OUR TEAM
Stefanie Berndt
Stefanie Berndt is one of the founders and directors of KALAA Yoga Berlin. She is registered with Yoga Alliance (E-RYT 500) and has been working within the field of dance, movement and body work throughout her life. Since her studies with Cyndi Lee/OM Yoga and ISHTA Yoga, Stefanie has specialized in Vinyasa yoga and the interweaving of Asana practice with yoga philosophy. As a teacher and practitioner she also embraces Hatha yoga, Restorative yoga, Meditation and Pranayama. Her classes are based on daily self-practice on the mat, in life, with people. You can expect plenty of sun salutations and in-depth exploration of classical and creative Asana and movement.
Manuela Berndt
Manuela Berndt is one of the founders and directors of KALAA Yoga Berlin. She started her yoga practice as a professional dancer and choreographer. She has now built over fifteen years of teaching experience and has taught at numerous yoga schools as well as other settings in Berlin and around the world. With a particular affinity for the energizing flow of Vinyasa yoga and the unison of breath, motion, strength and flexibility, her classes are highly dynamic. They focus on complex movement, mindfully built sequences and organic transitions between Asanas. Manuela also specializes in gentle yoga for the back and shoulders, integral yoga therapy and Thai yoga massage.
Janine Eck
Janine Eck has completed her yoga teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin in 2015. She has been a member of our team ever since. Over the years she has developed a profound self-practice and continuously strives to deepen her knowledge of yoga. Janine’s classes are deeply inspired by her own experience and transmit the joy and tranquility she has discovered in her practice. In her teaching she aims to combine humor and ease with precise and profound body work. Next to her main focus on Vinyasa yoga, she is moreover interested in sharing the benefits of Restorative yoga and Yin yoga. Janine also works as an author and writes factual texts for children and teenagers.
Kristin Tovson
Starting from a love of dance and movement, Kristin found yoga over 20 years ago. She is a 500-hours OM Yoga certified teacher and has trained under the guidance of Cyndi Lee. She has been teaching in many varied contexts since 2001, offering public classes, private tuition, workshops and yoga retreats. In her yoga classes Kristin encourages people to be at home in their own bodies, connected to their needs and well-being. Her teaching style is characterized by flowing movement sequences and a balance between setting new challenges and finding moments of calm. Health and mindfulness are always at the centre of Kristin’s approach. See more.
N’gone Thiam
N’gone is a singer, musician, author and enthusiastic yoga practitioner. Having experienced physical and mental transformation in her own yoga practice, she has decided to embark on a teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin in 2016. N’gone’s classes are lighthearted and grounded. She is fascinated by the diversity of Vinyasa yoga and strives to bring creativity into every single class.
Irina Demina
Irina’s yoga path began in 2005 at the Ashtanga Yoga Centre in Moscow.
Her dance profession has enabled her to get to know many different yoga styles, teachers and traditions in other countries. In 2016 Irina accomplished her yoga teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin. In 2018 she received initiation into the Kriya yoga tradition of Lahiri Mahasaya by Guruji Shri Shailendra Sharma. Irina considers her yoga practice a cabinet of wonders, a laboratory and a metaphor of life. In her classes she encourages people to constantly discover themselves anew and experience yoga on a personal level.
Katharina Dodel
Katharina discovered yoga a few years ago. From the first second she was fascinated by the powerful movements, the precise alignment of the Asanas, the energy, peace and focus. Katharina has accomplished two teacher trainings in India – at first in the Iyengar method and then in Vinyasa yoga. Now she combines both of them dynamically in her practice. Katharina aims to share her enthusiasm for smooth, body-conscious movement, syncing breath work and athletic challenges. On her blog she shares impressions of her yoga practice.
Danielle Barnett
In 2017, Danielle followed her heart to Berlin from San Francisco, where she had been teaching yoga for three years. With a passion for music and dance she offers a strong flow, which invokes presence with one’s own body and breath. She is trained in Vinyasa yoga, Hatha yoga, and Bhakti flow, and is continuously doing her own self-study on astrology, Ayurveda, and different forms of healthy living. Deeply committed to community building and self-discovery, she hopes her classes leave students feeling inspired and empowered.
Die Krause
Die has discovered yoga whilst training as a contemporary dancer. She is a physiotherapist and has accomplished her Vinyasa yoga teacher training with Henning Moog. Die’s yoga classes are characterized by her deep interest for movement, anatomy and perception. In her teaching she combines her experience in dance and body work with anatomical and physiological knowledge. Die is moreover drawn to Bhakti yoga and regularly practices Mantra and Kirtan.
