Meet Your Teachers
Michele Lawrence (ERYT 200, RYT 500) 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. Michele is a co-owner of Yogadurango; she is also the director of Inner Peace Yoga Therapy a 300-hour yoga teacher training program. Michele is a certified Yoga Therapist, having completed a 300-hour program in Yoga Therapy from Ananada Seva in California. Yoga therapy adapts the practice of Yoga to the needs of people with specific or persistent health problems not usually addressed in a group class. Contact Michele to find out more about individual Yoga Therapy sessions.
Sheryl McGourty has been practicing yoga for over a decade. She received her Hatha yoga teaching training at Yoga Vidya Dham in Nasik, India and is additionally certified in prenatal yoga and completed the Radiant Child Yoga program. Her teaching is influenced by a willingness to learn from all teachers and all styles of yoga. Sheryl believes that when we work into the challenges and blockages presented by the body, we are allowed to reach a higher potential of self by increasing our vitality. She also believes that through yoga we begin to understand and feel a sense of genuine contentment, and consequently we can understand and live in harmony with others, naturally making an improvement on the world. Having been trained in the classic and traditional philosophy of yoga, Sheryl believes that yoga can be more than a class by transcending into a way of life.
Sheryl holds a Bachelor's Degree in Outdoor Education, 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 both classroom and wilderness settings.
Sheryl has a deep understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the body because of her medical training and her passion for outdoor athletics. Sheryl is an avid cyclist, having completed solo bike tours nationally and internationally. She also enjoys snowboarding, backpacking, dancing, traveling and spending time with family and friends.
Originally from Massachusetts, Sheryl has made Durango her home since 1997. Sheryl, her husband Josh and son Cedar, live in a yurt on their land outside of town and hope to begin building their home in the Spring of ’09.
Sheryl is co-owner of Yogadurango and instructs weekly Hatha classes. Sheryl is also co-owner of Yoga Evolution, a business that leads retreats and workshops incorporating yoga, adventure, and self-awareness.
Katie Walsh has been practicing yoga for 14 years. A former fitness instructor, competitive runner and cyclist, Katie began doing yoga due to injuries and a quest for spiritual fitness. Katie believes that the challenges that occur on the mat often parallel those in everyday life. Through her practice and teaching of yoga, Katie has found that transforming ourselves is a process rather than an event. Katie also believes that through the consistent practice of yoga that we begin to acknowledge our true grace and connection to self, others, and our communities.
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 Burnett. Katie continues to develop her practice and instruction by attending workshops with Seanne Corn, Rusty Wells, Tias Little, Richard Freeman, John Friend, Noah Maze, Regina Zwilling, and Scott Blossom. A breast cancer survivor, Katie believes strongly in the gifts, lessons, motivation, and well being that the discovery of yoga offers.
Originally, a Durango native, Katie moonlights as an elementary teacher and takes advantage of every outdoor activity that the San Juan mountains offers. The most rewarding aspects of her teaching, Katie finds, is watching her students/gurus grow in their own personal and physical transformation. Katie is a co-owner of Yogadurango and instructs weekly Hot Vinyasa classes.
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Derek Van Atta (Ram Dev) has been practicing Yoga and meditation since medieval times (1981) when he completed a three -month residential Ananda Teacher Training course (300 hour) and after graduation was hired on as full time staff for six months. Then he moved five miles down the road to the Ananda Yogic Monastery where he was monk for three years. Next he was part of the full-time teaching staff at the Expanding Light Yoga Retreat for four years, teaching primarily Yogic Meditation and Vedic Philosophy. He also developed successful week-long retreats such as Career-Dharma-LifeWork to bring yogic teachings into critical parts of everyday life.
Since moving to Durango eight years ago, he and his life-partner, Lakshmi founded the Prema Group which offers Sanskrit Chanting Kirtan at YogaDurango and Yogic-based meditations at the Prema Temple next to their home. He has just completed his first book called Your Abundance, which is 101 vignettes on the inner game of living a yogically abundant life. He is currently leading retreats around the material in the book one weekend per month.
