2022 Festival Teachers
Kamini Natarajan
Teacher
Kamini is a Kirtan and Indian Classical Singer based in LA area. She blends Mantras and Chants with Indian Ragas to create Kirtans that are traditional and extremely meditative. Her Kirtans are composed in specific Ragas that leave the participants feeling serene. She is also the author of Kirtan eBook Indian Ragas for Kirtans. Kamini’s Kirtans bring out her deep spiritual background. They are extremely mystical and magnificently divine. People are left mesmerized by her angelic voice, her intricate improvisations, her odd meter rhythms and most importantly her radiant warm smile. For more information and to stay in touch, visit her website KaminiMusic.com or facebook page KaminisMusic.
Elaine Slivka
Teacher
I have been teaching Yoga for 50+ years and Travel to the Caribbean and Mexico teaching and sharing my passion for Yoga Health and Wellness. I am Vegan and practice Ahimsa. I love the festival and have led "Yoga Hikes" and taught in the classrooms. I am extremely active and believe age is just a number. I am currently busy with my new passion Sound Baths. I love sharing my passions with my fellow Yogis.
Reina Prado
Teacher
Reina Prado (ellxs/they) is a bi-lingual bi-cultural Love Conscious Coach (aka Love Madrina) and Holistic Energy Practitioner. Their practice Healing Queen, established in 2013, is based in unceded Kizh/Tongva territories (Southern California). Their offerings reflect practices from their ancestors many of who were Curanderas, Mid-wives, Herbalists, and Sobadores and combines it with energetic therapeutic modalities as experienced in their signature offering: Love Limpias. Their mission is to help folks activate divine love in their body & field so that they may experience living a more joyful and love filled life. Prado resources teachings from their indigenous heritage, sacred and metaphysical tools such as plant medicine, crystals, and the elements to support their clients on their journey. Prado is the author of Spring Into Love (Balboa Press, 2021). Follow them on Instagram @healinqueen_. Check out their guided experiences and podcast Activating Divine Love on Soundcloud. To access it go to linktr.ee/healingqueen and click on the cloud icon. Their website has more detailed information about the range of services and trainings they offer www.healingqueen.org.
Nancy Rascon
Teacher
Nancy has been practicing yoga for 25 years and teaching yoga since 2006. She incorporates her love for life and adventure into her teachings. As a nature enthusiast, she enjoys many outdoor activities such as hiking, scuba diving, snow skiing, and mountaineering. Other hobbies include world travel, meditation, and intuitive hands-on healing practices such as Reiki.
Nancy is a holistic health practitioner. She is a yoga instructor, a breath work facilitator, a psychic, and a healer.
Olga Mysse
Teacher
I have been teaching in LA, Rancho and online bio to come
Nancy is a holistic health practitioner. She is a yoga instructor, a breath work facilitator, a psychic, and a healer.
Michael Taber
Teacher
Michael is an Astrologer, Ashtanga Yogi, Tai Chi Chuan & Reiki Master, and Sound Healer Globally & currently in the Los Angeles and Orange County area. Trained in Ashtanga Yoga by Caroline Klebl, Michael has wonderful experience assisting 200 hour Certifications, as well as teaching groups and individuals locally and at Resorts in Montana, Sedona and South Dakota. Classes taught include: Ashtanga & Vinyasa Flow, Meditation, Astrology, Tai Chi, Sound Healing, Reiki Certifications and Yin/Restorative Yoga. In addition, as an actor, who graduated from San Diego State’s Bachelor of Arts program in Theater, Michael has eight plus years experience working with kids in schools and private coaching's. His training developed not only the many tools for acting and physical movement, but also for living and teaching a positive, passionate and motivating life. Recently he has been guiding and teaching yoga at Custer State Park Resort in South Dakota where he has been immersed in the Love of the Land. He also volunteers through CoachArt; teaching children with chronic illnesses yoga and theater. Michael has a true passion for guiding others on their journey within and without. Through his light hearted humor and calming energy, he has learned to be effective at communicating, organizing, and working with and inspiring both kids and adults to remember their inner child within.
Karen Elaine
Teacher
Karen Elaine has shared her INTRO TO ACRO YOGA classes for nine years in the Southern California area. Ms. Elaine also offers a12‐video online training program that focuses on the conditioning exercises needed for optimal freedom in the team sport that is partner yoga.
All participants in the acroyoga portion 2022 BBYF AcroYoga workshop will get complimentary video access to Volume #1 of the INTRO TO ACRO YOGA online training package (a $310.00 value)!
Frank Ortiz
Teacher
Frank attended his first yoga class in April 2015 and from then on he was hooked. He began yoga as a way to stay fit and healthy while easing the impact on
his knees and ankles. He soon found that yoga was so much more. Frank believes yoga is a way of life, a method, a thought process, a feeling you carry with yourself all day everyday.
In June 2016, Frank completed his 200 hour yoga teacher training under the guidance of Jared McCann at Lighthouse Yoga School. Through that experience he deepened his understand of asana, pranayama and meditation.
Frank began teaching at Reveille Yoga in October of 2017. His love for advanced asana is shared through his advanced classes. His ultimate respect for calmness and learned flexibility is brought in through his Yin classes.
When Frank isn’t at the studio sharing his love for the yoga practice, he is traveling with his husband or is home with his dogs, cats and tortoise.
