Witnessing the inquiring minds and “ah-ha” moments of fellow students is what keeps Heather inspired as a teacher. She has experienced first hand the transformative benefits of using a yoga practice to facilitate healing. Heather took her first yoga class in 2008 in an effort to “try anything” to reduce a lifetime of chronic back pain. A few months later the pain was gone - and the healing didn’t stop there. In 2015 Heather underwent a pelvic reconstruction surgery to rebuild her hip socket after debilitating pain developed from hip dysplasia. She went from wheelchair to Standing Bow Pose again through yoga postures in a chair and a deep sense of calm determination that had been fostered from many years of a consistent yoga practice. She is no stranger to a recovery process.
She claims of her beginning years in yoga, “my practice shifted from a very physically-oriented class to an overall sense of well-being - I slept better, ate better, built self-confidence, and came out of my shell.” Heather certified to teach Original Hot Yoga in 2012 and has been eager to continue learning ever since. This led her to attend Inferno Hot Pilates Teacher Training in 2017. She can’t get enough! It is a constant growth of knowledge and experience through time on her mat, teacher development trainings, Experiential Anatomy Movement Literacy for Yoga Teachers Certification, seeking mentors, asking questions, and keeping her nose to the books!
Heather loves to spend time connecting outside - deep in the mountains rock climbing, hiking, mountain biking, and snowboarding. She becomes even more grounded and aware in her yoga practice through a connection to nature. She also uses yoga as an incredible active recovery method from big efforts in the mountains.
Heather is approachable to all levels of students. Although very serious about the yoga, she will bring a youthful life and exuberance to the class…and maybe even a joke or two. She says, “I am constantly humbled by this gift of yoga and love how fantastically individual a yoga practice is - but at the same time uniting us all as one."
Marlene’s interest in yoga began as a journey to heal. Working long hours for decades as a physician was a natural part of her exacting and physically demanding career. After moving to Bend in 2007, she unearthed a passion for yoga which lent itself to healing, self-discovery and ultimately self-fulfillment. As a result of her transformation, Marlene was inspired to share her passion and guide others on a path toward healing through their own rewarding yogic experiences. She completed her 200 and 300 hour YTT at The Yoga Lab in Bend. In June 2017 she completed a 120 hour teaching intensive gaining certification to teach Next Level 90 Intermediate Class at Bend Hot Yoga. She has also attended Bikram Choudhury’s and Esak Garcia’s advanced yoga posture clinics, Jedi Training back bending clinic also with Esak Garcia, completed the Masters’ Core Workshop with Tony Sanchez and hot yoga intensive with Gianna Purcell. Her goal is to challenge students to lay the groundwork for physical growth so they can realize their full potential. Come take a class and allow her to motivate you on your personal journey toward good health and healing.
Whitney’s first sip of yoga came when she was pulled into a class over 22 years ago – the yoga buzz hit and she’s been going back for more ever since. In 2005, she stepped into the practice of the Nia Technique and soon began to blend the sacred athlete practice of Nia movement with the deep inner practice of yoga. Whitney completed her Nia Technique Certification in 2007, her 200 hour YTT in 2009, and her E-RYT 500 by 2011.
Adventure seeking landed Whitney on the beach in Ecuador, where she opened a yoga retreat center. To diversify her classes, she started working with small group training and became a certified personal trainer with specialization in wellness coaching in 2016. This allowed the yoga to stay focused on that exploration of self, while providing an outlet to elevate fitness levels and create a sustainable movement practice for life. As a dedicated surfer and outdoor adventurer, Whitney understands the drive to want to optimize energy on all levels.
Whitney is happy to now be in Bend with her husband and son, enjoying all that the mountains and rivers have to offer. She is trained in Power Yoga, Yin, Vinyasa Flow, Ashtanga, and meditation practices. All of which she integrates into her classes based on what the students need. Her class time is a journey of discovery, deep but accessible, sweaty but playful, all the while shedding a bit more light inside. “I have found the practice of receptivity with my students, the body, and our breath together has been the most fluid tool in orchestrating the dance of a class. My journey with this practice has really just begun, but sharing it helps to propel me through these waters of inquiry, those moments where peace seems just a bit out of reach, and those sacred moments of pure joy.”
