Flossie Park E-RYT 500 YACEP

Always considering herself as a student of life, Flossie has studied with numerous teachers throughout her lifetime. Flossie has dedicated her life to empowering herself and others through yoga, meditations, workshops, retreats, Crystal Bowl sound therapy and numerous other modalities. She has been actively involved in the wellness field for over 25 years developing programs that reach out to all walks of life. For ten years Flossie owned a yoga studio on the east coast where she developed and directed a successful School of Yoga. Through her Yoga Teacher Training programs and certifications, she has lovingly guided hundreds of students to step into living their passions and enriching their lives and the lives of others with the experience, wisdom and love of yoga.

Stacy McCarthy E-RYT 500 YACEP

An award-winning health & fitness leader, accomplished businesswomen, captivating speaker, and respected educator. For her contributions to the field of health and wellness as a seasoned mindful movement educator and integrative wellness thought leader, Stacy was honored as the 2021 IDEA World Fitness Instructor of the Year, a prestigious award recognizing superior instructional abilities and positive influence within the global health and fitness industry. Stacy’s recognized for her health and wellness coaching, yoga and mindfulness practices, positive psychology interventions, culinary whole food, plant-based medicine in the treatment of various chronic disease and conditions.

Infused with humor and soul, Stacy is a storyteller with a devotion to philosophy. Her classes are physically balanced, energetically empowering, mentally focusing and spiritually up-lifting. They are designed to transform lives. Stacy’s yoga journey began almost three decades ago in the lineage of T. Krishnamacharya. She is known for intelligent sequencing that meets her students where they are in their own practice in a system that inspires beginners and experienced students alike. Her teaching is holistic and embraces periods of time both past and present, as well as the fluctuations of life, including age, seasons, and transitions. At the core of her teachings there is a celebration for the human capacity to expand, love and live more fabulously.

Joe Barnett E-RYT 500

Joe has been practicing and teaching many forms of yoga for 20 years. For 10 years, he has been traveling nationally and internationally offering lectures, workshops and teacher trainings on specifically Yin Yoga and Chakra Meditation. Joe is a senior student and primary teaching assistant of Paul Grilley, a true Yoga Scientist and founder of Yin Yoga. After several years of apprenticing under Paul, Joe began roaming the globe to spread the word of his teacher’s work.  “Joe Barnett has been our friend and assistant for many years. He has two qualities that make him an excellent presenter: he knows the anatomical principles and he relates to people in a sympathetic manner. His presentations are unhurried, hands on demonstrations, this is the easiest way to absorb these ideas.” ~ Paul and Suzee Grilley

Monique Lonner, RYT-E 500, Yoga Therapist

Monique has been teaching yoga for more than 13 years both in New York and California. She is the founder and Director of both the Advanced Yoga Teacher Training and Yoga Therapy programs at Soul of Yoga. She has a deep reverence for the beautiful miracle of the human body and loves teaching Anatomy and Physiology in 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training program.

Monique’s most profound teaching gifts lie in her ability to apply asana as a therapeutic tool for healing. She is especially intuitive with students who have movement restrictions or injuries and has helped many people move out of their pain and into the enjoyment of life again.

All of her classes, be they gentle or vinyasa flow, are designed to help your body feel better, be stronger and move more freely. She is a devoted student of Yogic Philosophy and delights in weaving the wisdom of the teachings into her classes so that it feels relevant, supportive and inspiring to her students through life’s challenges and joys.

Monique has more than 2000 hours of training; a dedicated student of some of the best therapeutic teachers in the field including Brian Dorfman, Leslie Kaminoff, Nischala Joy Devi and Mukunda Styles.

Her Teaching Style: Leaning most closely towards the therapeutic philosophy of T.K.V Desikchar’s Viniyoga, Monique’s teaching style is ultimately a “yogic quilt” woven by all the varied and wonderful teachers she’s studied with and can best be described as a flowing breath-centered vinyasa married to anatomical alignment principles.

Michael Brian Baker

Founder of The Breath Center. Michael is a student of compassion and humility, and approaches life with a curiosity and humor. He is devoted to supporting people in their own growth, freedom, and discovery of the body’s innate intelligence to heal from within. For nearly 20 years, Michael has skillfully blended Western Medical Science, Eastern Vedic Philosophy, and Southern & Northern American Spiritual Theory and Practice. He has been a featured Keynote speaker at Bastyr University, The Arizona Study of Aging and Neurodegenerative Disorders, UCLA’s Psychedelic Science Symposium, Holistic Veterans Foundation and Nationally Accredited Substance Abuse Treatment Centers.