Lemia Astarabadi & Joshua Bowser with The Conscious Groove
Teachers & Musicians
Through aromatherapy, yoga, vibrational healing, meditation, energy work, nutrition, plant-based living, massage therapy, live music, and laughter, Lemia and Joshua are inspired to share these empowering tools with all who desire to learn. They are enthusiastic teachers passionate about health, the environment, and the conscious evolution of all life. This is what has inspired them to start their own essential oil company, "Sacred Scents Aromatherapy". They play positive and mantra music in their band, "The Conscious Groove", and believe that music and nature are the greatest examples of how to connect and find harmony and joy in this amazing life we get to live.
Amy Madrid
Teacher
Amy is best known for giving out free hugs and “making you do weird things” in class. Her intention is to blend Yoga's sacred philosophy with modern day movements so you can function in everyday life. Her teaching style is lighthearted but heart filled. While she loves to teach energizing & empowering classes, her true passion is Yin Yoga. The long holds, soft tension on the joints, and quietness has helped her calm an anxious mind. You can expect to breathe, move (or surrender in Yin), and rest in her classes.
Yoga has been in and out of Amy’s life since the early 2000s but did not make an impact until 2013. She attended classes at different yoga studios and became enthralled with Yoga philosophy. She sought out many teachers, tried different styles, and read dozens of Yoga books. She couldn't soak up enough to understand the grand scale of it all. Hint, hint-she is still on that quest! It is one reason she loves Yoga, the learning is never ending. She realized Yoga was not a workout but a way to evolve into the best human possible.
In 2017 she studied under Dr. Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500 and received her 200 hour Hatha certification. She found mentors to study with and continued to further her Yoga education over the years. Covid-19 luckily provided Amy the time to “Zoom” into Rishikesh, India and earn a 500 hour mutli-style certification. Teaching has always been in her veins, but through Yoga is where she found her teaching path. She would be honored to walk next to you on your journey.
Dana Andrews
Teacher
Dana Andrews is the owner of Mountain Yoga in Big Bear Lake, CA. She has been practicing yoga for 25 years and teaching for 20. She was certified in 2002 at the Ashtanga Yoga Center with the internationally renowned Tim Miller. Traveling multiple times to India since 2000, Dana has studied with Ashtanga guru, the late Sri K. Pattabhi Jois, his daughter Saraswathi Jois and grandson R. Sharath Jois. In 2017, Dana completed a 200 hour teacher training at Yoga Medicine with Tiffany Cruikshank.
Dana's well rounded classes include strength, balance, stretching with a focus on linking breath and movement to create a moving meditation. She believes that yoga can help manage daily stress and leave you with a positive mindset. Dana's goal with every class is to leave her students feeling relaxed, yet energized, with a clear and calm mind.
Bombay Rain - Eddie Young, Nick Young and Davey Chegwidden
Teachers & Musicians
Nick Young has been exploring consciousness and spirituality through music on the sitar for over three decades. When Nick was 16 years old he was given his beloved instrument as a gift. It has been a conduit for his creative energy, a companion on his journey into inner realms and a vessel to contain his thoughts, feelings and emotions. Nick fuses eastern traditional music with contemporary sensibilities to create a unique blend of music that is beautiful, mysterious, transporting and enchanting. Nick has traveled to China three times to play concerts and participate in spiritual workshops. Nick has played for countless yoga retreats and festivals.
Jill Rooks
Teacher
Jill’s fitness journey led her to yoga. As she navigated her way through significant weight loss and raising two children, she knew that to maintain health, purposeful movement and true nourishment of the body, mind, heart, and soul were necessary.
Jill has offered group exercise ranging from aqua aerobics to yoga to Pilates to cycle, TRX and weight training since 1998.
She’s hosted meditation events including weekly live group sessions as well as personal “learn how”, and has guided on-line workplace meditations and movement to Loma Linda Medical Center and University Hospital staff and physicians.
Jill’s yoga experience includes teaching yoga for the Multiple Sclerosis Association, as well as for several pre-schools and junior high programs. She has a way of threading every fitness training or class she offers with yoga philosophy and aspects of the practice.
Yoga has been a part of Jill’s life from a young age with early-yoga-as-a-fitness-modality in classes with her mom, then on videos, until she began attending conferences and learning from Rodney Yee and Colleen Saidman Yee.
In 2011, she created The Energy Lab, a fitness and personal training studio she owns and operates in Redlands, CA. This past year the opportunity to create a dedicated yoga space directly next door to The Energy Lab was presented. The Fort at The Energy Lab was born to offer yoga and Pilates and mindset in a very soothing and calm, while also playful and inviting atmosphere. The intention of The Fort is like that of childhood blanket fort creation providing a home “on your mat” to disappear to. It is a place to “not have to take yourself too seriously”, allowing nervous systems to be calmed, quieted and restored, while fortifying the mind, body and heart from the inside out.
Jill’s passion and energy and work ethic set her apart. She thrives on program creation, teaching and serving populations of every age the tools and skills to live vibrant and health-full lives.
Nicole Walter
Teacher
Nicole guides her sessions and trainings under the loving belief that each person can be their own healer. She empowers each client and student to embrace a purposeful, balanced life through the lineages of Reiki, yoga, and breathwork.
She began her own healing journey 20 years ago to help navigate her crippling anxiety and stress. Feeling calm for the first time in her body on her yoga mat, Nicole later embraced Reiki to help further heighten her innate intuition. These practices were so transformative in her own life, she committed herself to helping others experience their own unique evolution.
Earning her registered yoga teacher accreditation under the guidance of master yoga teachers and studying alongside multiple Reiki Masters helped her develop a unique perspective and deep understanding of these sacred practices. She holds certifications in Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, Karuna Reiki, DivinePeaceHealing, and breathwork, as well as multiple mastery certifications in Usui Reiki Ryoho.