Wendy has been practicing Original Hot Yoga since 2002 and completed her teacher training in spring of 2004. She gracefully meets every moment with potential for connection and uses her unique ability to bridge health, discipline, community and passion to inspire you to become more of YOU! She believes growth and transformation in the spirit allows living a life that is full of possibilities.
In addition to teaching yoga, she discovers more wisdom through courses and programs. Currently she is studying Astrology to further embody the mysteries of the universe. Her spare time is spent outside with her daughter, friends, family, and dogs. Rock climbing, hiking, camping, and being on the water teaches her more ways to commune with the sun, moon, and the cycles of nature.
She is a Kundalini Yoga Teacher, Qoya Movement Teacher, leads rituals, sound healing, Women's circles, workshops, retreats, manages personal business endeavors, and is a Labor Doula. Her class will support your individual goals and support the collective group energy. Wendy invites all students to feel into and create the opportunities of each moment physically, emotionally, and energetically. She looks forward to meeting you and supporting you on your yogic journey soon!
Deeply connected and rooted to the earth, Kathy continues to step into her wisdom every day! Her appreciation for order and integrity are evident in all that she does. Her class is precise and intentional, her workshops methodical and memorable, her meditations mystical and magical.
Kathy’s first introduction to yoga was an Anusara based practice in 1999. Struggling through college with depression and anxiety, she found safety and strength in her body on her mat. Her weekly practice planted a seed deep in her heart that revealed its essence years later in the hot room where confidence, comfort, and connection ignited powerful transformation. Becoming an Original Hot Yoga Teacher in 2005, she harnessed a unique perception of teaching techniques that allow all levels of practitioners to trust her guidance to their next step in the process. Shy, reserved, and observant on the outside, her passion shines through her deliberate cues, intentional movement, and creative themes, concepts, and sequencing.
Her yogic journey has woven an amazing path for her to fully embrace self-study. She has done it all: teach a ba-zillion classes of all levels and styles, compete regionally & nationally, help manage studios, develop teachers, train competitors, host feminine embodiment circles, host retreats, and lead teacher trainings. Her focus on alignment in physical poses directed her interest into Ayurvedic studies in search of a deep understanding of the concept of balance in all areas of her life. This moved her to more meditation based practices such as Kundalini, Qyoa, Yin, and Yoga Nidra. Diving into the emotional and spiritual side of meditative practices has awakened her creativity and inspired deeper connection with the forces of nature that combine within each and every one of us.
Asana, astrology, rituals, yoga philosophy, cooking and backpacking fuel her fire. Once you meet her you'll understand why we all tell her she is 'older than the sun and moon'...she knows things... and is a great resource to steer you in the best direction to begin your own personal path of yoga study.
Beth’s kindness and wisdom show in every class she leads. Beth personally witnessed the healing power of The Original Hot Yoga for New York-based survivors of the 9/11 attacks. Wanting to help in that healing process, she completed her teaching training in Los Angeles in 2002. Beth also became certified in many other yoga styles - including therapeutic yoga, prenatal, postnatal, vinyasa, kids and restorative.
In addition, Beth is a NAMA Certified Ayurveda Practitioner, Licensed Massage Therapist and Reiki Master. Beth practices ashiatsu, hot stone, Lomilomi, ortho bionomy, orthopedic, prenatal, Shiatsu, Swedish and Thai. Yes, she really knows how the body moves!
A native of Ohio trained in India, Hawai'i, Thailand and New York City, Beth offers a unique blend of expertise and passion for healing. Beth resides in Bend and works as a provider at Weeks Family Medicine. She lives with her husband Paul and their children Lucia and Jack.