His overall passion is bringing Yoga and Tantra principals into absolutely everything, no exceptions! From finances to meditation, from business to intimacy, every aspect of life is greatly enhanced by integrating Yogic energies into it! "Living Yogically has dramatically enriched my life for almost thirty years!, May your life be radically blessed by Yoga too!" Love, Derek
Elise Fabricant fell in love with yoga in 1993. Since then she has studied and taught many different styles of yoga, from challenging Power classes to Prenatal Partner workshops, from meditative Yin sessions to lively children's "playshops." As a past Zen Buddhist "monk" and a licensed massage therapist, Elise is interested in bringing elements of meditation and various bodywork modalities into her classes. More than anything, Elise aims to create a fun and compassionate environment in which to explore the incredible mind/body/spirit connection.
Joy "Ananda" Kilpatrick is a fitness enthusiast and teacher of movement since her youth, Joy has devoted her life to guiding others on the Path toward Wholeness. A certified personal trainer for nearly 20 years, Joy provided private instruction to seniors, pre-postal natal, athletes, fitness warriors, performers, and celebrities in Los Angeles. An accomplished and awarded dancer, singer, stage, TV and film actress, Joy has now turned to the theatre of Durango's natural, wild beauty to help her be a conscious parent and partner.
First drawn to Eastern studies and physical disciplines by her father, a Marine and Master Teacher of Isshinryu Karate, Joy learned from a very early age the fierce sacredness and power of solo Practice.
Continuing her love of learning, Joy completed her initial yoga teacher training with Mark Blanchard in 1998 in Studio City, California. In 2000, she became a Thai Yoga Massage Practitioner. Three years later, she completed her Advanced Thai Yoga training under the famed tutelage of Saul David Raye at the White Lotus Foundation, California.
All the training and experience Joy has accumulated has led her h(om)e to Durango native Coach Steve Ilg and his internationally acclaimed, High Performance® Yoga which is an intra-discipline of Steve's Wholistic Fitness® system of lifestyle yoga. Joy humbly bows, in deep gratitude, for the Teachings of these Transformative Paths, both of which she is certified within. Her current sadhana is Coach and Ananda’s “buddha-full” lil’ yogini...their daughter, Dewachen.
To learn more about Joy, visit: HighPerformanceYoga.com
Heather Menzie grew up in Westford, Massachusetts. In 2000, she graduated with a BA
in English from the College of William and Mary and ventured out West. She
has taught high school, guided rafting tours, and been a wilderness therapy
guide for several years. In 2008, Heather completed her graduate degree from
Naropa University in Transpersonal Psychology, emphasizing in Wilderness
Therapy. She is currently working as a therapist at Open Sky Wilderness.
As a body-centered psychotherapist, Heather integrates yoga into her therapeutic practice. Heather has been practicing yoga since 2000. She completed her training in Core Power Yoga in Boulder, CO in 2006. Heather has taught yoga in Boulder, Salida, and Durango. In Boulder, Colorado, Heather spent two summers leading trips for the Women’s Wilderness Institute, a non-profit company focused on strengthening the courage, leadership, and confidence qualities of girls and women through individual and community-based challenges. She integrated yoga into these backpacking adventures. Heather has been teaching yoga at Yoga Durango for a year. Her heart is open to offering her experience and to holding sacred and safe space for students to practice and experience the union of yoga.
