Spiral Yoga & Wellness Bios

Laura Jaster counts yoga as one of her greatest blessings. She draws her creative inspiration from dance, theater, improvisation, and nature, bringing a fluid and passionate expression to the art of yoga. In her classes, the body is the origin—and the vehicle through which the heart and mind are awakened to their pure essence. Laura believes yoga can encourage a deeper understanding of our place in the world and with each other. She approaches each class as an inquiry into the realm of spirit, and enjoys connecting with her students.

Laura is a mother, Colorado native, and has been practicing yoga since 1996 and teaching since 2001. Her initial 200 hour certification came in addition to a 4 month work-study at Shoshoni Yoga Retreat in Nederland. She has enjoyed teaching nearly full time in many of the Denver studios. She deepened her studies with many masterful teachers, including Rod Stryker, Tias Little, Suzie Hurley, Madhuri Martin, and Shiva Rea. Laura completed her first 60 hour prenatal and postpartum certification in 2005 with Mary Barnes while living in Washington DC. She collaborated and taught with Chris Muchow at the Samadhi Center for Yoga for over 2 years in their Teacher Training program. Currently, Laura is completing her 500-hour certification with Shiva Rea, most recently advancing her skills with the Radiant Flow of Pregnancy. She continues to offer teacher trainings in her specialized areas of prenatal and postpartum yoga.

Laura is also completing her Master of Arts degree in Counseling Psychology at Regis University (Graduation, May 2010). In addition, she will complete a 2-year training in the Hakomi method, a somatic and mindfulness based counseling methodology in September 2009. Laura is inspired to find innovative ways to support her students, clients, and community in the ascending spiral to health, well-being, and healing.

Brent Jaster is a board-certified family physician, and a graduate of Dartmouth Medical School. He believes wholeheartedly in the power of community and fun to elevate health and wellness. Brent loves music, dance, and laughter and has worked with Patch Adams’s Gesundheit! Institute.

Brent’s passion lies in preventive and wellness medicine, and the desire to teach people how to maximize quality of life and reduce risk/complications of disease. He has co-written the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians (1st and 2nd ed.) and is dedicated to teaching community members how to eat and live better, without deprivation, and even on a budget. Brent will lead ongoing series to prevent disease and complications, promote health and wellness, and even reverse diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol, excessive weight gain, and many other chronic diseases.

Brent is recognized as a national expert and consultant on shared medical appointments, and he speaks regularly to organizations like the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, and consults for small and large organizations, such as the National Naval Medical Center (Bethesda, MD), Salem Health and Hospital (Salem, OR), and Plan de Salud del Valle community health center (Denver, CO).

For more information on the above services please visit JasterHealth.com. Dates will be listed on the Workshops/Events page when scheduled. Likely start date: August 2009.

Beck has practiced yoga for over 16 years, finding peace and grounding through several yoga styles and teachers. After 4 days of Kundalini Yoga with Gurmukh at Omega in New York she had found her passion and knew this was the yoga that would transform people. Beck is a KRI certified Yoga teacher, trained by Gurmukh Kaur Khalsa and several master teachers. Her Kundalini classes are fun, trans-formative and challenging- yet modifiable to any level of fitness, flexibility, or ability. Come energize and renew your body, mind and soul!

To go deeper in her practice, Beck is also trained in Super Health, an Addiction Treatment program including Kundalini Yoga diet and meditation. Ask her about appointments for Sat Nam Rasayan an ancient healing technology she practices

Beth Sanchez teaches Vinyasa and Mindful Yoga in the Plum Village Tradition. This tradition was founded by Vietnamese Zen Master Thich Nhat Hahn and is often referred to as Engaged Buddhism. In other words, it is the practice of applying mindfulness to daily living.

The asanas are classic hatha -vinyasa but approached slowly with solid mechanics and enhanced awareness of the object of meditation (the body), the dharma (teachings that support insight), and the source of meditation (the practitioners’ mind).

Beth is knowledgeable about various aspects of the yogic path including pranayama, meditation, puja,, philosophy and ayurveda. She earned her yoga certification in 2000 at Shoshoni and counts Thich Nhat Hahn, Alakananda Ma, Richard Freeman, and Adyashanti as her most influential teachers. Beth also has professional background in non-profit management and financial services. Her greatest aspiration is to support all beings on the path of awakening.

Christine knew she was in for a life-change when she started practicing with the Anusara Principles of Alignment. She went through her teacher training just a year later in April 2008 at Samadhi under the instruction of Laura Wade Jaster and Chris Muchow. She completed an Immersion with Madhuri Martin in 2009. Christine believes in yoga's ability to heal and teaches that concept in her classes through story, alignment and a sense of humor. She provides a safe space to bring movement into the body and loves to channel that experience from the body, to the heart, and to the spirit. She continues to explore her interest in yoga through reading, writing, travel, music and laughter.

Diana Horowitz became a yoga teacher in 1995, and a licensed acupuncturist in 2003. Diana taught yoga to seniors in nursing homes and community centers for five years while working with a volunteer program in Brooklyn, NY. She draws her inspiration for teaching yoga to seniors from her grandfather Irv, who played tennis and refereed grade-school soccer games until he was 88 years young!

Diana passionately believes that yoga is a gift to oneself that can be shared by everyone. She strives to challenge her students to grow while promoting a safe and nuturing environment in which to do.

Om Shanti (Peace)- Diana Horowitz, M.S., L.Ac.

