Many Voices

One Journey

Many Voices

One Journey

Many Voices

One Journey

Many Voices

Teachers

Aly Long

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.

Anne Laderman

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

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.

Chelsea Le Brun Gustafson

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

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

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

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.

Dave Hutton

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!

Ellie Lucas

Ellie Lucas

Yoga Instructor

Ellie is a recent graduate 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

Since coming to her mat and regularly practicing it has become an important part of her life where she did find the physical benefits, but discovered even greater ones on a mental and emotional level. 
 
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

Fred

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.

More about Fred

He chose to take his practice deeper and completed a 200hr RYT through True Self Yoga where a focused interest in Yoga Nidra developed. An apprenticeship followed where his gentle nature and soothing voice lead him to specialize in teaching Yoga Nidra mediation. Fred committed further by attending an iRest yoga Nidra Teacher Training earning a Level 1 Certificate.
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

Holly Anderson

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

Jade Land

Yoga Instructor

Jade’s Bio Coming Soon

Jasmine King

Jasmine King

Yoga Instructor

Jasmine received her 200-hour teaching certificate in 2020 from True Self Yoga. She loves practicing yoga on and off her mat, bringing the qualities she has learned out into the world.

More about Jasmine

Jasmine is passionate about the mind, body, and spiritual benefits of yoga and believes everyone is capable of becoming a yogi. Her classes are a safe space where mindfulness and taking care of one’s body is encouraged. She loves working with kids- bringing in a playful spirit and sense of wonder.  In her off time, Jasmine enjoys spending time outdoors with her family- whether it be hanging out with their pet pig, camping, hiking, kayaking, swimming or…. more yoga.
Jazmine Fox-Stern

Jazmine Fox-Stern

Yoga Instructor

Jazmine began a playful yoga practice as a small child and cycled through various asana and pranayama practices as life progressed. Yoga anchored and enriched her other somatic inquiry methods of dance, Aikido, partner acrobatics, seated meditation, and playing in nature.

More about Jazmine

In 2010, her ravenous curiosity about healthy joyful embodiment developed into a satisfying career as a certified Rolfer®, working with a form of bodywork that develops grace and minimizes pain through enhancing the biomechanical efficiency of your body in daily movements. She loves helping people troubleshoot discomfort and struggles so that their yoga practice becomes painless, restorative and strengthening, so feel free to ask her questions during or after class, or schedule a free consultation at OlympiaRolfingCenter.com. Jazmine’s growing interest in expanding her one-on-one practice to working with groups led her to participate in True Self Yoga’s delightfully-enriching 2020 yoga teacher training.
Jean Cho

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.

Jenni Tresness

Jenni Tresness

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.

More about Jenni

In the beginning, yoga provided the mental and emotional relief that she needed while navigating some challenging life circumstances. However, she quickly realized that yoga was so much more than what she did on her mat, and she was eager to learn more. Yoga philosophy books began filling her bookshelf as yoga began extending into all areas of her life. She completed her 200hr YTT training in 2019, and added a Hatha apprenticeship with Vajra in 2021. With a focus on gratitude and joy, her intention is to be a conduit for her students, to the peace yoga brought her. Outside of yoga, Jenni is a full time pediatric echocardiographer, imaging the hearts of babies and kids born with congenital heart defects. Jenni greatest joy is being a mom, and she loves enjoying the Pacific Northwest with her family on their sailboat.

Jessica Riefler

Jessica Riefler

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. 

More about Jessica

When Jessica entered law school in Seattle in 2012, what had become a daily practice gave her coping mechanisms for stress and anxiety, as well as added flexibility and conditioning for the outdoor activities she enjoys, such as rock climbing and running with her dog. Jessica is a 2019 graduate of 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. 

Julia Zhao

Julia Zhao

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.

More about Julia

Her experience of immigrating as a young child has fueled a life-long 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

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!

Kehle Potegal

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. Kehle loves to greet new people with radiating warmth and is passionate about teaching yoga in a fun yet challenging style. Get ready to laugh, decompress and walk out with a smile on your face after class with Kehle.

Kristi Lyons

Kristi Lyons

Yoga Instructor

Kristi is an E-RYT® 500 seasoned yoga instructor, teacher trainer, athlete, and an advocate for social justice, environmentalism, and inclusivity. Her curiosity keeps her dedicated to learning while constantly evolving, believing that the work – microcosmic to macrocosmic – is never truly done. Kristi is a skillful storyteller, which makes her classes unique and creative as she artfully weaves yogic philosophy and Ayurveda throughout the practice.

More about Kristi

Authentic and charismatic, she is known for her clear, concise instructions as well as her ability to challenge students both intellectually and physically. 
At a young age, Kristi started stumbling upon those rare moments where the veil between humanness and spirit were mysteriously thin. Those moments sparked her curiosity to seek out a wide variety of spiritual teachers and mentors from all walks of life including; long time yoga teachers and desi yogis, fiery social justice advocates, trailblazing movers & shakers, insightful energy healers, unassuming clairvoyants, and an eclectic collection of “adopted moms” she’s gathered along her journey. 
Kristi upholds the truth that yoga is a life practice that includes self-study, social justice, inclusivity, environmentalism, and uplifting the voices of lineage holders in the yoga tradition. She offers the gift of humanness as she walks alongside of her community as a loving witness with compassion, and a big open heart.  
Kristi completed her last 300-hour teacher training in 2019 with yoga therapist and author, Sarahjoy Marsh, who has inspired Kristi to take on one-on-one clients for healing through mindfulness and restorative Ayurvedic practices.

