As a long time yoga student, Cindy has experienced how this beautiful, ancient practice has empowered and awakened her in so many ways. She began her studies by receiving her teaching certification in 2002 through Peachtree Yoga Center. She continued with many renowned teachers mostly being influenced through the life affirming practice of Anusara® Yoga. Even though she has now resigned her Anusara affiliation, she received her Anusara Inspired Certification in 2011. She has also received certifications in hypnotherapy and is a Reiki Master. She opened Sacred Garden Yoga, which has been thriving since 2003, and has also led several retreats to the mountains of N. Georgia, North Carolina, Costa Rica and Peru. She has developed many programs and courses in her time at SGY, including the Yoga of the Heart Teacher Training Program. Besides teaching yoga, her highest service is that of an energy practitioner and teacher of the intuitive arts.
In her 27 years of study, Cindy has cultivated a teaching style that strongly integrates alignment of body, mind and heart. She understands both the energetic and physical body so is able to help her clients and students align themselves to greater strength, balance, freedom an clarity. Cindy loves philosophy and is a bit of a spiritual junkie so her teachings are richly infused with theory, but translated in a way that is applicable and practical for greater understanding. Her greatest aspiration is in empowering others to find joy, purpose, and complete well being in their lives.
Born in Peru, Cindy is fascinated with the relationship that the native Peruvians have with nature and loves to incorporate this knowledge into her teachings. A modern day mystic, she is highly empathic, loves ceremony and is a well renowned energy worker. Having that latin flare, Cindy and her husband have also been enthusiastic salsa dancers for over 15 years. Most of all, she enjoys spending time with her greatest teacher and grand musician- her son Ethan, who is 16 and the source of so much delight and inspiration.
Meet Our Staff
Steve was a competitive cyclist from 1993 until 2007, winning numerous State Championships on the velodrome and a Masters National Championship and a Masters World Championship in 1998. Yoga got him back on the bike, and he currently coaches school age mountain bikers for Georgia Cycling Association.
He is married to a spitfire, and has two fine teenage sons.
He completed his teacher training in 2020, and is ready to share his passion with everyone!
She signed up for the 200-hr Yoga Teacher Training at Sacred Garden Yoga Studio not to become a teacher but to satisfy her desire to understand yoga more fully. Over the next four months, her life began to transform in ways that she could never have imagined! So much so, that she decided to teach so that she can share her story and her passion for yoga with others! She teaches a vinyasa flow bringing awareness to her students’ inner power and strength.
She completed her 200 hr yoga teacher training in March of 2016. And has since continued to study and walk the Vedic path, honing her skills as a teacher with nearly 500 hours of vinyasa, pranayama, and meditation taught in the last two years.
Julie is a student of the Tantric path of Fire and Light. For her, yoga is both somatic and spiritual. And this is evident in her vinyasa classes.
Julie came to yoga in her search for relief from intense anxiety. Through asana and pranayama she was able to “come down out of {her} head, and step back into her body.”
She credits yoga with saving her life and is deeply honored to share her love for this powerful medicine with practitioners of all experience levels.
Her classes are centered around the students connection to their breath. Postures are cued to emanate from that breath connection.
Amanda is a mom of three, plant lover with a slightly yellowing green-thumb, and tattoo-enthusiast. She has been practicing yoga since high school and used its benefits over and over again for healing.
Having come to yoga initially for physical healing over fifteen years ago, Amanda quickly learned that yoga is so much more than the physical practice. She received her 200-hr. certification from Launch Awareness Yoga Center in 2015. Immediately after, she delved into healing with Tantra Yoga and fell deeply in love with how yoga benefits the impact of trauma. She is deeply passionate about drawing awareness to healing trauma in the yoga room and beyond. Amanda believes that there is so much to find in doing yoga, namely yourself.
Carryn’s sense of adventure, movement and unique perspective on life fueled her to embark on a cruising sabbatical, selling all and sailing off to the Caribbean on a 3-year trip that would span 14 countries and countless islands from Maine to Grenada. Embracing the rhythm of nature was key to thriving on the ocean.
By way of her unique experiences, she enjoys a Vinyasa style Yoga with a lot of play sprinkled throughout her practice. Recently, Carryn received her Yin Yoga certification, along with certificates to include Yoga for trauma and addiction.
Her sense of curiosity, along with her love of nature, are constant guides for the movement and themes in her class. It is a daily task to find balance in our everyday life. Carryn’s goals are for others to explore Yoga and nature as tools to quiet the mind, move the body, achieve emotional balance in a welcoming space comfortable enough to try anything with an open heart!
200 RYT, Sacred Garden Yoga, Cindy Olah
Yin Yoga Certification, Michelle Young
She started her studies in 2009 by doing an Anusara Immersion under the close eyes of Benita Galvan, which helped her attain an in-depth learning of Yoga Alignment. Years later, while living in Argentina, she studied with Noah Maze and Sandra Kessel from The Maze Method, with whom she obtain her first 200Hr Yoga Teacher Training Certificated. Simultaneously, she started studying Ashtanga Vinyasa with Ale Chiarella, where she gain knowledge of the Primary Series, during an intensive immersion and training in this traditional lineage of Yoga.
