Leadership Team
More about Sheryl
Sheryl discovers great joy in the experience of being embodied. Sheryl began a steady yoga practice 15 years ago and her initial training was in Nasik, India at www.yogapoint.com in 2005. Her dedication to yoga ignited while teaching middle and high school however, the earliest seeds were planted through a passion for dance. Sheryl has always been a teacher in some capacity. With a background in experiential education, she was guided to a path of working with people, holding space and facilitating healing. She enjoys connecting and listening to the similarities of the human experience. Sheryl strives to honor the art of teaching in her classes by offering an experience that is inspiring, resonate, digestible and authentic. Sheryl has taken countless hours of trainings and workshops and finds value in recognizing the similarities of varying spiritual disciplines. She has additional training in prenatal, kids, and trauma-sensitive yoga. Sheryl also leads retreats both locally and internationally.
Sheryl has blended the sister sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda into her own life and helps others rediscover a true and balanced nature. She is a graduate of the Ayurvedic Health Practitioner (AHP) program through the California College of Ayurveda and shares her knowledge through seasonal cleanses, workshops, cooking classes, public lectures and individual consultations.
Sheryl finds grounding, strength and inspiration in connecting with the natural world. Her heart lights up through creativity, music, adventure, humor, leadership and community involvement but her most beloved pastime… being and laughing with her son, Cedar.
More about Deb
Deb enjoys fusing devotion, strength, integrity, and grace in order to inspire contagious enthusiasm in service to Mother Earth, Community and Self. She practices deep interest in Yoga as a rich path of transformation, awakening innate intelligence and healing through which yoga combines the practical with mysticism. Deb embraces the boundless yoga practice as something that can open paths of transformation and nourish one’s unique spiritual way of life. Her specialty is to encourage students toward self-inquiry through their connection to nature as well as exploring how yoga practice can be a metaphor for how we choose to be in life and in relationship. She loves to discover and continuously question how to embody the practice; how to really walk the talk and perceives Yoga as path towards wholeness. Deb teaches at Yogadurango in Durango, Colorado and loves to travel to teach in other states/countries. She has trained with the amazing teachers through Yogadurango and is currently in her 500 hour study with her teacher, Bhavani Maki, diving deep into the heart of Yoga Philosophy and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.
More about Damiane
Damiane has been practicing yoga, meditation and pranayama since 1998. She is a certified yoga instructor, RYT 500, Natural Therapeutics Specialist and Ayurvedic Practitioner. Damiane studied for two years at the Ayurvedic Institute with Dr. Vasant Lad and was fortunate to be invited to the Guru Kula Program, an advanced study working with Dr. Lad and his clients. She has been a volunteer for the Art of Living Foundation since 2000, teaching stress reduction workshops that include yoga, pranayama and meditation. Her passion is to inspire others to continually return to balance, wellness and happiness using the ancient wisdom Yoga and Ayurveda.
More about Lynn
Lynn’s journey on the yogic path began in 2001, a few years after the traumatic loss of her mother. Through dedicated study and consistent practice, Lynn navigated through a period of deep grief and discovered the powerful healing qualities of yoga and meditation. Encouraged by several of her yoga teachers, Lynn began teaching yoga informally, and eventually attended a residential yoga teacher training program at the Yandara Yoga Institute in Baja California Sur, under the tutelage of Shane Perkins. Her immersion at Yandara would change the course of her life. Notwithstanding her career as a professional wildlife biologist, Lynn prioritized teaching yoga and the continuation of her study of yoga philosophy and lifestyle. She has completed over 600 hours of training and has taught group and private yoga classes for over 10 years. Lynn is currently working towards an 800-hr certification as a Yoga Therapist through Inner Peace Yoga Therapy. She believes deeply in the transformational and healing qualities of yoga, and it is her intention to guide students along their own yogic and life journeys.
Teachers
More about Emily
Emily began practicing yoga in 2008 at her hometown college campus recreation center in Murfreesboro, TN. From there, she explored the local yoga studio classes and started to create her own home practice. Emily wanted to know more, about yoga so she chose to dive into a 200 hour teacher training in Knoxville, TN in 2011. Since then, she has taught in fitness studios, yoga studios, climbing gyms, schools, and in the wilderness. Although she loves to practice asana, Emily believes there is so much more to gain than getting to that “perfect pose”. She enjoys setting an intention for each class (and personal practice) based on all parts of being: emotional, mental, energetic, physical, and spiritual. Emily is currently studying through Inner Peace for her 800-hour certification in Yoga Therapy. When she is not on the mat, she works as a contract mental health counselor in Durango community, hiking with her pup (Bhakti), seeing live music, or riding her bike!