As a former college English teacher, she has learned and practiced proven methods to increase accessibility and retention in learning environments. Her practical, approachable manner has brought her teachings into multiple studios, with private clients, and in yoga teacher trainings. Nicole is most passionate about offering her clients and community the peace, calm, and balance Reiki and yoga offer.
Kyle Cicali (Atma Hardeva)
Teacher
Atma Hardeva is classically trained in Kundalini Yoga and Yin Yoga. He has deep personal practice in breath work and Pranayama. A daily sadhana practice has allowed him to heal a chronic mystery-illness of 18 years. Atma Hardeva has true faith in yoga and its capacity to heal the mind, the body, and the spirit. He believes deeply in the power to command the neurology of the body to produce a more ideal state of being. Trained in the lineage of Yogi Bhajan, he uses breath, movement, and mantra to access the sound current and connect to the Golden Chain of masters. Kundalini Yoga and Yin Yoga allow us all to brighten the 10 bodies, become radiant, and to magnetize ideal destiny. Sat Naam
Aja Whitten
Teacher
I am a souljourner, a mind body spirit worker, a tripped out traveller, a woman warrior growing with the ebbs and flows while exploring my wildish nature. I’m a motherdaughtersistaloverfriend, a bit corny sprinkled with moments of genius, an awkward innovator and collaborator in this dance called Life. My 15 year relationship with yoga has revealed that it is quite simply an enlivening system of balance and liberation. I have studied with Purusha Hickson through the Iyengar rooted lineage of Turiyasangitananda (also known as Alice Coltrane). I was initiated into Kemetic yoga through Yirser Ra Hotep of the YogaSkills method and have been facilitating classes that incorporate these two traditions since 2016. Ra Sekhi Kemetic Reiki Level 2 practitioner with Kajara Nekhebet Yaa. I have innovated and facilitated holistic healing through energy work and yoga for children and adults. Appearances include Black Yogi Day L.A. 2016, L.A. Yoga Fest 2016, Disclosure Fest 2019. RYT 200 hr.
I'm humbled, awed, and grateful to share an ancient, yet futuristic tool of mind, body, and spiritual wellness: the healing serum of Kemetic Yoga.
Tina Winters
Teacher
Tina Winters is a native Californian, born and raised in Newport Beach, CA.
She is the mother of four, grown daughters that have brought about some of Tina’s proudest moments in life. In her free time, Tina enjoys traveling, cooking, and gardening.
In college, Tina studied classical ballet, jazz and theatre. Her passion for fitness, yoga and Pilates grew from understanding the importance of conditioning outside the dance studio to not only become stronger but to prevent injuries and reduce stress on the body and mind. She has been teaching dance, yoga, and Pilates combined for over 25 years.
She currently hold certifications in Pilates and Dance conditioning from Orange Coast College, Yogafit 200hr E-RYT in Vinyasa and Hatha styles of yoga, and is a Certified Personal Trainer and Certified Nutritional Coach from National Academy of Sports Medicine (NASM)
Tina has a deep love for the journey of motherhood and is currently studying to become a DONA Certified Doula. Teaching pre & postnatal yoga brings a tremendous joy to her life’s work.
The Third Eye Band
Musicians
The Third Eye Band played BBYF in its second year I think it was, and we have been playing kirtans locally for decades. We have a new lead singer and drummer that will make it extra fun!
Scott Miller
Teacher
I have been teaching and directing Western Yoga College locally for twenty-five year. I taught at the first couple BBYFs. I've been yoga friends with Lisa Ann I think since she first started teaching up in Big Bear.
Edith Arias
Teacher
Edith Arias is a wellness practitioner. She is dedicated to bringing wellness to the community and individuals in a preventative, healing, and fun way. She is a yoga teacher, wellness coach, and therapist working with children and families for over 15 years. She enjoys sharing yoga with kids, teens, and families with lightheartedness and playfulness to introduce them to the benefits of yoga.
Laura M Cueva-Miller. PhD
Teacher
I have been a licensed psychologist for 16 years and was a licensed marriage and family therapist for 12 years prior to that. I began formal training in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction in 2015 and have had a regulation meditation practice for over 30 years. Mindfulness is such a valuable and cherished practice to me, I hope to be able to share with others for the rest of my life.
Marvin Cira
Teacher
I have been a compost master for 20+ years. I love teaching about the wonders of making dirt. I believe composting is a fun and sustainable activity that the whole family can enjoy. I would love to share my talents with the yoga community.
Ashley Yau
Teacher
Ashley Yau is a spiritual counselor, energy healer, and yoga practitioner. Her goal in life is to spread happiness, positive thinking, creativity, and loving energy. Ashley specializes in creating an inviting yoga practice to help every spirit follow their life purpose. She believes life is a beautiful journey guided by the universe learning to connect the body, mind, and spirit. Ashley has deep gratitude to yoga for guiding her exploration of herself toward inner peace.
Ashley's training is rooted in Ashtanga and has blossomed to include Aerial Yoga Certification, chakra balance, Hatha, Vinyasa Flow, Yin, and restorative yoga. She has been teaching various styles of yoga for 10 years after completing her training in Taiwan. Ashley also offers healing and guidance through Reiki, angel therapy, guided meditation, and breath work workshop. In the summer you can find Ashley teaching paddle board yoga on the lake!
Most importantly, beyond the physical discipline of yoga, Ashley offers Soul Counseling and Spiritual Guidance to everyone. Her passion and delight is guiding people along their inner journey to awaken their soul to their life’s dreams, challenge, and purpose. Using many resources Ashley provides support to connect with your Guiding Angels to discover your soul’s path.
