Teachers
Alison Bailey she/her
Yoga Instructor
Alison was 18 years old when she took her first Hot Hatha yoga class in 2004. The traditional 26 & 2 sequence has been central to her well-being ever since.
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Alyssa Hilton Meyer
Yoga Instructor
Alyssa completed her 200-hour Yoga Teacher Training at True Self Yoga in 2022. Having been drawn to the physical aspects of asana practice intermittently throughout her life, she discovered a deep sense of comfort and healing through a gentle, introspective yoga practice following significant health challenges in 2016.More about Alyssa
Aly Long she/her
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!
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Anatole Losa
Yoga Instructor
Anatole has always been passionate about movement and the art of being present. In his early years, he delved into this passion through rock climbing. Later, in his twenties, he discovered Hot Yoga and was captivated by it.Learn more about Anatole
Anela Perez she/her
Yoga Instructor
Learn more about Anela
The physical, mental, and emotional benefits of yoga were felt immediately and she returned to yoga everyday that week – and continues to return to her practice time and again. Her love of the Hot Hatha practice led her to her first teacher training in 2012 with a studio in Seattle, where she found immense joy in sharing yoga with others for 5 years before moving to Olympia. She took a break from teaching to focus her energies on building the family business she shares with her partner, and to dedicate herself to being a stay at home mom. During this time, she was fortunate to find the True Self Yoga studio and community and was inspired to deepen her own practice and understanding of yoga. She participated in and completed teacher training in 2023, followed by an apprenticeship with Christina Lagdameo and is now currently working through a Trauma-Informed Teacher training.
Her passion is to provide classes that are a welcoming and inclusive space for exploration and growth. She strives to guide classes with a focus on mindful breathing and intentional movement to connect to the present moment. ‘Ānela has a deep appreciation for the transformative power of yoga beyond the mat, encouraging others to carry the sense of peace and awareness they discover and cultivate in class, into their everyday experiences and lives.
Anne Laderman she/her
Yoga Instructor
Anne is a teacher committed to yoga as a way of life. She is a certified yoga instructor (E-RYT 500HR) and Thai Yoga Therapist. Anne has taught in California, Arizona, New Zealand and her current home of Olympia, WA. She deeply enjoys living in her beautiful co-housing community and spending time with her children and loved ones.
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Anne has studied with many master teachers and is especially grateful for her time with Ana Forrest, Saul David Raye and Monette Goetinck.
Annette McQueen she/her
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.
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Brando mataya
Yoga Instructor
Brando’s yoga journey began in 2008 as a path to self-discovery and healing. Growing up in the Philippines, he faced early challenges, including the loss of his father, which required him to care for his younger siblings while his mother worked abroad. These experiences instilled in him resilience and a nurturing approach to life and yoga. Yoga has been a constant sanctuary for Brando, deepening through numerous retreats, workshops, and festivals worldwide. His time in Costa Rica was particularly transformative, enriching his understanding of yoga’s healing power and inspiring him to share this practice with others. After a brief retirement to focus on personal growth, Brando returned to the professional world and eventually made his home in Olympia, Washington. Here, he planted his roots with his partner of 23 years and their two beloved dogs, bringing stability and dedication to his teaching. In 2023, Brando completed his 200-hour YTT training at TrueSelf Yoga and immediately began apprenticing with various mentors in different yoga styles. At True Self Yoga, he shares not only the physical practice of yoga but also the deeper lessons of resilience, growth, and self-discovery that have shaped his life. Join Brando to explore the dynamic balance of energy and tranquility, finding strength and peace both on and off the mat.More about Brando
Brit Kiessling she/her
Yoga Instructor
Brit is a Californian grown, sunshine fed yogi. She completed her first 200 hour training in 2012 and hasn’t stopped teaching since.
More about Brit
Her classes are full of energy, connection to breath and leave you with a greater understanding of your body. Yoga has been a gateway of acceptance and transformation for Brit. She aims for all students to utilize their practice as the greatest gift of self care through self discovery. When she’s not in the studio, you’ll find her hiking, backpacking, or spending time with her partner, Grant.
Carissa Roberts
Yoga Instructor
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Chelsea Le Brun Gustafson she/her
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.
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Chelsea Rosen she/her
Yoga Instructor
Growing up a competitive dancer, 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.
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Christina Lagdameo she/her
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.”
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Connie Patnode she/her
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.”
