Yoga      

Instructors

Our “Feels Fear but Does It Anyway” Leader, Senior Instructor Kristin “Kiki” Lovelace:

Kristin ‘Kiki” Lovelace began her career in movement at the age of six in tap shoes and a pink tutu, and took her first yoga class at age eighteen. She considers her own daily Pilates, Forrest Yoga and Vipassana Meditation practice as her foundation for healing, growing and evolving as a human being. She has been teaching full-time since 2001, and has a particular gift for helping students work with injuries and chronic pain.

As Owner and Director of Education at Innerstellar, Kiki is a Certified Forrest Yoga Teacher, Certified Pilates Instructor and anatomy nerd. Her passion for functional alignment and the therapeutic applications of Pilates and Forrest Yoga sprouted from her 5-year apprenticeship with her mentor, master educator and healer, Pilates Instructor Tom McCook.

Kiki opened Innerstellar in 2011, and delights in the ever-emerging beauty of each of her students, staff and teachers. She has deep reverence and gratitude for her Forrest Yoga Hoop, including her dear teacher and friend Ana T. Forrest, and all of her Forrest Yoga colleagues and students. When not teaching, she is often volunteering, meditating, hiking and hanging out with her friends and loved ones in the East Bay or performing with her 1960’s go go dance troupe, The Devil-Ettes!

 

Staff Instructor Aviva Levine:

Trained as a Forrest Yoga teacher under Ana Forrest, Aviva is fascinated with the body’s ability to heal and transform. Her teaching focuses on helping others experience this evolution in themselves. She will guide you into a deeper connection with your body through a practice that is intense-yet-playful. With compassion and humor; she creates classes to help you move from struggle and limitation, towards freedom of body and mind.

Finding comfort in movement, Aviva studied; ballet, jazz, and modern dance and played competitive ultimate frisbee. After a lifetime of physical activity, multiple injuries led her to Forrest Yoga. Her classes are an offering of the incredible benefits of simple techniques to heal; chronic pain, physical and emotional trauma, and injuries. 

Always seeking more for both her personal practice and her teaching, Aviva complimented her Forrest Yoga training with the Niroga Yoga for Youth, and Pre/Postnatal trainings. 

Aviva lives in the Bay Area, and joyfully shares her ever growing bag of tricks in private and group instruction.

Visit Aviva at www.breatheinlove.org

 

Senior Instructor Destiny Eurkus:

Destiny teaches yoga in ways that support and empower people in believing in themselves. She is a pioneer of Forrest Yoga and Vinyasa Yoga and teaches with grace, dignity, and compassion. She teaches from a place of intuition, compassion, and wisdom and continues to call upon Spirit for guidance into her teaching. Destiny creates a sacred hoop for her students to explore what is truth for both their life and mat practice and gives tools for one to walk with courage into their authentic self.

With over 2000 hours of hands on training, Destiny is one of Northern California’s most sought after Yoga Teachers. Practicing since 1999 & teaching since 2001, she has completed trainings with Doug Swenson, Shannon Wells, Yoga Works, John Friend, and Ana Forrest. Since 2005 she has completed Ana Forrest’s 200 hr Foundational Training, 50 hr CET, 70 hr Advanced, completed the first Forrest Yoga Mentorship Program, and completed a 200 hr training at Yoga Works. She has taught at Wanderlust Yoga Festival, assisted Ana Forrest’s teacher trainings and Yoga Journal Conferences in San Francisco, created 200 hour Yoga Teacher Trainings for multiple yoga schools, taught teacher trainings side by side with Les Leventhal, and has written for Living Life Magazine.

Destiny is delighted to join Innerstellar's staff and to be one of the three facilitators of the Stellar Flow Teacher Training.

Visit Destiny at www.yogawithdestiny.com

 

 

Staff Instructor James Ryder:

James Michael Ryder is a dedicated student of meditation and hatha yoga, trained primarily in the Krishnamacarya lineage during the 2 year/500-hour teacher training offered at the Iyengar Yoga Institute, San Francisco.  Over the past six years, James has consistently offered public classes and workshops.  At essence, hatha yoga with its array of practices aims to bring us back to ourselves, to an embodied wisdom and an undefended heart.  Founded in this intention, James brings students through flowing series, and into concentrated investigations of postures and the rhythmic changeability of the breath.  Students will experience intelligent sequencing, earnest yet playful encouragement, and a true desire to help each yogin in the room discover greater ease and freedom.
James recently graduated from the 18-month Mindfulness Yoga and Meditation teacher training offered by Spirit Rock Center, Marin Co.  Prior work as a theater artist and actor imbues James’ teaching with precision, playful curiosity and a love for evocative language and story.

jamesryderyoga@gmail.com
www.jamesryderyoga.com

 

Staff Instructor Jessica Premsangha Prakasha (formerly Ezra Patri):

Jessica is a certified yoga instructor, trained modern dancer, certified massage therapist, somatic educator and mama. She has been practicing meditation and various Hatha yoga forms since childhood and began teaching yoga classes in 1999. Jessica received her formal yoga teacher training from Greenpath Yoga in San Francisco, in addition to her collective studies with teachers in the Bay Area and New York City, including David Life, John Berlinsky, Lea Watkins, Peggy Orr and others.