Kim Ureta
Teacher
I’m Kim, I am pleased to share holistic coping skills with my community. Teaching others to Find relief from pain and suffering of physical and emotional pain. I am a recovering Alcoholic, codependent and my life’s work is creating a community to support recovery and prevention of addiction.
Daniel Head
Teacher
Daniel has been teaching for 25 years and has developed a unique style that helps capture the students attention with the vocal fluctuations and music choices. He believes creating the right atmosphere is vital to helping students have a unique experience. He teaches a variety of styles, all different levels as well as teacher trainings and retreats.
Kimberley Grant
Teacher
My yoga journey began in 2014 in the wonderful city of Manchester (UK), where I stumbled across Reggae Yoga and never looked back! In 2019 I delved into seven months of training to become a registered Yoga teacher (200hr RYT) at Indra’s Grace Yoga & Meditation studio in Texas, US.
Now based in Los Angeles, something close to my heart is cultivating a sense of community and connection in all that I do.
This is one of the main reasons for offering live classes outdoor (local to LA).
Expect classes to be playful and nourishing - everything we do should be enjoyable and make us smile!
You can also expect to experience traditional Hatha Yoga techniques and philosophy during my classes to ensure that I am always honoring the roots of the sacred practice.
Lillian Jacobs
Teacher
Lillian is a Los Angeles based Ayurvedic Health Coach, Women's Hormone Health Coach, E-RYT 200, RYT 500hr Yoga Instructor AcroYoga Instructor and Lagree fitness instructor. Her health journey began at an early age when I was diagnosed with a mysteriously long list of food allergies causing a whole host of health issues .Up until this point I had pretty much been eating the Standard American {kids} diet (read: goldfish, cupcakes in bright colors and soda). As a result of my food allergies, all processed food had to be eliminated from my diet. Guess what happened? After a short period of time my illnesses began to disappear.
Coincidence? I think not.
Food is medicine AND food is poison. It just depends on what we eat. This is where the seed for a career in wellness was planted.
Lillian has been a yoga teacher since 2011 and a holistic health coach since 2013. She currently teaches yoga in Los Angeles and sees Ayurvedic health coaching clients nationwide and leads virtual Ayurvedic cleanses.
Evelyn Starlight & Dru Ali (Sacred Liiight)
Teachers & Musicians
Evelyn Starlight (of Sacred Healing Sessions) & Dru Ali (of Liiightspace), come together as Sacred Liiight — a compassionate collaborative duo, merging Sacred Sounds + Light Technologies to help evolve Consciousness on the planet. They travel around leading group Light & Sound Meditation Journeys, as well as, collaborate with other Teachers — providing seamless real-time DJ mixes & Sound Healing overtones during Yoga Classes. They also have an Energy Wellness treatment space on Balboa Island, CA called The Liiighthouse where they facilitate Private Sessions, Group Workshops and Trainings.
Brian Shaheen
Teacher
Brian Shaheen (E-RYT 500) has been practicing yoga and incorporating its philosophy into his life since 2010. He has studied with Leeza Villagomez, Saul David Ray, Janet Stone, as well as Shiva Rea and many more. Brian has traveled to India, Bali and has spent time at the Esalen Institute practicing this ancient science of balance (Yoga). He continues to practice and teach a blend of Hatha Yoga and Vinyasa. Brian's kind and gentle manner is well suited to leading students of all levels. When teaching he hopes for students to find balance mentally, physically, and spiritually providing them with a practice that they can embody in their daily lives off the mat. You can find Brian teaching all over Southern California and online.
Liz Blake
Teacher
Liz Blake is a Spiritual Grief Guide having invested the last decade to discovering self healing tools for deep inner peace after the loss of her Beloved's death in 2010. As an energy healer, she uses intuitive self healing modalities such a yoga asana, breathwork & sound healing for her clients to access the ability to self regulate their nervous system, take responsibility for how they feel & fully embrace living a playful life they love.
Christie Hall
Teacher
I am a teacher with no woo-woo. Suffering from joint and disc degeneration, I began studying yoga in 1995. The pain relief brought on by regular practice led me to want to share the gift of yoga and to start teaching in 1997. Since then, I have studied continuously with senior teachers of Iyengar yoga. I specialize in assisting students struggling with physical problems. My personal physical problems have given me a particular interest in anatomy in the context of yoga and in studying therapeutic yoga modifications. But far beyond the physical, yoga has transformed my life in a journey of discovery that continues every day.
Krystal Souza
Teacher
Krystal Souza is a entrepreneur, award winning yoga instructor, and world class coach, who has helped hundreds of people through her various programs reclaim their essence in both life and business. Helping you build the life of your dreams from the inside out.
Michelle Kearney Lopez
Teacher
Michelle is a yoga and mindfulness coach, an elementary school teacher, a holistic practitioner, and a published author of a children's book called Animal Magic a Yoga-Tale of Love and Unity. She blends her knowledge and love of yoga with social emotional learning in the classroom with her students. She calls it "The Heart Centered Classroom." The Heart Centered Classroom is a heart centered approach to learning that infuses the 8 limbs of yoga into everyday learning. She also teaches after school yoga at her school and in her local community of Redlands. In addition, she is a holistic coach and reiki healer. She utilizes astrology, oracle cards, crystals, reiki, sound tools, as well as Ayurvedic practices to facilitate healing in her clients. She will be teaching children's yoga at the festival this year and will have a vendor booth as well. Stop by and say "hello."