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Daniel Buscher
Yoga Instructor
Daniel began his Hot Yoga practice in 2014 at Hot Yoga Olympia and knew almost immediately he wanted to guide others in this life-changing practice.
more about Daniel
Dave Hutton he/him
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
Elizabeth Drake
Yoga Instructor
Elizabeth began practicing yoga when she moved to Olympia in 2001. She became a dedicated practitioner in 2009 when her (now) husband introduced her to Hot Yoga.More about Elizabeth
Ellie Lucas she/her
Yoga Instructor
Ellie graduated from True Self’s 200 hr teacher training. She began practicing yoga 3 years ago when she moved to Washington for its physical benefits (and an alternative to the gym). She had taken a class a few years prior from a friend in New York and since then kept the intention in the back of her mind to one day try it out on a regular basis.
More about Ellie
Completing the yoga teacher training was a way for Ellie to deepen her own practice and her understanding of yoga. The opportunity to teach came as a surprise that she has welcomed with open arms and is now looking forward to introducing and helping others cultivate their relationship with yoga
Fred he/him
Yoga Instructor
Fred has been practicing yoga for over 6 years and discovered True Self shortly after it opened – it was immediately clear that True Self was a very special studio. After a busy career as an entrepreneur and business leader, yoga was the perfect transition to a more relaxed lifestyle and he took the opportunity to learn many forms and styles of yoga.
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His passion is to help people feel better and learn to connect to their inner place of well-being, peace and ease. He is honored to share the practice and feels a wonderful sense of gratitude for having the opportunity help people relax and deal with the challenges of everyday life.
Holly Anderson she/her
Yoga Instructor
Holly Anderson is a 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.
Jade Land she/her
Yoga Instructor
Jade was born and raised in Olympia, WA and enjoys all things PNW. She found yoga when she joined the Quest for Truth scholarship program at True Self Yoga as they opened doors in 2016. She hasn’t left the studio since.
After a year of practice she enrolled in the first yoga teacher training at True Self excited to understand yoga on a deeper level. When jade started to study and learn more about the 8 limbs of yoga. Yoga became a way of life. She enjoys teaching various styles of yoga and strives to offer fun and safe classes that are Inclusive and accessible to all skill levels. She hopes to motivate others to improve their wellbeing by committing to a regular practice themselves. She stays educated on new techniques and brings variety to each of her classes. Her classes have a little bit of everything and can be enjoyed by anyone. Her teaching style encourages letting the breath guide your practice, staying present and exploring your body as well as your mind, cultivating a deeper sense of the self. Outside of yoga and her office job she likes to spend her time with her husband and two daughters exploring new places and spending time outside.More about Jade
Jean Cho she/her
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.
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Jenni Tresness she/her
Yoga Instructor
Jenni was introduced to Hatha yoga in 2013, and since then her practice has blessed her life in ways she never could have imagined.
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Jessica Riefler she/her
Yoga Instructor
Jessica was introduced to yoga and meditation by her mother in 2008 at Baltimore Yoga Village, and she has been practicing ever since. True Self’s 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training, and thereafter completed a Hot Hatha Apprenticeship with Vajra Romano. Jessica is inspired by meeting people on their journey to the Self, and enjoys instructing with specificity and precision.
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Julia Zhao she/her
Yoga Instructor
Julia is a trauma-informed yoga therapist and home care aide, with over 1,000 hours of training in Yoga, Tantra, and Ayurveda.
Her experience of immigrating as a young child has fueled a lifelong search for spiritual meaning and wholeness. She discovered yoga in her early twenties, and it has helped her find spiritual connection, resilience, and steadiness through many big and small life challenges.
Kelli Mae Willis she/her
Yoga Instructor, Family Yoga & Retreat Coordinator, community@trueself.yoga
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!
Kehle Kaivalya she/her
Yoga Instructor, Co-Manager
Kehle brings a vibrant and uplifting energy to every class. Having embarked on her yoga journey with a passion for both physical wellness and mental clarity in 2009, she completed her 200-hour RYT certification at True Self Yoga in 2018, where she embraces the practice’s transformative power. Her teaching style is a harmonious blend of fun and challenge, designed to make every student feel supported and inspired.
More about Kehle
Kehle is excited to share her love of yoga with you and help you discover the wonderful benefits of this practice in a warm and engaging environment.
