We are blessed once again to have assembled a wonderful collective of teachers and artists from the Unites States and Canada. They are beautiful and inspiring in their diversity, but what really matters is what they have in common, big hearts, enthusiasm, caring for others and the land, creativity and a love for teaching and learning.
Katherine Greenland Sandpoint, ID
Katie has been a yoga practitioner and yidaki dijeridoo player since 1998. She has a background in dance, music and musical theater and has worked as a vocalist, performer, and sound healer for most of her life. She holds an interdisciplinary Master's Degree from Antioch University. As a tenth generation indigenous Sami, Katie's migratory spirit has taken her to live, study and teach for months or years at a time in India, Thailand, Guam, Costa Rica, Mexico and Belize. Locally, she has taught at Bellevue College, Tacoma Community College and at IslandWood Outdoor School. Katie currently serves as Program Director at The Eureka Institute and Assistant Professor at Cornish College of the Arts. Drawing on her background in the performing arts and international experience, she advocates for the critical intersection of personal artistic craft, global citizenship and sustainable community design. Learn more about her current projects at www.katherinegreenland.com. 
Trisha Wilson
Nelson, BC A yoga teacher since 2005, Trisha creates a safe space in which to learn, play, heal and grow. Her classes combine technique and alignment with celebration of heart and spirit. Her practice is a balance of strength and softness; discipline and delight; contemplation and creative expression. Trisha has a background in dance. Her yoga studies have focused primarily in the methods of Iyengar, Ashtanga and Anusara yoga. Currently she is immersed in studies of yoga therapy and mountain shamanism (as taught by the Q’ero Medicine People of Peru). Trisha lives in Nelson, BC, Canada with her husband and daughter where she teaches classes, workshops, retreats and teacher trainings. She is the yoga director at Mountain Waters Wellness Studio and recently launched a teacher mentorship program. Committed to the yogic path as sacred activism, she infuses her classes with inspiration for inner peace and a harmonious world. 
Gaia & Shannon Rei Sandpoint, ID
We have teamed up combining over 25 years of sound healing, energy-healing and environmental crystal grid activations. We currently facilitate remote healing sessions, private energy work sessions, sound and crystal grid treatments as well as group healings. Within our time of working together we have discovered the power and effectiveness of our remote work through unconditional love and the unification with source/creator as well as the unity of the male/female aspects. Our focus has become universal and our work has become inline with the universal consciousness. In order to not limit ourselves by space and time we have added remote healing sessions to our repertoire of healing work. We bring focused attention and harmonic tools to assist the world in dissolving the illusion of separation, as well as, building a New Earth Platform and a 5th Dimensional paradigm through shining love & light around the globe. 
Nancy Burtenshaw
Seattle, WA Nancy has been a dedicated and passionate yoga practitioner since 2000 and a teacher since 2007. In 2011 she opened Nourish Yoga in Moscow, Idaho where she was studio owner, director and lead teacher for over five years helping create a vibrant community that continues today. Over the years Nancy has completed numerous immersions and teacher trainings and has been blessed to have trained with highly skilled and insightful teachers including Baron Baptiste, Tiffany Wood, Christina Sell, Darren Rhodes, Jason Crandell and Noah Maze. Nancy received her first RYT 200 with Baron Baptiste; her second RYT 200 in the Anusara® School of Hatha Yoga lineage which she continues to study today; and her advanced teacher training (RYT 500) with Noah Maze in 2014 which super-charged everything. Nancy has also pursued specialized training in Prenatal, Restorative Yoga and recently in iRest Yoga Nidra (she is an iRest Teacher-in-Training). As a teacher, Nancy creates a warm and welcoming atmosphere and delivers a steady, grounded practice that is encouraging, supportive and challenging. She has an eye for detail and alignment and provides instructions that are stair stepped and inspired so that before you know it you’ll be pushing your growth edge and doing something you never thought was possible. To Nancy, teaching yoga is a privilege and she continually feels honored to witness students become more self-confident, self-compassionate and courageous on their mat and in their lives. 
Jason Bear Oakes
Global Nomad Jason Bear is a global consciousness advocate, gravity-provocateur, and mindful daily practitioner of the eight limbs of yoga. A trusted leader in facilitating the art of connection, Jason has certified as an instructor with both AcroYoga INTERNATIONAL and YogaBeyond with experience teaching adults, families, and children how to safely play and make shapes together. A passionate student of all 6 principle systems of yoga, resonating most in order: Jnana Raja Bhakti Karma Hatha & Tantra; Jason began his journey to yoga in 2012 while in recovery from a serious life-changing injury. Spending as much time abroad as he can learning and expanding, it is an honor to be invited back to this sacred event and to share his offerings with the attendees of NWYF18!!! 