Dr. Christie Smirl
Teacher
As a Doctorate of Ayurvedic medicine, Master of Science, Nurse Practitioner with over 30 years of acute care medical experience, Reiki Master and ERYT-500 Yoga Teacher Trainer, Dr. Christie Smirl believes that all humans are capable of multidimension healing and transformation. She teaches the science of Ayurveda and Yoga as a University Professor as we as the owner and operator of Healthier Vibrations Yoga Teacher Training Program. Christie has authored and published numerous books as well as recorded several albums as a bhakta musician under the moniker Kali Samadhi. Her moto is "Heal yourself. Help heal another. Begin healing the world."
Michelle Soth
Teacher
Michelle Soth is an E-200HR Certified Yoga, Meditation and Reiki Teacher living life in the Northwest. Her Mother and family migrated from the Philippines to Chicago, IL where Michelle was born. She is now calls the Pacific Northwest hOMe.
She first studied Yoga and Meditation in 2000 while earning her BA in Interior Design at Arizona State. The joy, peace, strength, and comfort that Yoga brought to her was life changing. She loves to share these gifts with others. She furthered her Yoga studies in San Diego, CA with Yoga Jai Ma. She is certified in Hatha Yoga, Vinyasa Yoga, Yoga Nidra, Yin Yoga, Restorative Yoga, and Usui/Tibetan Reiki. Her passion is to spread the light that fills her heart with class offerings that combine strength, balance, mindfulness, and fluidity of movement and breath.
She loves spending her time outside climbing up volcanoes or forest bathing amongst the trees. Michelle also is the co-owner and one of the Chefs of #SŌTHKITCHEN, a food cart located at Mt. Hood Winery in Hood River, OR. When she’s not on the Yoga mat you can often find her in the garden, up in the mountains, out on the trails, or in the kitchen cooking up her favorite Filipino eats.
Pedro M
Teacher
Pedro Morelos began his Kundalini Yoga practice in 2014 and became a certified instructor in 2016. Since then, he founded "Heal from Within", an outdoor yoga studio that holds weekly classes in Long Beach & Los Angeles. His love for teaching comes from his own experiences of growth and transformation.
Olivia Dominguez
Teacher
My name is Olivia Dominguez and I am a breath work facilitator. I teach a variety of techniques that helps regulate our parasympathetic and sympathetic nervous system. I love creating a community around breath work by providing a safe and non-judgemental environment. My goal when teaching breath work is reminding people come back home to themselves; to connect their own life force.
Elisa Winchester
Teacher
Elisa’s passion for yoga began in 2010. After she attended her first vinyasa flow class, she was hooked. As her passion for yoga grew, so did her interest in the fundamentals of teaching yoga. She completed her 200 hr yoga training with Daniel Head and Travis Elliot then started teaching shortly after. Her reward for teaching others yoga is to see their personal growth with a solid yin and yang yoga practice. Her classes incorporate breath to breath mindful movements to build strength, flexibility, and balance for students of all levels.
Amanda Carlin
Teacher
I am dedicated educator committed to promoting positive mental and physical development in all ages! With degrees in psychology and biology, as well as being a register yoga teacher, I feel most in my element developing mental and physical strengths in the outdoors. I have been working in education and mental health since 2009 and have more recently began incorporating yoga into my teaching techniques. As a resident of the Big Bear area, I love guiding people in using our natural surroundings to help better connect to themselves.
Veronica Correa
Teacher
In 2010 during my high school years a seed was planted in me after choosing yoga as my elective for physical education. It wasn’t until later down the road where this seed began to sprout after stepping foot into The Yoga Den in Corona, California where I took my first yoga class. There was a fire that sparked within me and I knew that I would continue and grow this practice forever.
I have been practicing yoga for over 6 years and have received a 200 hour certification through The Yoga Den.
As someone who works a 9-5 job Monday-Friday finding balance between work and personal life can be challenging from time to time. That is why I value the importance of living a well-balanced lifestyle, staying active, and incorporating yoga and meditation to our daily lives.
Yoga has given me so much more than the physical ability to improve my strength, flexibility, and balance. It has given me the confidence and courage to step into my power and find my purpose on this planet.
I am a student of life and divinely guided by the universe. I am always learning and growing so that I am able to teach and practice alongside all of you. My goal as a yoga instructor is to provide my students with peace and confidence that I feel every time I step onto my mat. Let’s flow together!
Jeannette Jacques
Teacher
Jeannette first discovered yoga in community college in 2005. Always thinking of herself as inflexible and not being able to touch her toes in forward fold, she became fascinated with yoga’s capabilities to increase flexibility and strength. Jeannette practiced yoga solely as a physical exercise until 2017 when she had a profound heart opening experience in a yoga class. That’s when all the aspects of yoga opened up to her and she enrolled at Western Yoga College for their 7 month long 200 hour teacher training. Described as “one of the most important times of her life” Jeannette knew that yoga needed to be shared with the world. Since her YTT graduation in May of 2019, Jeannette’s classes have evolved to include guided meditation and crystal bowl sound healing. Her yoga style is diverse including yin, chair, restorative, and slow powerful flows. Jeannette is a mom of 3 and started free mommy and me yoga classes for her local community. She is currently developing a free coaching program to help connect women to mindfulness and the self. Jeannette is a nature lover and enjoys outdoor adventures with her family.
Christine O'Hara
Teacher
Christine O’Hara began her love affair with yoga in 2008. She completed her RYT 200HR in 2013 practicing Raja Yoga. Her classes range from heat and strength building flows to explorations of sensation as a gateway to awareness in the present moment. Curiosity is encouraged!
Christine believes that yoga is a path and a journey of exploration and self-reflection that leads us back home to ourselves and to each other. The practices we explore are good for the body, the mind, the spirit, and they support us both on the mat and off the mat.
Karina Baldwin
Teacher
Hey there! My name is Karina and I am on a mission to help as many people as I can align their mind with their body. We constantly look for the newest workout routine or simply only the physical practice of yoga. I am here to teach you the mental game through the practice of yoga.
