Faculty 2012   

Padma

Padma, Marla Stewart, B.Sc., holds a biology degree from McGill University, Canada. Certified to teach Advanced Yogic Sciences and Meditation (M.M., Senior Level) and Hatha Yoga (1000-hour Senior Level) by the International Meditation Institute of India, she is a unique educator specializing in a holistic approach to mental, physical, and spiritual wellness. Padma is respected as one of Canada's senior teachers and is highly regarded for her extensive studies and vast knowledge of meditation and classical yogic studies, working with intelligent individuals in our evolving society. Her western science and philosophical studies inform and expand her exceptional education in eastern practices. She is a unique bridge between the two worlds of wisdom and speaks with eloquence of their oneness.

Rosemary Jeanes Antze

Rosemary Jeanes Antze is the senior Canadian teacher in the yoga tradition of TKV Desikachar, affiliated as a Teacher Trainer with the Krishnamacharya Healing and Yoga Foundation (KHYF) in Chennai, India. She began practising yoga while a dancer with the National Ballet of Canada and over the past thirty years has traveled many times to India to study personally with TKV Desikachar. Her approach to teaching is grounded in a deep understanding of breath and movement, extensive training in Sanskrit and Indian philosophy, chant and meditation. She specializes in developing personal practices for individuals, skillfully adapts to the needs of each student in group classes, and offers a teacher development and mentoring program. She is the author of many articles on yoga and has created several chanting CDs, including Patanjali's Yoga Sutra. Invited as a guest teacher across Canada, she is based in Toronto.

Carolyn Jyoti Burke

Carolyn Burke is a parent, yoga educator, retreat facilitator and family counsellor. Carolyn co-directs the 100-hr HeartRise Children's Yoga Teacher Training program. Born in the jungles of Costa Rica, HeartRise is an earth-centered system that helps children befriend their inner voice and celebrate their individuality. As a consultant for government treatment programs, Carolyn has developed therapeutic groups to assist children who are recovering from traumatic grief. Carolyn has created and successfully launched yoga programs for people of all ages and backgrounds. It is a rare teacher that can fill a room with compassion and joy the way Carolyn can

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Michelle Cormack

Seane Corn

Seane Corn is an internationally celebrated yoga teacher known for her impassioned activism and inspirational style of teaching. A strong and articulate voice for social change, she started her activism work by creating the yoga program for LA shelter Children of the Night. Since 2006, her work has been focused on training leaders of activism through her co-founded organization Off the Mat, Into the World and bringing awareness to the HIV AIDS crisis. Over the last 20 years of her career, Seane has been featured in magazines, Oprah.com, The Huffington Post, numerous radio programs such as NPR, and four self-authored DVD programs. In 2005 Seane was named the National Yoga Ambassador for YouthAIDS. She sits on the board of both the Cambodian Children's Fund and the Engage Network

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Nischala Devi

NISCHALA JOY DEVI is a masterful teacher, internationally renowned since 1974. She studied Yoga with masters in US, India, and lived as a monk with Swami Satchidanandaji for 18 years. Her landmark research in adapting Yoga for heart disease and cancer culminated in Yoga of the Heart certification course for teachers and health professionals. Author of The Healing Path of Yoga and The Secret Power of Yoga,A Woman's Guide to the Heart and Spirit of the Yoga Sutras. Nischala's teachings reflect the compassionate heart perspective in spirituality and scripture.

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Christine Felstead

Christine Felstead has successfully married her twin passions for yoga and running to develop something unique; a yoga program designed specifically for runners. Christine pioneered the development of Yoga for Runners and today is the leading authority on the practice. She has spoken at several international conferences and written about the program in numerous publications. Her DVD's The Essentials: Beginner Program and newly released Intermediate Program are best-sellers and has helped spread her work globally.

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David Fife

David Fife holds a Bachelor of Human Kinetics with an Honours degree in Movement Sciences. He has trained with Baron Baptiste, Paul Grilley, Janice Clarfield and Shiva Rea and teaches at Yoga Shack in London, Ontario.

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Maria Garre

Maria Garre, M.Ed, e-ryt 500 Maria currently teaches for both Shiva Rea's Samudra School for Living Yoga and the Dr. Vasant Lad's Ayurvedic Institute. Maria has been devoted to the path of learning and teaching since 1993. She has dedicated more than twelve years in the study of Prana Flow Yoga, as created by Shiva Rea, Ayurveda alongside academic graduates study in In addition to graduates studies in Biomedical Science, Education and Philosophy. Maria’s teachings offer a grounded, clear yet dynamic and transformative approach to living, being, and embodying Yoga. Maria has completed programs at both the Kripalu School of Ayurveda and the world-renowned Ayurvedic Institute with Dr. Vasant Lad. She spends much of the year leading adventurous and cultural retreats India. In addition, she has written several articles for local and international publications, including Yoga Journal, and has been a featured presenter at Vancouver and Toronto Yoga Conferences.

