teachers

Teachers

Michele Lawrence has been practicing yoga since 2000 and has studied various yoga styles. She believes that all yoga can teach you something, if you allow yourself to be open to it. Yoga is self-exploration and postures can be a metaphor for challenging life situations. By practicing and breathing, the poses can shed light and offer insight on those situations.

Michele is a graduate of the New Jersey-based Devalila Yoga Teacher Training, a registered 200-hour level training with the Yoga Alliance. Devalila (meaning "Divine Play") blends the physical and spiritual, and does so playfully. She enjoys teaching vinyasa-style hatha yoga, which links body movement with the breath in flowing sequences. She likes to include music to enhance the flow and rhythm of the class! Michele continues to advance her yoga studies and has attended workshops with Shiva Rea, Cyndi Lee, Seane Corn, Baron Baptiste, Sharon Gannon and others. But most of all she enjoys learning from her fellow Yogadurango instructors!

Karla Miller started her study of yoga with Durango's Kathy Curran in the Iyengar tradition, then helped create a still existent yoga class at the local high school. She began her focus on Ashtanga yoga through classes with Tias Little in Santa Fe, then studied for a year in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2001, she completed an Ashtanga teacher training with David Swenson in Vermont and has since taught the Primary series or hot vinyasa flow in Durango. Karla attends workshops and classes around the country as often as possible, continuing to learn and adjust her own teaching.

Cara Bessko is a certified Hatha Yoga teacher trained to teach children and adults. She did a 10 month training intensive in Pittsburgh, PA and continues to study in accordance with the standards of Yoga Alliance to fulfill her requirements as a teacher. She has been practicing for over 6 years, teaching for 5. Cara has also completed the Level 1 Radiant Yoga Child teacher training, with world renowned teacher Shakta Kaur Khalsa, and has since been working in the local schools. Cara teaches adults and children of all ages, helping to bring inner and outer strength and balance to the whole person.

Sheryl McGourty has been practicing yoga for over ten years. She received her Hatha yoga teaching training at Yoga Vidya Dham in Nasik, India. Sheryl is additionally certified in prenatal yoga and completed the Radiant Child Yoga program. Sheryl believes that when we work through the challenges and blockages presented by the body, we are allowed to reach a higher potential of self by increasing our energy levels. She also believes that is only when a person understands and feels contentment internally that they can truly begin to understand and live in harmony with others, naturally making an improvement on the world. Sheryl having been trained in the classic and traditional yoga disciplines, agrees that yoga can be more than a class by transcending into a way of life.

Sheryl has a Bachelor's Degree in Outdoor Education, holds a professional teaching license in the state of Colorado and has been certified as a Wilderness First Responder for over ten years. She has extensive experience facilitating and leading people of all ages in the classroom and the wilderness.

Sheryl has a deep understanding of the anatomy and physiology of body because of her medical background and her passion for outdoor athletics. Sheryl is an avid cyclist, having completed solo bike tours nationally and internationally. She also enjoys snowboarding, backpacking and traveling.

Originally from Massachusetts, Sheryl presently resides in Durango with her husband and son where they are embarking on constructing a straw bale home. Sheryl teaches Hatha Yoga classes at Yogadurango, and Ayama Yoga studio in Gem Village, as well as prenatal classes and children's yoga.

Katie Walsh began practicing yoga 10 years ago. A former fitness instructor, competitive runner and cyclist, Katie began doing yoga due to injuries and a quest for spiritual fitness. Katie's primary practice is rooted in Anusara Yoga, which she is fortunate and grateful to be guided by master teachers Desiree Rumbaugh and Christy Burnette. Katie continues to develop her practice and instruction by attending workshops with Seanne Corn, Rusty Wells, Tias Little, Sharon Gannon, and John Friend. A breast cancer survivor, Katie believes strongly in the gifts, motivation, and well-being that the practice and discovery of yoga offers. The most rewarding aspect of teaching, Katie finds, is watching her students/gurus in their own personal and physical transformation.

Joan Pope Joan recently moved to Durango from the mountains of North Carolina where she has been teaching Iyengar influenced yoga since 1996. Joan received her teacher training with Lillah Schartz, a certified Iyengar instructor in Asheville, NC. Through the years Joan has continued her studies with various teachers in the Iyengar tradition including Patricia Walden, Elise Miller, Felicity Green, and John Shumaker, as well as teachers of other traditions including JJ Gormley (Anusara), Rodney Yee, Eric Schiffman, and Aadil Palhivala (Purna Yoga). Joan is also an Occupational Therapist so has a particular interest in teaching those with specific pain, injury, or illness to use yoga as a tool to assist in healing. Ahimsa, nonviolence, is a focus in Joan's classes as she encourages each individual to meet themselves where they are without judgment and to allow yoga to help free them physically and mentally. Some of her students have commented: "Joan is a positive, patient, and enthusiastic instructor" and they describe her classes as "fun, laid back classes, laughter and silliness mixed in."

Lynn Wickersham has been practicing yoga and meditation since 2001 and has studied a variety of yoga styles including Iyengar, Hatha, Ashtanga, Power, and Vinyasa. A former fintess instructor, Lynn intitially turned to yoga to increase her flexibility as well as reduce stress; but, Through her regular asana practice, she experienced not only yoga's physical benefits and healing properties but also deepened her connection between mind, body, and spirit. Lynn believes that the journey of asana practice not only opens the physical body but also opens the mind and spirit which leads to compassion for others, attunement with the environment, and personal contentment. It is her intention to guide students through asana practice not only to open their bodies, but also to realize the mental and emotional benefits that yoga has to offer.

Outside of her yoga practice, Lynn is a professional wildlife biologist with a particular expertise in songbirds. She lives and plays in Durango with her husband John, and together they enjoy backpacking, skiing, hiking, and other outdoor activities.

Susan Clapsaddle began studying yoga in 2001. When she first discovered yoga, she was taken in by the physical benefits, but soon became dedicated to the spiritual aspect of the tradition. This blend of the physical and spiritual led her to undertake her teacher training at the Shambava School of Yoga at Shoshoni, a school known for its traditional Hatha style and strong spiritual focus. Susan teaches classes with a balance of the poses, breath control and meditation. She likes to bring the history of yoga and knowledge of Sanskrit into her lessons. She believes it is important for students to understand where yoga comes from in order to deepen his or hers practice.

Susan loves to find the connection between traditional yoga and modern science and is encouraged by new studies of yoga's effect on the mind and body. Coming from a strong scientific background, the study of anatomy and alignment plays a significant role in her classes. She believes that anyone, no matter what physical limits they may have, can enjoy the benefits of yoga. Her goal is to prove students wrong when they believe that the lack of physical strength or flexibility can keep them from practicing yoga!

Susan is a recent transplant to Durango and is enjoying the beautiful environment and incredible people. She is focused on bringing yoga into all aspects of her life and loves sharing this passion with others.