I started my yoga journey as a way to create a healthy relationship with exercise after retiring as a collegiate athlete with a lot of body image issues. I learned that yoga was not only a great workout but it allowed me to accept my body as it was. Yoga created a safe space for me on my mat and was an outlet for me to enjoy movement on the daily.
After finishing my time as a college athlete I continued my education and received my Masters in Sport and Performance Psychology. This degree lead me into a career I had never heard of just a few years prior. I was able to help athletes enjoy their sports and develop their performance while working as a Mental Performance Consultant. I since have moved across the country from my home state, Florida to the beautiful state of Washington. Washington is where I solidified my love for nature. I found it to be the place where I was able to think the clearest and feel at most peace. So I decided nature and yoga was the perfect match!
Both yoga and nature have incredible and unmatched healing powers. Powers that are undeniable and have the ability to change your life for the better. Get ready to rediscover your truest self by intentionally using nature and yoga.
Michael K Garrity
Teacher
Michael Garrity (born 1954) is a yoga meditation teacher, hypnotherapist, and spiritual coach in Redlands, CA. He graduated from UC Santa Cruz in 1978 with a B.A. in English Literature. In 1981 he was certified as a yoga instructor by the International Yoga Fellowship. He travelled to India in 1983 and spent the next two years in ashram life as Swami Turiyananda Saraswati. He and his family came to Redlands, CA in 1985 and he returned to post graduate studies in Transpersonal psychology, earning his master’s degree in 1987. He continued teaching yoga while he worked in the mental health field for the next 30 years. He currently teaches meditation, yoga nidra, and kirtan, leads sound healing sessions, and offers hypnosis and spiritual coaching sessions. He is the author of Inner Yoga: Self-Transformation Through Breath, Meditation, and Hypnosis, available on Amazon.
Steven Rubio
Teacher
Steven Rubio is a professional musician and sound healer. His sound baths combine guided breathwork and live performance to help relax the listener. He uses a more holistic tuning, a variety of musical instruments, as well as brainwave entrainment (monaural beats) to provide a truly unique and effective sound healing experience.
Peg McKnight
Teacher
After a lifetime of questing after inner peace, I’ve discovered that it’s never what is happening around you that causes stress, but how you choose to handle it. Choose Happy Vibes gives you the tools to resist stress and negativity and find true joy, contentment, and happiness instead.
Tara Swoboda
Teacher
Tara Swoboda is a local Big Bear yoga instructor. She participated in her first Big Bear Yoga Festival as a volunteer and student and completed her RYT200 teacher training with Big Bear Yoga. A yogi for nearly twenty years, Tara constantly pursues positive transformation through daily yoga and gratitude. She loves learning, practicing, and exploring yoga and is pursuing her RYT500 certification. Join her at this year's festival for a gentle yoga hike!
Leeza Villagomez
Teacher
Leeza Villagomez was drawn to yoga right out of high school. The next steps in life did not resonate with the expectations of society. After experiencing chakra meditation and the benefits she quickly realized there is another way to balance "this thing called life” she wanted to know more emotionally, mentally and physically. Leeza is no stranger to learning ancient lineages as her Portuguese mother comes from Maui, Hawaii. Leeza grew up on a small farm, showed horses, practiced Hawaiian, Tahitian, Polynesian and Mauri dancing 3 days a week and was part of a “Halau”. Most of her birthdays were Luaus with the Boteilho Kula(family). It was a natural step for her to begin practicing yoga. Over the course of many years Leeza has had the pleasure of studying many different styles of yoga, Ayurveda to Vedanta and she feels as if she just started the journey to self-realization. Having added ancient Shamanic practices she believes this is a tool everyone can benefit from. Join Leeza for an eclectic flow class for all levels.
She invites you to crack open your heart, weave in the 5 senses and 5 elements in this all levels yoga class. Breathing, moving, laughing, stretching, dancing, meditating and healing all included. Lokah, Samastah, Sukhino, Bhavantu… May all beings everywhere be happy and free.
Katie Felt
Teacher
I am a married mother of 5 children who recently left a demanding job as a hairdresser to pursue my calling as a yoga instructor. I completed my 200 hr Teacher Training at WYC in Riverside in 2019. Since then, I have taught students one on one, in a gym setting, and have even volunteered at Hunt Elementary School in San Bernardino, Ca. teaching yoga and yogic theory to 2nd and 3rd grade students. Yoga has been a transformative asset in my life. What began as a desire to teach pregnant women how to practice yoga as they ventured into motherhood, soon became a passionate desire to share yoga at all levels, in all aspects, to anyone who will listen. My personal yogic instructional style usually involves setting an intention that falls within the teachings of the eight limbs of yoga. From there, we breathe, Om, connect, flow, release, surrender, heal. Yoga is such a gift… one thatI hope to share more and more. -Namaste
Jessica Schugardt
Teacher
She helps women heal energetically through their emotional, physical, mental and spiritual bodies so they can live a life full of vitality, wholeness and wellness. Helping women to come home to their authentic truth, self and sovereignty. So they can show up as the leader and visionary they are called to be. She started her spiritual awakening journey in 2015 and hasn’t looked back.
In 2017 she came to a breaking point with her health. She had severe vocal damage and was told that she would need surgery to repair the damage she had done. She was stressed out with her work and career and made a decision to go on a journey to heal herself. When she started added energy alchemy into her life so much shifted her in a deeper way. She was already on a spiritual path but went deeper in her personal development journey. She then healed through trauma, fears and beliefs that kept her from living the quality of life that she was desiring. She feels completely grateful to do this work and help women on their path of healing and wholeness.
