Yoga Instructors

Jill Baumgardner

Jill brings a clear, steady and compassionate presence to the classroom. Her classes are known for weaving challenging physical intensity with the development of mindful self awareness. Jill gives practical, focused, and sensitive individualized instruction. Her skillfulness in adjusting and modifying poses empowers students to work safely and in a healing way with injuries and health conditions. She is passionately committed to turning people on to embodying Spirit in their yoga practice and in their lives.

Jill has been teaching Forrest yoga since 2005 and AcroYoga since 2008. She has assisted Ana Forrest with 27-day yoga teach trainings, 5-day continuing education trainings, and 3-day weekend intensives in Denver, Sonoma, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Seattle, and Hong Kong.

Education includes:

• 2005: BA in Comparative Histories of Ideas, University of Washington
• 2005 & 2006: Forrest Yoga Foundational Teacher Training (two time graduate)
• 2007: 200hr Napa Valley School of Massage
• 2008: Forrest Yoga Advanced Teacher Training
• 2008: AcroYoga Teacher Training
• 2007 - 2010: MA in Counseling Psychology, Concentration in Somatic Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies
• 2010: Prenatal Yoga Continuing Education, Seattle Holistic Center

Jill's mentor, Don Hanlon Johnson was a core form of support in her training of Somatics, and Phenomenology, as well as Bonnie Bainbridge Cohen, and Formative Psychology.

Additionally, Jill studied abroad to intern with the Ministry of Social Services and the Bicycle Empowerment Network in Capetown, South Africa in 2004, and, was a Teacher's Assistant in Auckland, New Zealand in 2005.

Her academic pursuits coincide with her love for rock climbing, cycling, and water sports.

Notably:

• 2001 - Present: Bicycle, Camp, Surf and Climb WA state!
• 2001: 3 months in Western EU: Climbing and language school in Nice, France.
• 2004: 7 months in South Africa: Climbing Champagne Peak, Drankensberg Range, Rocklands & Bicycling.
• 2005: 4 months in New Zealand: Climbing Mount Taranaki, Wharepapa, Taupo, Canterbury & Bicycling the north & south island.
• 2006: 6 months in Yosemite National Park: Climbing South Face, Washington Column. Tuolumne Meadows. Bicycling, hiking and camping.
• 2006: 4 months in Nicaragua, Costa Rica & Peru: Surfing Popoyo, Nicaragua. Mal Pais, Costa RIca. Mancora, Peru. Hike Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley, Peru.
• 2007: 8 months in Yosemite National Park: Climb many greats in Tuolumne Meadows. Lost Arrow Spire & Tyrolean traverse. East Buttress, Mt Whitney, & Bicycling.
• 2007: Bicycle southern France.
• 2008 - 2009: Surf CA coastline: Santa Barbara, San Francisco, Stinson, Bolinas, Salmon Creek...free-dive and boulder, too.
• 2010 - Jill became a Mother, and co-owner of Kula Movement, Center for Yoga & Health.

"It is my goal to stay connected with breath, communication, and variation so that each exploration is robustly authentic to the moment"

Andi Pihl

Andi brings her passion for sharing the transformative benefits of yoga to her classes. She seeks to open the depth of possibility in every student, opening the heart and body to break away from what's no longer useful, and to be free to pursue the life you dream of. She has practiced yoga since 1996 and in 2001 discovered Forrest Yoga, and experienced a path to deep healing, finding the true self, and nourishing the spirit. She completed the Forrest Yoga Foundational Training in 2006, and Forrest Yoga Continuing Education for Teachers in 2008.

Andi also completed Ironman Canada in 2009, enjoys rock climbing, studies meditation and enlightenment practices with WarriorSage, and is enrolled in the massage therapy program at Cortiva Institute.

Michal Lahav

I practice, teach, and live with a great enthusiasm for movement. In my classes you will flow dynamically, breath fully, and sweat, all grounded in a foundation of deep listening to your body and a powerful and intelligent breath.

My practice of yoga stems from a curiosity about the body. I studied neuroscience and have been teaching movement since 2004. Amongst my many influences-- those I have stolen, borrowed or been heavily inspired by are teachers such as Katerina Wen, Ana Forrest ('07 teacher training), Rusty Wells ('09 teacher training), Edward Clark, and everyone who has ever demonstrated patience and exquisite kindness.

Katrina McGiffin

Katrina's passion for yoga began at the young age of 15. Feeling the physical strain of being a gymnast, she sought out a new way to challenge her body and quickly took to the ancient practice of yoga. She found that the practice helped her find a deeper connection to her body and guided her toward living in an awakened state. While building her practice, Katrina was fortunate to work with Ana Forrest, Shiva Ray, Matthew Cohen, and several other master teachers. She was inspired to become a teacher herself and completed the Forrest Teacher Training program in Los Angeles in 2005.

