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 yoga for 6 years. She's assisted her teacher Ana Forrest in Hong Kong, Denver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. Having finished the coursework for a Masters in Counseling Psychology, with a focus in Somatics, she's pursuing the final leg of practicum with movement counseling. Jill has an infant son who is regularly around Kula.

Education includes:

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

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: 3 months in Western EU: Climbing and Language School in Nice, France.
• 2004: 7 months in South Africa: Climbing Champagne Peak, Drankensberg Range, Rocklands & cycling.
• 2005: 4 months in New Zealand: Climbing Mount Taranaki, Wharepapa, Taupo, Canterbury & cycling the north & south island.
• 2006: 6 months in Yosemite National Park: Climbing South Face, Washington Column. Tuolumne Meadows. Cycling and hiking.
• 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: Climbing Tuolumne Meadows. Lost Arrow Spire & Tyrolean traverse. East Buttress, Mt Whitney, Cycling.
• 2001 - Present: Mountain Biking, Camping and Climbing the Cascades!

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

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.

Melanie Foust

Melanie is a spirited, innovative, and devoted instructor. Inspired by the merging of dance and yogic art forms, Melanie brings the vitality of flowing prana into the yoga practice. She currently serves as mentor in the Prana Flow® teacher certification program and assists master yoga instructor Shiva Rea, one of her main teachers, at trainings and events. A classically trained dancer with a BA in Dance and Interdisciplinary Visual Art from the University of Washington, Melanie has spent her life in the arts world and continues to explore art, yoga, and dance as converging forms of healing. Nationally certified as a massage therapist, she currently works in the dance field as part of the therapy team for Pacific Northwest Ballet. Melanie also practices and teaches Thai Yoga Massage and foot reflexology. In addition to teaching Prana Flow®, Melanie is an AcroYoga® instructor and loves to connect people to the elemental power of play. www.mettafy.com

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.

Katerina Pecova

Originaly from Czech Republic, Katerina is mother of 2 children. While pregnant for the first time, she has experienced benefits of prenatal yoga. She decided to pursue her carrier as a prenatal yoga teacher and earned her certificate for prenatal yoga with Collette Crafford at Seattle Holistic Center. As a young mother, she has explored advantages of practicing yoga with her son Jonas. Practicing yoga with her son has been so much fun for her and Jonas that she has decided in 2010 to completed the kid's yoga certificate at Rainbow kid yoga under Gopala Amir Yafee.

Katerina believes in all the benefits that children experience while practicing yoga. Yoga strengthens and helps children become more flexible and coordinated. It also teaches children how to gain control over their bodies and minds while having fun!

Summer Mayne

I teach yoga because it has healed me in significant and profound ways. I think of it as medicine with wonderful side effects! Forrest Yoga is both compassionate and challenging. I will support you in finding a deeper way to breathe. You'll learn to ride this breath through challenging postures and challenging moments of your daily life. Together, we will find joy as we learn to honestly work our edges. You will amaze yourself as you access the courage, step by step, to try invigorating poses! The focus becoming what you CAN do...building confidence, flexibility and strength.

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.

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.