MA, RYT 200, CERTIFIED QIGONG PRACTICE GROUP LEADER (HE/HIM)

Seth holds a MA in Spiritual Formation & Leadership and a BA in Philosophy & Religion. He is currently in Svalja’s 300 hour YTT with anticipated graduation in 2026. He is a Certified Qigong Practice Group Leader through Spring Forest Qigong. Seth is also a Rule 114 Facilitative Mediator through the Conflict Resolution Center.

Seth is the Executive Director of Damiano Center and works with people experiencing housing insecurity, poverty and all that comes with these realities.

R.N.,M.S., RYT 200 (SHE, HER)

Karen received her BSN in 1985 and a Masters Degree in Science in Exercise Physiology in 1992.

After working as nurse for 25 yrs., Karen decided she wanted to make teaching fitness and movement a bigger part of her life.  Karen became a Stott Certified Pilates Instructor in 2004 and completed the RYT 200 training at Yoga North in 2015, PiYO Live certification in 2017 and most recently completed a Trauma-Informed Yoga for Youth training. 

Karen has taught and continues to teach a variety of group fitness classes including PiYO, Pilates, Step-Pump, HIIT and Circuit training.  She also teaches yoga at Amberwing for the outpatient treatment program for at risk youth.

Karen enjoys adventure traveling, hiking, backpacking, running, tennis, cooking and eating delicious food.

RYT 200, YIN CERTIFICATE (SHE, HER)

Kate brings 20+ years of yoga and fitness experience to her classes. A professional actor, singer, director, and educator, she now counsels executives on career strategy for a boutique firm in Duluth, MN. Kate’s enthusiasm for mindfullness, health, and wellness ranges from studying kettlebells with a former KGB trainee in NYC to Keening, the vocal art, and practice, of mourning the dead. She has studied yoga around the world and once “whirled with dervishes.”

Kate teaches with energy and athleticism. She is also passionate about the benefits of a Yin Practice for all movers and shakers. You can expect an encouraging and inclusive class, creating a connected practice at every experience level. She is also an avid runner, community builder, and bonafide Shakespeare nerd.

AMERICAN COUNCIL OF EXERCISE CERTIFIED FITNESS INSTRUCTOR (SHE, HER)

Jubliee has been a certified fitness professional for over 7 years, however her journey began many years earlier. Since she was a young girl, she understood that her love of movement was a gift that God had blessed her with. Whether it be dancing, cheer or running, movement has always filled her with both giddy excitement and peace. Sharing the experience of movement with others has proved to be yet another gift in her life.

(HE, HIM)

At the very core of his being, Ed is a storyteller, spirit doula, and healer whose practice and teaching is rooted in curiosity, love, joyful learning with others, and his own journey with healing and spirit reconnection. With a background in violence prevention and peacemaking, Ed’s daily work focuses on nourishing individual and community connection to spirit, healing, and wholeness as a pathway to thriving for future generations–and ourselves.  Ed (Koshin) Heisler was Ordained as a Rinzai Zen Priest in Anko-in, an Independent Branch Temple of Chozen-ji by Norma Ryuko Kawelokū Wong Roshi in 2022.  He loves learning and sharing spirit and wholeness practices with others.  Ed’s core practices include Zazen (meditation), Kado (flower arrangement), Ten Step Tai Ji, Okyo (Chanting), Shodo (Calligraphy), Reiki, and everyday storytelling that connects the depths of our wisdom, ancestors, and spirit.   

MA, MSW, E-RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Sarah Mangan grew up loving the freedom of movement she experienced in gymnastics and dance, but her yoga journey didn’t begin until 2008. As a social work graduate student, she sought ways to destress and tried hot yoga with a friend. She was surprised by the challenge of coordinating breath and movement but excited to reconnect with familiar physical expressions. After moving back to Minnesota in 2010, she found a home studio and a daily practice. She says, "Yoga has become my anchor—a space to explore, study, heal, and grow. The path of yoga is my guiding force."

