CYI, RYT - Certified Yoga Instructor and Registered Yoga Teacher

Originally from the Pacific North West. Born in Longview, Washington then life brought me to Phoenix, Arizona in July 1996.

My practice of body awareness began at age 9, performing jazz/contemporary dance, In Junior High I belonged to the first Girls Basketball league at the YMCA, I test drove softball for a year. In High School, performed and taught Step/Dance to peers and toddlers at a local youth center.

College is when body awareness developed a whole new meaning, I found Tai Chi. I then joined Joseph Eager's Wu-shu Academy, learning various styles of Kung-Fu, external and internal martial arts. Two years into training I sustained and injury. Not agreeing with the diagnosis of western medicine, I was drawn to yoga. I consistently took classes lead by Heidi Lichte, one of many amazing yoga teachers in the valley. After a year I completely healed mysef. I Continued to study martial arts and yoga from August 2000 until May of 2006 while still in school. After Graduation, I enrolled in a one month immersion, intense 200-hr Yoga Teacher Traing Certification with Yandara Yoga institute, in Baja Mex. Under Corrin Adams from Toronto Canada. The most life changing event as well as the best decision I've ever made.

Every experience we go through leaves an impression on us, which shapes and molds who we are. Through yoga, we can find our true nature, looking at life with new eyes. I invite students to look at every practice as a new journey, a chance discover, explore and recreate how you see yourself and everything surrounding.

Wendy Reese has over a decade in the fitness industry. She graduated from Northern Arizona University with a degree in Exercise Science and is an ACSM certified personal trainer, a 200 hour certified yoga instructor and YMCA certified pilates instructor. Her classes are a fusion of all disciplines to provide a well-balanced workout welcoming to beginners and yet challenging for the more advanced practitioner. She completed two half marathons and two marathons before finally embracing the joy of running (or something akin to it). When not teaching and training, she can be found writing, photographing, reading, spending time with friends and family, and dreaming of the next time she is able to go surfing.

-- "We may never be strong enough to be entirely nonviolent in thought, word and deed. But we must keep nonviolence as our goal and make strong progress towards it."
~Mahatma Gandhi

Graduate of Arizona State University with a BA in Choreography and Performance and South Mountain Center for the Performing Arts. Registered Yoga Teacher with Yoga Alliance, studied with Don and Amba Stapleton at Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica. Collaborated with several companies including Moscow Ballet, Arizona Theater Company, Movement Source Dance Company, Opendance Contemporary Dance Company, and Mesa Youth Theater. Rehearsal director for the children's cast of the National Broadway Tour of Evita. Currently teaches Interdisciplinary Hatha Yoga, dance, and choreographs throughout the valley

Roderick started venturing in the metaphysical world as a hobby. He graduated with from the University of California, Los Angeles with a Bachelorette Science in Math believing math to be a universal language. After receiving a math degree Roderick obtained a Masters of Art in Professional Counseling from Argosy University. He continued his education at the Southwest Institute of the Healing Arts completing a 100 hour certification program in Hypnotherapy. Roderick is now a practicing Hypnotherapist/Life Coach. His purpose is to support you in establishing your best self using coaching and hypnotherapy. Coaching equips you with tools and strategies to aid you in discovering indentifying and achieving your goals. Hypnotherapy facilitates healing, positive behavioral changes, and expands one's self awareness.

To achieve all that's possible we must attempt the impossible… To be as much as we can be we must dream of being more. --Unknown

Hello my name is Amanda Gatlin, Holistic Therapist, Reverend and Spiritual Healer. I recently moved to the Phoenix area from Kingman, AZ where I ran a holistic healing business out of my home for nearly 6 years.

I began my studies in metaphysics and spiritual healing when I was sixteen. Through various schools and programs I have obtained several certifications and degrees related the holistic health field. I have put these studies to use helping several people, from all over Arizona and other states who have come to see me, alleviate pain, reduce stress, and find greater balance in their everyday life. I am looking forward to meeting new people here in Phoenix and hopefully bringing them the same relief.

Degrees and Certificates earned: Honorary Doctor of Metaphysics Degree, Master of Science in Holistic Health and Therapy, Bachelor's of Arts in Psychology, Associate's of Arts and Sciences, Ministry Credential, Spiritual Healer Certification, Reflexology Certification, Aromatherapy Certification, Chakra Therapy Certification, Reiki Master/Teacher Attunement, Certificate in Crystal Healing Therapy, Ear Candling Certificate.

Thank you and be well.

Ana will be adding her bio soon!

If you don't take care of your body, where are you going to live?

There are many paths to full liberation, and each of us creates his own path. We take the best of everything we have learned from the various places we have touched upon, and walk the path that works for us. No one path is better than another, for they all lead us to the same place. When we use yoga and meditation to help us along that path, the path becomes clearer every moment of every day.