More about Lindsay
Lindsay started on her yoga path early – lying in Savasana on her family room carpeting in her mother’s yoga classes after kindergarten. Following in her mother’s footsteps (only after leaving the house) Lindsay stepped onto her intentional path as a practitioner in 1997. She received her RYT-200 from Kripalu in 2008, and has since done advanced trainings at Laughing Lotus yoga studio in NYC, and studied with teachers around the world including Patrick Creelman, Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa, and Jim Harrington. She has done immersions in Ashtanga-Vinyasa, Anusara, Forrest, Kundalini, Synergy and Sivananda yoga and never tires of new learning. For Lindsay, yoga is the truest mirror, and the most intelligent, free way to dance with her inner self. Lindsay’s classes are heartfelt and intuitive, and develop as a natural extension of her own practice.
More about K-Lea
K-Lea Gifford is Iyengar Certified at the Junior Intermediate Level 2 as well as certified with International Association of Yoga Therapists. She started practicing in 1983 and has studied in Pune, India with the Iyengars several times. She enjoys working therapeutically as well as specialty classes such as pregnancy, restorative, and back care needs. More can be found on her website at https://www.k-lea.com/
More about Joy
Joy is a certified Yoga Therapist & 500 hr registered Yoga Teacher, Thai Yoga Bodyworker, <a href=”http://www.wholisticfitness.com/” target=”_blank” rel=”noopener noreferrer”>Wholistic Fitness™</a> Trainer and LifeStyle Coach. She also teaches Kids Yoga and offers FamilyTime Yoga Classes. Joy has been featured in InStyle Magazine with Oscar Winner Marlee Matlin, and wrote and instructed a ““QuickFix Power Yoga”” . DVD, which aires on Gaiam TV. She also contributes articles on Yoga for various magazines. Joy’s passion in life is to sacredly serve others through various healing modalities while empowering them to live authentically from their Essential Self.
To learn more about Joy, visit: BreathWorksWithJoy.com
More about Sarah
Sarah’s passion and enthusiasm for the practice of yoga shines through the minute you meet her. Her classes are upbeat, lighthearted and fun, aiding students to push themselves to their edge, but no further. She strives to lead a class in which individuals of all levels and yoga backgrounds feel comfortable and able to develop their own personal practice. Her mission is to assist others in finding a moving, breathing, meditation on and off the mat. Initially inspired by Ashtanga yoga, Sarah began her studies in 2008 with Larry Schultz, completing her first 200hr YAC. She then stayed with the school to complete a master’s level YAC Rocket training led by David Kyle. Sarah took the role as a leader in training teachers to be YAC through the It’s Yoga System. Inspired by the idea that anyone can do yoga, Sarah turned her studies to therapeutic yoga. She completed a training to specialize her to work with cancer survivors during all stages of recovery. Sarah runs The Yoga Mentorship Program for new yoga teachers and/or dedicated practitioners looking to dive deep with the support of an experienced eye. Sarah is also an integrative nutrition/health coach and owner of Whole Health Lab, and co-founder of the 30 Day Clean Living Challenge to learn more about Sarah check out her site www.wholehealthlab.com.
More about Michele
Michele believes in yoga’s ability to heal and transform, and that yoga, regardless of one’s physical ability, is available to all. As a way to balance out her active life, Michele first stepped on a yoga mat in 1999. It was not long after that she began to practice regularly; and while she could not quite put her finger on it, she was amazed at how much better she felt. For the first time, she began to live in and appreciate her own body. And, more importantly, she started to understand that she was much more than her physical body.Michele started teaching yoga in 2005, has studied various yoga styles, yet is most drawn to the teaching and practice of Yoga Therapy. Through her own journey of Self-discovery, she has come to realize that yoga is a practice for all life situations. She leads retreats, teaches private yoga thearpy sessions and a variety of classes including Yoga for Healing. Originally from New Jersey, Michele moved to Durango, CO in 2006. Along with her yoga teaching credentials, she also has an MBA, and has worked in large and small corporations for over 15 years. She still uses this skillset in her current endeavors: Michele is the founder and director of Inner Peace Yoga Therapy an IAYT-accredited 800-hour yoga therapy certification program.
More about Ivy
Ivy is a writer, teacher, and therapist dedicated to unwinding the stories hidden in our bodies. A former 3rd grade teacher, current occupational therapist and lifelong poet. Ivy’s interest in the intuitive healing power of our bodies began with her initiation to Reiki at the age of 16. Her therapeutic toolbox has since grown to include CranioSacral Therapy, Somato-Emotional Release, Rhythmic Movement Training, Brain Gym and Sensory Integration techniques. Ivy incorporates elements of these approaches into her yoga classes for a restorative-inspired practice that is mindful and varied. She received her RYT training with Devi Yoga for Women, and completed prenatal and postpartum training with Yo Mama Yoga, both in Boulder, Colorado. Ivy believes that the illusion of separateness is the root of much suffering, and created Yoga for Connection to provide an opportunity to interact with and support each other more deeply while practicing yoga together.
