Deirdre

Deirdre was born and raised in Raleigh, NC and comes from a background of movement-based healing modalities.  Having graduated with her BFA in Dance from the University of NC School of the Arts, Deirdre went on to dance professionally in New York, Atlanta and Chenni, India, along with touring the world.  She performed with Carolyn Dorfman Dance Company, Ann Moradian’s Perspectives In Motion, Sue Bernhard Dance Works and Several Dancers Core.  Deirdre was a long-time teacher, choreographer and director of the Modern Dance program for the NC Governor’s School, as well as, creating and running a creative movement program for Imagine Early Learning Centers in NYC.  Deirdre used her teaching abilities and love of movement to transition to teaching yoga to dancers at NYU, LIU, City Center and various studios throughout New York City, along with returning to NC each summer to teach for the American Dance Festival at Duke University.

Deirdre has been practicing and teaching yoga all over the world for over 30 years.  She has always focused her teachings in alignment-based modalities and uses therapeutic techniques to assist her students and clients in reducing chronic pain.  Deirdre specializes in helping clients with pelvic floor issues. Her passion to maintain a steady commitment to alignment, as well as, physical & emotional safety creates an environment alive with questions, philosophy, and humor based on connecting real life situations to the physical experience.  She couples her serious dedication with a light-hearted approach.  Deirdre weaves yoga philosophy into her work to acknowledge the interconnection of body, mind, and spirit.  

Deirdre teaches public and private classes in her yoga hOMe studio in Asheville.  She also teaches for the Asheville Yoga Center and West Asheville Yoga.  Deirdre is E-RYT 500 Yoga Alliance Certified and teaches for yoga teacher training programs around the U.S.  Deirdre is certified in the BodyMind BallWork method, a body work method of using balls for self-massage.  She also holds a certification in teaching Pelvic Floor Yoga from Leslie Howard.  Deirdre’s strongest yoga experiences and trainings have been in the Krisnamacharya Lineage through Ashtanga Vinyasa, Iyengar, Vini Yoga (Desikachar in Madras, India) and Anusara (formerly Certified).  

Deirdre recently began teaching a group of veterans in a class called ‘Move to Heal’.  In this work she combines all her experience in the various forms of movement-based healing modalities along with decades of training in trauma based, nervous system resiliency techniques.  This class is an incredible experience of vulnerable sharing, moving one’s body for pain management and heartfelt community.  Deirdre is honored to be a part of the healing process for these veterans.  

Classes

This class is designed for the yoga geeks out there and/or for students that are looking for more personalized attention and instruction in a yoga asana class.  The Yoga Lab is an interactive environment where we (teacher and students) experiment together.  It is a unique opportunity to enter into a dialogue of verbal and physical conversation.  We explore questions and answers about alignment, philosophy and life.  The work can be very physical at times and very subtle at others, it is always different, often with a hands-on component and partner exercises.  The “advanced” element of the class is not in physical endurance but in minute refinements and willingness to be mindful of habitual patterns.  The mature and skillful instruction allows for a safe space to do healing on many different levels.