I was born and raised in a suburb of Boston. As a teenager, I spent many summers traveling the country with a Drum and Bugle Corps. It was there that I learned that the rewards of hard work and the benefits of teamwork, loyalty and dedication. As a student at Northeastern University, I studied business management, which prepared me for my job as an analyst for a mutual fund company. What it didn't prepare me for was "my" path.

I left the corporate life in 2004 to find my life's path. I knew I wanted to work with people one-on-one, helping to improve their general well-being. I first received a personal trainer certification from the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), then I got hooked on yoga. I was then certified as a Hatha Yoga instructor from Fitness Resource Associates (FRA), under the guidance of Judy Baker, in the fall of 2005.

In January of 2006, I moved across the country to pursue a 200 hour yoga certification course in an effort to learn the deeper aspects of yoga. The 30 days I spent in an intensive yoga study at the 7 Centers in Sedona, AZ., was a life-changing experience.

I am passionate about aiding people along their paths to wellness by teaching them about their bodies, minds and spirits.

Yoga's amazing gift is to teach us to seek answers within ourselves. It can be used as a tool for physical exercise, spiritual paths, emotional well-being and mind focus.

Because I love what I do, I don't consider it work. I am so blessed to have found something that I can give back to people. Happiness is our essential nature, and our perpetual quest for happiness can only be fulfilled when we realize who we truly are. This is what yoga does. This is what I hope to leave with you.

I am a student by nature and a teacher at heart. I earned my undergraduate degree from Penn State Univ in Animal Science with a minor in microbiology in 1992. Certified as a teacher in secondary education, I obtained my Masters degree in Geo Sciences which included the study of geology, meteorology and climatology. I believe in creating a cohesive living philosophy which incorporates the scientific and the metaphysical/spiritual. Some of my studies have included: Shamanism, Hypnotherapy, Reiki, Yoga, Meditation techniques, energy work, crystal therapy, herbal and aromatherapy.

I am also certified by AFAA as a licensed fitness instructor with training in group exercise instruction, step aerobics, stability ball, Pilates, and core conditioning. To achieve a state of balance and peace requires that all parts of ourselves are working together, harmoniously. We need to develop our minds, bodies and spirits to achieve this end. We need to be curious about life and search through different pathways, to find our true selves.

I have had many insights throughout my life, and in my passion for it, I have had the experience of flow many times as documented by Mihaly Csikzentmihalyi in works. To this end, I have explored many flow activities, including nature photography and potter, as well as many of the studies mentioned above. For each person, the passion of life, and the studies which lead one, to more self realization, may differ, but I have found that by following your bliss you may reach territories unimagined.

--"The happiest people spend much time in a state of flow - the state in which people are so involved in an activity that nothing else seems to matter; the experience itself is so enjoyable that people will do it even at great cost, for the sheer sake of doing it."
~Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi

I took my first Hatha yoga class in high school at A Desert Song in Phoenix. Although I started practicing Transcendental Meditation (often called TM) at nine, it wasn't until I developed a yoga practice that I truly began to feel grounded in my center and able to view my life and the Self as a continuous work of art unfolding. I didn't even get through the first class before having a vision of myself teaching. I continued to practice on my own out of a book a least once or twice a week for the next four years. Even without any instruction I found yoga to be an inspiring and limitless art form. By the summer of 2000, I completed my first teacher training intensive at At One Yoga and upon completion, was asked to create the studio's first yoga classes for children. Two years later, I transitioned into adult classes and over the past eight years, I have taught valley wide.

From basics to power yoga, restorative to all levels, the practice is grounded in intention and freedom. My teaching style is both centered in deep physical awareness and a progressive non-denominational spiritual component. The intent is always to support the individual and provide a practice that is accessible to all. Rooted in the traditions of Iyengar and Ashtanga, as well as supported by the universal principles of alignment through an Anusara approach, the practice is both classic, yet open to authentic exploration and freedom within the structure.

As a singer and chant artist, I use my voice to infuse the practitioner with the powerful effects of sound during savasana; using tones and chants to bring one into a deep state of relaxation and restoration.

Rev. Nancy will be adding her bio soon. For more information - click here for her website!

Hari Gopal Kaur completed her Kundalini Yoga Teacher Training in 2003 in Phoenix. She has since taught workshops and classes in Yoga and Manifestation in San Francisco, Phoenix, Costa Rica, and Venezuela. For the last 5 years, Hari Gopal has also been assisting individuals in bringing their dreams and goals into physical manifestation through a process she calls Visionary Consulting (personal coaching and assistance). She gratefully lives what she teaches, completely surrendered to the abundant flow of the Universe through every breath.

Guru Ardas has been teaching Kundalini Yoga all over the Valley for several years. She is enthusiastic about helping individuals live optimally. She is an Ayurvedic Lifestyle Consultant and also does Numerology Readings. Feel free to ask Guru Ardas for info on these services.

Angel Monachelli and Dr. Brandy Howe - click here for their website!

