Teachers
Aly Long
Yoga Instructor
Aly Long loves yoga! She discovered yoga in college and her practice grew over the years studying both Hatha and Anusara yoga. Aly was called to teach after spending several months in India and Southeast Asia. This clarity came after meeting her Guru Amma(Amritanadamayi). Amma continues to be a strong presence in her life, practice and her teaching!More about Aly
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.
Alyssa Auvinen
Yoga Instructor
Alyssa is a recent graduate from True Self’s first 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training program. She began practicing yoga in her early 20s as an alternative to individual and team sports, though it wasn’t until she moved to Montana that she fully appreciated yoga for cultivating mental and emotional clarity.More about Alyssa
As she begins to teach, she hopes to translate the stress relieving powers of yoga to other students. When Alyssa is not practicing yoga, she devotes her time to a career in public health, fostering community through food, digging in the garden, and adventuring in the woods with family and friends.
Andre Harris
Yoga Instructor
San Diego Native, Andre, initially was drawn to yogas physicality. Coming from a background of playing competitive sports from a young age, he was ready and accepted the physical challenges yoga had presented him.More about Andre
Soon after pursuing a regular yoga practice, he began to understand the struggle to balance competitive drive with respect for the body’s limits. Before long, he found peace, clarity, and stillness in his practice and is intrigued by the mind-body connection yoga has to offer. He believes yoga has a way of giving you what you want, but at the same time also what you need. His style welcomes beginner and intermediate practitioners, offering challenges to those seeking to advance their practice. During class he focuses on proper alignment and mindfully syncing breathe with movement through creative flow and transition. His intention is to express his passion and gratitude for yoga and inspire the same in his students.
Anne Laderman
Yoga Instructor
Anne is a certified instructor who has taught yoga in California, Arizona, New Zealand and her current home of Olympia, WA. Anne has studied with many master teachers and is especially grateful for her time with Ana Forrest, Saul David Raye and Vivian & Aeryk at the Bandha Room.More about Anne
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 McQueen
Yoga Instructor
Annette’s formal yoga training began at the White Lotus Foundation, in Santa Barbara, California, with Ganga White. Inspiration and passion fuel this instructor as she authentically shares her 25+ years of knowledge with yoga students as she guides them through pranayama, meditation, movement and sound.More about Annette
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.
Carissa Shaul
Yoga Instructor
Carissa discovered yoga while on a search for inner healing in 2012. The mat was the place where she began to befriend her body and discover comfort in silence. After 2 years of intensive self-development and growth, Carissa knew she wanted to help others to heal as well.More about Carissa
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.
Chelsea Le Brun Gustafson
Yoga Instructor
Chelsea is a registered yoga teacher (RYT), a biochemist and enthusiastic student of life. She believes that yoga can be used as an integrative practice to explore one’s own body, mind and their responses to life experiences.More about Chelsea
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.
Chelsea Rosen
Yoga Instructor
Growing up aa a competitive dancer, it was an injury that brought Chelsea to her first yoga class at the age of 16. When she discovered that yoga was more than just poses, she was hooked. Through her personal practice, Chelsea has found healing of body, mind, and spirit, and she decided she wanted to be able to share that with others.More about Chelsea
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.
Christina Lagdameo
Yoga Instructor
Various losses in Christina’s life brought her back over and over again to the practices and teachings in meditation and yoga. The words of the young Buddha in Hermann Hesses’s Siddharta resonated deeply with her, “[God] has robbed me, yet he has given me something of greater value . . . he has given to me myself.”More about Christina
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 Patnode
Yoga Instructor
Connie has been a Massage Therapist since 1993 and found Yoga around the same time, like many massage therapists-who-turn-yogi in Olympia. Connie has a holistic approach to health and well being. “What I have found from my own experience is that by connecting with one’s body and breath you can heal the mind and rehabilitate the body. The body is our journal of experiences.”More about Connie
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.
Courtney Lyon
Yoga Instructor
Courtney teaches 8am Flow on Saturdays. More to come on Courtney’s bio.
Dave Hutton
Yoga Instructor
Dave has been involved with martial arts, sports and athletics his whole life. Throughout High School and College he was a competitive Fencer and after college he was a serious runner. Due to a severe back injury incurred playing sports back in 2000, Dave needed to find a physical, yet therapeutic and healing workout without incurring more stress to his body.more about Dave
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!
Holly Anderson
Yoga Instructor
Holly Anderson is a recent graduate of the first True Self Yoga Teacher Training and is now a RYT-200. She first came to the practice at a young age, but it was not until pain and illness struck her body and began to affect her daily life, that she really pursued yoga more seriously.More about Holly
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.
