We are blessed once again to have assembled a wonderful collective of teachers and artists from the Northwest. 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.
Rob and Melissa - Seattle, Wa. Rob & Melissa are Bhakti yogis, teachers and kirtan singers devoted to celebrating the divine through the practice of kirtan (call and response chanting). Together they weave ancient Sanskrit chants with heart-filled songs, and insightful storytelling. Rob’s past experience as a filmmaker is reflected in his passion for the myths and legends of yoga. Melissa is a movement enthusiast and joyologist. Their personal mantra “Be Nice and Have Fun” is the foundation of their life philosophy, and their gift is sharing this joy through mantra and movement.
Jacquie Hansen,MPH, Reiki Master/Practitioner - Seattle, Wa. The most influential qualities guiding my life: music, nature, and play; began as a child growing up in a small town in Oregon. I was home schooled for most of my childhood which helped to create in me an independence and creativity that has informed both my musical side as well as my yoga practice and how I approach my health. An athletic injury took me on a journey of healing that had me trying several alternate healing modalities which lead me to Reiki. I found though I needed a deeper mind/body/spirit connection so there is where I dove in deep to yoga. I fell in love with the yoga practice and how it encouraged me to return to innocence through "beginners mind". So, after completing a two 9 month, RYT 200 hour yoga teacher trainings in 2011 and 2015, I have been honored to teach many types of yoga but also to blend and combine my loves into unique experiences that are a blessing for all involved. Nothing is better than see the bright shiny faces after Savasana! That glow is the best feedback anyone could give to me.
Katie Trelstad - Tacoma Wa.
Katie has been a yoga practitioner and yidaki dijeridoo player since 1998. She studied dance, music and musical theater and has worked as a vocalist, performer, and sound healer for most of her life. Native to the Pacific Northwest, 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 in the School Outdoors Program. Currently Katie is an Assistant Professor at Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle, WA. She holds an interdisciplinary Master's Degree from Antioch University. Drawing on her background in the performing arts and international experience, she advocates for the critical intersectionality of personal artistic craft, global citizenship, sustainable community design and social stratification deconstruction. 
Nancy Burtenshaw - Moscow ID. Nancy has been a passionate Yogini since 2000 and a teacher since 2007. Nancy takes pride in her love of learning and is an avid student always engaged in some form of intensive, immersion or training. To her staying on the pulse of learning helps her refine and amplify her knowledge & gift of teaching so that she can best serve her students and expand her own practice. Her teaching is influenced by several Hatha traditions: Dynamic movement with breath (Baptiste Power Vinyasa); Heart inspired yoga (Anusara); and her advanced teacher training studies with Noah Maze (an homage to classical roots). Nancy is skilled at, and loves, teaching a variety of class levels from the “raw” beginner to the advanced student offering clear & accessible instructions that are stair-stepped, progressive & inspire. Nancy created, owned and operated Nourish Yoga in Moscow, Idaho from 2011 to 2016. Nancy is currently splitting her time between Moscow, and her home-town, Seattle Washington.
Nathan Zavalney - Missoula Mt. Multi-instrumentalist Nathan Zavalney has been practicing yoga for the last 18 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 improvised, dynamic, multi-layered soundscapes that support and enhance participants practices.
Nathan has provided live music for yoga classes, workshops, and festivals with many teachers throughout the northwest, and has multiple recordings created specifically for yoga and movement practices available. Find out more at 
Trisha Wilson - Nelsen 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. 
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 
Gypsy Diva's - 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.
Gaia and 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.
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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. 
Erika Dixon - Portland, Or. Since landing on my first yoga mat in 1998, I have watched my practice shift and transform into a cornucopia of modalities. A yoga teacher since 2006 and a slackline fanatic since 2008, I have traveled the country learning and teaching with fervor. With a master’s degree in counseling from Lewis & Clark College, years dedicated to the study of social work within the Southern CT State University master’s program, and a license in massage therapy, I am truly a life long learner with a thirst for inquiry.
My teaching practice is fueled by a genuine passion for learning, possibility, and adventure. My lust for adventure led me to the YogaSlackers teacher training in 2011 where I learned the art of teaching slack-asana (yoga on a slackline.) As a devout Yogaslacker, I've grown to love longlining, highlining, and acroyoga. I aspire to share my playful spirit with all that I encounter in life. As a devoted humanitarian and middle school counselor with over 1,000 hours of yoga teacher training, my goal is to help facilitate both authentic healing and positive change within our world in the most playful way possible. 
