Amy Cooper, RYT-500; Program Director
Asana, Pranayama

In 1981 Amy Cooper’s inspiration for becoming a Yoga teacher came after seeing B.K.S. Iyengar at the San Francisco Yoga Convention. With a degree in Anthropology, beginning studies in Buddhism and Eastern Philosophy, Amy was commited to include alternative health and lifestyle choices in a career focused on helping people help themselves.

In 1988, she received a teaching certificate from the Iyengar Yoga Institute of San Francisco along with certification in massage therapy from the Institute for Educational Therapy in Berkeley.

From 1990-1992, Amy trained teachers in the Integrative Yoga Therapy Program. Her passion for how the body moves and breathes most freely is expressed in the application of anatomy and meditation in her teaching. 

After teaching in the San Francisco Bay Area for 22 years and co-founding the Yoga Garden studio in San Anselmo, Amy moved up to Mount Shasta. Since 2003, she has been the Founding Director of the Shasta Yoga Center and most recently of the Vajra Pani Yoga Training.

Amy was featured in the Yoga Journal Calendar (1989) and in the Yoga Journal articles, “The Psoas is...” (May/June, 1999) and “Standing on Your Own Two Hands” (May/June, 2003).

Kathleen Heller
Anatomy

Fascination with the body guides and defines Kathleen's lifework. As a university research professor and educator, Kathleen has worked in the fields of Sensuality, Communications, and Physical Education for 20 years. For 36 years she has worked through a system called Structural Integration, first as a client, then a student, now a Practitioner and teacher in the Hellerwork school of Structural Integration, collaborating with Joseph Heller in producing advanced classes involving movement as the context of our work.

As a yoga practitioner, Kathleen values yoga as a path to balance care and experience of the body, with calming psychological and physiological effects and supporting an energetic expansion of our spiritual life. It is a holistic practice large enough with its 8 limbs to cultivate a full practice of human being-ness – the ultimate goal of any life school. www.hellerwork.com

Natalie Gougeon
Ayurveda

Natalie is a student of life. She offers courses, treatments and consultations in Ayurvedic health care throughout the U.S. Through her research of 20 years, Natalie has discovered the importance of Ayurveda's holistic approach to health. Natalie has trained in Ayurveda at Benares Hindu University, and received degrees from the Himalayan Ayurveda Research Institute in Nepal, and the American Institute of Vedic Studies in the U.S. Her current coursework are with Shantideva's Dr. Mary Jo Cravatta, and the Ayurveda Healing Arts Institute in California. See www.ayurvedicare.com  

Kofi Busia
Yoga Sutras

Kofi Busia was born in Ghana, West Africa, and has lived in both his native country and the United Kingdom. He was introduced to yoga while a student at Oxford, and immediately traveled to Pune to have long-term in-depth studies at the feet of his guru, Sri B.K.S. Iyengar. He began his teaching career while still a student at Oxford, and has taught professionally ever since.

Kofi was awarded his Advanced Teaching Certificate by B.K.S. Iyengar over 30 years ago and has taught all over the world, being one of the most recognizable and respected of teachers, and a regular teaching participant at many conventions and gatherings around the world. He is also the author of an original translation and commentary, direct from the Sanskrit, of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. He is particularly noted for his wide knowledge of Indian and Western philosophy which he weaves, using his notable storytelling skills and his keen sense of humor, into his classes. www.kofibusia.com

Catherine Cadden
Nonviolent Communication

Catherine is a certified trainer with the Center for Nonviolent Communication, bringing over ten years of experience practicing, living and teaching Nonviolent Communication (NVC) internationally to participants of all ages. She founded the TEMBA School in 1997, a visionary K-8 academic program rooted in nonviolent philosophy, NVC, sustainable living, and artistic expression. She honors her teachers Jack Kornfield, Elisabeth Kubler-Ross, Ram Dass as well as Stephen and Ondrea Levine for supporting, inspiring and influencing her spiritual path with a daily mind and heart practice in being nonviolence. www.cnvc.org ; www.playinthewild.org

Jesse Weins
Nonviolent Communication

Jesse studies nonviolence by living it, drawing inspiration from 7 years of Zen monastic training, under the guidance of many wonderful teachers, including Tenshin Reb Anderson and Toni Packer, and 6 years of dedicated Nonviolent Communication (NVC) training, including 2 years in Robert Gonzales' LIFE program and a year with BayNVC's Restorative Justice program in San Quentin Prison. In 2006, Jesse founded ZENVC, a holistic approach to NVC, with an emphasis on 'being nonviolence'. Together with his partner Catherine, Jesse offers support and training in being nonviolence for individuals, families, and communities internationally. www.zenvc.org  

Selene Seltzer
Meditation

Selene has practiced meditation since 1970. A student of body/mind/heart healing since 1982, she is passionate about the process of inquiry and waking up.

Her practice, with a foundation in Theravadan Buddhism (especially the Abhidharma - Buddhist Psychology), centers on integrating the body-based practices of sitting meditation, energy bodywork, breath work, psychotherapies and the moving practices of tai chi and qigong. She has studied with Asian and Western teachers and has been influenced by the non-dual teachings of Advaita Vendanta, Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhism, Dzogchen, Taoism, Tai Chi and Qigong.

When asked to describe her life, her usual reply is “It’s all about heart. Having an open heart and being open to all things as sacred.” Selene loves to laugh!

Additional guest instructors may surprise us...

"Let yourself be silently drawn by the stronger pull of what you really love."  -Rumi