Drawing from years of exploration in various styles and disciplines as both a practitioner and an instructor, she incorporates the union of breath and movement to facilitate a deeper awareness of the joy that lives in our hearts. Classes range from beginner to advanced Vinyasa Flow and Restorative Yoga (Relax and Renew Certification with Judith Lasater). She is certified to teach AIReal Yoga  (the only form of Aerial Yoga using a hammock as a prop recognized by Yoga Alliance) with Carmen Curtis, has co lead a 200 hour Teacher Training Certification at this Studio, is Level I Certified in The Urban Zen Integrative Modality Program through Yogaworks,  and a Level II Reiki practitioner. Most weekday afternoons, you will find Donna leading yoga classes at The Ranch at Live Oak Malibu, a luxury fitness and wellness spa located in the beautiful Santa Monica Mountains. Donna has appeared on the educational series, “Naturally, Danny Seo”  on NBC in the Ranch Reboot episode Season One, and is featured in the Summer 2017 and Fall 2017 issues of Naturally, Danny Seo Magazine.

Donna (DiMeo) has a professional dance background; born, raised, and trained in NYC at The HS for Performing Arts, The Joffrey Ballet School, and The Alvin Ailey American Dance Center School. She has performed with several Dance Companies, a member of the original Broadway cast of “Jerome Robbins’ Broadway”, National/International Tours of the musical “West Side Story” directed by Alan Johnson, and Television appearances on “Saturday Night Live” and “The Tony Awards” to name a few.

Becca Zimble

Becca is a 200RYT Yoga Instructor, and in the middle of her Advanced 500RYT training.  She has found refuge in her practice and has seen some of the most profound shifts in being a student, and now in her own students as a teacher; within the realms of body, mind, and spirit. She believes the journey of yoga and meditation is to go back to who we are, that we are enough, and to eliminate sensory distractions from our most authentic voice and version of ourselves. In addition to the wonderful physical byproducts of this most divine practice, she has also studied extensively the long term beneficial effects of meditation, yoga nidra, and mindfulness has on our brains, and our resiliencies in mental health. 

She loves to guide students into deep meditation, and move through strong asana practices, all whilst bathing in gratitude as the musical vibrations are playing in the background. Becca has been practicing yoga for over 12 years, and feels that there is no more welcoming community than the Yoga community. She began with Iyengar practice, where she was taught the important of alignment and breath, and later found Vinyasa flow.  

As an athlete herself, nurturing the body and eliminating toxins, both mentally and physically is both a passion and lifestyle for her. Practicing yoga on and off the mat is the structure from which she chooses to live, and a reminder that the journey is in the practice. Becca resides locally in Malibu and can be found on the beach in her off time. She works in a field when she’s not teaching on a mat that has adopted Yoga as helpful and needed, and for this she is so grateful to see these ancient practices brought into modern solutions.  She loves to hear stories where attention to self, mindfulness, and healing have been a product of one’s practice. 

Ligia Floyd

Ligia brings her passion for yoga and years of experience in Psychology and teaching to create engaging, and invigorating yoga classes. She earned her 500RYT through YogaWorks, teaches Vinyasa, Hatha, Prenatal and Restorative style classes, while also holding her certification for kids yoga. When not teaching or practicing yoga and meditation, you can find Ligia outdoors, hiking, reading, or traveling. She loves spending time with her family and loves spreading yoga wherever she goes.