Laurie Campbell
(Director of Breathe Yoga Teacher Training Program)

Laurie began her study of Ashtanga yoga in 1999. Her introduction to yoga was through a wise friend who thought it might be helpful to her while coping with her mother’s passing. That friend was right. Being an avid runner Laurie appreciated the physicality of the practice and the profound calming effects it had on her mind. Before long Laurie had established a strong daily practice under the gifted guidance of Ron Reid.

Throughout the years Laurie has continued to dedicate herself to the practice of learning. She has completed numerous workshops and teacher-training programs including; The Downward Dog Teacher Training, the Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty Teacher Training Intensive and a Teacher Training Intensive with Richard Freeman. Laurie continues to travel and self-study to expand her knowledge of the many styles and aspects of yoga.  Wisdom in this practice is infinite; physically, mentally, emotionally and spiritually.  Laurie considers herself blessed to have found this path and continues to be grateful for every step.

Tracey Currie

Tracey is a certified yoga teacher having taught full time for three years and has maintained a personal yoga practice for the past seven years. She brings to her practise and work a keen awareness of the body, its mechanics and the mind-body-breath connection that has been developed through years of training in figure skating and theatre performance. Tracey is also certified in the Lotus Palm method of Thai Yoga Massage. Tracey has recently become a student of tai chi chuan and vipassana meditation.

Christine has a long history as a 10 km and marathon runner. Several years ago she felt the need to increase her flexibility and became interested in yoga. After a few years as a casual practitioner, she decided to hang up her running shoes and devote her time exclusively to yoga. As her practice deepened, she began to experience profound changes in her values, priorities and realities. Yoga gave her the courage to leave her old world of climbing the corporate ladder and study to become a yoga instructor.

She brings to her teaching a deep understanding of body issues related to running and other aerobic activity. Christine uses her personal experience in working to realign and increase the range of motion in her own body and shares these insights with her students using a mix of alignment detail and flow.

Christine Felstead completed the teacher training program at Toronto's Downward Dog Yoga Centre and has attended workshops with leading ashtanga instructors including Richard Freeman, Chuck Miller and Maty Ezraty, Tim Miller, Niki Doane, Eddie Modestini, Hart Lazer and Shiva Rea.

Cristina Gonzales

Cristina’s love of yoga is rooted in dance. She has studied such diverse dance techniques as Afro-Cuban, break-dance, capoeira, flamenco, Graham, Limón and salsa as well as other movement disciplines such as Feldenkrais, Pilates, tai chi and yoga in several styles. Introduction to yoga led her to reevaluate dance technique and in 1995 she began to learn ashtanga from Diane Bruni and Ron Reid. Drawn to teaching, Cristina studied pedagogy and linguistics at U of T, earning her TESL Certificate. She completed the ashtanga teacher training at Downward Dog Yoga Centre in 2004.

Teig has been drawn to practice Ashtanga yoga for the past seven years and has taught for four of those. He delights in bringing a playful, inquisitive investigation to his classes. Studying with many teachers around the world has made him appreciate Ron Reid of the Downward Dog Yoga Centre all the more.

Teig is forever grateful to him for his ability to share so openly. The multitude of layers represented in the practice and how they are reflected in every aspect of our lives fascinates Teig. He would like to share this with you.

For three years Andrea has been a full time yoga teacher, teaching yoga to students both young and old in many environments – from the office to the beach.

Andrea provides a challenging, participatory, and fun environment that accepts the unique challenges and abilities of each individual. Alignment, flight, and flow are explored as one continues to study – independent minds of all bodies welcome!

Andrea holds a degree in philosophy, is a youth worker, and is an energetic healer. She believes that yoga is the most practical form of self inquiry and that the way that we handle challenges on the mat can empower the rest of our lives.

Susan Richardson

Susan first started exploring yoga in 1988, and has been practicing devotedly since 1996. She has studied with renowned teachers Geeta Iyengar, Manouso Manos, Marlene Mawhinney, and Mahyar Raz, and is certified through the Iyengar Association of Canada. Susan brings to her teaching a deep fascination with the science of anatomy, and the philosophy of classical yoga and Buddhism. She has more than 20 years experience in Buddha Dharma, and continues to work with Toni Packer and Tsultrim Allione.

Susan is passionately involved with the practice of yoga as an exploration of the inner world through inquiry and observation. She aims to help students experience yoga and meditation as a way of developing presence, clarity and wholeness.

"Yoga has been the strand that has tied the many aspects of my life together. Awareness of mind and body offers a freedom to open our selves up to the world around us and to experience it with clarity."

JP Tamblyn

In the Bhagavad-Gita, it is said that an individual who has practiced yoga in a past life is reborn into a family where meditation is practiced. (Chapter 6 : Line 42)

I had the good fortune to be born (or reborn) into such a family and have been quite happy to pick up where I left off last time around! My path has been blessed with kind, generous and exceptional teachers and I feel eternally grateful for the opportunity to do my part in passing along the gift of yoga to others. In my years of teaching I've brought yoga to senior citizens and high school students, corporate number crunchers and west coast surfers and all types of people in between.

There is no one whose quality of life could not be greatly benefited through the practice of yoga, and no one for whom the practice of yoga is inaccessible.

Peace, Love and Happiness to all !

Namaste

Maria was a very active youth and teenager disciplined in the Cecchetti method of ballet and UFAF style karate.  A few years later while in University working towards a BFA in Photography and a minor in Italian studies Maria started to miss the physicality of her youth and sought out a new discipline that was expressive but still offered the physical intensity she was accustomed to.  From her first Ashtanga class she was hooked on yoga and followed the Ashtanga sequence but stayed open to various Vinyasa teachers that were teaching in Buffalo where she was living at the time.  A few years later her primary Ashtanga teacher left Buffalo so Maria began traveling to Toronto to seek out new instruction.  Already a teacher in Buffalo where she began her path she wanted to be better informed on how to guide people through their challenges so she started teacher training at Downward Dog Yoga Center under the guidance of Ron Reid.   Maria has studied and gives thanks to many additional influences on her practice and teaching and continues to travel and seek out new sources of inspiration.