Laurie Campbell

(Director of Breathe Yoga Teacher Training Program)

Laurie began her study of Ashtanga yoga in 1999. Her introduction to yoga was through a wise friend who thought it might be helpful to her while coping with her mother’s passing. That friend was right. Being an avid runner Laurie appreciated the physicality of the practice and the profound calming effects it had on her mind. Before long Laurie had established a strong daily practice under the gifted guidance of Ron Reid.
Throughout the years Laurie has continued to dedicate herself to the practice of learning. She has completed numerous workshops and teacher-training programs including; The Downward Dog Teacher Training, the Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty Teacher Training Intensive and a Teacher Training Intensive with Richard Freeman. Laurie continues to travel and self-study to expand her knowledge of the many styles and aspects of yoga.  Wisdom in this practice is infinite; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Laurie considers herself blessed to have found this path and continues to be grateful for every step

Josh Babier

Josh has been practicing different styles of yoga and meditation since 1982. He has studied in India, New York and Toronto. He received his first teaching certificate in 1996 in the Sivananda style in South India. Since 1998, he has been studying a practice rooted in (but not limited to) the Ashtanga Vinyasa style and in 2000, completed Downward Dog’s first teacher training program. Josh has taught all over Toronto and in the last couple of years has given teacher training programs in Bolivia and Peru, where he was living.

Tracey Currie
Tracey is a certified yoga teacher having taught full time for three years and has maintained a personal yoga practice for the past seven years. She brings to her practise and work a keen awareness of the body, its mechanics and the mind-body-breath connection that has been developed through years of training in figure skating and theatre performance. Tracey is also certified in the Lotus Palm method of Thai Yoga Massage. Tracey has recently become a student of tai chi chuan and vipassana meditation.

Christine Felstead

Christine Felstead has over 20 years experience as a marathon and othercommon road race distances.  She has 12 years of yoga experience and 6 years as a yoga instructor focusing primarily on runners and endurance athletes.
Her work with runners teaches them to incorporate yoga as an effective means of cross training.  She has taught hundreds of runners how to incorporate yoga into their weekly fitness regimen, helping them overcome general tightness, nagging injuries and reducing risk of injury. Most of her  students have gone on to meet personal racing goals.  Christine and her Yoga for Runners program has been featured in several articles:  Runners World Magazine (March 2006), YogaLife (May 2006) , Yoga Fit (Feb 2007) and iRun (May 2008).  Recently she launched her DVD:  Christine Felstead's Yoga for Runners(tm):  The Essentials.  Visit: www.yogaforrunners.com

Cristina Gonzales

Cristina’s love of yoga is rooted in dance. She has studied such diverse dance techniques as Afro-Cuban, break-dance, capoeira, flamenco, Graham, Limón and salsa as well as other movement disciplines such as Feldenkrais, Pilates, tai chi and yoga in several styles. Introduction to yoga led her to reevaluate dance technique and in 1995 she began to learn ashtanga from Diane Bruni and Ron Reid. Drawn to teaching, Cristina studied pedagogy and linguistics at U of T, earning her TESL Certificate. She completed the ashtanga teacher training at Downward Dog Yoga Centre in 2004.

Andrea Peloso

Andrea has been practicing yoga in various modalities for twelve years and completed her teaching certification at the Downward Dog Yoga Center in 2003. Andrea continues to study Ashtanga Yoga with Ron Reid and others and is certified in Partner Yoga through Catfish Yoga Shala and Restorative Yoga through Judith Lasater.
For three years Andrea has been a full time yoga teacher, teaching yoga to students both young and old in many environments – from the office to the beach.
Andrea provides a challenging, participatory, and fun environment that accepts the unique challenges and abilities of each individual. Alignment, flight, and flow are explored as one continues to study – independent minds of all bodies welcome!
Andrea holds a degree in philosophy, is a youth worker, and is an energetic healer. She believes that yoga is the most practical form of self inquiry and that the way that we handle challenges on the mat can empower the rest of our lives.

Susan Richardson

Susan first started exploring yoga in 1988, and has been practicing devotedly since 1996. She has studied with renowned teachers Geeta Iyengar, Manouso Manos, Marlene Mawhinney, and Mahyar Raz, and is certified through the Iyengar Association of Canada. Susan brings to her teaching a deep fascination with the science of anatomy, and the philosophy of classical yoga and Buddhism. She has more than 20 years experience in Buddha Dharma, and continues to work with Toni Packer and Tsultrim Allione.

Susan is passionately involved with the practice of yoga as an exploration of the inner world through inquiry and observation. She aims to help students experience yoga and meditation as a way of developing presence, clarity and wholeness.

"Yoga has been the strand that has tied the many aspects of my life together. Awareness of mind and body offers a freedom to open our selves up to the world around us and to experience it with clarity."

JP Tamblyn

In the Bhagavad-Gita, it is said that an individual who has practiced yoga in a past life is reborn into a family where meditation is practiced. (Chapter 6 : Line 42)
I had the good fortune to be born (or reborn) into such a family and have been quite happy to pick up where I left off last time around! My path has been blessed with kind, generous and exceptional teachers and I feel eternally grateful for the opportunity to do my part in passing along the gift of yoga to others. In my years of teaching I've brought yoga to senior citizens and high school students, corporate number crunchers and west coast surfers and all types of people in between.

There is no one whose quality of life could not be greatly benefited through the practice of yoga, and no one for whom the practice of yoga is inaccessible.
Peace, Love and Happiness to all !
Namaste

Maria Vilella

Maria was a very active youth and teenager disciplined in the Cecchetti method of ballet and UFAF style karate.  A few years later while in University working towards a BFA in Photography and a minor in Italian studies Maria started to miss the physicality of her youth and sought out a new discipline that was expressive but still offered the physical intensity she was accustomed to.  From her first Ashtanga class she was hooked on yoga and followed the Ashtanga sequence but stayed open to various Vinyasa teachers that were teaching in Buffalo where she was living at the time.  A few years later her primary Ashtanga teacher left Buffalo so Maria began traveling to Toronto to seek out new instruction.  Already a teacher in Buffalo where she began her path she wanted to be better informed on how to guide people through their challenges so she started teacher training at Downward Dog Yoga Center under the guidance of Ron Reid.   Maria has studied and gives thanks to many additional influences on her practice and teaching and continues to travel and seek out new sources of inspiration.

Natasha Wright

Natasha Wright discovered the joy of practicing yoga when she was just four years old mirroring her mothers daily Hatha routine.  Years later, looking for methods to enhance her wellbeing, she stumbled upon yoga again and what was discovered was infinitely more. Soon realizing that she was following in the footsteps of her grandmother; Natasha became immediately drawn to the benefits of a regular practice and began her career teaching in 2003. Yoga’s clarity through simplicity combined with the inner and outer strength it builds continues to inspire her. Natasha has had the privilege of learning from many yoga masters throughout the world such as: Chuck Miller, Maty Ezraty, Seane Corne, Matthew Sweeny, Danny Paradise, Darby, Forrest Yoga and her teachers Diane Bruni and Ron Reid. She is also grateful to Lululemon for the opportunity to become an Ambassador to their clothing line for 07/08.