LEAD TEACHER TRAINER & FOUNDER

A dedicated practitioner of Yoga since 2004, Stacey is well known as the “Teacher’s Teacher”; facilitating Yoga Alliance accredited trainings in the Kootenays at her Shala: Nelson School of Yoga.

Her journey began at the iconic Semperviva in Vancouver, where she lead classes for nearly a decade before relocating to the Kootenays.

Around 2007, curiosity brought her to explore the Ashtanga method. It was a small apartment in Kitsilano with Chris Richardson and other dedicated students learning the self led practice. The beauty of that time was that the space was rooted in community and friendship, aspects now at the forefront of NSOY’s guiding principles.

In 2009, YYoga opened the downtown Flow location, merging with Kelly & Jason’s Flow Yoga. Remember their 90’s Flow Yoga TV show!?

Stacey joined the teaching faculty at YYoga and Vijnana Yoga was budding in popularity amongst the community’s anatomy nerds, an offshoot of Iyengar Yoga, Vijnana provided a lightness and specificity that was appealing and felt great in the body, offering a gateway to study functional movement and biomechanics, the Tensegrity Repair Series of Gioia Irwin, anatomical pro-section with Somatic Explorations, and the world of fascial fitness as per Thomas Meyers.

Under the tutelage of Iyengar/Vijnana Yoga teacher and trainer, Christine Clancy, Stacey studied Philosophy and Pranayama intimately for a number of years.

In 2020, having relocated to Nelson BC, Nelson School of Yoga came to fruition. A home for students to experience the wholistic practice of Yoga alongside an enriching community.

Stacey continues her studies in the Kriya Yoga lineage with the teachings of Ryan Kurczak, student of Roy Eugene Davis, direct disciple of Paramahansa Yogananda.

From beginner to experienced student, Stacey provides a space where people of all levels and abilities can learn and practice the teachings of Yoga.

Ex-military and former professional skydiving instructor turned multidisciplinary Trauma-Informed Wellness Coach & Yoga teacher practicing out of Nelson, BC - the traditional territory of the Ktuanxa, the Syilx, and the Sinixt peoples. After years of study, training under great teachers such as Dr Gabor Mate, and a wealth of hands-on experience, Peta integrates a broad range of practices to offer a unique and intuitive approach to working through trauma via non-conventional practices. She specialises in various forms of addiction, anxiety, panic attacks, integrating parts & inner-child work, unpacking core beliefs, identity challenges, intergenerational trauma, childhood and sexual trauma, disconnection from Self, body and emotions and shadow work. Peta works with people from across the globe and from many walks of life including indigenous people, LGBTQI2, Youth in recovery, Professionals in recovery, Skydiving instructors, BASE jumpers & extreme sport athletes, and more.

Cassie is a trauma-informed yoga teacher and yoga therapist (C-IAYT) with 1200 hours of formal yoga training, 7 years of teaching experience, and 13 years of personal practice.

Cassie became fascinated by the healing power of yoga from her own personal experiences with anxiety, depression, and trauma. Since 2018, Cassie has worked with survivors of sexual violence to reclaim their bodies through embodied yoga practice. She has worked in yoga and mental health research, taught 200-hour YTT programs, and regularly hosts Nest retreats in Canada and internationally.

She takes a compassion-focused and option-oriented approach to her teachings, rooted deeply in the philosophy of yoga. In her classes, the practice will meet you where you are. You will always be encouraged to listen to your own needs above her instruction.

Cassie is endlessly grateful for the ancient yogis who cultivated, preserved and passed the teachings of yoga through hundreds of centuries, allowing many of us to live today more freely and at peace.

Jena’s classes focus on mental and physical strength leaving her students feeling expansive and energized at the end of each practice.

Her training in alignment and mobility encourages students to cultivate their deep core strength to feel solid in their bodies.

Jena brings her knowledge of somatics into her teachings to help students connect to their bodies with a deeper awareness creating new patterns and ways of being from within through breath and movement.

Her intention with yoga is to empower people to step into their power and lead with love towards themselves and others.

Professionally, I have a rich and diverse background. In my role as a social worker, I worked in a non-for-profit in poverty reduction and homelessness prevention, as well as developed and coordinated an at-risk Indigenous youth program. In recent years, I’ve been working in the medical system as an oncology and acute care social worker, and also worked extensively in the mental health sector as a youth crisis response clinician, and with the early psychosis intervention team.

More recently, I completed my Master's in Social Work receiving training and mentorship as a family therapist working with young children, youth, and their parents through an attachment lens. I also teach trauma-informed and have been taking an online training program as an Ayurvedic Health Practitioner. Although I can certainly draw on knowledge and experience from the mainstream discipline of social work and Western therapy, I have found that Ayurveda and Yoga can serve as practical tools that cut to the chase and allow change and healing to happen much more quickly, especially when combined with the tools of CBT, Somatic Experiencing Therapy, and trauma therapy.

Ellissa’s journey as a therapist in the healing arts has paralleled her exploration of the mind-body connection through studying Yoga Asana and Vipassana meditation in Canada and in India. While traveling in India in 2005, she was introduced to the Iyengar Yoga method, which focuses on therapeutic postural alignment and the efficient use of props. In 2010, Ellissa completed a 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training inspired by the Iyengar and Ashtanga methods under the guidance of Hart Lazer at United Yoga Montreal. Ellissa has been teaching weekly Yoga classes in Nelson, BC since 2010.

Natasha is an established practitioner with a devotion to the yogic path for over ten years. Upon her exploration of the practice, she found Ashtanga Yoga in 2015, fell in love with the method and became a dedicated Ashtanga practitioner. Her teaching is first with the intention to support the liberation of each student's heart and soul through each physical Asana. You can find her classes both engaging and accessible for all bodies.

Natasha is most passionate about decolonization (of everything), Ashtanga Yoga, Vipassana meditation, her dog sprout and reciprocity with the earth.