Teachers

Upon returning to the states, Aly completed a 250 hour yoga teacher training in 2008 and since has had the opportunity to teach in Tucson and Phoenix, Arizona as well as St Thomas, USVI. After moving to Olympia, Aly completed a 100 hour yoga teacher training. In Olympia, she discovered her passion for working with children and families! Aly loves to introduce yoga to people of all ages! Aly’s classes encourage you to stay with the breath, listen to the body and to love yourself! Her classes are influenced by her extensive travel, nature and the seasons and embracing the present moment. Beyond yoga, meditation and chanting, Aly loves to be in nature moving her body or playing with her children! She loves to travel, speaks 4 languages and enjoys music from all over the world. Her 2 children bring an abundance of joy to her life and they are her greatest teachers! Aly loves to learn! She has a BA from the University of Arizona. After graduating from Oregon School of Massage, she practiced many forms of bodywork. Her background in massage therapy gives her a deeper understanding of the body and how it is all connected. Aly teaches Storytime Yoga for kids ages 2-6 on Wednesdays at 11am.

Her classes are a blend of that experience, combining Forrest Yoga and Hatha inspiration to create a well-balanced, heart-opening, ecstatic practice. Anne’s knowledge of Thai yoga therapy is frequently used throughout the class to guide students into complete relaxation. Anne is a teacher committed to yoga as a way of life.

Annette regularly teaches Yoga Flow and Gentle Yoga. During meditations or savasana, she may share sound through her beloved Venus Gong or Carnelian Crystal Quartz singing bowl. Sharing yoga and the healing arts is her Dharma in this life.

Yoga became an essential part of her life, and has continued to have a huge effect on the way she thinks about and interacts with the world.  Her love of all things yoga lead her to True Self’s 2019 Yoga Teacher Training, which spiraled into an apprenticeship at the studio.  As she continues to evolve as both a teacher and a student of yoga, she strives to remain curious, humble, and joyful, and to bring these qualities to life on and off the mat.

She completed CorePower’s Power Yoga Teacher Training in Seattle, WA in 2014 and has since expanded her training and practice to include Ashtanga, Kundalini and Restorative Yoga. She is passionate about cultivating positive body image, self-love and soul connection in her classes. Carissa came to Olympia to study Consciousness and Psychology at The Evergreen State College and is so grateful to join TrueSelf Yoga in creating a sacred space for the community.

Her classes are grounding and opening, based on alignment principles with a focus on moving with intention and cultivating balance. By cultivating a sense of light-hearted play and deep inquiry in her classes, she hopes to create a space where students can develop a deeper relationship with themselves and their world. Chelsea studied with Mark Stephens and Erika Abrahamian in Santa Cruz, CA and is constantly learning from her fellow yoga teachers and students.

In 2012, Chelsea completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training, “Yoga and the Healing Sciences,” at Loyola Marymount University in Marina Del Ray, California. This therapeutics based training gave her insight into using yoga as a tool for healing. Soon after, she began teaching part-time in her then home of Los Angeles but she still wanted more. In May 2014, Chelsea spent a month in the jungle of Thailand and later that year another two weeks in Baja California training with Clara Roberts-Oss for a 300 hour Vinyasa training. There she dove even deeper into anatomy, sequencing, sacred scripture and prenatal yoga, officially becoming a 500hr RYT in November 2015. She has been teaching full time for the past few years in Ann Arbor, Michigan recently relocating to Olympia for her husband’s job this past December. Chelsea believes yoga is for everyone regardless of limitations, injuries or level of flexibility. She strives to help her students find awareness in their bodies in both a nurturing and challenging way. She believes in keeping yoga classes sustainable through thoughtful cues and a strong emphasis on alignment and acceptance.

Her spiritual quest catapulted Christina into rigorous spiritual training at the Chozen-ji Zen Dojo in Honolulu and in Ashtanga yoga in South India. It was when she lived in Mysore, India for 3 years that Christina witnessed the transformative powers of yoga and meditation. Working with the nonprofit organization Odanadi, Christina shared the practices of yoga and meditation with survivors of human trafficking and was humbled by the experience. With this life-changing awakening, she made the vow to do her best to pass on the teachings to aid in others’ journeys in self-realization. Before focusing on yoga full-time, Christina served the White House for 9 years in the White House Office of Management and Budget; and then served as President Obama’s Deputy Director of the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. She helped establish the Asian American Studies Program at the University of Maryland and received her Masters in Public Policy from the New School for Social Research in New York City.

Connie started with Iyengar yoga and found Bikram in 2000 and fell in love. She took the teacher training in 2011. What she loves about yoga is the connection and presence to oneself that it brings. It grounds you to your own power and authenticity. Connie strives to bring that connection to oneself to each class. Self love. Self awareness. The journey inward ripples outward. Welcome to the Journey.

He attended a Kripalu Yoga Seminar with Bikram Choudhury in 2001 and was immediately attracted to its philosophy and practice. He was inspired to attend Bikram’s Teacher Training program later that year, with his wife, Jean, and then later together in 2002 they opened up their own Bikram Yoga studio called Bikram Yoga Larchmont. After 12 fantastic years of owning a yoga studio, Dave and Jean sold their studio and realized it was time to move to the Pacific Northwest, the land of Valinor! Dave has been a practitioner of meditation and the esoteric for over 25 years and strives to incorporate both Eastern and Western beliefs, ideas, and humor into his yoga practice and teaching. Dave and Jean continue their Jnana Yoga training with their spiritual teacher, Ramtha, at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment. Dave has been a certified Bikram Yoga instructor since December 2001. Feel free to talk to Dave about anything you like, especially his favorite TV show Ancient Aliens!