Inspired by yoga’s transformative power in her own life, Sarah completed her 200-hour YTT at Muselan in Chanhassen, MN, in 2012 and has been teaching ever since. She shares yoga in studios, classrooms, backyards, and online, believing it’s for everyone, from little ones to elders. While she teaches a variety of classes, she especially loves guiding restorative and yin yoga to help people unwind. She believes in yoga’s cumulative effect—each effort to show up, breathe, and practice together leads to transformation. In connecting with ourselves, we can rest in our true nature—and we are free

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RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Sarah Gardner has practiced yoga since she was a small child. In addition to her 200 hour RYT, she has certifications in Yin, Restorative, Trauma Conscious, and a Masters degree in physical theater. Sarah has taught yoga, knitting, and theater in Idaho, Pennsylvania, and now, Minnesota. She's on a mission to rest more, do less, and listen to her body and intuition with intention.

E-RYT200, LMT (SHE, HER)

Yoga has been a guiding force in Emily’s life for 15 years. With over 1,500 hours of teaching experience, she is an E-200 RYT certified instructor through Yoga Alliance. She completed her training at the Sivananda Kutir Ashram in India in 2011 and has since studied with renowned teachers worldwide. Emily’s teaching emphasizes biomechanically sound movement, creative flows, pranayama, and laughter. Energetic yet down-to-earth, her passion for yoga is evident from the start.

She holds a BA in Fine Arts from Northwestern State University of Louisiana and is a Licensed Massage Therapist specializing in Myofascial Release, Traditional Ashiatsu, and Thai Bodywork. She has worked at Muggymoose Massage & Thai Bodywork since 2016.

Born in Venezuela and raised in Louisiana, Emily traveled extensively before settling on the shores of Lake Superior in 2008. She enjoys hiking with her Border Collie, Niko, as well as creating, cooking, singing, and dancing—embracing life with compassion and gratitude, one day at a time.

RYT 200 (SHE, HER)

Savannah has practiced yoga for over 15 years, and graduated from Svalja's House of the Gathering Yoga School in 2023. She grew up here in Duluth and developed a strong connection to Lake Superior and the nature that surrounds us. She is a descendant of the Lac Courte Oreilles tribe and has found growth, healing, and understanding through reconnecting to her Ojibwe heritage. Yoga, and more specifically trauma conscious yoga, has been another significant factor in Savannah's personal healing as a trauma survivor, and she guides yoga through a gentle, compassionate, trauma conscious lens. 

Savannah has always worked within human services. From disability services to domestic violence advocacy, she has most recently joined the YWCA as director of their young mother's transitional housing program. She hopes to venture into death work in the not-so-far future as well, having felt called to this work in recent years, specifically as a death doula.

With her free time she enjoys being with her family and friends, being an auntie, reading, writing poetry, music, dancing, traveling, cooking, and snuggling up with her cat, Violet.

(SHE, HER)

Krista loves creating opportunities for children to connect with their own true, beautiful essence and providing tools for the expression of self.  Through her years of working in education, she has witnessed the power and life that young people will harness for positive interaction with themselves and their communities, creating a ripple of life and love.

Krista has found Qigong as a powerful practice for healing and spiritual development within her own life journey.  Krista’s relationship with nature in all its forms has also been an integral part of her life path and has provided her with experiences of grounding, healing, peace and love that are essential to her daily life. 

Krista  holds a MA in Education/Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, is a certified Qigong practice group leader through Spring Forest Qigong, and is certified in Trauma Conscious Yoga.

MS, LPCC, RYT-200 (WE/US/SHE/HER), TRAUMA CONSCIOUS YOGA CERTIFIED

Melly is a licensed mental health therapist, specializing in resiliency and post-trauma wisdom, unwinding mental wellness from a system rooted in colonialism and oppression. She completed the 250 hour Trauma Conscious YTT with Cohort 5 in 2022, and has additional training in Yin and Ayurveda. She lives on the shore with her menagerie of four legged friends, and teaches TC yoga on Mondays.

LMT, NMT, MYOFASCIAL RELEASE THERAPIST, RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Kristy Marie is a yoga guide at Svälja Whole-Being and an instructor for its 250 Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program. She also leads Kirtan, a musical and devotional practice. She began practicing yoga 20 years ago and was in the first cohort of House of the Gathering Yoga School, which was Svälja’s first incarnation of the YTT program.  Kristy Marie also has a full-time massage and myofascial release practice in Duluth, established 13 years ago.

