Michele L. Pearson has been studying Iyengar Yoga for nearly 20 years and has been teaching since 2005.  She is certified as an Intermediate Junior I teacher by the  Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States (IYNAUS) 

She was introduced to the Iyengar tradition of yoga while attending Wayne State University, where she received a B.A. in Broadcast Journalism. She continues her studies with her previous college yoga teacher, one of BKS Iyengar’s most advanced level teachers, Laurie Blakeney. 

Pearson opened YSCYS in May of 2009 and formed IYD in 2013.  She served as the Director of IYD until Sept 2016, when the IYDC was formed as a Cooperative.  She continues her effort and commitment to broaden the reach of Iyengar Yoga in Hamtramck and Detroit.  She has a deep affection for the subject of yoga and is confident in yoga's ability to transform self, community, and society. She teaches at IYDC and has an ongoing Iyengar Yoga class at The Grosse Pointe War Memorial. She offers private and group lessons at the center as well as in your home or business.  She is available for consultation upon request. Contact her.  

Erin Shawgo has been studying yoga since 2004 and Iyengar Yoga since 2012. Yoga has become an integrated practice in her daily life, offering her a tool for finding equanimity and working on constant self-examination and growth. Erin began teaching Iyengar Yoga in 2013 and holds an Intermediate Junior I certification with the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States. Her teaching style is compassionate and creative, with a focus on making Iyengar yoga accessible individuals of all identities and experiences. She believes in the power of yoga to heal and connect individuals and communities and is excited to share the gift of yoga with the Detroit community. Erin also holds her Masters of Social Work with a focus on psychodynamic therapy. Her yoga and therapy practice greatly inform one another and enrich her capacity as both a teacher and a therapist. 

Meiko Krishok is a chef, gardener, massage therapist and long-time yoga practitioner. She has worked with children and young adults and traveled extensively, and now runs a farm-to-table catering business. Meiko became a certified Intro II teacher with the Iyengar Yoga National Association of the United States in 2016. Her classes are dynamic, playful and challenging. 

George Rahme is our newest instructor at IYDC, having apprenticed with Gwi-Seok in the BIPOC Apprenticeship Program from 2019–2021. George received his CIYT Level I certification in September 2021. He has studied yoga for more than a decade and came to Iyengar yoga in 2018, having lived just down the block from the IYDC studio in Hamtramck. George is an electronic musician working primarily in vinyl and recently put out a new record. He also DJs in several genres including Detroit techno, Chicago house, Miami electro, and European electronic music. George's artwork has been exhibited in New York as well.

Hong Gwi-Seok (Peggy)  has been living in Honolulu Hawai`i and teaching at Iyengar Yoga Silent Dance Center as of January 2022. A founder of IYDC, she still teaches workshops, study groups, and intensives for Iyengar Yoga Detroit Collective, online and in-person, and still helps coordinate the Apprenticeship Program. She has taught Iyengar Yoga since 2001 and is certified as an Intermediate Senior I teacher (CIYT Level 3) by the Iyengar Yoga National Association. Gwi-Seok loves and values Iyengar Yoga primarily as a Healing Justice practice, cultivating self-transformation in order to build community and transform society. She helps make the sacred art of Iyengar Yoga accessible to all bodies, all abilities, and all economic levels. She studies with Senior Iyengar Teachers in the United States and India, and teaches locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally (in South Korea). A teacher’s teacher, her students characterize her style as dynamic, provocative, holistic, and inclusive.  She updates regularly at yoganun.weebly.com, @iyengaryogagwiseok on Instagram, and posts poems and essays at stillinsirsasana.blogspot.com.