Dr. Alexandra Crosswell, PhD

Dr. Crosswell’s areas of research focuses on two areas: (1) Biological pathways linking stress and health, and (2) The physiology of spiritual practice. To examine these relationships, she uses a range of methodologies, including prospective observational studies, daily diary studies, experimental design, and mechanism-focused interventions. Her work is funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Crosswell is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Francisco, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Her areas of expertise include: the biology of stress; measurement of psychological stress; biomarkers of stress; mechanistic pathways linking stress to disease; impact of contemplative practices like yoga, meditation, and prayer on biological functioning; research study design and analysis for longitudinal and experimental studies. Dr. Crosswell received her Ph.D. in Health Psychology from UCLA, and her B.A. in Psychology from Duke University.

Richard C. Miller, PhD.

Richard is a clinical psychologist, author, researcher, yogic scholar and spiritual teacher. For over 40 years, Richard Miller has devoted his life and work to integrating the nondual wisdom teachings of Yoga, Tantra, Advaita, Taoism and Buddhism with Western psychology. Among his mentors were Jean Klein, T.K.V. Desikachar and Stephen Chang.

Richard is the founding president and CEO of the Integrative Restoration Institute, co-founder of The International Association of Yoga Therapy and founding editor of the professional Journal of IAYT. He is also a founding member and past president of the Institute for Spirituality and Psychology and a senior advisor for the Baumann Foundation for the study of Awareness and its impact on well-being.

Author of Yoga Nidra: The Meditative Heart of Yoga, Richard serves as a research consultant studying the iRest Yoga Nidra protocol that he has developed (Integrative Restoration ~ iRest, a modern adaptation of the ancient nondual meditation practice of Yoga Nidra) researching its efficacy on health, healing and well-being with diverse populations including active-duty soldiers, veterans, college students, children, seniors, the homeless, the incarcerated, and people experiencing issues such as sleep disorders, PTSD, chemical dependency, chronic pain, and related disorders.

Mark Whitwell

Mark is interested in developing an authentic yoga practice for the individual, based on the teachings of T. Krishnamacharya and his son TKV Desikachar, with whom he enjoyed a relationship for more than twenty years. Mark’s teachings clarify the profound passion and relevance of ancient wisdom to contemporary life.
Mark Whitwell has taught yoga for over four decades throughout the Americas, Asia, Europe, Australia, Fiji, and Aotearoa-New Zealand, and is the editor and contributor to TKV Desikachar’s book The Heart of Yoga.

Rosalind Atkinson

Rosalind works alongside her partner, Yoga teacher Mark Whitwell, helping make the practices of the Heart of Yoga available to people around the world. She is the founder of Silver Snake Press, an independent press dedicated to books that nurture the heart of humanity, and online magazine thedirt.media. Rosalind is custodian of the Heart of Yoga Ashram on Taveuni Island, Fiji, and Trustee of the Heart of Yoga Foundation, dedicated to making a Yoga education accessible to all.

She holds a Master’s degree in the illuminated mystic poetry of William Blake and has presented on Blake at conferences and events around the world. Previously she worked as an oceans activist on sailing ships; her activism now takes the form of sharing the tools of yoga, that help us each become intimate with our own life and capable of deep love and care for the earth and each other.

Mas Vidal (Maheshananda)

Yogi, mystic, and practitioner of Ayurveda, Mas has become one of the most influential yoga and Ayurveda teachers in the world and offers unique certification training programs throughout the USA, Mexico, Asia, and India. Mas enjoys teaching integral yoga classes, offering health and wellness lectures and giving workshops that embrace core Ayurvedic principles. His work is primarily influenced by the lineage-based traditions of India, with prominence to the teachings of Yogananda and Sivananda. In 2014 he appeared in the triumphant film “Awake, The Life Of Yogananda” and as an Ayurvedic practitioner, he maintains an active international counseling practice that includes yoga and Vedic astrology. He is the founder/director of Dancing Shiva Yoga Ayurveda, an international non-profit educational organization and center based in Southern California.

Govind Das

Govind Das (Ira Jeffrey Rosen) took his first meditation class in September 1993 at University of Maryland, which first awakened his love for the spiritual teachings of the East. While living in Los Angeles in 1994, due to health concerns (ulcerative colitis) he began to look for alternative ways of healing. After years of different practices (vinyasa yoga, ayurveda, buddhist meditation, etc), Ira Rosen found his yogic “home” in the path of Bhakti Yoga: the “yoga of the heart” or “the yoga of love and devotion”. It is in this tradition of “Bhakti/Devotion” where Ira was given his spiritual name- Govind Das, which means “servant of the Divine”… This path of service is at the root of his spiritual life- to serve the love and spirit that lives in the heart of all.

