Our Teachers
Allison has been teaching yoga for almost a decade. She started teaching at 19 when she fell in love with yoga in San Diego. Yoga became her practice, as it was the thing that made her feel connected to something bigger than herself. After she began teaching yoga the vision was clear – to combine western medicine with the eastern mind-body wisdom. She received a BS in nursing at HSU and currently works as a RN at Mad River Community Hospital. In 2011 she went to India to learn from the source and ended up studying Swami Vivekenananda’s Tantric Hatha Yoga. In India Allison integrated the different yogic philosophies that she once read about in books into her own practice and teaching, becoming even more enthusiastic for sharing yoga. Allison is an Anusara Inspired Yoga teacher - completing her teacher training locally with Robyn Smith.
Thursday
10:30am - 12:00am Anusara Inspired Yoga
Sunday
10:30am - 12:00am Vinyasa Flow I/II
Andrew Christian is a lifelong yogi, artist and musician. He has been painting Yantras for 22 years. Andrew was blessed to meet Harish Johari in 1988 and to live and study with him and his family in India for 3 months. Harish Johari was a Temple sculptor, Tantric iconographic artist, and modern day “pioneer” of the ancient science and art of Yantra construction. Harish helped to bring the science of Yantra construction to a new generation of Yantra artists and yoga practitioners with his book Tools for Tantra.
Wednesday
6:30pm - 7:00pm Yantra Meditation
7:00pm - 9:00pm Yantra Painting - $18
Truth: Agni Devi is way too rajasic – a fireball of energy racing at light speed to that space, that place, where she is floating, free of body, free of mind, aware of all, knowing of all, and at peace with all. Agni, STOP. Breathe. That space, that place will always be. So enjoy the journey. Five deep breaths. Count them, slowly. Sit, breathe and be…. Yoga. Agni is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Yoga under the guidance of Chandra Om, senior disciple of Sri Dharma Mittra.
Monday
5:30pm - 7:15pm Hatha Raja
Wednesday
5:30pm - 7:15pm Hatha Raja
Artemisia Shine is a warm-hearted, animated, earth-loving mamma. She has worked with kids in Environmental Education for over 13 years and her favorite “super hero” is still Ranger Rick. She attended her first yoga class in 1998 and fell wildly in love. She is delighted to share her passion for yoga while extending an invitation to participate fully in the ecstasy of life as it unfolds! She aspires to tap into the root of our most essential nature to inspire the inherent curiosity and deeply felt sense of wonder that lies within the depths of us. She is grateful for the peace of mind and presence yoga has helped her cultivate. (Her son likes to remind her that she’s “a lot more fun to be around” when she is living her yoga.)
Artemisia completed a 200 hour Hatha Yoga Teacher Training at Yoga Tree in San Francisco and is currently enrolled in a six-month, 200 hour Anusara Immersion and Teacher Training with Peggy Profant. In her free time she can be found snuggling up her son and friends, preparing vegan food for the masses, studying Recreation Administration at HSU, wandering barefoot, drinking excessive amounts of herbal tea, playing with AcroYoga, enthusiastically writing in the margins of incredible books and digging around in her garden.
Monday
1:00pm - 2:30pm Community Class - $7
Tuesday
4:00pm - 5:00pm Kids' Yoga (ages 5-8) $7
Thursday
4:00pm - 5:00pm Kids' Yoga (ages 9-12) $7
Friday
4:00pm - 5:15pm Yoga for All
Christine Fiorentino is an inventive and adventurous instructor, drawing her inspiration from an eclectic variety of sources. A primary influence is her background as a professional dancer/instructor with a degree in dance from CSULB. She caught fire for yoga while living in New York, practicing with Cyndi Lee at the renowned Om Yoga Studio. This led her to Oakland, where she completed the intensive 650-hour Yoga Teacher Training under the guidance of Rodney Yee.
Early in her career as a Yoga teacher in Santa Cruz, Christine discovered the path of spiritual inquiry as taught by Adyashanti. This teaching has been invaluable in deepening her understanding of the mind-body-spirit connection and the true meaning of Yoga. Most recently she has been inspired by her own personal practice, integrating insights from professionals in a variety of fields and modalities. Christine has been teaching in Humboldt County since 2005 and feels excited and blessed to be part of the thriving Yoga community in this area.