Jean Cho
Yoga Instructor
Jean has been teaching Bikram and Hot Yoga for over 15 years. Before that, for many years she taught aerobic classes at various YMCAs throughout New York. As a lifelong athlete, Jean started to experience the effects of years of high impact stress on her body.More about Jean
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.
Karen Birbari
Yoga Instructor
Karen began her career as a modern ballet dancer. Passionate about movement she explored and taught dance, pilates, fitness and yoga over the past 25 years. Having been a part of the Ramtha School of Enlightenment and Landmark Education, Karen has fostered a deep love and respect for the mind and the body connected.More about Karen
Teaching Vinyasa has allowed for the exploration and discovery of awareness and longevity in herself as well as her students. “Every moment on the mat is an opportunity of self-development and awakening…… The Magic occurs in the participation!”
Kehle Potegal
Yoga Instructor
Kehle was drawn to the physical advantages of yoga in 2009, but it wasn’t until much later that she began appreciating and integrating the emotional and mental benefits into her daily life. As a stay-at-home mom with a dream of becoming a yoga teacher, she pursued her 200-hour RYT at True Self Yoga, complimented by an apprenticeship with Christina Lagdameo.More about Kehle
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.
Kelli Mae Willis
Yoga Instructor
Kelli Mae is a certified teacher of yoga, AcroYoga, CircusYoga, Children’s Yoga, Prenatal Yoga, Meditation and Mindfulness, and Waldorf education. She coordinates our Kids and Family Yoga program and leads Children’s Yoga Teacher Training weekends at True Self. Kelli Mae brings her dynamic, playful teaching style to all of her classes, for children and adults alike!
Leah Cleveland
Yoga Instructor
Leah is a recent graduate from True Self’s first 200 hr teacher training. She has practiced yoga for many years, but not until after college and stepping out of her 20s did her practice become a journey of the self. She believes you never regret arriving to your mat, taking the time to mindfully move and breathe with awareness.More about Leah
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.
Lindsay Porter
Yoga Instructor
More about Lindsay
Nicolas Krause
Yoga Instructor
Nicolas, a Tacoma local, received his 200-Hr RYT in Costa Rica in 2012 from Don and Amba Stapleton at the Nosara Yoga Institute. In this sacred space, he learned the essence of yoga; how to fully tune in with the body and learn the language of sensations that the body speaks.More about Nicolas
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.
PJ Ramstack
Yoga Instructor
PJ was introduced to yoga on a camping trip in the Adirondacks in the summer of 2002. Somewhere there’s a picture of the most awkward, stiff tree you could ever imagine; still he was hooked.More about PJ
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.
Rebecca Steiner
Yoga Instructor
Rebecca is originally from New Jersey and has been on the West Coast for over ten years. She has a background in Education, Science and Art. After many years of dental assisting, she found particular appeal in the rejuvenating and healing qualities of heated yoga, for both body and mind.More about Rebecca
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.
Robin Ralph
Yoga Instructor
Robin began practicing yoga 8 years ago. She fell in love with the way the practice invited a deeper felt experience to her emotional and physical body while simultaneously giving her the experience of being connected to something greater than herself.More about Robin
She eventually moved to Olympia to study psychology and consciousness at The Evergreen State College. In a new town, surrounded by new people, in a time of major transition, she found that her mat had become her home. During this period of transition, Robin enrolled in a 200 hour teacher training program with Great Heart Yoga and graduated with her certificate in 2015. Robin’s teaching style encourages her students to delve deeply into the felt experience of the body. She invites opportunities for introspection, reflection, and intuitive movement. She welcomes her students to see the teacher that resides within each one of them and supports them in following their own body wisdom. She tends to teach at a slower pace with more holds and opportunities to really feel what each posture has to offer. At the heart of her teaching, Robin aims to create an environment of inclusion, self expression, love, growth and support. She hopes that each one of her students can take what they have learned on the mat off the mat.
Vajra Romano
Yoga Instructor
After graduating in 1999 from Capital High School in Olympia, Vajra went to the wilderness to contemplate the meaning of life. After a bad judgement in direction, Vajra spent seven days lost in Olympic National Park. During this time of desperation, with no food or certainty of making it out alive, Vajra was forced to turn inward and discover the indestructibility of his True Self.More about Vajra
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.
With their combined yoga and meditation experiences and with deep roots in the Olympia community, husband-and-wife team, Vajra Romano and Christina Lagdameo, have established True Self Yoga with the mission to bring out your highest good.
