Our Teachers
April Martin – Truth: April is way too rajasic – a fireball of energy racing at light speed to that space, that place, where she is floating, free of body, free of mind, aware of all, knowing of all, and at peace with all. April, STOP. Breathe. That space, that place will always be. So enjoy the journey. Five deep breaths. Count them, slowly. Sit, breathe and be.... Yoga.
April is a graduate of the North Carolina School of Yoga under the guidance of Chandra Om, senior disciple of Sri Dharma Mittra.
Blume – In 1993, in the Mission District of San Francisco, Blume (a nickname from his last name, Pelkey-Blum) was re-introduced to the life energy flowing through his body when he enrolled in a magical hybrid class, Tai Chi / Art. This class ignited his curiosity, and he embarked on a practice and exploration that led to many formal studies and certifications. These include Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Shiatsu, Kripalu Yoga, Kripalu Dance-Kinetics, Qi Gong, and Thai Massage. Fascinated by physics, rhythm, and the dance of matter to energy and energy to matter, Blume lives to excite people about their own transformational powers.
Christine Fiorentino is an inventive and adventurous instructor, drawing her inspiration from an eclectic variety of sources. A primary influence is her background as a professional dancer/instructor with a degree in dance from CSULB. She caught fire for yoga while living in New York, practicing with Cyndi Lee at the renowned Om Yoga Studio. This led her to Oakland, where she completed the intensive 650-hour Yoga Teacher Training under the guidance of Rodney Yee.
Early in her career as a Yoga teacher in Santa Cruz, Christine discovered the path of spiritual inquiry as taught by Adyashanti. This teaching has been invaluable in deepening her understanding of the mind-body-spirit connection and the true meaning of Yoga. Most recently she has been inspired by her own personal practice, integrating insights from professionals in a variety of fields and modalities. Christine has been teaching in Humboldt County since 2005 and feels excited and blessed to be part of the thriving Yoga community in this area.
Danielle Donaldson – Sharing transformational healing through yoga is Danielle’s passion and path. She discovered her own intuitive ability to heal by exploring yoga after nine months of immobility due to injury, surgery, and recuperation. In fall 2004, her orthopedic surgeon told her she wouldn’t be able to walk “normally” again without the use of assistive devices, possibly more surgery, etc., etc. Thanks, but no thanks! After six months a physical and spiritual yoga practice, Danielle could walk without limping, regained range of motion in her injured ankle and foot, and was able to live without constant pain. Through this journey she discovered that the physical healing accessible through asana (poses) is but a small part of the personal evolution the exploration of yoga provides. After practicing with Lori and other fantastic teachers in our community, Danielle completed her foundation training with Max Strom in June 2006, and in her teaching commits wholeheartedly to the truth that yoga is accessible to everyone at anytime, as simple and immediate as embracing each breath.
Janine Melzer teaches Forrest Yoga as a way to support and inspire students to become their most genuine selves. She is passionately committed to getting people turned on to embodying spirit in their yoga practice and in their lives. Janine asks her students to bring a willingness to work honestly at their edges without struggling, clearing the way to find delight in every breath
Jason Butler first received his Yoga training at an exceptional studio in Southern California, called Camel Rock Yoga. The lineage taught at this school comes from Krishnamacharya, one of the most influential Yoga teachers of our time. Jason has since formally trained in Ashtanga, Anusara, and Iyengar styles, receiving over 1,000 hours of training. He currently practices and teaches an eclectic blend of asana styles fueled by his dedication to safety, compassion, imagination, and soul. In his classes, he invites students to create an intimate connection to breath, mindfulness, and the poetic wisdom of the body. Most of all, he likes to laugh and have fun.
Jason Miller is a certified Muscle Activation Techniques (M.A.T.) Specialist and American Council of Exercise (ACE) certified Personal Trainer. Jason has been a happy resident of Humboldt County since 1972. He enjoys the variety of outdoor activities the area has to offer, including backpacking, river kayaking, cross country skiing, and canoeing. He lives with an artist and two cats.