Tuesday
5:30pm - 7:00pm Vinyasa & Alignment All Levels
Thursday
5:30pm - 7:00pm Vinyasa & Alignment All Levels
Deborah’s yoga practice emerged out of a playful childhood. Her interest in pranayama began when she developed acute asthma at age 3. She discovered asana that opened her body to the flow of breath, as well as asana that held the breath still. She also passed out a lot. When her father died at age 5 she became curious about death, consciousness, and time travel. Listening to stories like Alice in Wonderland and Lost Horizon launched a search for the mystical entrance to other worlds She began yoga meditation, asana, and pranayama instruction at age 9, added swadhyaya five years later, and taught yoga as a part of the modern dance curriculum while she was still in high school. She continued to study and practice yoga in the search for that opening in many likely and unlikely places. Her search ended when she met Gurumayi Chidvilasananda in 1988. Deborah came to Arcata in 1984 to study sculpture at HSU, and later taught Chinese brush painting in the community. Currently she creates indoor and outdoor spaces for peaceful contemplation, and paints mostly on walls and furniture.
Wednesday
11:15am - 12:30am Gentle Yoga I
Emily has been practicing Yoga since 2002 and is a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) with National Yoga Alliance. She completed her yoga certification program at It’s Yoga in San Francisco with Larry Schultz, a student of Pattabhi Jois and the creator of Rocket Yoga. Emily's vinyasa flow classes are guided by the slow rhythm of the inhalation and exhalation in such a way to inspire a meditation in motion. She encourages her students to go inside themselves to observe and explore the energy that is available there, being mindful to honor the uniqueness of the present moment. She is always amazed at how, through the practice of yoga, the ever-changing impermanence of ourselves and nature is revealed to us. As we observe the subtle changes of our body and mind through this practice, the way we perceive ourselves and the world around us begins to expand. As we step out of our old body and into a new one, we realize we can step out of the old world and into a new one. Emily invites you to take a pause from your busy life, quiet the thinking mind and wake up the feeling body.
Tuesday
9:00am - 10:25am Vinyasa Flow I/II
Thursday
9:00am - 10:25am Vinyasa Flow I/II
Heather began on the path of Yoga,12 years ago, in the mountains of New Mexico. She has completed teacher trainings with Max Strom: Vinyasa Yoga, Robyn Smith: Anusara Yoga, and Baron Baptiste: Power Vinyasa Yoga. She spends her free time practicing Yoga at home next to a hot wood stove.
Friday
5:30pm - 7:00pm Candlelight Hot Flow All Levels
Janine Melzer teaches Forrest Yoga as a way to support and inspire students to become their most genuine selves. She is passionately committed to getting people turned on to embodying spirit in their yoga practice and in their lives. Janine asks her students to bring a willingness to work honestly at their edges without struggling, clearing the way to find delight in every breath
Wednesday
11:00am - 12:30am Forrest Yoga All Levels
Saturday
9:00am - 10:25am Forrest Yoga All Levels
Jenni Brown, a certified Phoenix Rising practitioner and registered teacher since 2006, teaches hatha, vinyasa flow, and gentle yoga. She applies the core philosophies of Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy to her teaching style by encouraging students to listen to the inner wisdom that the body possesses. In this way, yoga begins to incorporate itself into daily life, enabling transformation and positive growth. Jenni offers private sessions through Om Shala. To learn more, visit her website at www.innerjourneyyoga.com
Monday
7:30pm - 9:00pm Candlelight Flow I/II
Wednesday
7:30pm - 9:00pm Candlelight Flow I/II
Jodie DiMinno is a certified instructor of Kripalu Yoga and has been a student of yoga for more than ten years. She spent three years as a resident staff member and facilitator of yoga and self-discovery programs at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts, one of the premier centers for yoga in the country. Through the practice of yoga, Jodie has found a deep sense of peace and grace within; it is one of her greatest joys to share this gift with others.
Monday
9:00am - 10:30am Soulful Mother Practice
Wednesday
5:00pm - 6:15pm Prenatal Yoga All Levels
Sunday
6:30pm - 8:00pm Relax Deeply All Levels
Kathleen's lifelong interest in health and spirituality took a playful turn a few years a when she discovered Laughter Yoga. She found it to be a unique and delightful system wherein anyone of any physical ability can laugh for an extended period of time and receive tremendous health benefits while having fun with others. Having worked for years in the health and wellness fields, first as an RN and later as a Marriage and Family Therapist, she finds Laughter Yoga has essentially the same goals: improved health, more joy and inner peace, better relationships. But it is so much quicker and more fun! Now now she plays, laughs, breathes and claps with people and finds it is indeed very good medicine for the body and soul. Kathleen is a Certified Laughter Yoga Leader and was trained by the founder of LY, Dr Madan Kataria of India, as a Certified LY teacher (trainer).