Lena Zimmermann
Lena’s yoga path began in 2008 whilst studying communication sciences. After many years of deepening her own practice, she has developed the urge to share her experiences with others. In 2016 she accomplished her yoga teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin followed by a Hatha yoga training and an advanced teacher training in India. Lena has been teaching with much joy and dedication ever since. She strives to enable her students to discover and unfold their potential on and off the mat.
Kit Kuksenok
Kit first encountered yoga in Seattle, and it soon became an essential part of recovering from chronic pain associated with wrist injury. That experience continues to inform their personal yoga practice, and their teaching style, even in vigorous and dynamic sequences. Kit completed their yoga teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin in 2020. Off the mat, they explore the self-study aspect of the path of yoga as a visual artist.
Suna Sammüller
As a biologist, Suna is passionate about the human body and likes to explore its capabilities during yoga class. During her 200-hour yoga teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin she specialized on Vinyasa Yoga. Her classes are clearly structured and creative, using the many possibilities the practice offers. She loosens up her classes not only with unexpected elements and transitions, but also with her cheerful mentality. Suna designs her classes the way she herself prefers to practice yoga: breath-focused, playful and balanced.
Inga Tiede
Inga has been a passionate dancer since she could walk. Since KALAA Yoga Berlin opened, her enthusiasm for movement and the interaction of body and mind has been equally absorbed in yoga.
More than ten years of continuous practice culminated in KALAA’s Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training in 2021.
Inga’s practice lives from the embrace of the Self and the intertwining of body and mind. Therefore, holistic aspects of yoga such as pranayama and meditation are part of her teaching. She manages to pick up and inspire newcomers just as much as advanced
practitioners.
Muriel Cuissard
Muriel discovered yoga in 2013 while recovering from an injury. From that point on she has been swept away by the philosophy and practice of yoga and completed her 200 hours Yoga teacher training at KALAA Yoga Berlin in 2020. Her background in contemporary dance and ballet inspires her classes that string together dynamic vinyasa sequences and a playful approach to movement and mind. Being passionate about the body-mind connection and exploration, Muriel also works as a body-work practitioner.
Katherine Leung
Katherine trained as a dancer in classical ballet and contemporary dance. She grew up in Hong Kong and is of Scottish and Hong Kong Chinese descent. Having worked through the body from a very young age with dance – her curiosity drew her to try more styles of movement and expression. Yoga became one of the most influential and consistent practices which improved not only her expression of dance but also greatly influenced her mind.
She completed her 200-hour Multi Style Yoga teacher training with Living Yoga School from Rishikesh, India. Her aim is to highlight the importance of body awareness by combining her knowledge of both yoga and dance, to reach goals with persistence and care.
Clara Bolldorf
Clara found her way to yoga through dancing and Pilates. She feels that Yoga brings together movement, body awareness and mindfulness in the best possible way. Alongside her university studies the practice of yoga and meditation increasingly took up space in her everyday life. The desire to deepen these and to pass on the positive and transformative effects of the practice resulted in a training at KALAA Yoga Berlin in 2021. In her classes she wants to encourage an attentive exploration of one’s own physical possibilities and states of being in constant connection with conscious breathing. She emphasizes clear and powerful asanas, dynamic playful sequences, as well as calm and focused elements.
Tomer Shuva
Tomer is a judo and yoga teacher and grew up in Israel; since 2013 he is living in Europe. During his travels to India he got to know different teachers and yoga styles. Since 2013 he has been practicing at KALAA Yoga Berlin and completed his Vinyasa Yoga training in 2019.
His background as a professional judo athlete gives him extensive knowledge about body movement, fitness and nutrition. Together with his profound interest in yoga and meditation and years of practical experience, he brings his own unique touch to the class.
Monika Seeliger
What fascinates Monika most about Vinyasa Yoga is the combination of fixed class elements, creative sequences, challenging asanas and the continuous awareness of the breath. In addition, she discovered Yin Yoga a few years ago. Here it is the somatic aspect that intrigues her the most. To deepen her own practice, she began training as a Vinyasa Yoga teacher at KALAA in 2018. Here she discovered her joy in teaching and has expanded her knowledge even further with a Yin Yoga training in 2021 in Berlin. Monikas classes are characterized by precise and practical explanatios and a creative flow with variations and new movement sequences. She brings a certain calmness to the practice space and tries to give the students space for self-discovery.