Annette Murphy
Annette Murphy has been practicing Iyengar Yoga over half her life. Her pursuit of freedom through the path of Yoga brought her from her native Ireland to San Francisco in 1984. She is a graduate of the Advanced Studies Program at the Iyengar Yoga Institute, an Intermediate level certified teacher and has been teaching full time in the Bay Area for the past sixteen years Annette has taught in many institutions over the years including, San Francisco State University, UCSF Osher Center, The Dolphin Club (where she became a member and regularly swims in the San Francisco bay) the Presidio Club as well as starting a hugely successful yoga program for The Olympic Club where she taught for 10 years. Annette also teaches workshops in Europe.

In 2002 Annette opened Santosha Yoga Center. She specializes in Yoga Therapy and regularly sees people privately to work with issues such as back care, neck and shoulder problems, hip problems, migraine sufferers, arthritis, fertility issues as well as pre and postnatal yoga. She teaches weekly classes as well as workshops and intensives at Santosha Yoga Center as well as at The Iyengar Yoga Institute Of San Francisco.

Annette is a naturally gifted teacher. She inspires her students with her passion for the transformative healing art of Yoga. Her teaching style is challenging yet soft. She encourages her students to work deeply yet at the same time to honor and work skillfully with their physical limitations so that their practice truly helps them to experience a greater sense of wholeness, balance, grace and well being. .

Adrienne Klein
In 1982, Adrienne discovered and instantly fell in love with Iyengar Yoga because she found it physically and intellectually challenging and emotionally comforting. In 1994, she intensified her studies to recover from a back injury and tasted the curative effects of the practice. Adrienne conducted her teacher training at the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco, studies weekly with her beloved teacher Manouso Manos, and has thrice studied at the Iyengar Yoga Institute in Pune, India. She began teaching in 1998 and is an intermediate level Iyengar certified teacher. Adrienne simply loves the study of yoga and hopes to have an opportunity to infect you with her enthusiasm for the subject.

Valerie Valardi
Valerie has been practicing Iyengar Yoga for the past fifteen years. She studied at the Iyengar Institute in San Francisco and became a Certified Instructor in 2002. She renews her teaching and her own practice by visiting India to study directly with the Iyengars. Her teaching style is quiet, patient and uplifting while still maintaining precision and attention to detail. Prior to her Iyengar Studies Valerie was a dancer and taught Modern Dance. She has a Master 's Degree in the Dance Arts from Mills College.

Anne Barbaret
Originally from France, Anne is a veteran marathon runner and avid bay swimmer. She has been practicing Iyengar Yoga for 9 years and is a graduate of the Advances Studies Teacher Training program at The Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco She teaches regularly at The Olympic Club as well as at Santosha Yoga Center

Anne’s teaching style is methodical and precise. She builds confidence in her students as they work towards developing flexibility, strength, balance and poise  through their practice. Anne has studied with the Iyengars in India and is currently preparing for her certification exam.

After years as a student of yoga and with significant early teaching experience, candidates for assessment apply to take the exam. Given over the course of a weekend, prospective teachers must show proficiency in performance of the asanas or postures at their level and take a written exam on philosophy, anatomy and practical knowledge of teaching. In the third and most important part of the test, the candidate is observed and assessed while teaching a sample class.

This process is repeated in a year or two with a different set of poses and only then is the full certification granted at the introductory level. There are six levels currently available for assessment from introductory to intermediate senior.

After successful completion of this exam the teacher is considered certified and may denote that with the official Iyengar Certification Mark.