Gina

My name is Gina, and I believe that allowing people to come into harmony with their bodies gives them the opportunity to look deeper into the soul and experience the greater pulse of life.

I started practicing yoga in 2001 purely for its physical benefits. The practice was able to complement my role as a health/fitness instructor and I began teaching it in health clubs in 2003.  Since then, I have grown in the practice and begun to see the emotional and spiritual impacts it was having on my life.  I wanted to study yoga more in-depth in order to strengthen my own practice and learn to modify the poses for people of varying abilities.

I spent 2007-08 training in the San Francisco Bay area at the Piedmont Yoga Studio to receive my 200 hour certification.  I had the incredible opportunity to study with Richard Rosen, Ann Dyer, Baxter Bell, JoAnn Lyons, and Prakash Hedge.  While I was there, I was able to integrate my training as an occupational therapist into my yoga teaching and learned to modify poses for people with disabilities and other health conditions.

I moved back to Yakima in 2009 and look forward to teaching and learning with the Yakima community!

Megan

Megan, along with her yoga partner, Gina, took over Yakima Yoga in June 2010. Having completed her Yoga Alliance RYT 200 teacher training program in McCall, Idaho where she has a family cabin and a wonderful mentor, she decided to commit to yoga even further by sharing her passion with others in the form of running a yoga studio.   Yoga, as an ancient, healing art has greatly impacted her life.  Megan, and her husband, Shawn grew up in Yakima and along with their three beautiful girls, returned in 2007.  

Celisa

A graduate from the Pacific Yoga Teaching Program in 2003, Celisa has been teaching ever since. Originally coming to yoga in 1997, while recovering from a knee injury, she has grown in her practice and her teaching. She has had the privilege of attending workshops and training with world renowned vinyasa flow instructor, Shiva Rea. For Celisa, yoga became a path to cultivate balance within and to bridge the connection between mind, body, and spirit. Celisa's classes combine fluid movement and alignment.  She approaches teaching with the goal of encouraging students to connect with the peace within and to live fully in the present moment.

Sarah

For Sarah, Yoga was “love at first breath”. Her training though Yogafit has been an eclectic blend of traditional hatha yoga poses drawn from lyengar, Ashtanga, Vinyasa and Viniyoga pratices.  She welcomes people from all seasons of life offering modifications and encouraging each student to honor and flow within their limitations.

You will find that breath, sun salutations, (flowing sequences to create inner heat), warrior poses, (alignment, legs & core strength development), balance, stretching, (regain flexibility) and Savasana (final relaxation) are blended together in each class to release the mind and body.

Sarah brings passion, joy, enthusiasm and energy into her classes, and invites you to explore yoga.

Sweet Blessings

Kaye

There are no accidents in the universe.  All of us are here at this time and place and with these souls for a reason.  The challenge is to find the path and follow it.  

My Hatha Yoga Teacher Training is with the Temple of Kriya Yoga, in Chicago, IL.  I say “is”, since I feel that I will always be learning, even though I have completed my teacher training certificaiton.  The head of the school, Sri Goswami Kriyananda, is himself a student of Sri Shelliji, who was a student of Paramahansa Yogananda, all of the lineage of  Sri Babaji.  I believe strongly in yoga asana not just as a series of postures, but as an integral part of the eight-limb path for realization and growth. 

Yoga is one of my greatest joys! I believe that yoga class should be fun, along with the obvious challenge of doing something different.  I wish that everyone who participates in my classes feels that there is always something that they find just for them in class. Yoga has a unique ability to touch everyone where they are, at that particular time.

Jami

My name is Jami Pottratz and I have been teaching yoga throughout the Yakima Valley for the past six years. I began practising yoga in 2003, in Mesa, Arizona, and became certified to teach in 2004.  Currently, I hold a level II certification through YogaFit.  Most recently, I have been teaching yoga to high school and junior high students in hopes of helping them find a way to reduce stress.  My future goals include earning a level III certification and eventually a YogaEd certification.

I was born and raised in the Yakima Valley, and after obtaining a Masters Degree in Exercise Science and a Masters in Elementary Education, have settled in Tieton, Washington. I work at Highland Junior High School as a 7th grade math teacher. My daughter Pennis is seven years old and we have a cat "Racer and a dog "Pepper".

I am very excited to be joining the staff at Yakima Yoga.

Ritva

I received my yoga teacher training from Ki McGraw and Bob Smith at Hatha Yoga Center in 2006-2007. I work as the Yakima Yoga Web Master, as well as a substitute Yoga teacher as needed. I love challenges, and precision, therefore my classes tend to be a mixture of Hatha and Ashtanga flow with a bit of an endurance twist.

I also teach Business and Information Technology at Yakima Valley Community College. And I am an avid supporter and alumni of the Team in Training.