Jess Trudeau embraces letting the beauty you love be what you do! She first began teaching yoga in remote villages in Mongolia and was amazed at yoga’s universal ability to inspire and heal. She enjoys guiding her students toward a celebration of the heart, an awareness of the intuitive body, and a deep sense of belonging. She embodies the belief that only when we have given adequately to ourselves, shining light into our own souls, can we find the wealth of energy to give with true intention. With that concept in mind, Jess’s classes are full of playfulness, optimism, forgiveness, empowerment, and humor, reminding her students that anytime we link the mind, body and soul and give selflessly with intention – on or off the mat – we are practicing yoga.
Jodie DiMinno is a certified instructor of Kripalu Yoga and has been a student of yoga for more than ten years. She spent three years as a resident staff member and facilitator of yoga and self-discovery programs at the Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Massachusetts, one of the premier centers for yoga in the country. Through the practice of yoga, Jodie has found a deep sense of peace and grace within; it is one of her greatest joys to share this gift with others.
Lori Snyder's pre-yoga world included dance, taking kids and adults snorkeling with sea lions and sharks, booking music at a Hollywood club, fiction writing (still happening), and way too many years of college. She has studied with her primary teacher, Max Strom, since 1997 and has also practiced or trained with Erich Schiffmann, Steve Ross, and many other incredibly spirited yoga teachers.
What captures her most about yoga is its power to remind us how connected we all are, and how ridiculously happy and beautiful life can be. With her background in dance and music, Lori has a blast creating musical mixes that add to the experience of breath and being, so expect music as an integral part of her classes.
Mary Tillman began her journey with yoga at age 15, when her mother took her to her first yoga class. As a dancer, Mary instantly fell in love with the connection of breath and body in yoga. She graduated from HSU with a degree in Modern Dance while continuing her yoga practice.
Shortly after graduation, Mary broke her femur in a surfing accident – a tragedy for someone so entrenched in movement. After two years of intensive therapies, it was yoga that brought Mary the strength, flexibility, and relaxation she needed to heal and thrive in her body again. Mary credits yoga with saving her life.
Mary studied with Jan Rose and went on to teach at HealthSPORT for several years. In 2003 she received her Ananda Yoga Teacher Training, and then began studying Bliss Yoga (Svaroopa) with Francis Warner. She is now working toward her certification in Bliss Yoga.
In her free time, Mary enjoys surfing on the north coast. She runs Humboldt Surf School and teaches surfing and ocean safety during the summers. Mary loves practicing yoga at the beach!
Paula Scott was introduced to yoga in India in 1993 and since then has had an eclectic background in her journey of self discovery, including vipassana meditation, restorative, primal energetics, Anusara, belly yoga, pirate yoga, diamond heart work, and more. One of her greatest teachers was her own pregnancy and labor. She brings to her classes a soulful curiosity, weaving poetic imagery into breath and movement and stillness with the intent of touching the deeper realms of being and integrating these deeper realms into life. She has been teaching in the community for nine years, primarily at HSU. Paula holds certifications from the California Yoga Alliance – certified through the teacher training program at Yoga Mendocino under the direction of Mary Pafford – the National Council of Massage Therapists, and the National Guild of Hypnotists. In addition to prenatal yoga, she offers hypnobirthing, baby yoga, doula services and massage therapy.
Peggy Profant spent her teenage years on the beaches of Santa Barbara drinking wheat grass, throwing a frisbee, and sharing yoga with her sunworshipping friends. In yoga she had discovered the fountain of youth! She has been an explorer of wilderness and culture and has traveled the world to experience the many flavors of life. Formerly a wilderness guide, her journey into parenthood has settled her in the Arcata area to become a massage therapist and yoga teacher. Peggy co-founded World Family Yoga, retreats which combine the three things she most loves: family, yoga and travel. Her eleven years of teaching yoga have been influenced by Iyengar and Ashtanga Yoga, which she became passionate about during her travels to India. Now Peggy's love resides with the teachings of Anusara yoga. She travels frequently to study with Anusara's founder, John Friend, and has become a certified Anusara Yoga teacher. Based in Tantric philosophy, Anusara offers a heart-centered, life-affirming approach to hatha yoga, with an exquisite attention to alignment. It is Peggy's joyful passion to share the teachings of yoga with her students.