Holly Walker
Sandpoint, ID Holly Walker is a painter and art teacher living in her hometown of Sandpoint, Idaho. Holly works within the community on collaborative art projects, bridging the gap between students, artists, organizations, and community members. She also teaches intuitive painting classes and workshops to adults, empowering them to express their unique creative visions. Holly’s personal work is currently focused on ethereal abstract painting, rooted in nature. She sells paintings, greeting cards, and prints through her backyard business, the Red Shed Studio. Holly grew up on the shores of Lake Pend Oreille and the meadows of the Selkirk Mountains where she now raises her two children. 
Betsy Shilling
Seattle, WA I’ve been described as “equal parts anatomy nerd, athlete and goddess”, which I’m totally ok with. Supporting your growth in mind, body and spirit is my passion and joy! As your yoga teacher, I provide a safe, inspiring and playful space for you to feel, explore, learn and heal. I offer classes, workshops and teacher trainings throughout Seattle as well as local and global retreats and events specializing in Myofascial Release, Yoga Tune Up® and Prana Flow inspired Vinyasa. I first began practicing the ancient healing arts as a child, studying and teaching martial arts. This led me to research and teach meditation, psychobiology, and women’s health and to my undergraduate focus in psychology. Today my yoga practice is the fullest expression of my gifts and studies. I’ve had the privilege of learning from many great teachers including: Jill Miller, Shiva Rea, Maura Barclay, Cosetta Romani, Amber Tande, Liz Doyle and Master Yom. E-RYT 500, Yoga Tune Up® Teacher Certified, BA Psychology, Lululemon Ambassador 
Lila Pierce Brown
Nelson, BC A Yoga teacher for over 15 years and a passionate teacher of teachers, Lila is dedicated to the experience of Yoga -- a union and skillful engagement with Life. And to sharing this with the amazing practitioners she continues to meet on her journey. One of her joys is to guide practitioners into a space of true transformation, encouraging them to discover, honor and gracefully reveal their most authentic nature through the practice of yoga, evolutionary astrology, meditation, and their overall approach to life. Lila's teaching incorporates skillful alignment and action in the body with yogic myth, philosophy, the evolutionary astrological lens, and direct experience, to create a rich, profound, and soulful experience both on and off the mat. 
Jody Pignolet Standpoint, Idaho Jody Pignolet is a "present moment" geek. Whether it's through her love of teaching yoga, her passion for singing and dancing or her joy of facilitating Authentic Relating games, she is inspired by the magic found in the present. She has been tracking that moment for decades through her spiritual path, through movement and through finding ways to expand her self expression. She, along with Michael Welp, will be leading games and experiences in Authentic Relating throughout the weekend. Authentic Relating is the practice of being as present as one is able with others who are doing the same and then getting to experiencing the power, truth, vulnerability, and all of the other gems that arise in one's self and in others. 
Cami Coté
Missoula, MO Cami Coté is a kirtan artist, yoga teacher, reiki master and vibrational sound healer who is much appreciated for her soulful voice, radiant spirit, inspiring chants and capacity to facilitate healing. She was introduced to kirtan in 2007 and in the years that followed learned to play the harmonium and share this passion, falling invariably deeply in love with Bhakti Yoga, the yoga of devotion. She travels regularly throughout the Pacific Northwest introducing people through concerts and courses to her specializations. Her chants interweave Sanskrit mantras with their English translations, some are unison meditations, some are call-and-response chants and all are paths to a deeper awareness of Source. 
Michael Welp, PhD
Sandpoint, Idaho Michael Welp, PhD. is a co-founder of White Men as Full Diversity Partners (WMFDP), a US based leadership development consultancy. For 20 years Michael has led pioneering workshops engaging white male leaders and building leadership skills to create cultures of full inclusion. He focuses on how to engage white men to become more passionate advocates for inclusion and how they can partner better with women and across cultures. His company WMFDP also engages men as gender equity advocates worldwide. Earlier in his career Michael facilitated interracial team building with over a dozen South African corporations, in his work with Outward Bound. Following this, his research on how white men learn about diversity led to founding WMFDP. Michael is the author of the recently published book, Four Days To Change: 12 Radical Habits to Overcome Bias and Thrive in a Diverse World. His TEDx talk, posted on You Tube, is entitled White Men: Time to Discover Your Cultural Blind Spots. Michael is a certified facilitator of circling and authentic relating and lives in Sandpoint, Idaho with his two teenage daughters. |
Mahapurna
Toronto, Ontario Yoga Acharyas (M.Y.) John William Bauld (MahaDeva) & Shonna Brown (Annapurna) teach classical yoga and are musicians who spread the love that they hold in their hearts for Bhakti (the yoga of loving devotion). The debut solo album, produced in California by acclaimed Grammy-nominated Ben Leinbach, mixes sacred Sanscrit mantra with modern adult contemporary music in English. "Nataraja", the single, is featured in Kripalu's Seva CD "Sounds of Bhakti - Vol. 7". Their newly released live kirtan album "Mahapurna", is now available and they are currently recording their second studio album. John and Shonna are regular presenters at retreat centers, yoga conferences and festivals such as Kripalu Center For Yoga & Health in Stockbridge, Massachusetts; BhaktiFest in Joshua Tree, California; the Toronto International Yoga Conference & Show; and Toronto's Global Yogathon in Dudas Square. They are also the founders of Anandafest, which takes place in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada, and continues their commitment to spreading Bhakti yoga. 