Kristi Lyons she/her
Yoga Instructor
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Laura Deaton she/her
Yoga Instructor, Manager, manager@trueself.yoga
Laura first came to the mat for a good workout, what happened was far more beautiful then she could ever have imagined. Linking breath with movement became a peaceful dance for her, a journey with herself, a wonderful way to discover to her truth. This has proven to be hugely healing, and a wonderful way to navigate through life’s ups and downs. Laura has always felt drawn to be nurturing and show others she cares, whether this is with a smile, a hug, or a body positive message in class, she strives to touch many lives with smiles, love and laughter. Laura is a graduate of True Self’s RYT-200 followed with an apprenticeship under Vajra Romero. Laura’s life has been in perpetual motion, from early childhood, she found joy in expressing herself with her physical body, she explored motion through dance, taking ballet, jazz, and tap, she also experimented in gymnastics. As an adult she continued a life of movement, exploring various activities, and techniques, taking pilates, barre, and piyo. It was not until she made her way into her first yoga class that she realized the true joy she felt on her mat, connecting her breath with movement tapped into her childhood joys of self-expression. Laura believes you are always learning, constantly growing and continuously healing both on and off the mat. As a wife, and mom of two wonderful children, yoga provides a beautiful blend of self-care, love and community for Laura. More about Laura
Lauren Gordon
Yoga Instructor
Leah Harvey she/her
Yoga Instructor
Leah Harvey is a 200 HR RYT, and Certified Holistic Nutritionist. After years of being a dedicated yoga student, she began teaching in 2017. Like so many yogis, Leah showed up for the physical benefits of yoga and found a path that offered so much more, and truly feels honored to share this practice.More about Leah
Lori Capra
Yoga Instructor
In 1983 Lori attended the University of Connecticut, working in a health food restaurant, where her boss/mentor brought her to her first yoga class! From the age of 17 until now, yoga has been an anchor for Lori. An anchor for healthy living, healthy thinking, healthy feeling. Lori’s primary yoga community in the last few decades has been Hot Yoga Olympia and True Self Yoga! She completed her yoga teacher training with Great Heart Yoga at the renowned Yoga Loft which was beautifully perched on Capital Lake in downtown Olympia. In 2016 Lori traveled to Spain to Yogabody to acquire her Aerial Yoga/Yoga trapeze teacher certification. In 2017 she opened a studio for aerial yoga, Gravity Yoga – it thrived until closing during Covid. After having practiced Hot Yoga for over 18 years, Lori decided to pursue an apprenticeship to teach Hot Yoga with Vajra at TSY in 2023. Lori feels so blessed to share her dharma with the True Self Community and truly feels like is home.More about Lori
Kevin Mattison
Yoga Instructor
I am a lifelong athlete. I engaged in many ‘gladiator’ type sports that typically have many injuries associated with them. Fortunately, as I approached the BIG-5-OH, I made it to my first Bikram Yoga class in relatively good condition; not perfect, but good!
Although I practiced other forms, or traditions, of Hatha (Ha-Sun, Tha-Moon) Yoga prior to my Bikram experience, I found that the Bikram method resonated with me and, ultimately, healed me in remarkable ways. I became a Yoga teacher to proliferate the benefits of this practice. I bring an open mind and heart to the art and science of these physical expressions of Yogi principles. I regard this gift that we share as a ‘health’ oriented Yoga journey. As our bodies process what we do in the hot room we incrementally fix what needs repair and enhance what’s already working. In short, I’m here to help you gain physical, energetic, and mental strength on all levels; increase not only your physical range of motion, but your mental and spiritual range as well; detox all systems; including your integumentary system; and, last, but not least, experience a dignified longevity. After all, if we don’t take exceptional care of our exceptional bodies, then what?More about Kevin
Lisa Ostler she/her
Yoga Instructor
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Nate Gibbs
Yoga Instructor
In 2008, I discovered hot yoga while recovering from addiction and numerous physical injuries. The intensity and rigor of the practice provided a sanctuary for my return to health. More about Nate
Nika Wolf
Yoga Instructor
Bio Coming Soon
More about Nika
Rebecca Steiner she/her
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.
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PJ Ramstack
Yoga Instructor
Wendy Diddy
Yoga Instructor
“No one is pain free…” Wendy has been practicing yoga for two thirds of her life. Scoliosis, spondylolisthesis, and an undiagnosed crack in a vertebra caused her years of great pain while practicing yoga, walking and even standing. She ultimately braved a lumbar fusion and after two years of physical therapy, discipline and gentle back-care yoga classes she can now truly enjoy all that yoga has to offer.
More about Wendy
Wendy has always loved what yoga brought to her body, mind and spirit; and, with a structurally safer spine she completed a 200-RYT yoga teacher training in 2020 at the (former) Yoga Loft in downtown Olympia, studying with Maureen Oar and Kristi Lyons. Knowing how important the health of the spine is to your quality of life she focused her training on back-care and yoga’s capacity for healing. Wendy loves the earth and the feel of its good soil between her fingers and toes. She pays attention to nature to better understand its gifts of life. She grows most of her own fruits and vegetables as she listens to the sound of every bird in her garden. She has a background in nutritional therapy and knows the value of real food. You will find Wendy in her kitchen or in her garden when she’s not practicing yoga.
Vajra Romano he/him
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.
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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.