From the moment you enter Michael’s class you know you are in good hands. His deep insight, knowledge and experience as a long time practitioner and teacher will help encourage you to explore your yoga practice in the most expansive way for you.
Michael started his practice in 1987 after vascular surgery and not expecting to survive. Through dedicated practice he was able to reverse his condition (and other lingering injuries) to not only survive, but to thrive. He studied multiple traditions of yoga, and initially started leading Ashtanga classes in the early 90’s. Michael received teaching certifications from Erich Schiffmann and later being certified by Nischala Joy Devi in Integral Yoga for in depth medical conditions.
In 1998, Michael attended the fourth Original Hot Yoga Teacher Training for 11 weeks with Bikram & Rajashree Choudhury. He quickly started his first studio in Portland (1999) and later opened the Bend studio (2004). Michael also ran or led 30 Original Hot Yoga Teacher Trainings. In 2012, Michael wrote a #1 bestselling book about his yoga healing experience, “Falling Down Getting UP.”
Today, Michael continues to practice and teach yoga whenever possible. In addition, he works closely with authors and thought leaders on the development of marketing strategies. Every chance he gets, Michael is off exploring the great outdoors discovering new remote places to hike.
Susie is a Licensed Physical Therapist with experience working in outpatient orthopedics, inpatient acute care and rehab settings. She has extensive training in manual therapy, and strength & exercise progression.
With a lifelong passion for physical fitness, including indoor and outdoor volleyball, and running she found her way into Bend Hot Yoga in 2015. Susie claims “I instinctively knew for several years before I entered the studio that I would love hot yoga, but was intimidated and never considered myself a “yoga person,” which is evident by my tight hamstrings from all the running!” However, she was hooked after her first class! Susie loves the heat, sweat, and to workout - claiming it as the perfect trifecta.
When Inferno Hot Pilates was brought to BHY, Susie jumped on the opportunity to bridge her Physical Therapy knowledge with group exercise. Her love for IHP seamlessly translates in the way she teaches students to connect with their bodies in order to gain strength, body confidence, and fitness. Her approach to teaching is enthusiastic and genuine!
Susie’s favorite time of year is summer time with the long hours of daylight to get outside and run by the river, or to get up in the High Lakes on a trail. One of Susie’s favorite quotes: “No One Cares How Much You Know, Until They Know How Much You Care” --D. Keith Kleven.
Christine Kenline is a Yoga Therapist (IAYT) and Yoga Teacher (RYT500) with a passion to guide students through a practice of movement and self-discovery. Her mantra is to move using your intuition and be kind to yourself no matter where you are at right now. She believes yoga helps you connect with your whole self and return to a life of balance and joy.
Sinnamon Hauser is a dancer, choreographer and Pilates, yoga, dance and history teacher based in Bend, Oregon. She has taught movement and fitness classes in gyms, Pilates studios and in public education for the past 25 years. Sinnamon directed the Renaissance High School of the Arts dance program in Long Beach, California for sixteen years, and danced and choreographed professionally in the Los Angeles area for the past twenty years. She is driven to turn students on to the joy of movement and self discovery. Her class aims to be accessible, with a focus on proper alignment and safety. She aims to meet each student where they are, and give individualized attention to help her students get the most out of class. Her mission is to make yoga a therapeutic and empowering experience for students of all ages and experience, and a way to build community. Sinnamon, her husband Erick and children Sofia and Emerson moved to Bend because of their love of the outdoors. They spend their free time exploring the lakes, mountains and riding their bikes.
Lauren is a Vinyasa (Ashtanga inspired) teacher at the Yoga Alliance 500 hour level. Her love for movement began at a young age, eventually being trained as a classical ballet dancer. She found Ashtanga yoga and meditation in college as a way to continue her passion for reflective movement. She soon realized how much of an inspiration yoga was for her both on and off the mat.