Brietta Leader
Sandpoint, ID Brietta is a teacher of dance in its many forms of healing, prayer, play and conditioning. She grew up as a dancer and discovered her path as a healing artist 16 years ago, while traveling in Asia. The combination of Brietta’s devotion to the dance, her gypsy spirit, family roots & passion to support herself and others into an embodied conscious awakening has birthed her own trademarked movement form called WildCore™. Her years of study as a conscious dance leader and mentor for Soul Motion® began to blend with 15 years as a Nia® Teacher, Massage Therapist, Shamanic student, devoted yogi, pranic healer, reiki practitioner, apprentice to mother-nature, energy enthusiast & performer. All of which contributed to WildCore’s development. Brietta loves to inspire self-healing through movement and offers classes, workshops & co-creative retreats and performances to her hometown of Sandpoint, Idaho, surrounding areas and internationally. 
Erin Wert
Spokane, WA My exploration into yoga began in 2001 at Harmony Yoga Spokane. The serenity and joy I experienced after practice instantly drew me in and the Iyengar-based focus on alignment melded with yogic philosophy set a strong foundation for my blossoming practice. In 2012, I completed my first 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training and began teaching immediately. I have since completed a Baptiste-inspired Power Yoga training and in 2016 completed Mark Stephens 300-hour Teacher Training in Santa Cruz, CA. What I most enjoy about yoga are the continued insights I receive about myself, my relationship to others and my growing connection to spirit. Before diving into yoga I had very little understanding of spiritual matters. The practice has given me faith in myself and my place in the Universe as a spiritual being. That, along with the amazing physical benefits keep me motivated on this path. Teaching is just a continuation of the practice for me. Getting outside of myself, sharing my love of the practice and seeing others become lit up by the practice are just a few of the reasons I love teaching. I have a deeper sense of purpose and self-confidence in teaching yoga than any other “job” I have held. 
Nathan Zavalney
Missoula, MO Nathan has been practicing yoga for the last 21 years, and finds a natural ease in working as a musical accompanist for yoga and other movement. He brings a nuanced sensitivity in following the direction that a teacher is taking a class, and an ability to create organic, dynamic, multi-layered soundscapes over extended periods of time. Nathan has provided live music for yoga classes in a variety of styles including Vinyasa flow, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Yoga Nidra, and Chakra Yoga, with teachers that include Nancy Ruby of Yoga Motion, Seattle based Cosetta Romani, Ashtanga teacher/musician David Garrigue, Inner Harmony Yoga owner Brian Baty, Harmony Yoga teacher trainer Alison Rubin, and many others throughout the northwest, along with festivals and retreats including the Feather Pipe Ranch, Northwest Yogafeast, Pranafest, ond more. Nathan has also provided musical accompaniment to a wide variety of dance, creative movement, and intentional/theraputic movement, including West African, Modern, Flamenco, Belly Dance, and Performance Art, with organizations that include Turning The Wheel, Open Field Artist, Soul Motion, Dance For Parkinson's Disease, and others. Nathan is also owner/director of the Missoula Childbloom Guitar Program, a music education program that provides lessons to 200 Missoula youth. Visit www.MissoulaChildbloom.com for more information. Along with teaching and performing music, Nathan runs Missoula Soundworks recording studio, providing audio recording, editing, and engineering services to musicians and a wide variety of commercial organizations. Visit www.MissoulaSoundworks.com for more information. 