Jessica is also a certified NLP (Nuero- Lingusitic-Programming), Life and Success Coach. Reiki Master and Spiritual Leader. I love to help women tap into their divine feminine, spiritual gifts and empower them to embody the goddess they are and create a ripple effect in the collective consciousness.
Sasha Anastasia
Teacher
Sasha has deep ancestral roots in energy healing practices & Spirituality but began her yoga practice at age 22. By age 28 she decided to leave her corporate background in office management, human resources & accounting to delve deeper into her yoga practice to make a total lifestyle change by choosing to serve people rather than corporations as a living and shifting toward personal health and meditation.
She graduated from Yoga Works in 2008 with 500 hours and worked as a prominent yoga teacher throughout Orange County, teaching 20 classes a week at various studios, leading workshops & teacher trainings. She specialized in the relaxation response, restorative yoga, vinyasa flow yoga, tantra yoga & bhakti yoga. She lead kirtan under the name Bhavana, which means woman of devotion in Sanskrit. She even co-owned a yoga studio in San Clemente called San Clemente Spiritual Center & North Beach Yoga for a short time in 2011.
In 2013 she decided to add to her potential for creating healing and earned her esthetician and cosmetologist licenses. She worked for a well known corporate spa for a while then opened her own spa, Spa Pure. In 2016 she graduated from Healing Hands School of Holistic Health as a certified massage therapist and holistic health practitioner. She focused on vegan skincare, eastern massage and energy healing practices, nutrition and therapeutic herbalism.
When the pandemic hit it shut down her spa & every yoga studio & gym she taught at & triggered a rebirth. Delving into her own much needed multi-faceted self care practice of yoga, massage, skincare, infrared saunas, meditation, crystals, energy healing, affirmations, chanting, sound healing, visual light stimulation, shadow work & ancestral healing - she was inspired to create a place where someone could have the same type of holistic self care and Spirituality experience she herself needed, all in one place. It would also a place where she could offer all of her gifts and services and be whole herself in a safe and sacred space. So, with a significant amount of love and intention, she gave birth to Stardust illumination center. A Spa like nothing on Earth, where every spa service is more than an aesthetic treatment for your human vessel, it's an experience that also illuminates the light of your Soul within where you can come to detox the pressures of the world and care for yourSelf inside and out.
Stardust has 2 physical locations in Tustin & Lake Forest, California you can visit 7 days a week by appointment. They also do monthly self care events that include yoga classes with skincare and massage elements in a group setting, often with vegan vendors, food and music. Stardust also appears at select yoga and music festivals offering services and selling eco vegan skincare and self care products and leading yoga classes and workshops.
You can find Sasha and the Stardust illumination center spa collective on instagram @iamstardust.earth or online at www.iamstardust.earth
Cathleen Coombs
Teacher
Cathleen has had a long-time passion for yoga. After practicing over 17 years, she pursued a 200 hour YTT (Yoga Alliance Certified) in Hatha Yoga in the midst of the Pandemic in June 2020. Although there were no indoor teaching opportunities, she believed so strongly in the need for yoga to help others that away she started offering classes in the community outside and through Zoom right away. Cathleen joined the team at Refresh in May 2021.
Cathleen has worked in the field of rehabilitation counseling, serving people with disabilities for 33 years. Influenced by the idea of accessibility for all, Cathleen aligns her teaching with this principle. Cathleen loves to teach yoga to the beginner that may be too intimidated to try yoga, but also teach to the experienced yogi that is ready to advance his or her practice.
Her classes focus on the power of the pranayama coupled with correct alignment for a safe and energizing yoga practice. Desiring students to have a complete experience, each class is built around a theme that is woven through the practice and closing meditation, encouraging students to connect with their deepest self, taking the lessons and awareness gained on the mat out into the world.
“We are all wonderfully made and beautiful. Practice loving kindness to ourselves and each other.”
Cathleen teaches at Refresh on the Mountain: Power Yoga on Tuesday and Thursday nights at 6:00 pm, and Gentle Yoga on Wednesday mornings at 6:30 am.
Kathryn Demke
Teacher
The first time I did yoga, I was not impressed. It was a stretching based class, and not very exciting to a young college girl. Many years later I was recovering from a hospital stay that I barely escaped from, when I tried yoga again. It was a Kundalini Yoga class focusing on spinal mobility, and abdominal strength. Now this was exactly what my body needed and I was hooked! Since then I have taught Kundalini Yoga combined with other meditation practices utilizing breathe work and simple movements. Besides yoga and meditation in my life, I raise 4 spirited kids, grow a little garden, and do facials in my home Spa Space.
Peter Sanjaya
Teacher
Experience sharing to a large group:
Musician, Lector, and Yoga teacher at Yogananda Fests in Los Angeles, and Portland as well at the Mindfulness Expo of Anaheim and the Kentucky Yoga Festival
Speaking engagements and classes through Ananda Los Angeles
Guest lecture through Interfaith group at the Guibord Center
Taught weekly yoga and meditation classes through the Expanding Light Retreat Center
Taught weekly yoga philosophy and yoga and meditation courses through Ananda Los Angeles
Singer in the Joyful Singers Quartett where we did hundreds of performances in California, Washington, Italy, India
Taught musical satsangs and yoga philosophy classes through Ananda Worldwide
Sandra Ohlson
Teacher
I started my yoga journey at 58 (right before the ^%$& hit the fan, and am 20hrs from my ya 200. I've been teaching at my gym, gentle and all level and I have a private client with terminal cancer, she is my hero! I'm relatively new but I love it!