She has traveled and studied yoga and meditation with a variety of teachers including Ben Thomas, Dr. Kelly McGonigal, Richard Freeman, Max Strom, MV Chidananda (Ashtanga teacher in Mysore, India), and Doron Hamoch. And she has assisted in multiple teacher trainings.
Lauren’s Vinyasa classes are active with an emphasis on building a combination of strength, flexibility, balance and focus. Her intention is to create an atmosphere where students can explore their edge, practice what is needed for their bodies and mind in that particulate moment, and to use the power of the breath and the practice as a catalyst to transforming ones life.
Outside of the studio, Lauren loves to run, hike, write and spend time with family.
It is very serendipitous how yoga found me and I fell in love with it. Simply put, practicing yoga on and off the mat brings magic and wild freedom to my body, mind, heart and spirit every day! I love being a student and teacher and always learning! A few of my favorite things are my sweet dog Mylo, arm balances, pranayama, astrology, sunshine, waterfalls, snow, snowboarding, sunrise/sunsets, music, good food, quality time with friends and always trying new things. When I am off the mat you can find me cooking delicious food, hands in my garden, studying yoga and astrology, or playing in the mountains any season.
Kristin first made it to her yoga mat at some point in 2008. She was gifted with an exhale and hasn't parted ways since. Compelled to dive in headfirst, Kristin completed her first 200 HR teacher training via CorePower Yoga, Denver in 2011. She's trained in Hot Power Fusion and Power Yoga, and is currently wrapping up an Advanced 300 HR teacher training via MindBodyBattalion. A forever student and soulful seeker, Kristin is constantly inspired by the growth of her fellow teachers and students—and strives to make the peace, clarity, and strength that she has gained through yoga, more accessible to every body. She believes that the ultimate gain comes from within and can be ignited by conscious breath, connected to mindful movement.
Her class will look and feel like a slow but dynamic build—a play on strength and surrender, peppered with attainable modifications and cues, brought to life by a delectable array of musical stylings and beats. She holds space for individual practices and unites the collective energy as one.
In addition to teaching yoga, Kristin dabbles in a variety of self-study, spirituality, journaling, and meditation practices, and loves to connect with Mother Nature in her many forms. When she's not in a yoga studio, you might find her writing, reading, forest-bathing, snowboarding, hiking, river floating, camping, traveling, and/or hanging out with her little pup Finch, family, and friends.
If you take class with Maggie, you can expect a powerful practice rooted in intelligent sequencing and mindful energetics woven throughout. Originally from North Carolina (a UNC Tar Heel at heart), Maggie made her way to Bend by way of Chicago where she spent the last decade as a full-time yoga instructor, personal trainer, and corrective exercise specialist. No matter the type of movement, Maggie aims to make it accessible and joyful. Her teaching style is defined by her deeply rooted passion for what the human body can do and insatiable curiosity to understand our human potential through the lens of movement. With every class, she hopes to create the space for her students to move safely, breathe more deeply, and feel better well after the asana practice ends.
I took my first yoga class in 2006. Stepping into that hot room I had no idea what to expect but 90 minutes later I knew I would be back for more. Admittedly I approached yoga with an athlete mindset for several years, alternating between vinyasa and 26&2 depending on what my mind and body needed. Over time I began to appreciate my time on the mat for so much more than the physical benefits.
I had a loose plan for teacher training way in the future and a dream of one day owning a studio in our retirement years. It didn’t happen quite like that! I graduated from the Original Hot Yoga Academy in December 2021. I have a long way to go in my teaching journey but am very grateful to have so many mentors at Bend Hot Yoga - both my fellow teachers and the many students who’s deep knowledge and appreciation of the practice inspires me every day.
When not teaching you’ll find me running, hiking or snowshoeing the local trails with our two dogs.
Nirmal started practicing yoga in earnest in 1999 when her life was going through major upheaval. What began as a healing journey has turned into a career. In 2002 Nirmal graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Work and opened up a yoga studio in the Philadelphia neighborhood where she lived. Over the years she has practiced and taught Hatha, Ashtanga and Vinyasa and Kundalini Yoga.