More about Luna
Luna first fell in love with yoga in 2007 when she began a daily practice while backpacking through the wild places of California on a college Eco-psychology course. For her, yoga is linked to deep healing, self love, connection with nature, and community. In 2009 she went to live and work at Mount Madonna Center, located in the Santa Cruz mountains, where she completed her 200 Hour Teacher Training. Since then she has assisted with the teaching of two other teacher trainings through Mount Madonna and taught at various retreats offered there. She has taught on the beaches of Maui in exchange for pineapples and in gym and studio settings in Santa Cruz, CA. She is passionate about spreading the messages of self kindness, reclaiming wildness, and listening to one’s own intuition in each pose. She has worked as a yoga teacher and counselor in eating disorder recovery, and believes that all bodies are beautiful and deserve love and care. Also a singer and a dancer, Luna loves to let creativity emerge and step outside the box in her yoga practice and her teaching style. She is humbled by and grateful for the vast practice of yoga and how it embraces her body, mind, heart, and soul again and again.
More about Wendolyne
More about Joan
Joan began her yoga practice in 1994 while in graduate school for occupational therapy at UNC-Chapel Hill. When she discovered the many ways her daily yoga practice supported her, she wanted to share the benefits of yoga with others and began teaching in 1996. Joan has studied with teachers from various traditions, but continually returned to Iyengar Yoga practice as she found its focus on precision and alignment very grounding as well as helpful in keeping her back pain free. Joan completed her 200 hour teacher training at Lighten Up Yoga in Asheville, NC. In 2006 she moved from Boone, NC to Durango, CO and since then has taught yoga at various locations (i.e. Yogadurango, 4 Corners Yoga, Inhabit). In 2013 Joan completed the Iyengar Yoga assessment and is now a certified Iyengar Yoga teacher at the Introductory II level. Joan enjoys teaching Beginner’s and students who have back pain or other joint pain as she feels learning the precision and alignment offered in Iyengar yoga will assist students in practicing yoga safely no matter what style of yoga they choose to practice.
More about Josh
Not realizing at the time, Josh’s first introduction to yoga was trying to yoke his six foot two inch frame and inquisitive, contemplative and wondering mind into a seat on a United airlines flight. Returning years later he realized that his previous “breath linked movement” activities such as mountain biking, skiing, kayaking and working in the restaurant industry began to loose their luster. Stereotypically, his first real yoga classes were something his then girlfriend “liked to do” and he found himself opting for difficult and hot classes that presented a physical challenge. Slowly that inquisitive mind began to open up and Josh wondered if there was something more to this science of self discovery and realization. After several years of consistent dedication to the practice, Josh embarked on a teacher training program at Yogadurango in order to deepen his personal practice. He did not have the intention to teach however, his passion for yoga along with a desire to share that love won out. More recently, Josh has been inspired by the philosophy and mythology of yoga, thus he enjoys weaving in and incorporating all of the aspects of yoga into his class offering.
More about Lily
Lily has been practicing yoga most of her life. Her initial practice of asana lead her to study all the other facets including pranayama, meditation, and Ayurveda, as well as other influential disciplines, primarily Buddhism and the Tao. She believes that practices which lead us to recognize our relations to our higher selves and to all other beings as well as the natural world create a life of harmony. As a teacher Lily is passionate about sharing these practices with her students, so that they may use them to realize mental calm and clarity, as well as physical strength and grace. She crafts classes and workshops based on the needs of her students, time of day and year, and her intuition around what is energetically calling for attention in the moment. More information at www.lilyrussoyoga.com; the Firewalks and empowerment trainings she leads with her husband at www.thehighpath.com; and about her other work, mosaic art, at www.lilymosaics.com.
More about Sara
Sara’s love for yoga began in 2005. This love grew deeper upon meeting her teachers Tias and Surya Little in 2007. Since this time, Sara has become certified and has completed over 600 hours of training with Prajna Yoga in Santa Fe, NM under Tias and Surya Little. In addition, she has also received training in prenatal, yin, therapeutics and The Great Yoga Wall. Sara has over 11 years of teaching experience in the Four Corners Area and was the founder/director of Sage Yoga Studio before recently moving to Durango. She offers group and private classes to all levels with a fun, playful, and informative teaching style, often incorporating Ayurveda into her classes. Sara’s passion stems from the benefits of healing she has received during difficult times. She is an avid meditator and enjoys traveling and spending time with family. For more information please visit saratweedieyoga.com.
More about Brady
A 20 year resident of Durango, Brady received his first Yoga teaching certificate from Yogadurango’s 200-Hour Teacher Training program in 2010. He has been a yoga teacher ever since. Progressively studying locally and internationally, he has received consecutive certificates from the Pavones Yoga Center in Southwestern Costa Rica, and from Author and MD, Dr. Ray Long (The Key Poses of Hatha Yoga.) Brady teaches at least five classes each week at Yogadurango, Ska Brewery, and “In-House Privates” for employees of various local businesses. In addition to his local offerings, he serves occasionally as an assistant teacher for the Pavones Yoga Center’s 200 Hour Teacher Training. Brady believes in the intelligence of the body, and in each individual’s innate healing abilities. His yoga is based in breath, combined with conscious alignment, and mindful movement. Hosting annual, international yoga retreats in Colorado, Costa Rica, and Colombia with The Life Force Project, he is most passionate about offering his unique, rocky mountain yoga experience here at home, in Durango.