Teachers
Dedicated to the craft of teaching, MSY teachers are professionally-certified and use their years of experience to offer safe and transformative classes and workshops.
Carla McAdams
MA, E‑RYT 500, C‑IAYT
Carla is an experienced yoga teacher and professional yoga therapist, certified by the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She is dedicated to helping her students realize their own pathway to self-awareness and healing. Drawing from many styles of yoga and over 20 years of teaching experience, she crafts in-depth yoga practices that are safe for her students to explore movement in their bodies, while creating stillness in their minds and compassion in their hearts.
Carla has practiced yoga since 1982 and began teaching it in 2000. She has studied extensively since 1999 at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health, earning both 200 and 500 hour yoga teacher certifications, a 1000 hour yoga therapy certification through Integrative Yoga Therapy, plus completed numerous other trainings applicable to yoga therapy. She also holds advanced yoga therapy training certificates in Yoga for Back Care and Scoliosis with Elise Browning Miller, Chakra Yoga with Anodea Judith, Yoga Therapy through Body Balance Yoga, and Prenatal Yoga through both the Himalayan Institute and Pranakriya Yoga. Additionally, Carla earned a certificate in Yoga for Seniors through Duke Integrative Medicine, plus completed trainings in Advanced Anatomy Assessments with Maria (Mendola) Shamas and in Sensory-Enhanced Yoga for Self-Regulation and Healing through the Sensory Enhanced Yoga Institute.
Mountain Spirit Yoga studio was opened by Carla in 2007, with the goal of creating a community-centered studio for people from all walks of life to experience the healing benefits of yoga. There she specializes in structural yoga therapy and back care, and is passionate about the effects of postural alignment and functional movement on all aspects of our health and well-being.
An avid gardener and traveler, Carla loves to bike, hike, and drink in the expansive quality of standing on top of the highest mountains.
Audra Monk
E-RYT 200
Audra has studied yoga since 2000 and began teaching in 2002. has studied yoga since 2000 and began teaching in 2002. She earned her teaching certification from Sun and Moon Yoga Studio in Virginia. She has studied yoga for kids, pregnancy, and seniors. She has taken Yoga for Arthritis training with Dr. Steffany Moonaz. Audra believes that yoga is for everybody and encourages students to recognize that our bodies change each and every day; to accept where they are in their bodies at any given moment, be gentle with themselves, and –most of all- to have fun! Audra brings a lighthearted style to her classes that are infused with all of the things she holds dear: nature, her husband and children, her pets and the world around us. To Audra, everything is connected and yoga makes those connections more vibrant.
Mary Barton
RYT 200, Certified Pilates Instructor
Mary is certified at the beginner and intermediate levels for mat Pilates classes by Power Pilates. To enhance her teaching, she became licensed in the Buff Bones program to strengthen bones and improve balance. Her Pilates Plus! class incorporates principles from that training and is accessible for students with osteopenia/osteoporosis, as well as for all students working to improve their bone health. Mary is also a certified Prana Flow yoga teacher at the 200-hour level and has specialty training in Restorative Yoga with Shannon Paige. Her teaching is precise and suitable for beginners, yet individually challenging for intermediate students.
Elaine Lewis
E-RYT 200. RYT500, YACEP
Elaine has been practicing yoga for over 30 years and began teaching in 2015. She completed a 200-hour Teacher Training Program with Jala Yoga in Shepherdstown, WV. She has received further training in Yin and Trauma Informed Yoga. In 2024 she completed a 300-hour Advanced Teacher Training Program offered by Christa Mastrangelo Joyce with a focus on cultivating curiosity, adaptability, and engagement in the practice of yoga.
Elaine is recognized by Yoga Alliance as E-RYT 200, RYT 500 and YACEP, which means she is a Registered Yoga Teacher with over 500 hours of yoga teacher training, over 1,000 hours of teaching experience and is a Yoga Alliance Continuing Education Provider. She is an ambassador for the Accessible Yoga Community, a resource for offering yoga to marginalized individuals and communities. She offers both group and private yoga classes in Maryland and West Virginia
Elaine enjoys offering yoga to all students – beginners, as well as more seasoned practitioners. Her classes encourage students to be mindful, curious & playful. Poses will be adapted to meet the needs of everyone. She believes that the best yoga practice is one that can be safely sustained and evolves with you, as you grow and change. When not in the yoga studio, Elaine enjoys family time with kids and grandkids, hiking, camping, traveling, and wine tasting. She lives in Keedysville, MD with her husband, Craig.
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Mary Koster
RYT 200
Mary has been studying and practicing yoga since 2000. She became a student at MSY in 2013 and got certified as a Kripalu Yoga Teacher in 2020. Mary completed advanced certification as a Dynamic Gentle Yoga™ Teacher and Chair-Supported Yoga from Rudy Peirce and studied Trauma-Sensitive Yoga with Rachel Allen. Mary brings to her teaching a sensitivity to the subtleties of yoga including physical alignment, pranayama, and yoga philosophy. In addition to yoga, Mary enjoys swimming and reading. She resides in Frederick, Maryland with her husband and three sons.