Katrina's desire as a teacher is to help each client reach his or her specific goals. As a student of Katrina's, you can expect to find relaxation and inner peace, while also being safely physically challenged to grow stronger and more flexible.

In addition to teaching yoga, Katrina is Kula Movement's house nutritionist. She graduated from Bastyr University in Seattle with her master's degree in dietetics in 2009. She currently runs Nourish and Be, her business that combines her two passions of yoga and nutrition to help people enhance the quality of their body and life. She believes that being healthy means to feel great, not just to live free of disease.

Katrina is eager to work with you to build a customized plan to set you on a course toward a new journey to physical and mental health.

Cosetta Romani

Cosetta is a Registered Yoga Aliance Experienced Teacher (ERYT 500) Over the years Cosetta has been trained and inspired by many master teachers in the healing arts of yoga, meditation and shamanism. Deep gratitude to the following:

Chogyam Trungpa Rinpoche, Sakyong Mipham Rinpoche, Pema Chondron, Shelley Pierce, Matthew Lyon, Char Sundust, Shiva Rea, Saul David Raye, Mark Whitwell, Cindy Lee, Sarah Power, Eric Shiffmann and most of all Mother Nature. Cosetta is also a creative "dakini", who has been studying and practicing the art of ikebana(flowers sculptures) of Sogetzu school, and devotional beauty. Cosetta is ferocious in her dedication to seize the present moment. To live life as it come allows her to experience and teach yoga as a living practice, weaving all the wisdom traditions in the now. Intuitive guidance, precise breath work, creative flows, chanting, moving and sitting meditation are explored in her classes. Her students are constantly invited to shift inward in order to reach outward.

http://www.puravitayoga.com

Gianna Carotenuto, PhD

"More than a way to strengthen, exercise, or celebrate the body, I believe yoga is an ancient healing art. Through yoga the body becomes the vehicle for transformation and brings one closer to self-mastery and unique self-expression. The benefits and results of constant practice is that the student acquires the discipline and tools to actualize their highest potential. Yoga allows expression of one's personal truth, integrity and creativity. My goal is for students to gain the ability to reflect principles of artful living, mindfulness with heart-centered presence." ~ Gianna Carotenuto, PhD

Teaching ~ Gianna is an accomplished healer and yoga teacher with over 20 years of combined teaching and practitioner experience. Her foundation is classic Forrest Yoga and she has taught as a senior Forrest Yoga instructor for over a decade. Specializing in classes that are tailored to the student's present that day, Gianna works mindfully and creatively to build group energy and individual transformation through carefully designed sequences derived from a multiplicity of healing modalities ~ Forrest, Vinyasa flow, Iyengar, Yin, Kundalini and meditation. One of her unique gifts as a teacher is her healing touch and ability to help students meet their fears and move into freedom. Working with students of all levels, Gianna has an expertise in elder students over 60 , and rehabilitation from physical, mental, emotional trauma, accidents, injury, or surgery. ~Students value Gianna's ability to "see" beyond the surface and release energy that is trapped or restricted in the body, her sensitive hands on adjustments, and her ability to guide them into realms of deeper healing and awareness. Her 12 years of Zen meditation and mindfulness practice brings clarity, inner depth and tranquility to a strong, cleansing and demanding asana practice.

Training ~ Gianna completed her Teacher's Training in 1999 with Ana Forrest and remains committed to the principles and techniques of Forrest Yoga. Her mindset is that of a perpetual student seeking wisdom and insight from a variety of teachers to continue deepening and growing her teaching skills and yogic knowledge. She has attended numerous workshops and training sessions with many of today's first lineage yoga masters: Ana Forrest, Max Strom, Rod Stryker, Rodney Yee, Gary Kraftow, Richard Freeman, Shiva Rea, and has been assisting workshops at Esalen with Yogini Micheline Berry since 2010.

Community ~ Bringing the wisdom and compassion of yoga to South Central Los Angeles, Gianna developed and directed along with Debora Constance, "Yoga in the Hood," a community based yoga program for at risk youth from 2004-2007. Gianna conducts thematic workshops throughout the year, was a former teacher at Exhale Center for Sacred Movement in Venice, California and will be conducting a series of cultural yoga retreats in 2012-13 in India, Italy, Mexico and California. She has recently relocated to Seattle, Washinton where she will be teaching at Kula Movement.

