Teachers

Gayle has practiced yoga and meditation since childhood. Following an illness and back injury, she turned to yoga as a means to return balance to her life. Educated as a nurse, Gayle has repeatedly witnessed how yoga complements western medicine and empowers practitioners to take responsibility for their own health and wellness. After a 20 year career in health care, Gayle now focuses her efforts on healing through yoga.

"The body has an amazing capacity to heal itself; we simply need to create the right conditions to allow this to happen. Yoga helps create these conditions."

Gayle brings a nuturing gentle energy to the class creating an environment where students can go within to discover their true selves and make positive life changes from the inside out. Knowing that each student is their own greatest teacher, she simply guides them on their quest for union of mind, body and spirit.

Gayle's dream was to create a yoga community where people of all abilities could come together in a non-competitive environment and support each other on their journey to health (health of body, mind, spirit and environment). Bodhi Tree Yoga is the embodiment of this dream.

Gayle is a Registered Hatha Yoga Teacher (E-RYT) with over 1000 hours of teaching experience and the owner / operator of Bodhi Tree Yoga

“You have a rare quality to lead a class to a calming and relaxing experience”
   Sam, student

Pamela is a RYT and a KRI certified Kundalini yoga teacher. She is also a certified Orthotherapist, educated in anatomy, physiology, Swedish massage, kinesitherapy and postural analysis. She is registered member of the Association of Massage Therapists and Holistic Practitioners. In addition, for over 20 years, she worked as a Rehabilitation Professional and Director of Rehabiliation Services serving individuals with spinal cord injuries and head injuries resulting from motor vehicle accidents. Her training and experience has deepened her knowledge of the human body.

Her spiritual journey has taken her to India, a Buddhist monastery in Thailand and a trek in the Himilayan mountains. She has participated in numerous personal development courses including the Hoffman Quadrinity Process, Inner Journey Seminars and the Miracle of Love. Her combined experiences from the professional and corporate world as well as her personal development work have led her to view Kundalini Yoga as a complete practice that brings balance to all aspects of life.

She is dedicated to the well being of Body, Mind, & Spirit. Her students describe her yoga classes as joyful, informative and uplifting.

Sandy Guest

Sandy is a Certified Hatha Yoga Teacher and registered with the Yoga Alliance. She is also a Certified Life Care Planner and has over 20 years experience in working with and identifying the needs of people suffering from chronic pain, brain, and spinal cord and other traumatic injuries.

Sandy was invited to attend a Yoga Retreat to Morocco when she decided she had better take up yoga before going on this adventure. As fate would have it, the Bodhi Yoga Centre opened its doors the same year and she was hooked on the wonderful sense of well-being that she felt after each class. It was especially nice to be able to share this activity with her daughter, Eva. Yoga has helped Sandy to balance her busy home and career life.

Gwen Anderson

Gwen Anderson is a Certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher registered with the Yoga Alliance.

Since 1998, Kripalu Yoga has become part of my daily routine. I found Yoga not only helped my physical aches and pains, it also helped me feel more balanced in my day to day life. The more I practice Yoga, the more gratitude and inner peace I feel. Yoga became part of me, it became my passion.

In November of 2002 I took a month long intensive Teacher Training program at the Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health in Lenox, MA. There I received my 200-hour Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training Certification. My life has been changed in every way by this experience. I have seen what happens when people are given permission to open and love and be who they really are. I am continuing my education and working towards a 500-hour Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training Program.

A Typical Class:
My objective is to provide you with instructional guidance to help release physical, mental and emotional tensions and to help you arrive at a deeper level of relaxation and awareness. I will focus on alignment while providing benefits, precautions and contraindications. Classes are often defined as gentle, moderate, or vigorous, referring to the intensity of practice. However, because our needs vary from day to day and over time, as a Kripalu student you are encouraged to tune into and honour your own bodies and practice at an intensity that feels right for you in the present moment.

I invite you to open the wisdom of your body and explore what it means to be fully alive. I invite you to allow me to help you find your own Kripalu Experience.

Lisa Kmiel

Lisa has been practicing Yoga and meditation for over 10 years. She has deepened her commitment to the Yogic lifestyle by becoming a certified instructor in Hatha and Hatha Raja Yoga taken under the teachings of Yogi Vishvketu, Chetana Panwar, and Roxanne Joly and she is certified through the Yoga Alliance. Lisa is currently a full-time Event Coorinator while teaching Yoga part-time.

Lisa wishes to share with her students, the methods of achieving the many benefits of Yoga, which she herself has experienced, such as flexibility of the body, calmness of the mind, and opening of the heart. She does this by incorporating pranayama, asanas, relaxation and inspiring messages into her classes. Lisa continues to explore the many aspects of Yoga through books, workshops and courses.

Melanie Kretzschmar (Bharda)

I remember my first hot power yoga class like it was yesterday. Sweaty, challenging, energizing and empowering. Wow, I was hooked. I practiced in Ottawa for 3 years before I moved to the Kemptville area, which made the drive just a little bit to far. Where was I going to go for my ‘power’ fix now? So, I did my 200hr YTT and started teaching yoga. I found my “power” and love sharing it with my students.

I teach a Vinyassa (flowing) style yoga whether it is a power or hatha based yoga class. In my classes I encourage students to work at their “edge” strengthening, stretching, toning and increasing stamina all the while calming the mind. A vigorous workout that leaves the mind, body and soul; blissful, healthy and energized. There isn’t anything more satisfying to me than students leaving class buzzing with yoga energy.

Yoga allows me to balance my many roles in life including being a mom to two young daughters, yoga teacher, life drawing model and gardener.

Sadie Webster

Please join us in welcoming Sadie Webster to our teaching staff. Many of you know Sadie from behind the desk at our old location on Clothier St. Brave Sadie, travelled to Thailand this past January and February to do her yoga teacher training. We are delighted to have her join our team. Come out and enjoy Sadie’s teaching on Fridays at noon.