Monday
4:45pm - 5:25pm Laughter Yoga
Peggy Profant spent her teenage years on the beaches of Santa Barbara drinking wheat grass, throwing a frisbee, and sharing yoga with her sunworshipping friends. In yoga she had discovered the fountain of youth! She has been an explorer of wilderness and culture and has traveled the world to experience the many flavors of life. Formerly a wilderness guide, her journey into parenthood has settled her in the Arcata area to become a massage therapist and yoga teacher. Peggy co-founded World Family Yoga, retreats which combine the three things she most loves: family, yoga and travel. Her eleven years of teaching yoga have been influenced by Iyengar and Ashtanga Yoga, which she became passionate about during her travels to India. Now Peggy's love resides with the teachings of Anusara yoga. She travels frequently to study with Anusara's founder, John Friend, and has become a certified Anusara Yoga teacher. Based in Tantric philosophy, Anusara offers a heart-centered, life-affirming approach to hatha yoga, with an exquisite attention to alignment. It is Peggy's joyful passion to share the teachings of yoga with her students.
Monday
9:00am - 10:50am Anusara Yoga II/III
11:00am - 12:15am Anusara Yoga I
Wednesday
9:00am - 10:30am Anusara Yoga I/II
10:35am - 10:55am Pranayama & Meditation; Free
Thursday
12:30am - 2:30pm Anusara Practice II/III
Friday
9:00am - 10:30am Anusara Yoga I/II
10:35am - 10:55am Pranayama & Meditation; Free
11:00am - 12:15am Anusara Yoga I
Shemaia "Skywater" Lucas – Certified yoga teacher/performing artist/
vibrational healer. As a dancer/poet/seeker, Shemaia came to yoga with a curiosity for its beauty and deep mystery. Her practice over more than two decades had a huge impact on her body/mind fitness approach as a trainer/teacher.
Shemaia has been teaching yoga since 1988, and her influences and teachers are wondrously varied; Kundalini, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Taoist yoga and now, especially, Anusara make up the threads of her Yoga tapestry. Widely known teachers she has trained with have been Erich Schiffmann, Shari Friedrichsen, Ana Forrest, Paul Grilley, Judith Lasater, Tim Miller and, most currently, Sarajoy Marsh, Mary Pafford, and Anusara’s founder, John Friend.
Shemaia’s compassionate, supportive teaching reflects her reverence for this practice and its capacity to facilitate awareness, health and the profound recognition that our core essence IS pure luminosity!
Tuesday
10:30am - 12:00am Multi-Level Yoga
Vinyasa Flow Teacher
Tuesday
7:30pm - 9:00pm Groove Yoga
Thursday
7:30pm - 9:00pm Groove Yoga
Saturday
10:30am - 12:00am Vinyasa Flow I/II
While working toward her PhD in anthropology at the University of Michigan, Girija traveled to India in 1970 on a spiritual quest. There she met Swami Muktananda and became his disciple. During the next 22 years she lived in a number of his ashrams, both in India and the U.S. In 1980 she was ordained as Swami Girijananda and began traveling, teaching and directing ashrams. It was during the early days in India that she began the study and practice of the art of astrology. After leaving the ashram, she moved to a Tibetan Buddhist retreat center which was founded by Chagdud Tulku Rinpoche. There, in the remote Trinity Alps of northern California, she spent the next 12 years studying, practicing and doing retreat as a disciple of Lama Drimed Norbu, Chagdud Rinpoche’s dzogchen lineage holder. During her years there she studied and practiced the healing art of Jin Shin Jyutsu, which has ancient roots in India and more modern roots in Japan. She spent nearly two years at the Shiva Ashram in Australia where she reconnected with her Siddha Yoga roots and taught meditation and also offered courses in Jin Shin Jyutsu and astrology. In 2011 she settled in Arcata where she has been teaching meditation in a post traditional format which is inclusive and practical. Her heartfelt aspiration is that people discover and connect with the essence of their inner being and develop a regular practice which brings harmony and integration to their everyday lives.
Sunday
5:00pm - 6:25pm Meditation
Teacher photos by Eva York Photography.