During 2001 and 2002, Jessica lived at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY where she had the opportunity to study with renowned teachers from around the world and be immersed in community, service and personal growth. Jessica has been dancing and teaching dance for many years and graduated from the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center in NYC in 1998. She completed the Certified Massage Therapist as Somatic Educator training at Moving on Center in Oakland, the Whole Birth Yoga Teacher teacher training with Robin Sale, and Prenatal massage training with Alive and Well.

Jessica's passion for working with pregnant women around birth has grown tremendously since she started teaching prenatal yoga classes in 2007, and was greatly fueled by her own experience with pregnancy and the home birth of her son, Jai, in January of 2009.

Visit Jessica online at: www.sourcebirth.com

 

Staff Instructor Marisha Doan:

Marisha is certified RYT 200 with training from Ana Forrest through the Forrest Yoga Foundation Training and the Samadhi Yoga Center in Seattle, WA, under the guidance of Kathleen Hunt. In addition she has completed 2 years in the Forrest Yoga Mentorship Program with Forrest Yoga Guardian Colleen Millen. She is currently working towards full certification in Forrest Yoga. 

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Visit Marisha online at: www.marishadoan.com

 

Senior Instructor Michelle Cordero:

Michelle Cordero, E-RYT500, brings years of yoga, bodywork and fitness experience to her yoga teaching. She is a graduate of three of the most highly respected Yoga Teacher Trainings in the country: the original Yogaworks Teacher Training Course (TTC) with Maty Ezraty and Lisa Walford, the Ana Forrest TTC, and Shiva Rea's Embodying the Flow TTC. Her primary influence and inspiration is Ana Forrest and the Forrest Yoga method; and she is a Certified Forrest Yoga Instructor.

Deeply committed to high quality instruction and to evolving her practice, Michelle continues to study with some of the most accomplished yoga masters in the world including: Ana Forrest and Sarah Powers. Michelle holds a Master of Fine Art (MFA) in Dramatic Art, and she believes in movement as a healing art as well as a form of personal expression. A dedicated mover, Michelle also studies aerial rope/tissue and pole dancing. She is Certified to teach pole dance fitness by OC Pole Dance Fitness/ Felix Cane Inc.

Michelle is delighted to be one of the three facilitatrors of the Stellar Flow Teacher Training.

Visit her website online: www.michellecordero.com and on Facebook.

 

Staff Instructor Natalie Chaput:

Natalie Chaput is a Certified Forrest Yoga Instructor, Dance Teacher and a Healer.  She also teaches Vinyasa Yoga, pole dancing and holds empowering yoga ceremonies for women.  She is passionate about combining the medicine of music and graceful movement to help her students open their hearts which takes their practice to new heights.

Natalie is a lead singer in a Rock n' Roll band called FeatherWitch and loves to create fun and dynamic playlists for her classes.  Natalie brings a light, playful energy to class that encourages self expression, emotional release and celebrates her students own unique body movement.  Natalie's mission is to create space for her students to open up to the possibility of loving themselves completely so that they are able to spread that love to the rest of the world.   When not teaching or rockin' out, Natalie is always expanding her capacity to love in community with her Native American Church in Berkeley CA.

You can find Natalie at www.featherwitchband.com

 

Staff Instructor Jessie Delmar:

"It was on the mat that I began to heal my wounds, breathe through intensity, and pair vulnerability with strength to develop a warrior's heart."

Jessie's teaching style is raw, heartfelt, nurturing and joyful. Her vibrant energy and thoughtful intentions weave harmoniously to generate fun yet meaningful experiences for her students. She wholeheartedly believes in yoga as a healing path, and is dedicated to empowering her students with tools to forge courage and pleasure in their lives by connecting to breath. Her heart dances to the beat of a community drum circle, and she relishes the opportunity to connect on the most fundamental levels.

Jessie is a certified yoga instructor, trained under Ana Forrest. She safely directs students into strong, intelligent sequences designed to awaken the cells, plug into the core and ignite a fiery passion for life. Her skilled hands-on assists are absolutely delightful and not to be missed!

Visit Jessie online at: www.warriorsheartyoga.org and on Facebook

Guest Yoga Senior Instructor Colleen Millen:

Words from Colleen: I flat-out love yoga. I found yoga as a collegiate athlete with broken knees – the mat was the first place I could move my body without pushing into pain. Yoga and, more specifically, Forrest Yoga has been a constant companion in my recovery from depression and moving into more brilliant states of being. Over 10 years into my teaching journey I find myself at an incredible place: As a Forrest Yoga Guardian teacher I shepherd teachers through continuing education programs and as a student in JFK University’s Somatic Psychology program I am deepening my appreciation for the healing gifts of yoga as I work toward being a licensed therapist.

My classes build strength and empowerment and are modified for every shape, size, injury and ability level. I urge students to ride intensity and exhilaration waves with presence and breath. My classes are heated to 80-85 degrees to generate a cleansing sweat. Bring whatever your experience is to class we’ll rock on the yoga mat together!

Visit her website online: www.bluebuddhayoga.com.