About Us

Laura McKinnon

Laura began practicing yoga seven years ago after suffering from sport related injuries. While it was physical reasons that brought her to the mat, she quickly found other benefits from the practice that brought a balance to her life. Laura received her 200 hour advanced studies and teacher training certificate from Yoga High Studio in Salinas, CA and is a registered yoga teacher with the Board of Yoga Alliance. Though she has studied a variety a of yoga styles, she is strongly influenced in the Iyengar tradition. She encourages students to openly explore themselves through the yoga practice, bringing awareness of the body and how to reconnect our bodies with our mind and spirit. Laura continually shares her enthusiasm and love for yoga to inspire students of all levels in their own yoga journey. Laura continues her training in the Iyengar tradition of yoga with certified Iyengar instructors; frequenting workshops and most recently attended the YogaCharya Festival in Santa Clara where she studied with senior Iyengar instructors from around the world.

Danielle Ancin

A dance teacher for 10 years, Danielle Ancin found yoga four years ago. Like many others, she came to yoga because of an injury, but it is the mental and spiritual aspects of yoga that continue to inspire her practice. Her teaching certification from The Yoga Company in the San Francisco Bay Area draws from many yogic styles, with heavy emphasis on Iyengar alignment. As a teacher Danielle is concerned with preventing injuries through proper alignment and attention to the body, not the ego. Her dynamic and creative classes focus on mental clarity and uniting body and mind.

Candice Garrett

Candice Garrett received her yoga teacher certification from The Art of Yoga in Modesto under her teachers Leslie Howard and Debbie Wolski. She has studied hatha yoga for seniors under Neva Forney and continues to study Iyengar yoga with Kofi Busia. She has a particular interest in yoga for therapeutic applications, using yoga to address bodily imbalances that hinder us from comfort, concentration and growth. Her classes emphasize Iyengar alignment principles, breath awareness and the introduction and application of yoga philosophy.

Ana Poirier

As a certified nutritional health counselor, yoga instructor, and massage therapist, Ana enjoys sharing an integrative approach to health and well-being. She has studied with Ashtanga and Kundalini teachers in New York City and trained with Sarah Powers, Rodney Yee, Shiva Rea, and Godfrey Devereaux. Ana teaches a flow-style practice which emphasizes breath, body awareness, and freedom in movement. She believes yoga to be a transformative tool to apply to all aspect of life.

Michelle Spencer

Michelle Spencer is a dedicated yoga practitioner with over 10 years experience. She is committed to growing in her ability to share her knowledge and experience of the body and mind through the teaching and practice of yoga. She is highly passionate about providing women in their childbearing years with the support and exposure to information they will need to make the best choices for the health of themselves and their families. Michelle's background and commitment to the practice and study of Anusara yoga with John Friend and many other gifted teachers, as well as extensive training in pre and post natal yoga and childbirth support and education with Collette Crawford has provided her with the tools needed to bring this information and guidance to the Monterey Pensinsula area. Most importantly, her commitment and love for her family and her practice of yoga shows in her enthusiastic, informed and empowering teaching style.

Shakuntla Chandra

Shakuntla Chandra has been practicing yoga for the last twenty years. She has taught in various schools and while visiting New Zealand. Shakuntala has trained under the Sivananda Yoga Vendanta Center in Fiji. There she had achieved spiritual peace and good health. She is happy to teach the proper asanas, pranayama, meditation, relaxation, and the chanting of mantras. Om Peace, Peace, Peace. Namaste.

Elizabeth Congo

Elizabeth Congo is a certified Medical Qi Gong practitioner and has been studying, practicing, and teaching Qi Gong for 14 years. She has a Masters Degree in Psychology from the Naropa University and an MBA. In addition to Qi Gong classes, Elizabeth offers private sessions in Medical Qi Gong, Intuitive Counseling, Astrology, and Soul Retrieval.

Jacqueline Van Ness

Jacqueline Van Ness is a Certified Anat Baniel Method Practitioner who works with adults that experience pain, chronic pain and limitations in their movements, are recovering from surgery, Parkinson condition and more. Additionally she is certified in the ABM for Children mastery study. Jacqueline is also a Guild Certified Feldenkrais Practitioner.

David Barth

David's long-standing interest in various modalities of bodywork led him to yoga in 1995. He began a dedicated practice of both at that time earning his massage practitioner certification and, more recently, his yoga teacher certification. David's first exposure to yoga practice was by way of private sessions with a student of Kali Ray with whom he studied for two years. David then became immersed in vinyasa and for an additional two years practiced with instructor, Diana Balesteri. It was at this time that he became dedicated to a life-long practice and for the last nine years David has practiced with Iyengar instructor, Kim Fujii. With encouragement from friends and fellow students, David eventually found his way to the Yoga Teacher Training/Advanced Studies at Yoga High Studio in Salinas, CA where he earned his certification. David's focus is to present the precise asanas of Iyengar with the breath work and flow of vinyasa.

Kara Engel

Kara has been practicing yoga for 9 years since the early age of 11. She is a member of the Art of Living Foundation founded by his Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar and has studied his various forms of yoga including Sri Sri Yoga. She has studied under Marvin Goldstein, certified Iyengar instructor, and Sandi O' Neil who teaches in the style of Anusara Yoga. Kara received her teaching certification from the Advanced Studies/Teacher Training Program at Yoga High Studio in Salinas, CA and is a registered yoga teacher with the Yoga Alliance. She is currently teaching a volunteer yoga class for the mentally handicapped. Kara's gentle style provides beginning students with a gentle approach to basic alignment combined with a style of vinyasa flow that emphasizes the connection of the body, mind, and breath, to reduce stress and develop strength, flexibility, and balance.

Natalie Lott

Natalie Lott has been practicing yoga for seven years and completed 120 hours of teacher training with Mark Stephens in Santa Cruz. Her experience as an elementary school teacher has made her aware of the need to expose children to yoga at a young age. Kids face many challenges in school and our society to fit into a certain standard. Yoga gives them the opportunity to express themselves and release some of the stress placed upon them in today's world. Natalie has taught yoga to kids in schools, and at various studios in the area. She believes that through yoga kids can learn compassion and self-respect.

Barbara Tudhope

Barbara Tudhope, CVT, is a dedicated yoga practitioner, teacher and therapist. She has been influenced by the inspiring teaching of Gary Kraftsow, Mirka Kraftsow, Robin Rothenberg, Leslie Kaminoff, Richard Miller, Nischala Joy Devi, Sonia Nelson and Jon Kabat-Zinn. Barbara completed extensive teacher and therapist training with the American Viniyoga Institute and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. She writes the monthly column "On Yoga" for the Monterey Herald. She is inspired by the power of yoga to create transformation in all aspects of life through the appropriate practice of asana, pranayama, chanting, meditation and study of the Yoga Sutras.

Jeannie Alcouloumre

I have been in love with yoga for more than 25 years. I love that yoga makes me feel wonderful without demanding that I achieve or excel. I love that yoga is source of nurturing of body and soul. I was trained as a teacher in an extensive program at the Yoga Room in Berekely. The faculty at the time of my training were master teachers influenced by BKS Iyengar including Donald Moyer, Rodney Yee and my mentor, Judith Lasater. I have more recently developed an appreciation for the gentle and therapeutic Viniyoga approach to my practice, inspired by Brian Dorfman and Barbara Tudhope. I have been teaching yoga since 1992. My Gentle Yoga class has been offered through CHOMP since 2003 and I have been sharing the teaching of Gentle Yoga at Wellsprings Yoga with Barbara Tudhope during the last year.