Raki Kopernik grew up between Chicago and Israel. She has a gymnastics and dance background, which is what drew her to yoga. She started teaching classical hatha yoga and Vinyasa in 1997, then in 2005 took a break to live in the middle of nowhere and have an amazing garden. She's thrilled to be back in town, able to share her yoga practice once again. Her classes have a strong focus on the breath and on opening the heart. When not practicing yoga, Raki plays rock music in a band, grows flowers and vegetables, and writes short stories she reads to her cat.
Shemaia "Skywater" Lucas – Certified yoga teacher/performing artist/
vibrational healer. As a dancer/poet/seeker, Shemaia came to yoga with a curiosity for its beauty and deep mystery. Her practice over more than two decades had a huge impact on her body/mind fitness approach as a trainer/teacher.
Shemaia has been teaching yoga since 1988, and her influences and teachers are wondrously varied; Kundalini, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Taoist yoga and now, especially, Anusara make up the threads of her Yoga tapestry. Widely known teachers she has trained with have been Erich Schiffmann, Shari Friedrichsen, Ana Forrest, Paul Grilley, Judith Lasater, Tim Miller and, most currently, Sarajoy Marsh, Mary Pafford, and Anusara’s founder, John Friend.
Shemaia’s compassionate, supportive teaching reflects her reverence for this practice and its capacity to facilitate awareness, health and the profound recognition that our core essence IS pure luminosity!
Sierra Simpson has always lived fully in and from her body. Raised by performing artists on a small family farm, chores such as chopping wood, as well as the rigors of professional dance and theatre were a way of life. Through this, Sierra learned to seek emotional release through intense physical activity, further reinforced by her years of athletics. In college she joined crew team, where her strength was apparent but the finesse of actually rowing challenged her. At this point she realized she had been moving through her life in the wake of her own brute force, injuring herself both physically and spiritually. Following her longing to find a way to relate to her body that would also reflect the sensitivity of her heart, she embarked on a search that eventually led to Anusara Yoga. Sierra has since been blessed with the opportunity to study extensively with Anusara founder John Friend, as well as other senior Anusara teachers. She is well-versed in therapeutics and has an in-depth understanding of alignment. Sierra's commitment to Anusara yoga has given her an arena in which to learn how to respect and care for herself while healing her body and connecting her more fully to her spirit. Most importantly, it has helped her to foster her joyful and playful nature. She is committed to sharing what she learns on this path and hopes that, by doing so, others will recognize the goodness in their own hearts.
Tanya Hunt – is a Children's Yoga instructor, singer/songwriter, painter, and energy worker, as well as the mother of two young children. She feels a strong connection to children – seeing them as wonderful heart-openers – and strives to create a class environment that is nurturing and supportive of their many different needs. Tanya has been teaching Yoga in school classrooms as well as around the community for over three years.
Tanya came to yoga as a child through her years of jazz dance and music instruction in New York. After her children were born, yoga re-emerged in her life as a way of reconnecting her body to her soul, and she awakened to the desire to bring yoga to the lives of children. She received her Om Shree Om Children's teacher training and taught yoga in her daughter's kindergarten class, where they graced her with the nickname "Yoga Mama."
She has been so inspired by the children and many of the Anusara yoga teachers in her community that she is now taking her training to the next level, immersing herself in Anusara yoga. Tanya's heart has always been with yoga and she opens her heart to the children with laughter, patience, playfulness, and love.
Yasmine Dar's passion for yoga began in 2002. In 2004 she completed a 200-hour teacher training with California Essence, leading her to discover her love for pranayama (breathwork) and meditation. She has also completed the Om Shree Om Kids Yoga Training program and has taught Prenatal Yoga both during and after her pregnancy. While nine months pregnant, she had the opportunity to model Yoga asanas (poses) for a book on prenatal yoga.
Yasmine has both an open mind and an open heart. She enjoys teaching beginning yoga students and children and feels honored to introduce this sacred practice into their lives. She is a compassionate teacher who inspires her students to learn the nature of their true essence.