YOGA INSTRUCTOR, Substitute

Damithia (she/they) is a guide for yoga, meditation and transformative growth. As an advocate for self-care and community healing, they are committed to disrupting dominant narratives that hinder our personal and collective growth and bring this same energy to their classes. Her teaching style is grounded in a healing-centered methodology that is built on the belief that the body is a gateway to remembering one’s wholeness and she seeks to provide "space and place" for an experience that centers each person’s individual needs by creating a container of support and care.

EDUCATION:

RYT-500, TCTSY; AA Fine Arts, CPCC; AA Liberal Arts & Psych, HCC

YOGA INSTRUCTOR + Diversity Comm Member

Originally from Kingston, Jamaica, Danielle (she/her) discovered yoga over 20 years ago while working through grief and healing. She became a casual practitioner and found herself on the mat wherever life’s journey took her. In 2014 she had a dream of becoming a certified yoga teacher. That dream came true in 2022. Her formal training is Ashtanga yoga, and she found peace in the set sequence and postures. As a student you will find elements for Ashtanga in Danielle’s classes and will learn the mechanism of the asanas and how they should feel in your body. Danielle finds Sanskrit an important element of teaching and hopes to help students understand more of the traditional names of asanas.  Representation is a key reason Danielle became a teacher and she is excited to have her class be a welcoming space for all.

EDUCATION:

RYT-200; BS Apparel Design, FSU; MFA Luxury & Fashion Marketing, SCAD 

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Georgeanne’s (she/her) classes are infused with heart-inspired themes meant to foster an environment for a true connection to Self. She guides students through progressive sequences to help them feel their potential in each practice, and she weaves in philosophy, mudra and mantra in meaningful, relevant ways. Yoga is the alchemy that brings her into connection with her deepest values and highest aspirations, serving as a compass for fulfillment, and she is passionate about sharing how the practices of yoga can serve her students to step into the fullest expression of their creative gifts!

EDUCATION:

RYT-500; BS Psychology, TX State Univ.; AAS Architectural Design, LWT

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Originally from a small island in the San Juans, Isabelle (she/her) started her yoga journey after moving to the big city of Seattle. Through the years, she has continued learning about different types of yoga and drawing on these practices as a way to connect more deeply with her mind and body as well as with her community. She loves creating and teaching classes that embody community, curiosity, and mind/body/spirit integration all while including some challenge and joy. Outside of the studio, Isabelle works closely with labor and immigration rights groups as well as feminist organizations around the world. She is currently continuing her yoga education by working on her 500 hr YTT and somatic healing techniques.

EDUCATION:

RYT-200; BA French and Spanish, PC; MAT Elementary Education, WGU

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Kate (she/her) loves the intrinsic connection between all things in nature. With all of the depth and layers that come with this connection, she loves being able to share this through Yoga.

She loves being able to help support and strengthen the connection to ourselves, and us in relation to everything around us. To help cultivate a more sustainable, harmonious existence on and off the mat.

Helping create safe, embodied healing practices and spaces that are inclusive and  accessible for all walks of life are very important to Kate. Her classes are taught in layers, with a lot of options and the use of props. To create space, strength and balance that aligns with the mind and body.

EDUCATION:

RYT-200; AAS, GRCC

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Katie McNamara (she/her) enjoys sharing practices of movement, breath, and mindfulness with all ages. 

Katie discovered yoga through the fitness lens and began practicing Power Yoga as taught by Beryl Bender Birch over 3 decades ago. Over time, Katie has practiced with a variety of yoga teachers and Katie has been teaching for over 5 years. Katie lives on unceded Duwamish land, now known as West Seattle with her partner and her teenager. In addition to teaching yoga, she owns and operates a small Play School in the Delridge neighborhood. 

Education:

RYT-200; EARTH | Yin Yoga TT; Barre

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Born and raised in Burien, WA, Kristen (she/her) is a local yogini who knew she wanted to teach yoga after her first class. While initially loving the way a yoga posture workout made her feel, over time she saw the much deeper benefits of a continued practice. What keeps her doing yoga is being constantly motivated by a fun, inspiring, and empowering environment, which fosters personal awareness and growth.

Kristen is a creative and innovative instructor who will bring it all together in an awakening and unifying experience. She invites students of all levels of flexibility and ability to join her for a laugh and a sweat today.

EDUCATION:

MA Education

RYT-200 + EARTH | Yin Yoga TT + Kundalini + Stott Pilates; MA Education in Progress

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Leah’s (she/her) goal in teaching yoga is to evoke presence and connection through a practice rich with alignment based movement, breath, mantra, mudra and philosophy. She encourages her students to remember and feel into their own wholeness, and hopes that each yogi leaves inspired and uplifted.