Susi Hately

Susi Hately has been successfully helping her students reduce and eliminate pain since 1995; and since 2001 has been successfully training teachers to do the same. Susi combines her BSc. Kinesiology and yoga certification to provide accurate information in a down to earth and fun way which can be easily and immediately applied to your yoga practice.

Leslie Kaminoff

Leslie Kaminoff is a yoga educator inspired by the tradition of TKV Desikachar. He is an Internationally recognized specialist with thirty years experience in the fields of yoga, breath anatomy and bodywork. He has led workshops for many of the leading yoga associations, schools and training programs in America. Leslie currently practices in New York City and Great Barrington Massachusetts. He is the founder of the yoga blog, e Sutra and The Breathing Project, a New York City yoga studio dedicated to the teaching of individualized, breath-centered yoga. Leslie teaches The Breathing Projects unique year long course in yoga anatomy, and is the co-author, with Amy Matthews, of the bestselling book, Yoga Anatomy published by Human Kinetics.

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Martin Kirk

Martin Kirk MSBME RYT is a Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor who travels abroad offering excellent and inspiring workshops, Immersions, Anatomy, Therapy and Teacher Trainings. With a Masters Degree in Biomedical Engineering Martin has a special gift for anatomy and therapeutics. He is an author of the highly successful book Hatha Yoga Illustrated and co-author of the upcoming Yoga Anatomy: The Biomechanics of Anusara Yoga. Martin lives in Scottsdale Arizona with his wife Jordan and his son Jonathan.

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Sebastian Kowalik and Kaelyn Wong

Sebastian's love for yoga came about after years of formal meditation practice. The joy of finding stillness and peace in the heart of movement compelled him to expand his practice with teacher training, during which he met Kaelyn. Kaelyn's love for yoga directly evolved from her background in martial arts. Her practice helped heal various injuries and gave her a deeper awareness into the importance of breath and alignment. Together they discovered how partner yoga cultivates greater depth, mindfulness and connection. They both received certification from Acro Yoga Montreal and are excited to share their knowledge, joy and experience.

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Cyndi Lee

Cyndi Lee is the founder of OM yoga. A practitioner of both yoga and Tibetan Buddhism, Cyndi regularly writes for Yoga Journal and the Shambhala Sun and is the author of Yoga Body, Buddha Mind; OM yoga A Guide to Daily Practice; OM yoga in a box, and OM yoga and meditation DVD/CD. Cyndi is a student of Gelek Rimpoche. Her dynamic and contemplative classes, workshops and trainings offer a non-competitive, no-baloney, fun and inspiring method for learning and practicing yoga and meditation

Ray Long

Ray Long, MD FRCSC is a board certified Orthopedic Surgeon and the founder of Bandha Yoga. Ray graduated from the University of Michigan Medical School with post-graduate training at Cornell University, McGill University, The University of Montreal and Florida Orthopedic Institute. He has studied hatha yoga for over twenty years, training extensively with B.K.S. Iyengar and other leading yoga masters.

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Blake Martin

Blake Martin is currently completing his PhD in Kinesiology and holds a Graduate Neuroscience Diploma from York University, where he is investigating the role of attention in limb position sense. He teaches Thai Massage and anatomy for body workers internationally, and holds degrees in Dance and Education, and speaks on a variety of topics related to health, education and the brain. He is also a long time martial artist, yoga practitioner and runner

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Kelly McGonigal, PhD

Kelly McGonigal is a mind-body psychologist and yoga/meditation teacher at Stanford University. She is the Editor in Chief of the International Journal of Yoga Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal of research on yoga and meditation, and the author of The Willpower Instinct (Penguin); The Neuroscience of Change (Sounds True); and Yoga for Pain Relief (New Harbinger). She is a founding member of the Yoga Service Council and a senior teacher/program developer for the Stanford Center for Compassion and Altruism Research and Education. kellymcgonigal.com

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Margot McKinnon

Margot McKinnon is an internationally recognized and respected leader in Pilates training and instruction. Running two successful studios in Toronto, Margot desire is to make Pilates accessible to everyone. She is responsible for training the next generation of Pilates teachers with the highest quality of standards and research. Her studios, Body Harmonics, offers Pilates for general health, wellbeing, post-rehabilitative exercise, and performance enhancements for athletes, dancers and the public at large. They offer over 40 innovative and specialized, state of the art courses to new and experienced students and teachers alike from everything you need to know about Mat training to individual pieces of equipment. Body Harmonics is one of the most celebrated facilities of its kind in Canada and beyond.