Joan Yoga is Joan's life path. After years of exploring various yoga practices, she became committed to the Ashtanga tradition. Her teaching style is gently, yet persistent, and is informed by extensive study with yoga luminaries Pattabhi Jois, Richard Freeman and Tim Miller. She has 20 years of experience as a massage therapist which enhances her hands-on approach. Joan also loves chanting, devotional singing and playing the harmonium as ways of opening to divine presence.

for more information: www.ashtangayogadenver.com

Kate Kissingford has been teaching yoga since 1996. Trained in an interdisciplinary style of yoga (integrating, Iyengar, Hatha, Kripalu and Anusara styles) at Omega Institute in New York, she specializes in a meditative approach to practice. Finding a balance between inner and outer awareness, Kate uses meditation, pranayama, conditioning exercises and asana to create an atmosphere of self-acceptance and compassionate inquiry. Kate, her husband John and son Nate live in Highland Park, Denver.

Katrina My yoga class is a flowing, heart-centered vinyasa style that encourages the mind, body, and soul to transform into a radiant, peaceful state of being. I view yoga as the vehicle to all that is of importance in this world. It is my goal to share this vehicle with as many people as I can so that we can all experience joy, peace, and love. I have had the great honor to study under some master teachers, both local and international and I will continue to be a student for all my life. Some of the bigger influences in my teaching come from local teachers such as Chris Muchow, Tina Porter, and Dr. Katyayani Poole. Recently, I trained and studied under the guidance of reknowned master teacher Saul David Raye. His strong bhakti (devotion) influence can be found in my teachings. I love teaching to live music and often offer these classes with some of the areas master musicians. Shakti (divine energy) is what drives us, and it is my goal to help us all tap into our own source of that beautiful, radiant energy.

Lisa Schlelein has been a student of yoga since 2000 when she discovered Bikram yoga in San Francisco. An instant devotee of the ancient practice of yoga, she began to expand her practice throughout the following years to include power, vinyasa, anusara, and jivamukti until finally embarking on becoming a teacher.
Having completed her training in April 2007, Lisa has enjoyed sharing her deep love and admiration for yoga with the world since. Her classes are a wonderful paring of all of her experiences and include lots of love, laughter, and movement infused with a deep sense of spirituality to help build strength, flexibility, and awareness.

Sara was first introduced to yoga while working in a corporate setting. The weekly yoga classes provided a space to breathe, release, and re-center. Her practice evolved from corporate yoga to Vinyasa to Anusara yoga to Prenatal and now Baby and Me yoga. Sara infuses her classes with a spiritual message while creating a safe space to move, meditate, and breathe. She has completed her Masters degree in Clinical Counseling Psychology, a 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, a 20 hour Prenatal Yoga Teacher Training, and has studied with many talented and gifted teachers. Sara is a mother, wife, friend, and forever student. She invites you to step onto your mat, open your heart, and tap into the Grace that lies within.

Rebecca teaches Vinyasa Flow from a playful and inquisitive place. After working for several years in the field of human rights in New York, Washington D.C., and Paris, France she fell in love with yoga and decided to take it to the next level and became a teacher. She completed the Sagara 200h Teacher Training with om time in 2008, studying under Shannon Paige Schneider and Chris Muchow. A lover of travel, culture and self-discovery, Rebecca strives to inspire her students to ask tough questions, to seek personal answers and to love unconditionally. Her classes are a mixture of heart-opening and strength building postures, seeking to encourage students to open their hearts and to build strength from within. If you like to flow with your breath, you will love Rebecca's classes!

Verna started practicing yoga in 2001. After moving to Arizona in 2004, Verna wanted to know more about yoga. She began her journey to becoming a yoga teacher at the Southwest Institute of Healing Arts in Tempe, AZ (where she obtained her 200hr certification). Verna loved the studies and teaching so in 2006 she continued her education at Inner Vision Yoga in Chandler, AZ (achieving her 500hr certification). Verna is a certified Radiant Child II Yoga teacher. She loves teaching and practicing a variety of yoga styles. She believes that children are natural yogis and a true inspiration. Verna plans to become a Doula and further her education in yoga and holistic living.

Vicki Johnston Healthy Foods Cooking Instructor and Food Coach
I was born an artist. One of my great passions is cooking food, using it as an artistic medium, to create attractive and healthy dishes. I’ve been teaching healthy cooking classes for more than 20 years and am completing my Masters in Holistic Nutrition. My classes focus on the beauty and power of whole foods – whole grains, beans, vegetables, natural sweeteners, unrefined oils, unprocessed salts, healing herbs and spices, combined with the unique energetics of each cooking technique – baking, boiling, roasting, steeping, pickling, etc., to create infinite culinary possibilities. A return to simple, organic, seasonal foods transformed naturally with fire and water can restore health to our bodies and to the planet as well. These foods resonate deep within us, and reawaken senses dulled from “industrial eating”, so we can once again experience the authentic joy of truly satisfying foods.

Linda Baird, MA, LPC is a psychotherapist in private practice with offices in Denver and Boulder. She works with depression, anxiety, childhood trauma, PTSD, and relationship issues including domestic violence. Linda offers a compassionate approach to psychotherapy, encouraging clients to explore how limiting beliefs and trauma are held in the body, often below the level of conscious awareness.

Her practice is rooted in the principles of the Hakomi method: therapist and client work together to create a safe healing environment where change can happen organically through the encouragement of self-study and non-violence.