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Team Bios
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Shannon Conway >>
A spiritual seeker from an early age, Shannon discovered yoga in 1996. After several years of meditative study, she added asana practice in 2001. Her yoga studies extend to a wide variety of yoga traditions, including meditation intensives with Gurumayi Chidvilasananda, and 200 hr certification through YogaWorks, as well as over 100 hrs of teacher trainings with teachers such as Baron Baptiste, John Friend and Shiva Rea, among others. She strives to maintain a beginner’s mind, humbled and grateful for the gifts and inspiration she’s received from the practices and her teachers. Yoga informs every aspect of Shannon’s life; and she never tires of the thrill of a book falling open to perfect page, or a practice offering the exact asana sequence needed to calm a restless mind. After 20 years in marketing and communications, bringing Bend Yoga to life has been an honor and a privilege for her, and between the studio and her two teenage daughters her life is, for the moment, replete.Aleta Raphael-Brock >>
Aleta Raphael-Brock brings the qualities of presence, devotion and curiosity to her vinyasa classes. She teaches yoga to help create a space for people to dive into themselves, to shed layers of tension and fear, to study their bodies and their perceptions, and to connect with and honor the divine. Aleta’s practice of yoga has been an anchor for her through difficult times of loss and sadness as well as through joyful times of celebration. She has found yoga practice to be one of shedding layers of fear and insecurity and embracing and honoring life and Self. Her classes are energetic and fun while balanced with compassion and depth. Aleta has been teaching since 2006 and has studied with Baron Baptiste and Sean Corn and has completed teacher trainings through YogaFit International. She recently completed an Advanced Anatomy and Therapeutic Yoga training in the Pranakriya Yoga tradition. She is deeply grateful for all the teachers she’s had and continues to constantly learn from.Carin Cundey >>
Carin has been practicing yoga since 1999 and has studied a variety of disciplines including Ananda, Ashtanga, Vinyasa Flow, Yin and Sivananda. She has attended teacher trainings totaling over 160 hours with Shiva Rea, Seane Corn, Baron Baptiste and Uma Kleppinger. Most influentially Carin completed the 200 hour Sivananda Teacher Training at the Sivananda Ashram in Grass Valley, CA. She is also certified as an Ayurvedic Yoga Therapist through the Sivananda Ashram and is a certified Ayurvedic Health Educator through the California College of Ayurveda. Her greatest learning came through realizing that yoga extends far past the practice of the asanas (postures) and is seen through the smallest details in our lives through our actions, devotions and knowledge. She feels blessed to be able to share this practice with others.
Carin also practices Western Astrology and provides Ayurvedic education and lifestyle guidance. Contact her at: www.dharmatola.com.
Kristy Werchek, LMT >>
Traditions Studied: Bikram, Vinyasa, Baptiste Power Vinyasa, Ana ForrestMost influential teachers: Dana Baptiste, Lisa Black, Donna Farhi
Teaching Style: Deeply engaged, yet extremely humorous! I like to keep it light and make sure we are not taking ourselves TOO seriously. Yoga is pretty smooth and simple, we are the ones that can complicate the process. I like to challenge everyone and get them out of their heads and into their hearts and bodies.
Kristy is a licensed massage therapist with a practice in Bend.
Rebecca Bell >>
Rebecca Bell began formal yoga studies in 1992. She has been pursuing this path with extensive studies in Ashtanga vinyasa and Iyengar Yoga.This has led her to study with such teachers as K. Pattabhi Jois, Richard Freeman, Tim Miller, Gabriel Halpern, John Friend and Shiva Rea. Her enthusiasm for Ashtanga Yoga took her to India to study with K. Pattabhi Jois and Mr. B.N.S. Iyengar. In November of 2003, Rebecca completed Richard Freeman’s advanced teacher training.
Having practiced massage therapy for twelve years she utilizes her bodywork experience by giving individualized, hands-on adjustments, and precise verbal cues. Rebecca brings Iyengar alignment principles to the rhythm of the vinyasa practice in a safe, dynamic and creative class environment. When not teaching she is practicing the true yoga of mothering.
