Meet the Team

Vionna Jones, Owner
After attending the Pennsylvania State University and earning a BS in Civil Engineering, I came to the DC area to work in site development. I enjoyed being a civil engineer and seeing my designs become a reality, but there was something missing. I didn't like sitting at a computer for nine hours a day. I wanted to interact with people. In 2002, I earned a Masters in Community Planning from the University of Maryland. I thought this would help me to be able to work with communities and help people; however, it was difficult for me to land a job in this field.

My new life in DC started out very sedentary, so I started to exercise. I did not exercise in college. I felt that all the walking I did was enough exercise for me. I enjoyed exercising so much; I decided to become certified as a group fitness instructor and personal trainer in 2004. In June of 2005, I decided to take leave of absence from my engineering job to become a full time fitness professional. That was probably one of the best decisions I have ever made!

In preparing to become a personal trainer, I began to research the benefits of exercise for expectant mothers. I came to realize that expectant mothers may not be aware of these benefits, or they may be hesitant to exercise on their own. That is when I became dedicated to helping women enjoy healthy pregnancies, have healthy babies and return to their pre-pregnancy fitness levels with ease.

Michelle Ava
Michelle Ava (M.A.),dancer, educator,choreographer and spiritual teacher approaches movement as a healing art. With a masters degree in dance education, she has been a vital force in Washington, D.C. dance and holistic communities for over three decades. She has dedicated her work to fusing modern dance with yoga, meditation and spiritual practice to assist students of all ages and levels of experience to discover creative expression and the true joy of being in motion. Michelle is the founder of Joy of Motion Dance Center where she served as artistic director from 1976 to 1990.
Michelle Ava is the creator ofAVAdance, a technique and performance collaborative incorporating the qualities of Authenticity, Vibrancy and Awareness as a guide to personal exploration and alignment to ones core. Ms. AVA teaches and presents her work both locally and nationally while maintaining a private practice in Movement Therapy and Life Enhancement coaching. For 3 seasons she served as summer core faculty at Omega Institute in Rhinebeck New York.
Michelle co-produces SpiritMotion and Drumming, a seasonal community gathering featuring free form CharkaDance and is currenty working of her first book which addresses the beauty and significance of Movement as a Healing Art.

www.AVAdance.com

Jocelyn Gordon is a Movement Enthusiast. She has studied massage and dance from the age of five, and continues to be inspired by the expansive creativity of the healing arts. Certified as a Massage and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist, Jocelyn uses her combined training and experiential knowledge to help clients/students deepen their awareness, connect to joy, and develop their self-healing abilities. Jocelyn is passionate about movement as a meditation and spiritual practice. Her enthusiasm is expressed through her wellness education and event planning company, LoveMovement Healing Arts (www.lovemovementhealingarts.com). She looks forward to moving and healing with you.

Lisa Lee Mendizabal has been an athlete and has enjoyed fitness and sports for many years. Throughout high school she participated in soccer, track, and cross country. She competed and qualified for Penn Relays and regional meets in track. During college she assisted her father with his men's soccer team conditioning camps. Meanwhile throughout her life she has participated in rock climbing, horseback riding, swimming, ice skating, rollerlading and caving. She loves adventure and love being active.
 
Lisa, an AFAA Certified Group Exercise Instructor, is enrolled in massage therapy school and the Aveda Institute.

Lisa believes in a well rounded approach to wellness. She comes from the philosophy of mind/body/spirit. She practices yoga and Pilates and incorporates the principles of these disciplines into her classes. She firmly believes that fitness should be fun and as equal a part of your overall wellbeing and life as sleeping and eating. Her philosophy about fitness is that it creates balance in our lives.

Lisa speaks Spanish and understands  Brazilian Portuguese.

Abby Murphy is a local pediatric occupational therapist and children's yoga teacher. She is trained in Radiant Child Yoga, Yoga for the Special Child, and Itsy Bitsy Yoga for Tykes. Working with children of all ages and developmental abilities, she feels yoga can make a huge impact on childrens physical, mental and spiritual development. Abby
and Hot Mama Fitness will be donating the proceeds of her classes to Off The Mat, Into the World's Seva Challenge benefiting the Cambodian Children's Fund.

Contact Abby for more info at: abbyoffthemat@gmail.com

Panarat has been deeply involved in meditation for over 15 years. She holds a B. Ed (English), M. Ed (Educational Psychology), MBA (Marketing) and currently is working on the doctoral degree in Public Administration at the University of Baltimore. From a teaching career as a lecturer at the University in Thailand, she came to the United States for higher education. Panarat has lived in the United States for the last six years. She lives with her husband in Potomac, MD. As a meditation lover, it has became a part of her life. She believes that meditation is central to understanding life, managing the mind and attaining happiness through personal success. The process of meditation is essential to healthy psychology for the expectant and new mother.