Sri Dharma Mittra

Yogi Sri Dharma Mittra founder of the Dharma Yoga Center has created over 300 advanced Yoga postures popular amongst students of today. He is known as the Teachers Teacher, and Rock of Yoga. In 1984, Dharma Mittra created the Master Yoga Chart of 908 Postures as an offering to his beloved Guru and for all Yoga aspirants. This original masterpiece was meticulously assembled from over 1,350 posture photographs he took of himself. In 1975 Sri Dharma Mittra made the Sun Salutation and Yoga Course Poster. He is the author of the book Asanas 608 Yoga Poses, is featured in American Yoga, and is the inspiration for Yoga Journal's book Yoga, which is dedicated to him, and A Friend to All. His Maha Sadhana DVD set, Level I, A Shortcut to Immortality and Level II, Stairway to Bliss, are 4 hours of practice in each with teachings, discourses, and Kirtan for an amazing overall view of Dharma years of work. His wonderful CDs include, Om Mantra Japa, Everything I Have is Yours, Om Namah Shivaya, and Om Tambura. From New York Magazine Best of New York, Dharma Yoga Center. For the Challenge Hungry, Star Teacher Dharma Mittra. This year Dharma has turned 73, and he continues to blow peoples minds with his posture practice, and well as bring them the divinity of the scriptural teaching in each and every class

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Sadie Nardini

Sadie writes a weekly Core Values blog for Yoga Journal, and is on faculty at the prestigious mind/body institutes Omega and Kripalu. Her Total Body Transformation DVDs are #1 bestsellers on Amazon, and she is regularly covered in media like New York Times, Glamour, CNN, Self, Yoga Journal and more. Sadie tours internationally, bringing the experience of true inner and outer core strength to clients everywhere, via experiences that New York Magazine calls "one of the best ways to transform your life!" She is the founder of Core Strength Vinyasa Yoga, and works closely with Leslie Kaminoff, author of Yoga Anatomy to bring safety, power and reality into the flowing vinyasa practice. She is also an ultimate wellness expert for Dr. Oz's online healthy living resource Sharecare.

Sarah Powers

Sarah Powers began teaching in 1987. She interweaves the insights and practices of Yoga and Buddhism. Her yoga style blends both a Yin sequence of long held poses to enhance the meridian and organ systems. She draws from her studies in Transpersonal Psychology, as well as her in-depth training in the Vipassana, Tantric and Dzogchen practices of Buddhism. Sarah is also the co-founder of Metta Journeys, a service oriented organization that offers yoga retreats internationally to help women and children in developing countries. She is author of the book Insight Yoga: Integrating Yin/Yang Yoga and Buddhist Meditation.

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Prahlada

Prahlada, a dynamic and humorous teacher of Classical Hatha Yoga, is the director of the Sivananda Yoga Centre in Toronto and one of the organization's senior teachers. Prahlada was personally trained by Swami Vishnu-devananda from an early age and now teaches internationally on Teachers' Training and Advanced Teachers' Training courses.

Natasha Rizopoulos

Natasha is a Senior Teacher with YogaWorks and Down Under Yoga, and a writer, teacher and DVD instructor for Yoga Journal, Natasha is known world-wide for her ability to communicate the essence of sophisticated postures and ideas in ways that have transformative effect upon one's understanding of Yoga A dedicated Ashtanga practitioner for many years, she is equally captivated by the precision of the Iyengar system. these two traditions inform her tacking, creating a dynamic and rigorous blend of intelligently sequenced Vinyasa Flow.

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Colleen Saidman Yee

Colleen Saidman has been featured in The New York Times and New York Magazine and in November 2003 was on the cover of Yoga Journal. A consummate student, Colleen has traveled throughout Europe and Asia studying alternative medicine and spiritual healing. Colleen holds a certification in Shiatsu and lived in Calcutta, India, working with Mother Theresa at the Home of the Destitute and Dying. Colleen owes tremendous gratitude for her studies of bhakti and vinyasa to David Life and Sharon Gannon. She also offers thanks to the many other teachers with whom she has studied, as well as to Rodney Yee, who remains her principal teacher. Five years ago, she and her business partner Jessica opened Yoga Shanti in Sag Harbor, New York.

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Nadine Saxton

A Laban/Bartenieff somatic specialist, Nadine connects her hands on clinical skills with developmental patterns and Space Harmony to stimulate neurogenesis. Her knowledge of the interrelationship between systems of the body and emotions supports her abilty to facilitate the awakening of sensory awareness and enhances a clearer expression of our meaning in movement. This inner to outer approach utilizing principles of movement integrates bodymind connectivity.

