Hello I’m Val! I’m the owner of Ascending Studio and I look forward to sharing the gift of movement with you! From the time I was a little girl I was enthralled by dance and movement. I have always had a love and passion for fitness, health and movement. I served in the Airforce for 6 years, and during that time I discovered my passion for helping others on their fitness journey.

After I had my wonderful son I began my own postpartum recovery and that’s when I discovered the gift of Pilates. In 2019 I decided to become certified in Reformer in order to teach others. Soon after, I discovered Buti Yoga and I completely fell in love with the practice. Buti is my soul-mate workout and over the last few years I received my 200 hour Yoga certification and continued on to become certified in Barre, Aerial Yoga and Deep by Buti (a restorative practice)!

My mission in beginning Ascending Studio is to help others find joy in health and fitness! Pilates and Yoga have changed my life, both physically and mentally and I hope to help others feel the same.

Amanda's yoga journey began years ago. In 2012, she attended her first RYT course and instantly fell in love with teaching. Unfortunately, the universe had other plans for her that year and her course was cut short due to health reasons. It was during her rehabilitation that Amanda found through breath work, yoga, and meditation she could accept and understand that there is always more than one path to any journey. In 2013, Amanda was able to return to her studies and complete her 200 hour training with a new perspective on life, love and Yoga. Finding that she wanted to deepen her practice and knowledge Amanda completed her 500 RYT and is a registered PRYT with over a 100 hours pre-natal and women's health training. She also is certified in Thai yoga body work. She is continuing to explore and learn along her journey bringing her focus to full body wellness. She teaches yoga foundations, flow, restorative, chair and yin classes working in group or private sessions.

"The enlightened one in me acknowledges the enlightened one in you!"

Katalin has been a lifelong ballet and dance enthusiast starting at the age of 6 years old. It was a passion and a lifestyle at the same time, until she had an injury that heavily challenged her biggest dream of becoming a dancer. In the early 2000’s Katalin heard about Pilates. She completed her comprehensive training with STOTT Pilates Mat at the NY Training Center in 2004. Alongside that, a couple of years ago she decided to continue to educate herself at Club Pilates as a Teacher Trainee in Atlanta. This allowed her to transition from the classical Pilates to a more contemporary approach, as it fits into today’s needs.

Her goal is to help others feel and function at their best because she firmly believes the majority of groundwork of happiness is good health. Spending time outside, and soaking up sunshine is truly a part of her essence; cannot go with out it. Her dearest loved ones will always hold priority number 1 in her heart.

Megan has been teaching Pilates for the past 12 years. She received her BFA in Dance with an emphasis in teaching from Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. After graduating, Megan moved to Brooklyn, NY where she completed her comprehensive Balanced Body Pilates Certification with Pilates Reforming NY and taught privates, group classes, and dance throughout Manhattan and Brooklyn. She has taken continuing education courses in Kinesiology and Anatomy, degenerative disorders MS and Parkinson's, Thomas Meyer's Anatomy Trains, and other fascial release trainings. Megan teaches a contemporary style of Pilates, and finds inspiration through modalities such as Gyrotonic®, Yoga, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, MELT and Dance. Megan's style of teaching targets specific muscle groups and utilizes the fascial planes of the body to help rebuild and fine-tune the neuromuscular connections within the body. She believes in the healing properties of Pilates and movement to enhance and improve movement patterns, chronic pain, compensation, and common ailments. She is currently in the process of receiving a certification in Orthobionomy, a form of touch therapy and bodywork, as well as her Wellness Coaching certification from the Wellcoaches program associated with Harvard Extension School of Lifestyle Medicine. She utilizes her years of studying movement and teaching experiences to best serve the individual and strives to facilitate healing and learning experiences for her clients.

Dorothy "Dee" is an avid workout enthusiast. Her pilates journey started in 2008 in NYC, and she's been addicted ever since. She has been teaching Reformer Pilates since 2019! Dorothy grew up between Buffalo, New York, and Orlando, FL. She earned her degree in design from IED in Milan. She also studied film and screenwriting at UCLA and NYU. Her other gigs are screenwriting, and she is co-owner of The Waterfront Bar in Copperhill. Dorothy, her husband, and their two rescue pups moved to the Blue Ridge/Copper Basin Area from San Diego, California, in 2018. They love the area and the fantastic community!

Alicia Gibson is a native to Blue Ridge. Her fitness journey stated in 2012, and it has not stopped. She began teaching fitness classes in 2013 teaching Zumba, Dance Fitness classes and HIIT. When she is not teaching, she enjoys spending time with family and friends.

Sometimes things just fall into place!

I started my practice about 5 years ago, and I’ve been certified and teaching for a year now. I started as many of us do, looking for a good form of exercise. Much to my surprise it quickly turned into a whirlwind of change, my mental health drastically improved, I felt great moving, and I could find a calm and deep dive into myself like none I’d experienced.

My hopes for teaching is that I bring all of those things to the table. a place to let body and mind meet, and an opportunity for them to find peace

Denise found yoga via a path similar that many followed in the mid-80’s. It was a great way to get flexible and hang out with cool people. Years of fad exercise crazes, clumsiness, motorcycle and snowmobile adventures in addition to corporate life stress resulted in spine and disk damage that ultimately required surgery. Yoga was a key element in a speedy recovery and restoring full mobility with less pain.

In 2019 Denise completed her first Yoga Teachers Training through Yoga and Wellness of Blue Ridge. That experience spurned a desire to dig deeper into the 8 limbs of Yoga and how a physical practice can impact mind, body and spirit. In 2021 she completed 300 hours in Advanced Yoga studies programs through Asheville Yoga Center. These classes included subjects Yoga Sutras, Hatha Yoga, Anatomy, Breathwork, Subtle Body, and Chakras to name a few. Now registered with Yoga Alliance as RYT-500, Denise leads classes including Gentle Flow, Yin, Basic, Chair and even Goat Yoga classes.

Coming from Ventura County, CA April is a recent Blue Ridge resident. She has been teaching fitness classes to strong like-minded women since she was 16 years old. The last 8 years she’s been teaching barre & is looking forward to sharing her love of this thigh-shaping, bootie-lifting technique to all of you.

She’s been married to her husband, Gary since 2006 & they have two boys together. Her other loves are backpacking in the mountains, all four-legged animals & finding true friends to share this life with!