Beyond the Mat ~ A practicing Buddhist, Gianna leads mediation classes, reads Sanskrit, is an ongoing student, practitioner and some-time resident at Tassajara Zen Center, and has participated in five week-long teachings with the Dalai Lama from 2000-2006, influences that bring a deep tranquility and mindfulness to her yoga classes. For the past 20 years Gianna's "other" professional life has centered on various aspects of the arts. She is a curator, private art consultant, and art history professor. She completed her doctoral degree in the art of India and South Asia at UCLA in 2009. She currently a visiting professor of South Asian Art at the University's of Washington, Seattle.

Anna Davis, PhD RYT

Anna was first introduced to yoga by her mother, a student of T.K.V. Desikachar, when she was 15. She has practiced many different forms of yoga on and off for almost 30 years, and is currently teaching a Forrest Inspired class, at Kula Movement.

Anna studies yoga with Ana Forest and several local instructors and is inspired by many teachers and students alike. Anna has a doctorate in Physiology and Biophysics, has taught Physiology at the University of Washington and most recently helped develop software to teach cell physiology (NerveWorks). Her scientific research has focused on muscle physiology, structure and development. She is the mother of two young girls and lives in Ballard.

Anna brings to her classes a love of movement, sensitivity to her students' different needs, an attention to detail and clear style of communication. She finds great satisfaction sharing the practice of yoga with others, a path that she believes helps us to awaken and live graciously in the present moment.

Christina Crane

Christina brings a gentle, compassionate presence to her classes, holding space for you to explore each movement with breath and intention. Christina loves the vibrant energy, sense of peace and overall well-being that practicing yoga provides, and is passionate about yoga as a vehicle for self-awareness, personal growth, and connection. She is excited to work with you as your grow your personal practice within the Kula community. You can also find her in house at Kula as a massage practitioner.

Christina has practiced yoga since 2000, and completed the Forrest Yoga Foundational Training in 2010. Additional influences and trainings include Nancy Ruby's YogaMotion Teacher Training (2003), Sivananda Yoga Teacher Training (2004), Colette Crawford's Prenatal Yoga Training (2011), and the amazing teachers at Kula Movement and Two Rivers Yoga & Massage.

Jennifer Parsinen

Jennifer knows the profound power of yoga as experienced through her practice on the mat and its transformative quality as it is related to her daily life. Her first experiences of yoga began as she was studying Elementary Education at Western Washington University. As her personal practice grew her students began to see more and more yoga in the classroom. She started to hear things like, "Yoga brings me to my calm state of mind" (Chase Linder, 16) and "Yoga puts me in a state of mind where I can connect with myself" (Caroline King, 17). Teaching yoga has been a common thread through a combined ten years of teaching and guiding all age groups in various locals: elementary school in Costa Rica (5 years), High School Spanish and ESL in Minnesota (2 years), guiding for Odyssey Outdoor Wilderness Therapy of Bellingham and Pacific Quest of Hawaii (2 years) and teaching pre-school here in Seattle (1 year). Jen helps students breathe, move, and play through their yoga, all the while learning more about "what is happening now" in their body, life and spirit.

Jennifer is a Registered Yoga Therapy Practitioner and Yoga Teacher through Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapy. She currently shares yoga therapy with students with brain damage and cerebral palsy and is studying yoga for 2-7 yr. olds with Next Generation Yoga. She is a Washington State licensed teacher (K-8) and Ambassador/Guide for Odyssey Wilderness Therapy Programs in Bellingham.

Seka Ojdrovic-Phillips

Seka has learned to connect with others through travel and to connect with self through yoga. She started teaching Prana Flow yoga in 2009 while living in Wellington, New Zealand. A return to the States in 2011 opened up the opportunity to try Forrest Yoga – a practice that felt like coming home. After exploring the style in depth, she's a Forrest Yoga devotee.

After coming face-to-face with self-limiting beliefs by faithfully and consistently getting on the mat, Seka is passionate about sharing the experience with others. She's felt the joyful change that comes from releasing both physical and mental stuckness and mindfully helps others on their own unique paths.

When not practicing yoga, Seka is always on the look-out for travel opportunities, both local and international; honing the craft of peaceful and connected communications strategies; and spending time appreciating friends and family.

Caitlin Matteson

In her classes, Caitlin invites students to move, awaken and claim their energy through pranayama, held poses & visualization, and emphasizes breath work & movement as meditation - leading to grounding & connecting with the present moment. Teaching yoga since 2003, and in her years of practicing & studying, Caitlin has been inspired by many styles of yoga and has been particularly drawn to Forrest Yoga, Iyengar, and Vinyasa for their ability to create union between body and breath, emphasis on proper alignment, and the focus on flowing movement with breath.

Caitlin completed her teacher training with Ana Forrest in 2003, and has continued on to seek out & study with other highly respected teachers from around the world, including Shiva Rea, Dharma Mittra, Sarah Powers & Aadil Palkhivala.

