Holly Walck Kostura
has been a student of Yoga since 1997 and teaching in the Lehigh Valley since 2002. In 2004, she founded The Iyengar Center of the Lehigh Valley (formerly Jai Yoga!) with the intention of sharing the practice of Iyengar Yoga with her community. She currently holds the Intermediate Senior I teaching certificate.
Holly studies regularly with her mentor, Patricia Walden of Cambridge, MA. From 2005-2009, she apprenticed with and assisted Joan White at the BKS Iyengar Yoga School of Central Philadelphia. She now travels to Pune, India annually to practice and train with the Iyengar family at the renowned Ramamani Iyengar Memorial Yoga Institute. Holly has studied directly with BKS Iyengar and Geeta Iyengar in the USA, Canada and China.
Her deep dedication to her own practice inspires and informs her teaching, which is clear, compassionate and steeped in philosophy. Her Bachelor’s Degree in Nursing and special interest in anatomy and physiology give her the unique ability to see her students from a place of wholeness.
For Holly, Yoga is a path of transformation and absolute freedom that has far-reaching effects beyond the limits of the physical body. It is her intention to share with her students how Yoga reveals the infinite source of health and joy within.
Melissa Vallone
has been practicing Iyengar Yoga for more than 25 years. She began studying with her mentoring teacher Holly Kostura at the IYCLV in 2013 and in 2018 became a Certified Iyengar Yoga Teacher at the Introductory I & II levels.
Iyengar Yoga has taught her to focus her attention and awareness so that precision in action develops stillness and peace of mind. To Melissa, B.K.S. Iyengar is a magnanimous presence, and a beacon of light who continues to encourage her with his brilliant legacy to practice, practice, and practice … as a way to reveal one’s own Divinity.
The study of Yoga philosophy inspires her inherent curiosity of life itself, fueling her personal practice. Melissa’s teaching style is respectful, encouraging, compassionate, and very helpful to those on the path and on the mat!
Jessica Vaughn
has been practicing Yoga for more than five years and she began practicing Iyengar Yoga with her mentor, Holly Kostura, in 2014.
She has found Iyengar Yoga to be a focused way to study a vast subject: the body/mind. From skillful practice she has developed sensitivity, awareness, steadiness, and control.
Jessica’s study of the philosophy of Yoga has taught her to be less reactive and more responsive to life’s challenges and to bypass the perceived limitations of her mind. B.K.S. Iyengar has shown her a systematic way to build a strong, personal practice from the ground up and to begin the work of moving inward and stilling the mind.
Jessica’s teaching style is patient, compassionate, inspiring, and always encouraging!