EDUCATION:

RYT - 500,  E-RYT-200 

YACEP

MOVEMENT INSTRUCTOR

Mary Margaret (she/her) is keenly interested in one's relationship to their environment - micro and macro. It shapes the way we use ourselves and the way we imagine ourselves. She has observed this relationship playing out through her life - as a collegiate athlete, as a dance artist, as a teaching artist with Dance for Parkinson's, and as a practitioner of the Feldenkrais Method of Somatic Movement Education.

How can we engage in a deeply individual, physical, movement-based inquiry that will help us heal ourselves, find resiliency and vitality, restore our own dignity, and empower ourselves with the ability to chose how we act, and how we respond in any situation? It brings her joy to create an environment for this kind of learning and discovery in her movement classes.

EDUCATION: RYT-200; Feldenkrais Method Prof Training; BA Art History, CU; L'École Internationale de Théåtre Jaques LeCoq

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

A yoga instructor since 2012, success coach, and nature lover, McKenzie’s (she/her) work is dedicated to the power of connection. She has recognized that through the practice of yoga, she can much more easily unite her mind and body as well as connect to others and our earth. She received her 200-hour certification in her hometown of Phoenix, Arizona, and teaches classes that promote healing, curiosity, and deep connection through thoughtful sequencing, breath work and Ayurveda traditions. She is currently training with Yoga Medicine for her 500-hour Yoga Therapy certification.

EDUCATION:

RYT-200; BA Strategic Communications, Spanish Minor, TCU 

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Meagan’s (she/her) classes invite a sense of challenge, movement, meditation, and deep relaxation and are accessible to all levels of student. She designs intelligent sequences that blend styles into creative yoga classes to give students the opportunity to explore their own connection to their body and mind.

Her teachings are a reflection of what she loves to practice: a focus on body mechanics and anatomy for safety and longevity, and a strong awareness of breath to stay rooted in the present moment.

EDUCATION:

E-RYT200 + Yin Yoga; BA Art History, UM

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Nicole’s (she/her) classes are grounded in the connection between movement and breath, and students are guided between asanas with fluidity while being encouraged to focus inward. Her presence is one of warmth and compassion as she reminds you to let go of judgment while listening to the wisdom of your body.

Being introduced to yoga by her dad in 2000, Nicole and was inspired by the energy, joy, and grounding she felt. Her interest in teaching was sparked by her teachers, Johnna Trimmer and Annabel Raab, who introduced her to the Kripalu Center for Yoga where she earned her certification as an instructor. Her classes are also influenced by her studies with Shiva Rea and Erich Schiffman, and of Sivananda, Ashtanga, and Universal yoga.

EDUCATION:

CYT-200, Universal Yoga Level II, BA Psychology, UW

YOGA INSTRUCTOR, Substitute

After years of casually practicing yoga for fitness and flexibility, Penny (she/her) came to have a deeper connection with yoga as a means to process life’s ever shifting challenges. Penny enjoys guiding thoughtful movement sequences centered on mindfulness through breath. She believes in living in the present moment, whether on the mat or off, and loves helping others use body and breath to connect, release, and thrive. 

EDUCATION:

RYT-200; BA Psych + BA Geography, U. Montana; MS Speech Lang Path, U. Wyoming, CCC-SLP

YOGA INSTRUCTOR

Tera (she/her) is endlessly curious and loves to constantly be learning. She fascinated and inspired by the interconnection between all things. Tera believes yoga allows us time to connect to ourselves and others in a sacred way. An opportunity to not only take care of our physical, mental and emotional selves, but a time to connect to our shared humanity. She hope’s to help unravel the ideas of what yoga is ‘supposed’ to be, because yoga does not look the same for everyone or during all times of life. Tera creates classes that focuses on sustainability and substance, over flash and complexity.

EDUCATION:

RYT-200, Barre + Yoga Sculpt TT, ACC, FRCms; BA Communications, Minor Diversity, UW

OWNER + LEAD INSTRUCTOR

Carrie Johnson (she/her) is the creative voice and founder of Aya Yoga Oasis. A former lab scientist, she is also a certified yoga instructor, and an adventurous world explorer. Carrie enjoys exploring new cultures and new places, while keeping an open mind to new perspectives. 

Carrie is also passionate about sharing yoga with her students in a way that allows them to cultivate the art of listening to their body. Every class she teaches allows time for each student to experiment and to learn something new about themselves.

EDUCATION:

RYT-500 + E-RYT200, YACEP; BS Biology + BA Anthropology, UW

OWNER

Steve (he/him) is a retired US Navy Captain and also retired from an exciting commercial aviation career. You can find Steve at the front desk most days and he is always happy to swap adventure stories.

EDUCATION:

BA Biology, UC; Capt. USNR, Ret., Capt. Delta Air Lines, Ret.