As a Licensed Clinical Social Worker Nirmal uses the technology of Kundalini Yoga and Meditation to help clients and students alike, gain awareness, embodiment and to forward the progress of personal goals.
Nirmal has been a part of the Bend community since 2014 when she moved here with her family to enjoy the land and the people of Central Oregon. She loves to share the practice of yoga as both a teacher and a student.
Originally from Arizona, but an Oregonian of over 20 years, Hannah discovered yoga after moving to Tucson for grad school. She spent years studying human anatomy and evolutionary biology, but has found herself far happier as a massage therapist with her own thriving practice here in Bend. Prior to her current iteration, she was a professional bird trainer and wildlife rehabilitation educator, specializing in birds of prey. She took her very first yoga class in Tucson with Darren Rhodes and Sam Rice, which is also where she received her teacher training. Her training was a Hatha based teaching technology that espoused the ideas of safety, sustainability, and accessibility of a yoga practice to all. Her background in the anatomical sciences, as well as her training as a massage therapist, provide her the tools to offer dynamic classes that are challenging for all levels of practitioner, and are very alignment focused. She truly enjoys the teaching aspect of yoga, and offers lots of hands on assists to help students find alignment and safety in their practice, while also providing options for more advanced practitioners to take things to the next level. In 2016, Hannah was involved in two traumatic injury events, that have altered the way she both practices and teaches yoga. She is skilled at offering modifications for every need, and teaches classes that are precise and methodical. She often offers the exploration of some of the less frequently explored postures that yoga has to offer, so things in her class might get a bit weird, but it will always be fun and set to carefully curated playlists. In spite of being an alignment stickler, she doesn’t take herself too seriously, and brings that playfulness into the studio. When not teaching yoga or doing massage, she can be found in her art studio making paintings, riding horses with her dog, giving people unsolicited information about birds, or captaining a sailboat somewhere in the ocean.
Janell’s classes are calm and soft while strong and stable. Growing up in the Sierra Nevada Mountains, Janell’s connection with nature and the outdoors began as a young child and would fuel her physical well-being and reveal the unharnessed power of the human body. This experience led Janell to study The Art of Restoration Therapy, a Japanese deep tissue massage, obtaining over 2,000 hours in Oriental Medicine. With 25 years of experience, Janell has gained a profound understanding of body mechanics, injuries, proper alignment and energy work, which enhances her yoga practice and teaching skills in her
classes.
Beginning a career as a personal trainer in 2010, Janell was continually drawn to her yoga practice. This brought her to Wild Mountain Yoga where she completed 500 YTT with Amanda Serene Dozel, founder of The Heart of Hatha. Her teachers consist of Wah, Jai Dev Singh, Christina Sells and Edwin Bryant. Janell felt her strongest capacity to grow and give through yoga and was teaching classes before opening her own studio in 2016. Youphoria Yoga & Massage offered Hatha, Restorative and Vinyasa while also providing healing modalities for the community through bodywork, Reiki and sound therapy. She
partnered with Rite of Passage over the past 6 years that offered yoga and meditation to at-risk youth and staff members. Janell turned over her studio in June 2022 to move to Bend Oregon to start her legacy and share this path with you all.
Her studies continue in the healing arts of sound therapy, deepening her sense further and shaping her practice. Her teacher Ashana is one of the premiere healing music artists and New Age vocalist of our time. Janell loves to incorporate the symphonic gong, crystal singing bowls, harmonium and the human voice into her yoga classes and bodywork.
Janell’s purpose is to uplift mankind through increasing the experiences of spiritual growth, peace, joy, happiness, love and well-being for all souls. She aims to share these profound teachings, to encourage everyone to open themselves up to self-awareness, self-transformation, self-acceptance in their physical, emotional, mental and spiritual bodies.