In addition to her extensive on-going studies of yoga, she is also influenced by her passion for various forms of dance including Contact Improv, and Indian & African Dance. Caitlin's passion for a Yogic lifestyle & Indian culture also led her to live and study intensively in India, focusing on Orissi, an ancient form of Indian dance, and on studies at the Benares Hindu University, studying the history & philosophy of yoga.

Caitlin's teaching career has spanned from the West to East coast, teaching at top studios in Seattle, Barcelona & Miami, as well as teaching yoga retreats internationally. She enjoys teaching students of all levels, ages & physical conditions, and she honors that each person's experience in class is personal and unique.

Abbe Lake, BSN, RN

More than a decade after a horseback riding accident and a devastating diagnosis brought her full-tilt life to a crashing halt, Abbe discovered Forrest Yoga and took the first revolutionary steps on a profound journey. It was through this practice that she discovered that the body wasn't destined to be a source of limitation, but could truly be a powerful instrument of physical, emotional, and spiritual self-healing. She is deeply and passionately committed to bringing this same awareness to her students.

As a Registered Nurse and a former ballet dancer, Abbe brings extensive and detailed knowledge of the body, of movement, and of authentic health and wellness to her work. With her deep familiarity of what it is to be a patient, she brings to her teaching a profound understanding of and compassion for the experience of pain and perceived limitation. Using the Forrest Yoga principles of Breath, Strength, Integrity, and Spirit, she will guide you on your own empowering journey of physical and emotional healing, so that you may live in freedom and beauty, both on and off the mat.

In addition to her passion for yoga, Abbe is also a lover of animals, a voracious reader, and an outdoor enthusiast who spends her time running, hiking, skiing, sailing, and falling off of surfboards. She is dedicated to living a healthy, vibrant, and authentic life, and to sharing that dedication with others.

Carlos Da Silva

Carlos' passion for a yogic lifestyle began in his early teens via Yogananda and SRF when he began experimenting and practicing a devoted form of Yoga called 'Kriya'. He took his Yoga teacher training with master yogis Ana Forrest and Jonathan Bowra, and continued to pursue his Yogic studies in India and with various teachers and has been teaching and leading retreats around the world with his partner and fellow yoga teacher, Caitlin Matteson since 2005.

He left the corporate world in 2001 as a Grahic Designer to pursue and explore a deeper union of Yoga into his creative life as a musician on a daily level. Among his numerous travels around the world he has spent extensive time in India studying Yoga and traditional Indian music.

Included in the 8 limbs of Yoga is the Niyamas, Carlos considers this a key aspect to his own practice (Sadhana), believing that this helps him create a healthy union between the physical and emotional body.

He continues his devotion to bridging a Yogic lifestyle (Union) in his classes and retreats around the world. He is known for his ability to deeply challenge students with compassion, a wise touch, helpful adjustments, and attention to alignment. Along with his sense of humor he inspires students to fearlessly explore and reconnect to their ‘True Self’ via exploration on and off the yoga mat.

Brisa Silvestre

Brisa Silvestre is originally from Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and has lived in some of the most beautiful, exotic and fun places around the world. She went to school back home for Dramatic Arts and found yoga for the first time in Brazil in 2003. But not until 2009, while living in Colorado, did yoga become part of her life. After only a few days of daily practice, she realized the health, fulfillment, and peace that yoga would bring, and knew that she was destined to become a yoga teacher.

In 2010 Brisa graduated from Bikram Yoga Teacher Training, a 9-week intensive course with over 600 hours of instruction. She taught briefly in Aspen, then at a studio in Boston before moving to Seattle. After exploring a number of different yoga styles, Brisa discovered the beauty and healing power of Forrest Yoga practice at Kula Movement. In 2012, she graduated from Ana Forrest's Foundation Teacher Training in Chicago. With her blend of South American passion and kindhearted nature, she seeks to unlock the potential in every student through strong, compassionate, and highly personalized instruction.

Today, Brisa lives in Belltown with her fiance, David, and their dog Bodhi. When she is not practicing or teaching yoga, Brisa enjoys cooking, reading, traveling, camping, playing her djembe drum, and spending time outdoors.

"Yoga is a wonderful tool for anyone that wants to improve their health - physically, emotionally and spiritually. It is a way to find true balance in life. The continuous practice of yoga brings consciousness to the breath, body, and life. It brightens the aura, and opens the path to a very profound knowledge of who you really are, bringing and welcoming your Spirit home. This is the path that I choose for my life: to keep healing myself, and to help others find their healing pathways. I am committed to spend my life practicing, learning and teaching this great gift that is yoga."