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Tamika Schilbe

Tamika is an award-winning counselor, consultant, author and yoga educator. She is certified as an advanced level Yoga Instructor and Registered as a professional counselor. Tamika has studied and taught the art of personal renewal throughout North America and also in Costa Rica, India, Mexico, Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia. An experienced group facilitator, Tamika has led wellness retreats across the globe since 2001. Tamika co-directs the 100-hr HeartRise� Children's Yoga Teacher Training program, and is the co-founder of DevaTree School of Yoga. Tamika's classes offer a creative blend of approaches from different parts of the world, and have been described as joyful, intuitive, and inspirational.

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Lisa Shackelton

Lisa Shackelton is the Founder of Yoga Shack yoga studios and the creator of Hybrid Flow YTT. She holds an Executive MBA from Queens University and a Sociology degree from the University of Western Ontario. She is a Business Professor at King's University College at UWO where she teaches Marketing and Global Business Ethics. In 2007 she left her corporate role as Vice President to offer corporate, government and yoga studio consulting via her company, Shackelton Inc. and soon opened Yoga Shack in London ON. Lisa began practicing yoga in 1997 and has studied and taught all over the globe including India, Australia, Costa Rica, Mexico, Los Angeles and across Canada. She is grateful for the knowledge shared with her by her teachers Shiva Rea, Baron Baptiste, Lorin Roche, Camille Maurine, Janice Clarfield, Yoga4Kids, Stott Pilates, and Moksha Yoga. She is honoured to be a mentor for Shiva Rea's Prana Flow YTT, the Africa Yoga Project, and a Lululemon Ambassador since 2009 and respectfully acknowledges all of her mentors and teachers along her yogic path.

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Tama Soble

Tama Soble began practising yoga with Esther Myers and Monica Voss in 1984, and was trained to teach by them. She has also studied with Donna Farhi, Judith Hanson Lasater, Bonnie Bainbridge-Cohen, Peter Blackaby, Thich Nhat Hanh and Edward Espe Brown. Tama teaches classes, teacher training, advanced teacher seminars, and offers retreats in Ontario and internationally. She co-owns and directs Esther Myers Yoga Studio and its 750-hour Teacher Training and 250-hour Graduate Teachers' Programmes with Monica Voss.

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Rod Stryker

Rod Stryker is the founder of ParaYoga and the author of The Four Desires Creating a Life of Purpose, Happiness, Prosperity, and Freedom. Rod is widely considered to be one of the West's leading authorities on yoga, tantra, and meditation. His teaching weaves together his profound breadth of knowledge and experience with a unique ability to make the deepest of the ancient teachings relevant to all levels of students.

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Deanne Villa

Deanna Villa is a Master Thai Yoga Massage Teacher and Practitioner and offers 14 years of therapeutic hands-on experience. In 1998 she founded Thai Massage Toronto and also teaches internationally. She has authored 10 Thai Massage instructional manuals, has recorded 8 instructional DVDs for The Art of Sensing Series and completed a Mindful Meditation CD. Deanna has been featured on City TV and Rogers TV as well as in articles for national newspapers and magazines. Deanna's precise method focuses on a strong foundation of stability, alignment and quality of attention to each posture and their link with breath.

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Monica Voss

Monica Voss began her yoga studies in 1978 with Ester Meyers and has been teaching since 1981. She studied with Vanda Scaravelli from 1986-1998 and received additional tutelage from Mary Stewart in London, England, Angela Farmer and Victor Van Kooten, Edward Espe Brown, and has attended retreats with Thich Nhat Hanh. Monica has been training teachers since 1986. She offers classes, workshops, retreats and teacher training in Canada and internationally. Monica co-owns and directs Esther Myers Yoga Studio and its 750-hour Teacher Training Programme and 250-hour Graduate Teachers' Programme with Tama Soble.

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Brad Waites

Brad Waites is one of fewer than 40 teachers worldwide to be certified at the 2,000-hour level by the College of Purna Yoga, and is currently a member of the college faculty. After a career as a partner in a civil-litigation law firm, he began pursuing yoga as a means of self-empowerment and self-fulfillment. Years of study led him to Purna Yoga, which seeks to evolve the consciousness of all humanity. He also holds a professional level teacher's certificate from Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health, where he lived and taught for several years. Brad leads workshops and classes throughout North America. He has a special interest in introducing students to the beauty of yoga philosophy.

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Rodney Yee

Rodney is featured in over 30 yoga video's and DVD's. He co-authored two books, Yoga: the Poetry of the Body and Moving Toward Balance: 8 Weeks of Yoga with Rodney Yee and has appeared on Oprah Winfrey. His study roots were in the Iyengar Tradition. Currently, he is based in New York and leads teacher trainings, workshops, and retreats nationally and internationally.

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