Jane Fendelman has a Bachelor of Science in Education from Southwest Missouri State University and a Masters in Counseling from the University of Phoenix. She resides in Phoenix, Arizona with her dog, Bubba Gump Shrimp, where she founded her private practice in 1993. Jane is best known for helping families cure ADD/ADHD, Oppositional Defiant and Bipolar Disorders without drugs, within 3 -5 counseling sessions, healing childhood trauma in adults and saving marriages.

Jane's charismatic style and inspiring perspective have made her very popular as a featured speaker at The Fresh Start Women's Foundation, Hospice of the Valley, on air via KFNX, KTAR, KXAM and KZON radio. She has also appeared as a special guest on several television shows including Sonoran Living, Your Life A to Z, Good Morning AZ News, The Pat McMahon Show and Arizona Midday where she was featured as the weekly "couples expert." Jane teaches parenting and couples workshops and is always available for speaking engagements.

Sue is one of our baristas and all around groovy chick. It is unlikely that she will ever write a bio for me, and so I am taking the liberty of writing a quick blurb about her (this is James-btw). Sue owns bend-a-light, which is a neon studio. She does neon art, sculptures, and commercial work. She also is fire performer (poi) and more!

Clayton will be updating his bio soon!!

Dan is Fahb-u-luussss, and the beans love him. He has a little doggie/child, gracie. He makes a mean latte!!

Harimander will be updating her bio soon!!

My name is Lanette Diaz. My spiritual name is Siri Dyaal Kaur Born and raised in Los Angeles, California. In my early twenties, I moved to Miami, Florida. I have always been on a path of light and growth, but once I moved to Miami, my first big stepping stones were brought to me. I was introduced to Hatha Yoga. I fought yoga for so long and finally one day I gave in and attended a class. I felt so empowered and open-hearted. I was hooked! I continued to practice yoga, then decided to do teacher training. My life began to transform. I must say to all, that even if you don’t plan on becoming a yoga teacher, a teacher training is the way to go. It will change your life. Reiki was also introduced to me around the same time as yoga. I became Reiki attuned. These two blessings brought me to a whole other level. My self-esteem, self-love, and self-respect began to flourish within me. I was more balanced. So much growth. I later moved to Phoenix, where I decided to do the Kundalini yoga teacher training in New Mexico with the 3HO foundation. I was also introduced to the reconnection. Reconnective healing was yet another blessing. Getting to know myself, how I work, and why. I recently started a course called “Training in Power”. I am level 1. It’s an amazing training that has helped me remove even more blocks and has made meditation easier for me. I am grateful for these gifts the universe has provided for me. The comfort of being in my own flesh, learning to love more from a place of love instead of fear. I am embracing, more and more, my power as a light being having a human experience, embracing more and more, my mission and purpose. This is why I will dedicate my life to passing on the healing. Passing on anything I can so others can heal, and embrace who they truly are.

Ja is our resident artist. For more information on her work, see her myspace page- http://www.myspace.com/jajarts

Sat Nam All, my name is Gaeliel Prathna Kaur Apostolou. I began practicing Kundalini Yoga over 8 years ago and after the final end of my corporate career, I decided that it was something I wanted to pursue professionally. I love teaching Kundalini Yoga, as I believe it to be a very effective and swift way of strengthening and disciplining the body, mind and soul simultaneously. My focus is to expand my students’ individual consciousness with the universal consciousness, to create a union. Through practice of Kundalini yoga techniques, one can expand their personal connection to life and raise their awareness level of the role they play in creating their personal world. Kundalini Yoga can help in developing and focusing the student’s attention to complete the manifestations they desire and to let go of the daily stresses they feel in their physical lives. It is a great form of yoga as it incorporates mental focus, breathing (pranayama), sound vibrations (mantras), postures or body positions (asanas), hand positions (mudras), meditation, and relaxation. In addition to teaching yoga, I am a personal Chef and own a catering company called, Healthy Organic Catering. My food is focused on fresh quality that is healthy for the body and nurtures the soul, making a person feel refreshed and pleased after a meal. In connection to the food, I also produce and sell Raw Coconut Cream for medical uses and indulgence uses, ask me more if you are interested. I am an Energy practitioner through the use of Reiki and other ancient family techniques that have been passed down through generations to me. Additionally, I offer Numerology readings, which help one realize the strengths and weaknesses they are working with in this lifetime; these strengths and weaknesses can be used to strategize a way to be more successful in their goals. Through use of all the modalities I work with, I offer “Whole Life Coaching” that focuses on helping one release and let go of the past to create a new future! I look forward to seeing bright new and old faces in my classes throughout my time at Alternatives. Sat Nam.

Paisley leads Sunday Services here. For more information on Paisley, see his website-http://www.paisleyyankolovich.com

A student of truth and a teacher of experience everything that you never thought possible now looks like a full glass of optimism. Summed up in the only constant we can commit to the change thats happening now

Harpal will be adding her bio soon!