Selia Jimenez
Teacher
Hi! My name is Selia Jimenez and I am the Owner and Operator of Soothing Canna Massage and Wellness in Big Bear Lake Ca. I am a California State Certified Massage Therapist, a Member of Associated Bodywork & Massage Professionals, and have been practicing massage therapy for over 20 years. My experience as a Massage Therapist has included employment at Glen Ivy Hot Springs, The Viceroy Palm Springs, and The Parker Palm Springs. As a native healer, cannabis is one of the most powerful plant medicines to have changed my life and is also my spiritual sacrament.
For many years I was an addict whose life had become unmanageable and I knew if I didn't change my life I was going to die. While detoxing off of opioids I taught myself how to microdose cannabis which completely transformed my life, and have been clean and sober ever since. I educated myself on the different strains, consumption methods and discovered the many benefits of this ancient sacrament as being an entheogen to connect to spirit. The second time Cannabis has saved my life was after a car accident in early 2017, I was left with a lot of pain and endured seizures from the pain medication I was given. Having experienced the awful side effects of prescription pain medication firsthand, I decided to look into alternatives to pain medications. I was introduced to the benefits of CBD and THC topicals and ointments after using these products, I felt almost immediate relief and decided to make my own products as I wanted to be closer to the plant medicine as a native healer. My goal now is to help heal and educate as many people as I can using more natural pain relief methods in beautiful Big Bear Lake.
Sandy Steers
Teacher
Sandy Steers has been executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, an environmental educational nonprofit since it was started by local residents in 2001 The group advocates for the amazing special habitats and species that we have the privilege of hosting in Big Bear Valley. Sandy is also an internationally known energy healer, teacher and guide with over 25 years of experience in Shamanic Healing (Inca tradition), Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), Channeling/Energy Reading, Intuitive Energy Transformation and Past Life Healing
Lisa Coffman
Teacher
Lisa’s teaching philosophy uses the power of movement, meditation and the breath to transform and heal the mind, body and heart! Her classes are infused with an invigorating playfulness while challenging and empowering all who walk into her classes and onto their mats. If you’re looking to unveil the zen within you’ll love the way Lisa sparks the flame to your inner light as you let your blissful self shine!
Lisa is a 200 Hour Registered Yoga Teacher, Certified Aerial Yoga Instructor and Experienced Hike & Yoga Guide. When not teaching, she spends her time shooting macro photography, jumping from perfectly good planes and being a mom to her daughter and two dogs.
Joss Jaffe
Teacher
Joss Jaffe is a vocalist, tabla player, multi-instrumentalist, composer and record producer. His critically acclaimed albums include Dub Mantra, Sun Mountain Sea, & Billboard Top-10 new age album Meditation Music. Joss’ music ranges from modern pop, reggae, and world to ambient, soothing and brainwave entraining music for spa, relaxation, yoga and meditation. He is a regular performer and workshop leader at premiere yoga conferences and transformational festivals including Lucidity, Beloved, Wanderlust & Korea Yoga Conference.
Nilanjana Banerjee
Teacher
Nilanjana Banerjee is an international Odissi dance performer who has won critical acclaim and captured the hearts of her audience. She specializes in the classical dance tradition of Odissi. She has performed extensively for the Indian diaspora in the US. Nilanjana has the distinction of being featured as a solo artist for the opening acts of major Indian Conventions featuring top name performers.
Dr. Robin Bradley
Teacher
Dr. Robin Bradley loves to integrate her many passions into guiding processes that enhance love, core worth, value of the preciousness of life, and humanity’s greatest potential. Her current work as an Executive Leadership Mentor & Intuitive Spiritguide blends her expertise from 33+ years as a Psychologist, Intuitive channeler, and nearly 50 years of meditation practice that began via her introduction to Yoga as a young teen. She has specific training in a wide variety of multi-cultural healing modalities, including energy medicine, yoga nidra, yoga for trauma, shamanism, Native American earth healing, and body-mind-spirit intuition.
YOGALOVEIAM From Trauma to Transformation to Treasured Life.
This invitation into your greatest embodied being, weaves an East-West-Indigenous blend of Yoga Nidra, Energy Medicine, and Consciousness Reconsolidation methods. It is a focused, hands on, journey into your own relationship with the preciousness of your unique gift of life! Come play in this sacred space, via a guided process journey, into remembering the deep treasures of your own extraordinary life. Engage this deeply loving method of self-care, to assist your personal transformation of historical stressors, into integrated “gems”, of Love, Awe, Passion, Peace, Joy, Harmony & Freedom. This is dedicated time for you to love your body, your being, your life, and to give yourself exactly what you need to assist your own union (YOGA), in love (LOVE) and empowered life manifestation (IAM).
Janet Viscome
Teacher
I am an E-RYT 200 Yoga Instructor and Athlete. After a spondylolisthesis (lumbar compression and slippage) diagnosis in my mid-20s, I started yoga and practiced at Santa Monica Power Yoga starting in 1998. In my experience, yoga is a powerful practice that counters the effects of high impact sports, sedentary work life, and an increasingly stressful work and social environment. I received my RYT 200 in 2012 and have been teaching ever since (e.g. Anam Cara (Riverside) and The Yoga Room (Redlands/online)). In 2017 I started teaching children’s yoga at CECA Yoga Club (Yucaipa). I believe yoga is a wonderful way to connect with yourself, maintain healthy movement, and create strength and centering; concepts I do my best to weave into my classes. When not practicing yoga, I prefer to be snow skiing in Mammoth or wake-surfing in Lake Havasu (or Needles). I am grateful to be part of the yoga community and the Big Bear Yoga Festival. Namaste