She found that yoga began to provide balance and healing of the body and mind that she was struggling to find in other arenas and slowly began to commit to a more regular practice of yoga, meditation, and mindfulness. It was not until her first visit to magical India, however, that she truly saw and felt the ways in which the practice would forever shift her life towards true health and happiness. This new path soon lead her to Olympia and to the wonderful community here at True Self, where she began to bring a more daily practice into her life and felt the draw to share that practice with others.

Her main passions for teaching yoga are to help others to find a place of calm and balance that they can come to within their daily lives and to bring the practice to those who might otherwise feel that yoga is inaccessible to them for any reason.

After developing chronic knee and ankle injuries, she could no longer perform her normal workout routine and sought a different way to exercise and relax. This is when she turned to yoga. When she took her first Bikram class in 2000, the results were astonishing – no more pain and yet the class was physically and mentally challenging. In 2001, Jean attended Bikram’s 2-month Teacher Training program in California, with her husband, Dave, and became a certified Bikram Yoga instructor. Soon thereafter, in 2002, Jean and Dave opened a Bikram Yoga studio in Larchmont, NY. While attending several events at the Ramtha School of Enlightenment, Jean and Dave became very enthused with the Pacific Northwest lifestyle. And, after 12 wonderful years as studio owners, it was time to move on and focus on other business and personal endeavors. In 2014, Jean and Dave sold their studio and moved to the great state of Washington to realize new experiences and to deepen their spiritual practice.

Practicing and teaching yoga doubles as Kehle’s quality “me time” while also giving her a space to support and encourage others in her community — a value she holds near and dear to her heart. Kehle loves to greet new people with radiating warmth (and a hug) and is passionate about teaching yoga in a fun yet challenging style. Get ready to laugh, decompress and walk out with a big smile on your face after class with Kehle.

Her favorite pose is Vriksasana, tree pose. On the days when her roots run deep and her gaze holds steady, she finds a quick moment of complete balance and her true self. Leah teaches kids yoga at True Self and other yoga classes throughout the surrounding communities. When she isn’t on her mat, she is out exploring the PNW with her husband and favorite adventure buddy their Bernese Mountain dog. She honors the roots of yoga by living in the moment and believes in bridging the work you do on the mat with life you live off the mat. OMLeah teaches Young Yogis ages 7-11 on Tuesdays at 4:15pm.

While living in Boston, she studied power vinyasa flow and received her 200hr yoga alliance certification in 2011.  Lindsay crafts classes that are playful, cleansing and help her students access a deeper understanding of themselves.  She encourages students to listen to their bodies and enjoys teaching a flow that is both challenging and restorative.   Lindsay is currently in her final year of a Family Medicine Residency and believes a truly successful physician must understand a living, moving body.  By practicing yoga, she is able to find wellness and balance within herself allowing others to do the same.  Her students continue to be her greatest inspiration and she looks forward to practicing with all the amazing yogis at True Self!

His training emphasized the importance of self-inquiry through an experiential learning environment; to learn from the experience and to tap into the wisdom that already exists in the mind and heart of the learner. Amazed and inspired, Nicolas pursued a formal education in Nutrition counseling and Kinesiology with a Bachelor of Science in Individual and Community Health Management. Nicolas also pursued training in Vedic Thai Yoga Massage Therapy, taught by Mukti of the Vedic Conservatory, in order to more deeply assist students into a state of complete relaxation where they can heal from the past and grow into the future. Since his training at Nosara, Nicolas has been sharing the gift of self-healing through various studios throughout the Northwest and deep South, teaching over 750 hours. Nicolas is happy to be joining the team of healers at True Self Yoga and continuing the journey of self awareness through mindfulness.

Originally introduced to Hatha yoga, then Vinyasa and Yin, pj finally found the 26 posture hot Hatha practice at True Self. Drawn to the mental discipline required to overcome the intense feelings brought up by the heat, it was if apparent that this was the practice he’d been seeking!  PJ has gone through The Himalayan Institute’s month long yoga immersion program in PA, in addition to 100 hours of their instructor training. In 2018, he completed the True Self 200 hour teacher training, and transitioned into their teacher apprenticeship program. Working with Vajra, Dave, Jean and others in the Hot Hatha program he continues to refine his practice. He loves the Hot Yoga tribe at True Self, and the sense of community they share. It’s hard for him to say what’s better, guiding them through a class, or sweating it out beside them. 

She began a regular practice at a Bikram studio in San Diego and was inspired to take classes of all styles. Rebecca (Becca) completed her 200-hour teacher training with Yoga Tropics in San Diego California, in 2012. In addition to leading weekly Hatha classes, she volunteered with the Sean O’Shea Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing free yoga classes and nutritional information to San Diego’s youth. She also donated classes every week to help children and families at the Rady Children’s Hospital Oncology unit. Her positive outlook and nurturing energy will leave you feeling rejuvenated and relaxed.

After returning from a week alone in the wilderness, Vajra left Olympia on a pilgrimage to the far East. Arriving in Nepal, Vajra learned intensive meditation training from Tibetan Buddhist monks at Kopan Monastery www.kopanmonastery.com. Wishing to merge his spiritual training with a conventional education, Vajra enrolled at Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado. www.naropa.edu. and completed the only Bachelor Degree/ Yoga Teacher Training Program in the United States in 2006. For ten years, Vajra taught yoga classes throughout the Northwest, Washington DC and Hawaii. In 2016, now married, Vajra and his wife Christina teamed up to envision a yoga studio of their own. They took a leap, moved from their simple life on an organic farm on Kauai to Olympia, WA. where they would establish True Self Yoga. Life had brought Vajra back full circle to Olympia where he first began, to share what he had learned and fulfill his life’s Dharma.