Ara Lyman
Spokane, WA Ara's initial experience with yoga was very physical. In 2002 after experiencing painful tendonitis in her hamstrings, she sought yoga as relief. Within her first month of regular practice, she knew yoga would always be a part of her life. She began her practice in 2002 as a student of Alison Rubin at Harmony Yoga in Spokane. Alison’s teachings in the Iyengar style continue to influence her instruction. Adherence to precision, finding a healthy sustainable way of accessing the postures and respect for the roots and philosophy of yoga. Her yoga practice and teachings now encompass much more than just the physical body, but she understands that creating a deep connection to the physical self can be a gateway to connecting to the Sat Nam, True You. Ara loves to practice and teach many styles of yoga and is currently combining Vinyasa Krama, Kundalini Yoga Kriya and sound healing in “Kundalini Flow” as inspired by her teacher Kia Miller. She has taught the Bikram/Ghosh, Core 26 style since 2010 and holds great respect for the grounding, healing, therapeutic nature of that series while bringing in her own knowledge of physical alignment, the energy body and breath, to allow for the greatest benefits to her students. In Ara's classes, expect intuitively themed weekly sequences, safe physical challenge, to sing mantra, to sweat, to smile, to find your natural rhythm, to connect deeply with your breath in varied pranayama exercises, and to relax into a sound bath savasana with himalayan bowls or the gong. Ara is now the proud owner of The Spokane Yoga Shala. She is a 200E-RYT through Yoga Alliance. She has received a 200hr certification through The Yoga School of Spokane, a 300hr certification through Yarrow Hot Yoga and Wellness Studio, a private Baptiste training with Rhea Slichter and a 200hr Radiant Body Kundalini certification from Kia Miller. Ara has also completed a level 1 sound healing certification in Himalayan singing bowls with Geoffrey Torkington. She is also an accomplished artist with an AFA from Spokane Falls community College. She is a mother of three beautiful boys. 
Gypsy Divas
Sandpoint, ID Gypsy Diva's Dance Troupe offers a blend of unique styles, costumes, music and expression that touches their audience at the level of soul. Their most recent themes have been connected to inspirations from the elements, embodying water, earth, fire and ‘Air’. Gypsy Diva's is made up of local women dancers from Sandpoint and have held a core of 6 with a rotating 3-5 women, and usually includes a mother-to-be. Having been a troupe for over 9 years, the Diva's have built loving relationships and a devotion to this ancient art of dance. The Director Brietta Leader co-choreographs with Hallie Owen and Titina VanHoorn and views being a member of a dance troupe as another gateway for expansion, calling it a 'spiritual practice'. The Gypsy Diva's are delighted to be back at NW Yoga Feast sharing their most recent work. 
Terilyn Wire
Seattle, WA Terilyn Wyre's yogic path has been strongly influenced by her many years as a healer, priestess and seeker. Terilyn sees yoga as a way to express her spirituality, love, joy and liberation and to gather and hold sacred space. Her desire to share that with others led her to teaching. Terilyn is all about COMMUNITY! This passion and commitment shines through in every class that she teaches and in her every interaction. She teaches from the belief that yoga is a dance with the Divine, a dance for all; big and small people, old and young, rich, poor, all races, all religions, all levels, EVERY BODY Her classes are infused with mythology, poetry, fun music and humor. Her authentic love of people creates an inclusive environment where every students feels equally welcome and important. Terilyn feels honored to teach yoga and weave hearts together in the divine tapestry of conscious community. 
Drea Phoenix
Nelson, BC Drea Pheonix has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. She completed her Teacher Training at the Byron Bay Yoga Center in Australia in 2006 and has been teaching ever since. Drea's classes can be described as dynamic and challenging yet joyful and nurturing. She teaches Vinyasa Flow, Prenatal and Yin Yoga. She is passionate about yoga and sharing her knowledge to empower others' mind, body and soul. Drea is a certified 500 HR Yoga Teacher and is Registered with Yoga Alliance. 
Kelly Thielbahr Sandpoint, ID
Kelly took her first Yoga class over 15 years ago and instantly fell in love with its peaceful and centering benefits. In the Fall of 2008, she decided to take her passion for Yoga to a new level and completed a 200 hour certification from At One Yoga in Scottsdale, Arizona. The original intention was purely to deepen her own practice, but the further along she went, the more clear it became that her calling was to teach. Since 2008, Kelly has taught at a variety of studios, from Joya Spa at the Omni Scottsdale to several yoga experiences in the Spokane area including Lila, The Spokane Yoga Shala, The Union and Gonzaga University. She has served as an ambassador for Lululemon for the past 5 years. In her spare time, she continues to educate and inspire herself through community events, workshops and retreats. She is thrilled to be returning to her hometown here in Sandpoint with her husband and 2 children and feels truly privileged to be able to share her Vinyasa style class which focuses on integrating body movement with breath to create a mind body connection that will renew the body, mind and spirit. You will find her classes to be energizing, challenging and infused with a “Yoga Recess” for optional inversions and arm balance fun. |
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The Eureka Institute is a 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization.
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