Kristi Knutsen

Kristi Knutsen

Yoga Instructor

Yoga has been a healing journey for Kristi. She took her first class in 2011 and was instantly hooked. After years of discovering herself on her mat she decided to dive into teaching. In 2017, she completed her Vinyasa 200 hr. RYT certification, followed by a 4 week intensive Hot Hatha Teacher Training.

More about Kristi

She taught these two styles of yoga at a studio in Seattle for 2 years. Having recently moved to the area, she is excited to plant roots and grow with the TSY community. Her teaching style focuses on alignment to unlock the potential within the body and establish a strong mind-body connection. 
Laura Deaton

Laura Deaton

Yoga Instructor

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.

More about Laura

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. 

Leah Harvey

Leah Harvey

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

She has experience teaching in all settings- gym, boutique, and private- although most notably proud of creating a strong yoga community overseas in Tunisia where she lived prior to moving to Olympia.
Leah completed her YTT through Life power Yoga after falling in love with its unique style. Emphasizing creative flows, her instruction allows each student the freedom to navigate a personal connection between mind and body through breath and movement.
Outside the studio, Leah has dedicated her business to helping women live their most vibrant lives through Mindful Nutrition and Movement. She specializes in helping women overcome obsessive diet habits and patterns by combining so many of the lessons learned on her mat with simple nutrition strategies.
As a Military Wife, she also provides yoga to Veterans and Service Members. She has worked with the Veterans Yoga Project to help raise awareness of the benefits of yoga and meditation for our troops and is currently studying to become a Trauma-Informed Level II teacher with Warriors at Ease.

Lisa Olster

Lisa Olster

Yoga Instructor

Lisa is passionate about helping others find the tools to live a life in wellness.  
She has extensive (20+yrs) experience as a Registered Nurse. 

More about Lisa

Throughout her career she has witnessed the failures of the healthcare system time and time again. This system breakdown encouraged her to complete her certificate, as an Integrative Nurse Coach with the 
Integrative Nurse Coach Academy.  A role that helps her focus on holistic health and wellness, without the confines of hospital walls. 
As her passion for health and the human body grew, so did her love for Yoga. She initially came to Yoga in college to help with the stressors of Nursing School, as well as a more mindful way to move her body.  Over the past 20 years she has grown as a Yoga student, making her choice to become a Registered Yoga Teacher  both natural and easeful.  Since graduating from YTT at The Yoga Loft in Olympia, she has immersed herself  in the inner teachings of Yoga, graduating with certificates in the history and philosophy of Yoga, as well as Tantra Yoga.  She graduated from the Yoga Behind Bars program in 2020, as well as the 75 hour Social Justice in Yoga Intensive with Michelle Cassandra Johnson, at Skill in Action in 2021.  Her teachings express her deep rooted love for the Inner Wisdom, Philosophy and Roots of Yoga. Lisa has a love for learning and is forever expanding both her knowledge and experience.

PJ Ramstack

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

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.

Sarah Gaden

Sarah Gaden

Yoga Instructor

Sarah has been practicing yoga for over 20 years.  Originally from Texas, she and her husband, Eric, and 2 sons traveled the world, finally settling in Tenino, WA in 2016. 

More about Sarah

During her travels, she visited numerous yoga studios practicing different styles of yoga.  Sarah decided yoga was the “magic” that helped her through so many of life’s difficult experiences, and to fully enjoy and appreciate the good ones.  She decided to share her love with her new community and deepen her understanding and graduated from True Self’s first YTT in 2017.   
Sarah feels that the most important thing she can teach is the importance of staying mindfully active no matter what age, body, or circumstance life throws your way.  Her classes have a calm, light-hearted atmosphere and combine mindful breathing with gentle transitional movement.  You will leave her class with tools to help yourself feel better, improve your quality of life, and focus on what’s truly important to you. 
Vajra Romano

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.

Blu

Blu

Yoga Instructor

Blu practiced Yoga intermittently for many years till a family crisis combined with a climbing accident lead her to Yoga for healing 2008.  Since then it has become one of the pillars of her life. She became a Hot Yoga instructor in 2012, and is a graduate of the 2019 True Self 200 Hour Vinyasa Teacher Training.

More about Blu

In her class you will find a light–hearted approach, blending her life experiences with yoga theory. Her favorite Yoga Sutra is – Now is the time for Union.  Blu believes life is a series of choices and practicing yoga is a wonderful one!

2 Weeks for $30
2 Weeks for $30

What a magnificent studio oasis!

True Self is the best yoga studio in Olympia by far! Their variety of classes, from heated and regular, as well as their beautiful studio space, and the deeply passionate and knowledgeable owners all create a safe and supportive yoga community. - Sarah Burdette

They've created and hold space for their yogis so well that even the studio seems to have a sense of it's true self.

I've been a yogi in Olympia for about 10 years and True Self Yoga is the first studio that meets all of my yoga needs, and then some. When you visit True Self, you don't walk straight into a yoga room like most studios. - Camy Naasz

The heated room boasts a special heating system that you need to experience!

Beautiful space to practice with a variety of class offerings, great instructors, kombucha on tap and the latest yoga gear. Two studios: one heated and the other non-heated. Floors are always clean and they also have showers in the changing rooms, which is a must for hot yoga! - Rese Kim

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.

Best yoga in Olympia.

- Adrienne L.

The best yoga experience I have ever had.

- Zac Jensen

True Self is offering in-person and livestream classes. View schedule here and register today!
  Face coverings required unless you show or email vaccination card to manager@trueself.yoga. Specials: New Student- $30 for 1 Week of Unlimited Yoga & One Week Livestream Yoga FREE!