Dana Reece (Prempal Kaur), (she/her), Ph.D., E-RYT 500, YACEP, Director of Kundalini Studies at the Soul of Yoga

Dr. Reece has 30 years’ teaching experience and 20 years’ experience in meditation and the practice of inner alchemical and yogic techniques designed to develop and strengthen the energetic body and enhance intuition. Yogic areas of expertise include Death and Shadow work; Conscious Communication Techniques; Strategies for Deepening Intuition; and Sankalpa (“resolve” or “resolution”): the yogic method of setting goals or aspirations. She has completed leadership training with several masters of personal development, including Peter Drucker, Charles Givens, and Anthony Robbins. In addition to having taught hundreds of college classes as a college professor and Kundalini Yoga instructor, she has led and facilitated dozens of group meditations and workshops.

Dana Reece’s experience in these modalities combines compassion, humor, and heart-centered determination to move clients and students through self-imposed fears and limitations toward clarity and confidence to achieve their highest potential.

Gabriel Halpern

Gabriel holds a BA in Philosophy, an MA in Health Psychology, and was trained at the Iyengar Yoga Institutes in San Francisco and Pune, India. Gabriel has practiced since 1970 and gives workshops nationally. He founded the Yoga Circle in Chicago, IL in1985. For over twenty years he was a core performance faculty member at De Paul University’s Theater Department. In 2011, he was awarded the Elder/Mentor of the Year by the Mankind Project. Under his guidance, the Yoga Circle was voted the “best traditional hatha studio” by Chicago magazine in 2016. Owing to the direct influence of BKS Iyengar and over 48 years continuous study and practice Gabriel’s teaching is all that is yoga: zeal in practice, science, art form, lifestyle, and mystical mentoring.

Amanda Baird

Amanda has played an intricate role in encouraging others to utilize the power of Sound as an accessible healing modality. Referred to as the “Midwife of Sound Healing” education, her programs have reached thousands in the past decade. She was inspired to build a sound healing training program while working as a Critical Care/ER/Trauma Registered Nurse. In that role, she saw a great need for increased compassion, self-care and connection for her patients and fellow staff members. While working with hundreds of people in various healing settings like hospice, elementary schools, hospitals, jails, homeless shelters, and more, she witnessed how sound healing could help shift the sad to uplifted, the pained to relieved, the burnt-out to enlivened quickly, easily, and with consistent results. Amanda has worked with world renowned Sound Healers, Nurses, and Music Therapists and continues to lead the way for the future in wellness and medicine. Amanda is the co-creator and visionary for Sacred Sound of the Soul temples, located in Encinitas, Ca and Sedona, AZ and she is the Director/Founder of the Soul of Yoga Sound Institute.

Ryan Stanley

Ryan became an owner of the Soul of Yoga in early 2017, but has been dabbling in Yoga at the Soul since 2010. He has gained important learnings from his teachers Trisha Kelly, Tom Kelly, Flossie Park, and Monique Lonner, including participating in and becoming certified in Soul of Yoga’s Hatha teacher training program.

As an owner Ryan has had the opportunity to be exposed to many worldwide master teachers, but has connected the deepest so far with the teachings of Mark Whitwell’s Heart of Yoga personal practice. While he continues to work with his Soul of Yoga teachers, he has been working with Mark online and every time he visits the US. Ryan has experienced so many benefits from this simple practice he is inspired to share it with as many people as possible.

Jonathan Richard

Jonathan started his yoga journey in 2005, exploring meditation and basic asana. His passion for his practice, tapas, was rekindled when moving back to California in 2012 and has maintained a daily practice since. The universe lovingly led him to Lisette Hart’s Teacher Training through Roots and Wings, where his practice blossomed into a desire to teach. He strives to bring his passion for yoga into every class. Jonathan firmly believes that yoga is accessible to everyone, no matter what age or physical capability.

Whether through a strong vinyasa flow or a gentle restorative practice, Jonathan wants every one of his students to feel better leaving their practice than when they walked in; feeling free and open, both empowered and relaxed.

In addition, The Soul Institute 200 Hour Yoga Teacher Training is enriched by qualified visiting presenters who share their expertise.