Shaylah

Shaylah is a Washington, DC native who began studying the art of bellydancing seven years ago as one of the original members of the Moor Hips Bellydance troupe. She has danced and taught workshops throughout the USA and Caribbean. Her goal is to bring attention and awareness to the true roots of ancient African Bellydance and to promote physical, mental and emotional healing through the dance. She is a founding member of the Bellydancers of Color Association (BOCA) who sponsors a festival every year that brings dancers of color from all over the world.

Shaylah has been privileged to train and attend workshops with Dr. Sunyatta Amen, Tarik Sultan, Nabeela El Shalimar, Somra El Nubia, Morocco and many more. She balances dancing with her full time career as a homeschooling mother of four, wife, natural childbirth educator (Bradley Method®) and doula. Shaylah has danced through two pregnancies and used the movements to enhance her birth experience. Women in her classes have learned how to tune into their bodies and nurture their feminine energy. Be prepared to dance and move yourself to a higher level.

Maya Taahira

Maya Taahira is the founder and Artistic Director of the Triple Goddess Tribal Belly Dance Troupe, a performance group that embraces women at every stage of their lives: innocent youth, fertile middle years, and wise elderhood. She studied Middle Eastern Dance for 10 years in the United States and Germany with internationally renowned dancers including Suhaila Salimpour, Saqra Raybuck, Artemis Mourat, and Rhea of Athens, Greece.
 
She has taught for the last 6 years at yoga studios, YMCAs, and community centers, most recently finishing a contract with the Levine School of Music in Washington, DC, where she taught over 100 children to belly dance in three weeks! Her pre- and post- natal belly dancing workshops and classes were sponsored by the Midwives' Alliance of North America, the International Caesarean Awareness Network of Baltimore, and the Birth Options Alliance (formerly known as the Takoma Park Birthing Circle). In addition, Maya danced and taught throughout her two pregnancies and is now teaching her sons Middle Eastern music and movement.
 
She believes, along with many other dancers and researchers, that the movements of belly dancing help women strengthen and tone their abdominal and pelvic floor muscles. But it is the artistic nature of the dance that helps provide women with a creative outlet to express their individual femininity to exotic melodies and enticing rhythms.
 
Come try it! You'll have so much fun dancing you will forget you're working out!

Amina Vohra

Amina's Dance School director, Amina Vohra teaches Hip Hop & Fusion for Nightclub Dancing Class near DC which was recently featured on Fox 5 News. www.aminadance.com).  She is also the teacher for Hip Hop Fusion at Hot Mama Fitness Studio. Besides being a teacher she is also a dance performer and has performed her fusion dance at such venues as the Kennedy Center and has judged dance competitions. Amina has 21 years of training in dance and has been training and performing since early childhood in many kinds of dances. She has studied Classical Indian Dance, Indian folk dance (Bollywood), Flamenco, Middle Eastern Belly Dance, Tap, Hip-Hop, Hula, Tahitian, Swing, and Salsa.  She is also a college graduate of Carnegie Mellon University with a double degree in Human Computer Interaction and Creative Writing as well as a double minor in communication design and multimedia authoring.

http://www.aminadance.com

Donna Waks

Donna has been a movement educator and body therapist for 25 years. She combines her
experience as a dancer, athlete, Certified Laban/Bartenieff Movement Analyst, and
Massage and Craniosacral Therapist with influences from Feldenkrais and Body/Mind
Centering. Her work with pre- and post-natal women includes deep tissue bodywork,
craniosacral therapy and movement re-education sessions.

"I believe that by taking the time to connect with and listen to our bodies, we can
uncover our innate intelligence and health and gain a renewed sense of
well-being."

Donna began dancing and expressing herself through movement when she was 7 years
old and has been an athlete all her life. While choreographing and performing in
NYC, she delved into different movement and body therapy approaches which she has
continued to explore. She'sincorporated this developed kinesthetic experience and
fine-tuned sensitivity into her work as a somatic practitioner. In her practice,
she address a wide range of issues with athletes, acute or chronic illness, pre-
and post-natal, the elderly, and individuals dealing with day-to-day stress and
imbalances. Over the past 15 years, Donna's movement work with spirals, other
three-dimensional organic spatial forms and developmental movement patterns has
evolved into her Fluid Movement classes. These unique classes offer a progression
of movement patterns which integrate the whole body for better functioning and ease
of movement.

www.donnawaks.com

Robin Zeffiro

Robin Zeffiro has danced since the age of 4, focusing on ballet but also including jazz and modern dance. She continued her dance studies at American University, while she earned her Bachelor of Arts. Currently, she is pursuing her M.A. in Health Promotions Management at American University, where she teaches group fitness classes. Her other teaching experience includes several years at Dance Foundations in Columbia, Maryland, where she taught ballet, modern dance and jazz for children ages 4 to 12. She is certified by ACE as a personal trainer and group fitness instructor and works at City Fitness Gym as a personal trainer. Additional training includes master classes with members of the Suzanne Farrell Ballet, Bob Fosse Dance Company and master instructor trainer Shannon Fable of Balletone.