Denise Slusser
Denise discovered the benefits of yoga while looking for a way to relieve job-related stress and improve overall fitness. Upon retirement, and inspired by her practice at Mountain Spirit Yoga and Carla McAdams’ teaching, she earned her teaching certification at Kripalu Center for Yoga & Health in 2011. Subsequent Kripalu certifications including Foundations of Ayurveda and Integrating Yoga and Ayurveda, deepened her interest in yoga philosophy and how its principles can provide tools to cope with the challenges we all experience in daily life.She cherishes the relationships she’s made over the years at MSY, her yoga home. A perennial flute student, she’s a longtime member of the Frederick Community College Flute Choir and enjoys traveling the world with her dear husband, her family, or on solo adventures.
Miyako Zeng
E-RYT 500
Miyako has been practicing yoga since 1992. The more she practiced yoga, the more she fell in love with yoga. She took her yoga teacher training at Sol Yoga in 2013 and started to teach yoga right away. Miyako studied specialized yoga teacher training for kids yoga, prenatal yoga, trauma-informed yoga, and chair yoga. Miyako mentored with Carla McAdams and trained to teach seniors. Since 2017 Miyako has been teaching yoga for seniors at the Frederick Senior Center. She has taught and subbed at several yoga studios in Frederick county including Sol Yoga, Mountain Spirit Yoga, and Yogamour.
Jan Hummer
M.A. in Contemplative Education (Mindfulness)
Jan has over 20 years of dedicated personal practice. Jan has taught mindfulness and contemplative movement both domestically and internationally. She is also a certified yoga teacher, with specializations in Trauma-Informed Yoga, Yin Yoga, and Kids Yoga.
Edie Lazenby
RYT 200
Edie is an experienced and resourceful teacher, actively teaching yoga since 2004. She is a certified 200 hour Yoga Teacher, a certified Kids Yoga Teacher and has training in both pre and post natal yoga. She received further training in Therapeutic Yoga from Jenny Otto and this experience informs all her teaching. Edie loves sharing yoga with all ages – kids to seniors.
Edie says “no pain, no pain” in yoga. If something hurts, we find a different way to move the body. She loves teaching gentle, slower paced yoga. Her hope that students leave class feeling better than when they arrived. She believes all reasons are good reasons to practice yoga, whether for the physical challenge, relaxation, or spiritual upliftment that results from practice.
She likes to have fun while inviting her students to listen to their body, always deferring to the wisdom of the student’s body while keeping them safe. She also loves to write poetry and enjoys movies. Currently she works with elementary school aged children in an aftercare program.
Hollie Lumb
RYT 500
Yoga has been part of Hollie’s life for over 20 years. The year 2020 pushed her to deepen her already well-established asana practice and discover a more rounded yoga life, subsequently embarking on teacher training in 2022 and completing RYT 500 with a foundation of trauma informed yoga.
The subtleties of a yoga asana are what sings to her and what she loves to share, with chakra alignment being a core aspect. These subtleties led to her training in face yoga where she uniquely includes an Ayurvedic approach to this deep practice, including marma points and Ayurvedic breath. Both of these incorporate access to the more inner layers of our being.
Hollie looks forward to guiding you, where she can hold space to share knowledge and for you to uncover yourself and build your own resilience for all of life’s ebb and flow.
Amanda Winters
RYT 200
Amanda is experienced and professionally trained in Hatha-Based Yoga Flow, Yin Yoga, Trauma-Sensitive Restorative Yoga, Advanced Trauma-Informed Yoga, and Music Performance at Hood College. She’s also expanding her knowledge through a 100-hour Yoga Nidra Teacher Training, studying with Ally Boothroyd Yoga & Wellness of Ontario, Canada.
Amanda brings her embodied experience to help students cultivate their inner resource of wellness. Discovering a passion for yoga through her own healing journey, Amanda has an intimate understanding of how the effects of our daily lives can accumulate and manifest within our bodies, minds and spirits. Her approach to yoga practice is innately through a trauma-informed lens. She offers accessible practices in a safe, supported space for healing and self- discovery.
One of Amanda’s specialties is crafting restorative Sound Bath experiences, using tones of the English horn, Tibetan and crystal singing bowls, Koshi chimes and other resonant instruments.
Carrie Dennison
E-RYT 200, YACEP, AYC-CYT Level 2, Reiki Master
Carrie is an experienced yoga teacher, self-care coach and community co-creator. She loves curating spaces for people to practice caring for and loving themselves. Bringing the community together through yoga, rest and breath really lights her up. She intuitively guides individuals to connect to the humanness in themselves and to the humanness in each other.
She is E-RYT 200 and YACEP certified with Yoga Alliance and Level 2 Certified through American Yoga Council.
Carrie completed her yoga training at The Shala School at Ananda Shala. She has studied Restorative Yoga with Tara Lemerise, Yin Yoga and Anatomy with Machelle Lee, Trauma Informed Yoga with Yogamour, and Somatic Experiencing with Alicia Barmon. She offers a welcoming, fun and calm environment for anyone to show up and explore the layers of mind, body and spirit. Her goal is to help you slow down, connect and remember the gifts you offer this world.
Carrie specializes in Pranayama and Breathwork, Restorative Yoga and leading Self-Care Retreats.
Connect with Carrie:
