Guest Teachers in the 2024 Prana Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training
Michele Lawrence
Through her own journey of Self-discovery, Michele (MBA, ERYT500, C-IAYT) has come to realize that yoga is a practice for all life situations. She believes in yoga’s ability to heal and transform, and that yoga, regardless of one’s ability, is available to all. Michele has been teaching yoga since 2005, practicing yoga therapy since 2010, and is the founder/director of Inner Peace Yoga Therapy.
Clayton Sullwold
Dr. Clayton Sullwold has been in practice for over 15 years. He is a passionate chiropractor who lives his life by the indisputable Laws of Nature and the Principles of Life which he considers the basis of chiropractic philosophy. The past eight years he has worked with various neurological and chronic health conditions at his practice Atlas Specific Spine Center.
Previously he owned and practiced at Café of Life Chiropractic for six years delivering principled chiropractic care to his community. He is passionate about animal chiropractic and in 2017-18 sat on the task force to change the Colorado State Statue on the ability for properly certified chiropractors to practice animal chiropractic. He became a Certified Animal Chiropractor in 2008 through Options for Animals school in Wellsville, KS and is certified by the International Veterinarian Chiropractic Association. He currently is an assistant instructor for Animal Chiropractic CE which offers continuing education for certified animal chiropractors from around the world.
Dr. Sullwold is an accomplished martial artist and has studied Kouburyu Karate a style of Okinawan Karate for the past 20 years and is a 4th degree black belt. In 2018 he developed the Torque & Toggle Gen 2, an upper cervical chiropractic training device.
He received Distinguished Chiropractor award in 2018 from the Colorado Chiropractic Association. He received his bachelors degree in 2001 from Doane College in Biology and Chemistry. He has served internationally through Adjustworld, a nonprofit chiropractic organization dedicated to bringing health and healing to various countries all over the world. Serving on trips to Central and South America. He graduated from Life Chiropractic College West in 2007.
His hobbies include, pie baking, home remodeling, gardening, reading and writing.
Find him at https://mancoschiropractic.com/
Sheryl McGourty
Sheryl discovers great joy in the experience of being embodied. Sheryl began a steady yoga practice over 20 years ago and her initial training was in Nasik, India in 2005. Her dedication to yoga ignited while teaching middle and high school however, the earliest seeds were planted through a passion for dance. Sheryl has always been a teacher in some capacity. With a background in experiential education, she was guided to a path of working with people, holding space and facilitating healing. She enjoys connecting and listening to the similarities of the human experience. Sheryl strives to honor the art of teaching in her classes by offering an experience that is inspiring, resonate, digestible and authentic. Sheryl has taken countless hours of trainings and workshops and finds value in recognizing the similarities of varying spiritual disciplines. She has additional training in prenatal, kids, and trauma-sensitive yoga. Sheryl also leads retreats both locally and internationally.
Sheryl has blended the sister sciences of Yoga and Ayurveda into her own life and helps others rediscover a true and balanced nature. She is a graduate of the Ayurvedic Health Practitioner (AHP) program through the California College of Ayurveda and shares her knowledge through seasonal cleanses, workshops, cooking classes, public lectures and individual consultations.
Sheryl finds grounding, strength and inspiration in connecting with the natural world. Her heart lights up through creativity, music, adventure, humor, leadership and community involvement but her most beloved pastime… being and laughing with her son, Cedar.
Find her at www.threepillarswellbeing.com
Jackie Just
Jackie Just is a Prana Vinyasa yoga instructor, Ayurveda Wellness coach and Ayurvedic cook who lives in Crested Butte, Colorado.
Jackie is passionate about supporting her students’ wellness on and off the mat and her approach is rooted in the ancient life science of Ayurveda. She believes that food is medicine, self love and mental health matter more than we often give them credit for, and that when we align ourselves with nature, we have the ability to heal ourselves: mind, body and spirit.
She loves to remind herself and her students that Ayurveda, even when practiced imperfectly, provides us with a road map toward greater ease, vitality and happiness in all areas of our lives through small, gradual lifestyle shifts.
Jackie admires the holistic approach to seasonal cleansing that Ayurveda provides. Rather than deprivation or lack, an Ayurvedic cleanse focuses on simplifying lifestyle, increasing self-care, eating delicious whole foods that are easy to digest, and clearing space for true vibrancy to shine through.
Jackie has experience managing a soulful Bhakti yoga studio and boutique, organizing and running international yoga retreats and workshops, and managing a yoga retreat center in Costa Rica. She has assisted multiple Prana Vinyasa yoga teacher trainings and retreats led by her maha teacher Monica Mesa Dasi.
Aside from yoga, Jackie loves to ski, surf, dance and travel, enjoys cooking, making handmade mala jewelry, and do stand up paddle board (SUP) yoga. You can catch Jackie teaching SUP yoga this summer at Sangha Fest and join her for a seasonal guided group cleanse! She is also available to cook for your next yoga or wellness based event.
Michelle Nayeli Bouvier
I've been teaching multidisciplinary mindful movement for 20+ years. Over & over I've seen the power of embodied practice -tools of the body + mind + breath- on peoples lives. My work is devoted to spreading the power of mindful embodied practice as a tool of bodymind resilience.
I'm a Prana Vinyasa™ Yoga Teacher Trainer, Certified Yoga Therapist, GYROTONIC® Trainer, Axis Syllabus practitioner, Hoopdance pioneer & integrative movement educator. I help people of all walks of life move better, feel better & live better.
I've created the Kutilaa School of Embodied Resilience to train the next-generation of yoga & movement teachers in healthy movement through true alignment with the body's biotensegrity design, from the inside->out (rather than from the outside->in).
A deep bow to all the teachers on whose shoulders I stand. I've been most influenced by the wisdom & work of Shiva Rea, Frey Faust, Joanne Avison, Gil Hedley, Tom Meyers, Juliu Horvath, Christopher Tompkins, Christopher Wallis, Daniel Odier & Tias Little.
Brandy Wade
Brandy Wade grew up in Boulder, Colorado. As a young girl, Brandy and her mother (a spiritual teacher and therapist), would talk for hours about the nature of life, exploring and diving into the subtle intricacies of the world around them. It was through these conversations that Brandy recognized the value of listening to her heart and therefore kindled her passion for alternative healing arts. At age 19, Brandy went from being a competitive soccer player to a spiritual explorer as she turned toward nature and yoga. From that point forward, she was guided to various teachers, paths, and modalities shaping the person she is today.
For the past 20 years, Brandy has been a student and teacher of yoga, extensively studying the Feminine path of Hatha, Bhakti, and Tantra Yoga. Some of her main teachers have been Shannon Paige Schneider, Aditi Devi, Sofia Diaz, and Brenda Flemming. She has also had the honor to work with the spirit of plant medicines for 15 years and dance the ceremonial Moondance in Mexico the last seven years, receiving the teachings from Aztec and Mayan grandmother Abuela Mali Nali. Currently, Brandy splits her time between Durango and Salida, Colorado and offers bodywork sessions that incorporate Ortho-bionomy, womb and belly healing, yoni steams, ancestral healing, sound healing, plant brushings, emotional and somatic therapy, prayer, and song.
Kristin McHarg
A 500hr RYT (Registered Yoga Teacher) and Certified Love and Dating Coach (Future Force Inc), Kristin McHarg helps single women attract love through online courses, group coaching, and private coaching backed by her expertise in Ultra High-Frequency Energy Healing, Instant Miracle Mastery, Peace Process, Tantric Studies, Ayurveda, the Sacred Feminine, Yoga, and the School of Life. She works with women through 1:1 coaching and group coaching, as well as teaches workshops, immersions, and more.
With a decade of teaching experience, co-ownership, and management of the nationally-renowned Telluride Yoga Center, Kristin has gained over 3,000 hours guiding students on the yogic path. Her empathic nature and interest in the energy arts continue to enhance her teaching.
As a native of Telluride, Colorado, she has a history in competitive freestyle skiing, while she doesn’t catch air or ski bumps anymore, she loves nordic skiing, surfing, biking (mountain and road), kayaking, horseback riding, and her motorcycles. She is madly in love with her husband Herb and star-child Ruby. She now lives in Norwood, Colorado, 45 minutes outside of Telluride and enjoys the wide-open sky and mesa living.
Nuriya Akers
Nuriya Akers owns and stewards a community gathering space for local teachers to share their gifts and classes, called the One Heart House in Mancos, Colorado. She loves to devote her music and talents as a vocalist and guitar player towards bringing a message of peace, grace, beauty, and ease to our spiritual embodiment as human beings.
Nuriya began her journey with the practice of Kirtan in 2007 in Salt Lake City when kirtan was being led by a local musician there, named Leraine. Influenced by the western adaptation of Kirtan by artists such as Krishna Das, Snatnam Kar, Deva Premal & Mitten, and Shantala, who all visited and performed in Salt Lake City in the 2000s, Nuriya heard Kirtan led with a variety of non-traditional instruments such as guitar. As a guitar player and strong lead vocalist, Nuriya was drawn into the devotional practice of singing Kirtan for its bhakti yoga and sound healing qualities. Since moving back to Durango, Colorado in 2013, she has led Kirtan with Cheryl Birchard, of Blue Lotus Feet, as their own duet, Ananda Gaia, and now leads Sunday Kirtans at the One Heart House in Mancos. She leads Kirtan with a full hearted voice and encourages people singing with her to find their full voice, use it to vibrate the sacred syllables through their bodies, and tune into the harmonic and joy of the Oneness of all life!
Kirtan is a practice of devotional chanting and singing in Sanskrit. It is the fourth branch of yogic practice called Bhakti Yoga. Nuriya will lead you in a call and response style singing in simple and short phrases so that you will learn the words through listening and repeating. The sacred syllables of Kirtan open the heart and the voice to give the singer a direct connection with the Divine. Come and vibrate yourself into radiant health!