Kelly Giebelhaus >>
The opportunity to teach yoga is a gift that Kelly is very grateful for. She feels that teaching yoga connects her with her community in an honest and heartfelt way, creating openings that allow for beautiful shifts in peoples lives. These shifts have profound effects over the years on the personal level and on a larger scale in the community. The observation of these shifts has fueled Kelly’s already burning passion as a yoga teacher.Kelly has been teaching in Bend for 8 years. She was certified in Sivananda Yoga at the Sivananda ashram in New York in 2001. She continues to revisit the Sivananda ashram in California to explore deeper her studies as a teacher and her own personal yoga practice.
Kelly comes from a background of competitive athletics, layered with 12 years of a personal yoga practice and almost 20 years of teaching experience. She feels that the wisdom of yoga teaches the student to experience the full potential of the human body. Through practice, this wisdom helps to develop the connections between the body and the soul that creates the most profound impact on our lives.
Sheila Dunn>>
Sheila began practicing yoga with her mother at age sixteen in the hope of healing some persistent injuries. Soon after, she realized that the tremendous physical benefits of asanas (postures) were merely a gateway to the holistic journey of yoga, nourishing mind, heart and spirit. Feeling a deep connection to this ancient practice, Sheila has spent the past ten years exploring various styles of yoga, including Vinyasa, Ashtanga and Anusara. In 2005, she completed a 200-hour Yoga Alliance teacher training in her home state of Colorado and has spent the past four years encouraging students to find their own yogic path by tapping into their deepest, most authentic selves through breath, movement and meditation. Sheila’s classes are balanced with free-spirited play and moments of quiet reflection and stillness.Vanessa Schulz >>
Vanessa Schulz is an AYTT-certified instructor of Ananda Yoga, a deeply spiritual practice brought to the west by the great master, Paramahansa Yogananda. Vanessa has been practicing Ashtanga and Hatha yoga for over eighteen years but chooses to teach Ananda yoga because of its focus on physical safety, and the cultivation of peace and joy in one’s Self through focused energy control.Amanda Steurmer >>
Amanda Stuermer has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. She has studied Ashtanga, Iyengar, Sivananda, Anusara, Anahata, Baptiste, and Pre-natal. Her mentors include Tias Little, Seane Corn, Maya Tiwari, and Sundari. She is constantly looking for ways to deepen her yoga practice both on and off of the mat. She recently completed her 200 hr. certification and created a Yoga & Creative Arts Program for teen girls. She also traveled to Uganda this year with Off the Mat, Into the World to support several humanitarian aid projects. While there, Amanda was able to assist births in a rural birthing clinic. This experience has inspired her to come back and find ways to use her yoga to support women through all of the many beautiful and sacred rituals of womanhood. She hopes to infuse her classes with a sense of the Divine Feminine or Shakti. She feels that yoga should be both challenging and nurturing to our bodies, our minds, our hearts, and our souls.Stacey Lum>>
Stacey’ completed her 200 hour teacher training through YogaWorks, San Francisco. Based in Iyengar and Ashtanga, her teaching has developed into an athletic, Vinyasa Flow style that combines breath and movement. This flow style of teaching produces heat to detox the body and purify the mind.
She became a yoga instructor because she wanted to find a way to access the mind/body connection through physical strength. Very active throughout her life with mountain biking, swimming, hiking and skiing, she began to practice yoga many years ago. She soon realized how important this practice could be to her body and mind. Yoga became an amazing compliment to her athletics. The practice aids in injury prevention, reduces stress, and promotes healing to her mind and spirit.
‘By practicing yoga regularly you can begin to control the mind. You let go of attachment to thoughts and you are reminded to breathe. When you breathe mindfully in the present moment, you are able to be with what is right now. This practice allows for more freedom in my mind, and I am able to go deeper spiritually and physically while gaining strength, flexibility, and mental focus. I am practicing yoga not only to find strength, but to experience a deeper part of my spiritual self. A chance to go inward. My practice has helped me to overcome obstacles by experiencing the freedom of surrendering- for I believe this is where the true healing begins’.