Isabel moved to Atlanta en 2019, and started studying along side Tiffany Cruikshank and the Yoga Medicine team for her 500Hr Certification, understanding the importance and deep impact of the Yoga practice on a physical and psychological level. As of right now, she has completed the following trainings from the Yoga Medicine curriculum: Mindful Trauma Informed Yoga, Mental Health & Wellness, Myofascia Release, Sequencing with Purpose, Women’s Health & Fertility, Nervous System & Restorative, Yin and Meditation, Spine: Anatomy, Dysfunction and Application, Hip: Anatomy, Dysfunction and Application, Traditional Chinese Medicine, and Yoga for Athletes. Beside this trainings, she also worked on other Yoga Medicine courses focused on: Common Yoga Injuries and Prevention, Prenatal Myofascia Release, Prenatal Therapeutics, Sex, Gender & Identity, Yoga for Addiction Recovery, Yoga for Older beginners, Beyond Chair Yoga, Recognizing Red Flags, and Intake Evaluation.
But after all this years, what has really being determining for Isabel in becoming a Yoga teacher is her passion for her own practice, reason why she never stopped practicing Ashtanga, understanding and becoming more committed to her practice each day. She now practice and study with Todd Roderick, KPJAYI authorized Ashtanga teacher, founder and lead teacher at Ashtanga Yoga Atlanta, with whom she is also doing an apprenticeship, learning not only about her practice, but the depth and teaching methodology and biomechanics of adjustments and assistance in Ashtanga.
Isabel started teaching in 2016. Evolving not only in her practice but also on her teaching style, she gives a lot of importance to alignment and Yoga philosophy, as a way to focus the attention to oneself, and creating a practice based in selfstudy, establishing the gateway to the physical, energetic, and spiritual body. At the same time she is continuing her trainings with Yoga Medicine, with the goal of understanding more about the effects of the practice, and creating a real and complete learning Yoga experience for her students.
In 2007 she obtained her Professional Level Massage Certification in Medical massage and the following year she completed her Oncology Massage certification, to offer massage to patients with cancer. That same year she received her RYT500 and by teaching 7 classes a week, plus weekend seminars, she quickly became an E-RYT500.
Diane’s expertise includes anatomy instruction & the biomechanics of movement / alignment. She was the anatomy teacher and the props teacher for the SGY teacher training course. She currently offers Reflexology at SGY. Her workshop topics include: Shoulder openers, Hip openers, Spinal health, Restorative, Aging with Grace, Assisted Asana using props / Chair Yoga, The Art of the Twist, Couples yoga, Headstand/Shoulder stands, Mastering your asana foundations, Yoga and the study of Movement and Introductory Yoga.
To expand her own practice she has traveled extensively in the US / Europe / Canada and Indonesia to train with international yoga masters and in 2022 she completed a yearlong meditation study with Giovanni Dienstmann, a former Zen Monk x2, author of 4 books and 30 years of meditation experience.
Her classes are inspirational, full of humor and heartfelt. Each student receives individual attention based on their needs. Her love for the practice can be witnessed by her compassionate teaching style and genuine interest in each student.
She started to crave balance and a healthier lifestyle. Crystal was ready to invest in herself and explore her spirituality. The relationship with yoga became more serious as she approached 30. She Observed the synchronicity of her growing self-love and inner peace as the commitment to her practice became more evident in her life. Finally, like a light bulb, it hit her. Crystal was ready to carve a balanced path immersed with connection to others and celebrate our existence as well as our bodies. The decision was made to get her 200-hour Yoga teacher training certification at Sacred Garden Yoga in 2019, led by Cindy Olah. She felt her experience there was transformative and path-affirming. Deepening her yoga practice was like an activation and she continued to earn certifications at S.G.Y in Reiki I and II. She tapped into her authenticity and intuition and it all started with getting on her mat. Crystal hopes to inspire others and spread light.
Crystal appreciates the yoga asana practice, as well as its philosophy. What she loves most is how it can bring us into the present moment. How it gets us out of our heads and into our bodies. To our deeper intelligence and the emotional realm. She may invite you to a challenge, but with an alternate option so you can listen to your current needs. Crystal’s teachings aim to bring the body in alignment with its “original blueprint” clearing a path for energy flow and a fuller expression of the entire Self. Her class will both challenge and nurture you. It’s
okay to lack motivation when you show up, her energetic enthusiasm is bound to lift your spirit. She enjoys a playful outlook on life and on the mat. Laughter during her class in not uncommon. When planning a class, Crystal finds inspiration from current astrological placements, tarot and story telling. For small groups she’ll sometimes offer Reiki during your savasana. Crystal hopes to make everyone feel at home in her class, in their body, and in the world. Whether you have a flirtation with yoga or are madly in love, you’re in for a treat when you come to her class.