A.J.’s education is extensive and on-going. He has numerous certifications in Personal Training, Massage Therapy, Pre/Post Rehabilitation, Neuromuscular Re-Programming, Active Isolated Stretching and Strengthening, Rehab Therapy and Reiki.

“Renew is a place of communing and healing. Whether you want to recover from surgery or an old injury, desire greater flexibility (range-of-motion), hope to improve the quality of your leisure-time activities (tennis, golf, gardening etc.), or seek simply to feel and look better, we can prescribe an exercise program to help you accomplish this and more.”

AJ is now available for consultations only. He will assess your condition and point you to the proper treatment practioner  

Pamela has a great love for teaching. She has been teaching for the last 34 years. Her path includes Ballet, Jazz, Directing 3 dance companies, Group exercise, Pilates and for the last 10 years, Yoga. Her teachers, along the way, have been numerous. Some of her favorites include Dr Deepok Chopra, Dr David Simon, James Tyberonn, Lee Carroll, Cathy Chapman and Reiki Master Teacher Claudia Lyons.

Pamela's classes are heart centered and spirit driven vinyasa flow. Incorporating chant and deep awareness of breath. Pamela is also a Clairvoyant Reiki Master Teacher.

Call her for a private Reiki healing session. Pamela's dream of creating an amazing Yoga community has been realized here at Renew Yoga.

Jessica’s entire life has been an expression of movement. Jessica has studied classical ballet since early childhood, danced professionally for fourteen years, worked as a personal trainer for fifteen years, and practiced yoga for the last five years. All this experience has given her a unique insight into the art and science of movement.

Jessica’s method of training is very personal. She targets an individual’s health, strength and fitness goals while honoring the full spectrum of the well-being of each client. Her eclectic style is the culmination of her knowledge, understanding and lifetime of experience. From all of this, she will share with you what she has learned from the movement of dance, yoga, fitness and the conscious effort to live each day as fully as possible.

“It is how we practice during our journey through life, and the level of commitment we choose to apply to bettering ourselves, that becomes essential to our well-being.”—Terri Rivero

Terri Rivero is a four-time National Aerobic Gymnast and medal winning World Aerobic Gymnastic Champion. Competition has taken Terri all over the world to compete as well as to perform. She currently is retired as a competitor and works at Maldonado’s Renew as a personal trainer.

Terri has been in health and fitness for over 17 years. She brings a wealth of knowledge and experience to each client and has dedicated herself to continuous professional education. Terri stresses body awareness, teaching muscles and movement, proper breathing and incorporating functional training into every day activities. She works with clients that need sport-specific training and helps weekend warriors become more efficient, stronger and faster.

For more information on Active Isolated Stretching, Strengthening and Therapy go to www.stretchingusa.com.

Amanda Wongsonegoro studied therapeutic massage at the National Holistic Institute in Emeryville, California. She continues to advance her techniques through classes at Alive and Well (The Institute of Conscious BodyWork), Corte Madera and the Hendrickson Method Institute, Berkeley. Amanda has been in practice for over ten years. She has previous experience providing orthopedic massage to patients at North Bay Pain Care, Santa Rosa, Hill Park Medical Center, Petaluma, and Novato Chiropractic Care, Novato.

Her background in competitive swimming and interest in mind-body fitness steered her to Renew Yoga. At Renew, she combines efforts with Personal Trainer, Terri Rivero and Pilates Instructor, Ava Motter to facilitate somatic awareness in their clients. She is team-oriented. Massage sessions are strategized around the individual's goals, including increasing joint range of motion, recruiting muscles, and relaxation. Amanda provides a stress-free, balanced approach to therapeutic and orthopedic massage that provides life-long benefits for the mind and body.

Mary is a graduate of the Calistoga School of Massage in Santa Rosa and Swedish Stone R and C in Grass Valley, Ca.  Since receiving her certification in 2002, she has gained a vast amount of experience in the field of massage.  She began her career at a day spa where she utilized her skills by providing soothing relaxation massages as well as deep tissue.  Working for a chiropractic office as well as a fitness center in Laguna Beach, Ca provided her with an opportunity to gain experience in working with athletes as well as individuals with chronic pain.
“More and more people are utilizing the therapeutic and rejuvenating benefits of massage.  It is my goal to help individuals heal from symptoms of work related or physical related stress and enhance the feeling of wellness in their lives.”

Certified Instructor in Pilates Academy International, STOTT Pilates™,
Pre/Post Natal Pilates Exercise Specialist and the Pink Ribbon Program

Anne Bishop has immense enthusiasm for Pilates and her clients. Her movement history begins with dance. She started studying Pilates in 2000 and received her certification in 2002 with Stott Pilates in Toronto, Canada. Anne followed her passion for body awareness and the human form at San Francisco State University. There she studied biology, anatomy, and movement, receiving a Bachelors of Science in Physiology in 2005. In 2006 she joined the faculty at SFSU for a year, where she taught anatomy laboratory class in the Biology Department.

Currently, she works at University of California of San Francisco Radiology Department researching the brain. Anne draws from her academic education and her passion for movement to create a uniquely well-rounded approach to Pilates. Keeping abreast of new developments and challenges has inspired Anne to further her training at the Pilates Academy International (PAI) in Manhattan, New York. In July 2006, Anne became a certifying instructor for PAI, training instructors of Pilates in California and throughout the world. Most recently through PAI Anne was hired to teach and certify future instructors in the field in Istanbul, Turkey.

Anne's love for travel has expanded her teaching locals to such places as in Jamaica and at the Balance Pilates Studio in the Dominican Republic. Anne is dedicated to continually expanding her education in the field and sharing her love of Pilates with clients.