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. 
Holly Walker - Sandpoint ID. Holly Walker grew up on a farm in a glacial valley just outside of the small town of Sandpoint, ID where she now raises her two children. She is in her 11th year of teaching high school art at Forrest Bird Charter School. Although small town life is where she thrives, Holly has spent much time adventuring to the far corners of the world including Bali, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, France, and most often: Mexico. An avid artist, Holly leads classes, workshops, retreats, and private sessions. She is currently developing content for a watercolor how-to book with a companion e-course. Degrees include BFA Fine Arts from University of Idaho, MA in Art Education from Boise State University, Yoga RYT from Karuna Erickson of Heart Yoga in Nelson BC. Website:
Erin Wert - Spokane, Wa Erin’s exploration into yoga began in 2001 with Alison Rubin at Harmony Yoga Spokane. The serenity and joy she experienced after practice instantly drew her in and she continued to study with Alison for a number of years. Alison’s Iyengar-based focus on alignment melded with yogic philosophy set the foundation for the strong practice Erin now has.
In 2008 Erin began studying Forrest Yoga, an intense and therapeutic practice that truly resonated with her body. It was through this practice that she began to uncover that place of wisdom that resides within each of us. She finds the subject of yoga infinitely fascinating and continue to practices Forrest Yoga, as well as Vinyasa Flow, Baptiste, Bikram and Iyengar-based yoga. Her style of teaching incorporates an eclectic mix of core work, breath awareness and vinyasa flow – a moving meditation to access the mind-body-spirit connection. She is a RYT 200 When not teaching or practicing yoga, Erin is known to spend her time dancing and singing with her daughter, running on the trails of southwest Spokane and generally looking for ways to be present and joy-filled in this beautiful place she calls home. 
Peter Mico - Sandpoint ID Peter is the owner of Downtown Yoga. His certifications and trainings include working with some of the leading yoga instructors in the country. Such teachers include Rodney Yee, Erich Schiffmann, Tias Little, Manuso Manos, John Friend, and James D’Silva. Peter is also working as Blue Zone Yoga to bring the teachings of the healthiest communities on the planet to our community.
Deven Sisler - Bend Or. - Deven will empower your practice on and off your mat. A senior certified AcroYoga teacher she is known for her joyful, playful approach to partnership and collaboration, and her articulate teaching. An E-RYT 200 & CRYT yoga teacher she has trained with international master teachers for the past eleven years in yoga, thai massage and acrobatics. An outdoor enthusiast she weaves her experience and on and off the mat into creative, relaxing and inspiring classes internationally. She offers a holistic approach to exploring biomechanics and the subtle body through movement and her training in Body-Mind Centering.
Deven's teaching methodology is beneficial for new practitioners, current yoga teachers, children’s’ yoga teachers and yoga teachers-in-training. Her perspective through the lens of AcroYoga heightens kinesthetic and proprioceptive awareness; it cultivates trust, communication and community building; and provides a creatively interactive forum to deepen experiential understanding of assists and assisting through basic foundational concepts of acrobatics + thai massage that make yoga more accessible to everyone and every body type. 
Autumn Lukezech - Massage Therapists Autum is a Sandpoint native, recent graduate from massage school in Texas and is currently living back in the northwest. She finds happiness helping others find their relaxation and healing through massage. She enjoys techniques such as Deep tissue, Lomi Lomi, and Swedish. She is excited to continue working within the community and expanding her growth as a Massage Therapist.
Jennifer Ott - Sandpoint, ID Jennifer Ott uses Authentic Relating practices to facilitate gatherings where the possibility to learn and grow through connection, vulnerability and intimacy blooms. She began her studies of AR in the fall of 2015 at the Integral Center, in Boulder Colorado. Bringing these gifts home to her local community she manages Authentic Sandpoint, a collective of people learning and practicing AR in the beautiful little town of Sandpoint, Idaho. Jennifer currently works at Authentic Revolution, traveling throughout North America sharing authentic relating, leadership and facilitation skills.
She grows her own edges of relating in the AR global community through her contribution to and participation in Authentic World, a world wide platform of AR where circles, games, forums, and trainings are hosted and facilitated online, bringing Authentic Relating to anyone anywhere, that can access the internet. When not working in the community and with communities everywhere she is most happy in her own backyard. Accompanied by her beautiful partner and their four amazing girls she loves to grow food, flowers, is an avid chef, baker and loving practitioner of all ways nourishing. |