Joan Pope moved to Durango in 2006 from Boone, North Carolina where she taught Iyengar influenced since 1996. Joan received her teacher training from Lillah Schwartz, a certified Iyengar Yoga instructor in Asheville, NC. Since then she has continued her studies with teachers in the Iyengar tradition including: Patricia Walden, Elise Miller, John Shumaker, and Manouso Manos. Locally Joan studies with Kathy Curran, certified Iyengar instructor. She also enjoys exploring other alignment based practices with such teachers as Rodney Yee, Doug Keller, Eric Schiffman, Aadil Palkhivala, and Desiree Rumbaugh. Joan also works as an Occupational Therapist at 4 Corners Health Care Center here in Durango where she incorporates Yoga into her treatments to assist the aging population with postural alignment and more effective breathing. Joan feels that one of her missions is to teach people ways to use yoga throughout the lifespan to enhance quality of life. Her classes are infused with practical ways to weave yoga into everyday life. Nonviolence is a key focus in Joan’s classes as she encourages each individual to meet themselves where they are and to allow yoga to help free them both physically and mentally.
Kim Self combines her experience with Anusara and Iyengar yoga studies, massage therapy, and world travels to facilitate and connect with her student’s experience. Her teaching style brings precise alignment into playful expression while supporting your journey of vibrant health through heart, mind, and body. For her, the wild and natural world has been a great source of inspiration, providing unlimited and deep lessons. After rooting down in Ignacio, she has had a “radical expansion” in her family life with her husband, Sean, and son, Xander. With the phenomenal support of her family and community (kula), she is in the process of obtaining certification in the Anusara style founded by John Friend. She has been teaching in Durango for the past 10 years with a specialty of integrating yoga into the lives of those wanting to move into a place of thriving rather than surviving, as well as the elders of our community.
Just to mention a few of her personal loves in life…raw chocolate (with agave nectar), early morning wogs (walk & jog combined), gazing at feet of fluffy white snow (and of course skiing in it), the joy and excitement of discovering (especially in her garden), and a great massage!
Casey Spicer first began practicing Vinyasa in college as a way to bring some peace and calmness to an overworked mind and body. Now, more than 7 years later she is still committed to the practice and believes it can transform your life. As a teacher she is passionate about helping students embody a unique blend of alignment, movement, and breathing principles as a way to improve their lives. Casey believes that listening to the body’s own wisdom is an integral part of yoga and healthy living.
Erika Wilson Golightly taught classical dance forms for 10 years and was working toward a professional dance career when she was stolen to yoga. Since her first class in 1994, Erika has enjoyed practicing various styles of yoga that add new dimensions to a deep understanding of the body as a means to increase awareness for meditation. When the spiritual experience of the body equates to a religion, yoga is a natural conduit toward unity with our inner luminosity.
It was in attempt to escape the chaos of Manhattan when Erika discovered Jivamukti Yoga and immersed in intense practice and teachers encouraged her to teach. Erika endeavors to inspire and nourish her students through passionate playful practice.
A Colorado native, Erika enjoys everything the southwest offers, especially the community. She has worked in hospice care relief and has experience with death and dying. Erika earned degrees in communications and psychology from Fort Lewis College and is working on obtaining a MS in Transpersonal Psychology. She is a student of the buddhadharma and a practitioner of vipassana meditation. Erika is currently obtaining a certification with Prajna Yoga facilitated by Tias Little.
Lynn Wickersham (RYT 200) has been practicing yoga and meditation since 2001 and has studied a variety of yoga styles including Iyengar, Hatha, Ashtanga, Kundalini, and Yin Yoga. A former fitness instructor, Lynn initially turned to yoga to increase her flexibility and reduce stress; but, through regular practice, she experienced not only yoga's physical benefits but also deepened her connection between mind, body, and spirit. Lynn received her formal yoga training in 2009 at the Yandara Yoga Institute, Baja California Sur, where her practice blossomed as both a teacher and a student. She believes that the practice of yoga is a journey into the self, which leads to compassion for others, attunement with the environment, and personal contentment. It is her intention to guide students along their own journey to realize the physical, mental, and emotional benefits that yoga has to offer.
Outside of her yoga practice, Lynn is a professional wildlife biologist, primarily conducting avian research and monitoring in the Four Corners region. She lives and plays in Durango with her husband John, and together they enjoy backpacking, skiing, hiking, and other outdoor activities.