Anne recently became certified in the specialties in Pre- and Post-Natal Pilates and the Pink Ribbon Program, which helps breast cancer survivors post operatively. She inspires them to honor where they are in each session, and to move forward with playfulness, mindfulness, and great enthusiasm in their practice.

Currently Anne is taking a year of study at the Harvard Graduate School of Education to study the connection between learning movement and the brain.  She is receiving her masters in Mind, Brain and Education.

Ava has multiple mat and apparatus certifications through Physical Mind Institute and Integrated teacher training from Madeline Black. She has also taken workshops with Master Teachers Brent Anderson, Kathy Corey and Eric Franklin.

She continues her education through courses with Arron Mattes in Active Isolation Stretching and Tom Hendrickson Orthopedic Massage and Muscle Energy Technique. Ava also received her Pre and Post Natal Pilate's certification from Carolyn Anthony's Center For Women's Fitness.

Ava's love for Pilates and her zest for continued learning enables Ava to guide her clients to obtain their goals through education, movement and inspiration.  Ava brings a gentle and kind teaching style to her Pilates instruction.

Heather Arnett comes to Pilates with Anne with a Masters degree in Kinesiology and a whole lot of dance training.  As a BASI Certified Pilates Instructor who specializes in sport* specific training, Heather's clients include Illinois Police Corps cadets, members of the Men's Swim Team at the University of Utah, and her mom.  Perhaps because she is also a group fitness instructor and personal trainer, Heather looks forward to working on more important movement skills like handstands, climbing ropes and falling down for fun.  

Under the direction of Peggy Hackney and Janice Meaden in 2006 Heather completed the Integrated Movement Studies program, a graduate level study of the function and expression of human movement behavior that has also been described by its directors as "adult day-care".**  Because of this certification, Heather holds the shiny title of Certified Laban Movement Analyst, which is just a fancy way of saying she's pretty good at helping bodies move more efficiently, recover from injury and manage pain.

Heather currently lives and teaches in San Francisco and is working on a dance project with Kelly Kemp and Company that will be performed at ODC in January 2011.

Lisa's love for Pilates began right here at Pilates With Anne where, under the direction of studio owner Anne Bishop, she has been a student for over six years. Lisa recently decided to turn her love for practicing into her enthusiasm for teaching and is currently an apprentice teacher trained through Pilates Academy International (PAI) of New York.

Lisa has also practiced yoga for over 20 years. She is currently undergoing training to become a Certified Power Yoga Teacher through the Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga Institute.

Prior to teaching Pilates, Lisa earned a BA in English from San Francisco State University. She has professional experience in fundraising, public relations and marketing for several privately owned companies and non-profit organizations in the Bay Area.

As a mother of three young children, Lisa leads an active lifestyle and she brings all of her experience into her teaching style. As a Pilates instructor, Lisa combines her understanding of Pilates with her knowledge in yoga to help men and women of all fitness levels achieve their personal goals.

Elizabeth comes to Renew with over five years of a devoted yoga practice and sixteen years of experience as a classical ballet dancer. Her love for movement began early in life driven by a desire to find new ways to open the body, heart, and mind. Elizabeth blends the energy of an invigorating asana practice with an inward gaze and outer awareness. She offers students a fun and compassionate environment in which to move into their deepest connection with the practices of yoga. She received her teacher training from Frog Lotus in the Berkshires of Massachusetts and is a registered teacher with the Yoga Alliance. Elizabeth is grateful to be able to bring her passion for Yoga to Renew.

Nicholas Giacomini began studying yoga at the age of eighteen with his father. In January 2000, he took his first teacher training from It’s Yoga in San Francisco. There, he met his future wife Amanda. After completing the training, Nicholas and Amanda journeyed to India to deepen their knowledge of yoga. Upon their return, they opened the door of their own studio, Yoga Toes, in Nicholas’ home town of Point Reyes Station, California. Over the years, Nicholas has studied with many great teachers including Larry Schultz, Tim Miller, Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, Rod Stryker, Yogacharya Venkatesh and the Ashtanga Yoga Master, Shri K. Pattabhi Jois.

Nicholas teaches a fun, dynamic and deeply spiritual Vinyasa style yoga class. His classes are influenced by his passion for music and yogic philosophy. When he is not teaching, he is combining these two loves into his yoga-inspired hip hop as MC Yogi.

Available for Workshops only

For more information on Nicholoas visit: www.yogatoes.com or, www.mcyogi.com

Amy has been teaching adults and kids fitness classes for almost 20 years.  She has been practicing Yoga since 2001and it has inspired healing, personal growth and grounding, in her busy life.  Amy is the mother of three beautiful girls, ages 4 to 12 years old.  She has completed training with Baron Baptise, International Yogi and author, and Sydney Solis, founder of Mystic and Storytime Yoga.

She has run many kids after school programs and has a true love for children, Yoga and storytelling.

Larry was introduced to yoga in 1997 at the University of California at Santa Barbara while pursuing a degree in the field of the Biological Sciences. His studies with the external phenomena of the world were immediately complimented by yoga's exploration of the internal phenomena of the self.

It was during this time that he resonated with the idea of facilitating natural health and well-being to the community. As his relationship grew with yoga, he realized, firsthand, the immediate and latent health benefits that it conveyed to the practitioner. In fact, the deeper he delved into this path of being, the more profound were the rewards to be had. As we allow yoga to open the infinite layers of consciousness within the self, we begin to get a glimpse of where true peace and happiness resides.

Larry became a certified yoga teacher through "Into This World Yoga Teacher Training", taught by Suzanne Cardinal.

Reiki