Our Teachers & Facilitators

Celeste Mallett Jason

Celeste has lost count of the number of years she has been teaching (over 35 years and not quite 40 years). She started first as a school teacher in the land of her birth, South Africa.. Her love of the Sea and the spectacular landscape of the Cape, and physicality of Africa, left such a deep impression, that the language of Nature continues to inform her teaching. Living on a Farm on the West Coast of Canada breathes life into her, inspires her, and keeps her humble.

Celeste has studied various forms of Yoga, with many well known Yoga Masters, but is particularly drawn to the Therapeutic aspect. She dives deep into Yoga Nidra and Restorative Yoga and loves to assist folks pre-and-post surgery, either in Private Sessions or in her well-loved Chair Yoga Classes. Mixed Level classes are always fun, comprehensive and do-able, as she believes Yoga Asanas are more accessible than we realize.

Creating Sacred Spaces is also a passion, yet to Celeste, seen as a service offered, for folks to come together to share both collectively and independently, their interpretations of their own Divinity.

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Catherine Bennett

Catherine’s strength lies first in her passion for teaching. Her classes are supportive, encouraging and inspiring. Offering well-grounded, sound exercise, at an energy level that suits the individual. Catherine is continually mindful of good practice. Motivated to be the best she can be and a true believer in all forms of exercise as the route to sound health. She truly loves what she does!, Catherine was encouraged to apply her teaching skills to the Health Industry through fitness and has developed a variety of unique class styles which she has taught over the past 35 years. She is a fully Certified Fitness Instructor and her CPR and First Aid certification are annually updated.

“The joy which I strive to instill in myself motivates me to share with, and inspire all class participants to reach new levels of fitness and good health.”

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Howie Baral

Howie Baral

Ever since I was young, movement and challenging my body have been a way of life for me. From gymnastics to martial arts, I found a challenge to test my focus, strength, and athletic ability. It was while I was training for my black belt 2nd degree in Tae Kwon Do when a friend invited me to a yoga class. It was with Bryan Kest, in Santa Monica, the creator of Power Yoga. I was amazed and challenged like never before in my life!

I began to discover a renewed joy and passion! Wow, a moving meditation, letting go of my ego, reducing the noise in my head, and listening to my body more, all in one simple yet profound movement with the breath. I stopped my martial arts training and dove all-in to my yoga practice. After 15 years of practice, I took my first 200 hour RYT (registered yoga training) in Hatha Yoga, and then another 300 hour RYT in restorative yoga and began teaching 8 years ago.

I love sharing my passion of yoga and know whatever inspiration students find in my class or any other yoga class they take, comes from within their own desires and their own passions and their own abilities. Any teacher is simply a guide to each yogi’s path! I am so grateful for all my teachers who guided me. I look forward to also guiding every student who finds their way to my classes and I’m grateful for the passion and inspiration they show me as well! Namaste, Howie

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Lisa Erck

Lisa Erck

Lisa lived in Hawaii for the past 18 years and wishes to share the knowledge she gained dancing with the lovely ladies of Halau Manu Le’a Hawai’i. You will have the opportunity to learn some language, history, cultural practices, and most importantly, have fun dancing!
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Nicola Bishop

Nicola has been practicing Buddhist meditation for 26 years and sharing the benefits thereof for several years in her Monday evening Meditation groups in Ganges.

She is grateful beyond words for her primary teacher, Ajahn Sucitto, as well as all the many influential teachers in her life. She had been an active member of SS Insight for 14 years, and is a manager for silent retreats at Stowel Lake Farm.

Nicola is a passionate horticulturist/garden designer, and lover of wildlife, wild spaces, and animals.

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Teacher Li Mei

Li Mei

Li Mei is a yoga teacher, high school teacher and toddler-mama. Using yoga as rehabilitation and therapy over the years, she now uses yoga off the mat to feel embodied and balanced in daily tasks. She completed her yoga teacher training in an ashram in India, and dove into further yogic studies all over the world. Her interest in somatic movement, dance, and trauma-informed practice led her to explore conscious breath and movement through a myriad of lenses. Using this perspective, she has facilitated yoga in schools, studios, community centres, detention centers, and festivals. Mei feels strongly about using yoga to create a safe space to play and explore.

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Teacher Adam Huber

Adam Huber

It has been a long and circuitous road which has led me to become a sound energy facilitator. It all began many years ago with a severe autoimmune disorder which consumed my life for 11 years. This brought me into the realm of alternative physical and Spiritual practitioners of all sorts. But it wasn’t until I completely surrendered into the grace of one deep prayer that things changed. Within a year of that prayer, all symptoms disappeared when I finally met the one healer that was directly in my path.

This sparked within me an understanding of which direction I was to take and has led me to the place and position where I am in facilitating deep transformation through crystal and voice sound energy.

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Brooke Solei

Brooke Solei

Brooke was introduced to Yoga during high-school, and instantly fell in love with the way the practice made her feel, both on and off the mat. Growing up in the heart of Toronto, Brooke found solace at the local yoga community, Kula, where she spent many early mornings and evenings after work, as part of a rich and joyful sangha. She is grateful to all of her beloved teachers whose guidance in those impressionable years continues to inform her practice today.

Through her travels, Brooke has been fortunate to spend time living and volunteering in ashrams, and other spaces of spiritual practice. In these places, she began to experience the beauty of Karma Yoga, a form of selfless service. The spirit of service is at the heart of Brooke’s teaching, supported by the wings of beauty and simplicity. She believes in teaching from a place that supports us all to access our own unique medicine, and gifts.

She completed her first Yoga teacher training in Mexico, and since then has been learning from the rich teachings of: Hatha, Anusara, Restorative, and Yoga Nidra. Her passion for food as medicine led Brooke to begin studying Ayurveda, and she recently completed a 600-hour Ayurvedic Wellness Counsellor training. She is excited to weave the unique, seasonal wisdom of this ancient science into her classes! Alongside Yoga, Brooke is a Reiki Master, and current student of Craniosacral Therapy.

She is passionate about community, music, and the transformation that can come with commitment to a shared practice informed by openness, curiosity, and a sense of wonder.

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Tara Galpin

Tara Galpin

Yoga has been an integral part of Tara’s life since 2009. She has completed a three-year, 800 hour Traditional Yoga Apprenticeship with Cathy Valentine and a Vijnana Yoga International teaching certification with Orit Sen Gupta. Through years of study and teaching, Tara has deepened her understanding of yoga philosophy, meditation, pranayama and asana practice. Her classes focus on listening to our inner intelligence and allowing this wisdom to guide our practice. She is also a gardener and a beekeeper, with a strong love for the body and the spirit. Tara lives a life dedicated to seeking truth and living in the heart.
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Hanna Munneke

Hanna fell in love with yoga around 2009. Practice became her center point amidst a busy life as the mother of 3 children. She took part in a traditional yoga apprenticeship with teacher Cathy Valentine for 3 years, (800 hours), and became a certified Vijnana Yoga International teacher with Valentine and Orit Sen-Gupta in 2016. She also gained her RYT 200 and 300 Level certifications.

Hanna brings playful inquiry to her classes, while exploring the principals of quiet mind, relaxed body, breath, rooting, connection, expansion and intent. All classes include a short meditation and pranayama. Hanna has taught weekly classes on Salt Spring Island since 2015.

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