Having lived in Hawaii for four formative years, Kristy immersed herself in diverse spiritual paths and teachers, eventually being initiated as a Sufi in 2005. She combines mantras from sacred traditions in her Bhakti yoga practice, Kirtan, to raise virtues and purify the mind.

For the past 9 years, Kristy has studied Myofascial Release with John Barnes, deepening her understanding of fascia's impact on both body and mind. She incorporates this into her massage and yoga practices, co-leading the fascia workshop in YTT.

Kristy has also explored death and dying for over 20 years, guided by the mantra, “you have to learn how to die before you can live." She has studied with spiritual leaders like Ram Das and Jerry Grace Lyons and has led workshops on the deeper meanings of the corpse pose for YTT students.

RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Anissa is an alumnus from Cohort 3 of Svälja’s House of the Gathering Yoga School. Yoga has been a lifelong intrigue of Anissa’s via books and DVDs since grade school. In 2012 she attended her first in person yoga class at the University of Wisconsin Superior. Anissa’s personal practice really took root in 2016 to heal and prevent injury while training for Grandma’s marathon. Yoga has been an integral part of Anissa’s days ever since. In early 2020, she earned several certifications in yoga trapeze, breath coaching, and gravity yoga. Anissa earned her 250-hour trauma conscious teaching certificate in the House of the Gathering Yoga School’s trauma conscious program graduating in November 2020. Completing the HGYS program opened many doors and has led to a dedication to learning and continued study. She is currently studying and working on a 300-hour training with Authentic Movements.

Anissa is originally from central Wisconsin but is a twin ports transplant and has made Duluth her home. In her free time, she can be found running, crafting, DIYing projects around the house, and hanging out with her dog.

LCSW RYT-200 (SHE, HER)

Susan moved to Duluth in 2021 from the Chicagoland area to be closer to her son and his family. A Licensed Clinical Social Worker and former director of a community family social work program, she is also a Registered Yoga Teacher specializing in restorative yoga and yoga nidra with sound healing at Total Body Yoga. Susan’s training includes 200-hour YTT, Yogi Sprouts Kid’s Yoga, Divine Sleep Yoga Nidra, Sound Healing, Restorative Yoga, Trauma Conscious Yoga, and Mindfulness Meditation. She is currently enrolled in 75-hour Yoga 4 Cancer training.

Susan teaches Yoga Nidra at Svälja, Gentle Yoga at St. Luke’s Hospital, and Preschool yoga, as well as leading Mindfulness Meditation and Yoga Nidra via Zoom. Outside of work, she enjoys time with her grandchildren, hiking, traveling, gardening, cooking, knitting, and other yoga practices. Her passion is guiding Yoga Nidra, using crystal bowls, chimes, and bells for deep healing. She invites participants to explore the five koshas—the physical, energy-breath, emotional, wisdom, and bliss bodies.

Susan explains that Yoga Nidra is a guided meditation where participants may experience different levels of consciousness. It requires no yoga poses, and one hour is equivalent to 2-3 hours of deep sleep. Yoga Nidra helps improve sleep, reduce anxiety and depression, lower blood pressure, and enhance overall well-being. She loves seeing participants feel clear-headed and sleep better afterward.

RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Melissa has experienced healing and growth through the practice of yoga for over twenty years.  In 2022, she enhanced her knowledge and skill by completing the 250-hour Trauma Conscious Yoga Teacher Training through Svälja Whole-Being. Melissa is also trained and certified in Yin Yoga and Applied Anatomy & Mindful Adjustments.

Melissa is passionate about building community and engaging in creative work through writing and other modalities. As a yoga guide, Melissa is dedicated to providing a safe and inclusive environment for all.

(SHE, HER)

Lisa recently finished two years study with Tara Brach and Jack Kornfield’s Mindfulness Meditation Teacher Certification Program. She’s also trained in soma yoga and is an artist, writer and retired modern dancer.

RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Trained at Kripalu Center for Yoga and Health in Stockbridge, MA, Julie guides in the style of Kripalu, an asana practice that weaves moving meditation with pranayam, encouraging inward focus and connection of body, mind, and spirit.

With 20+ years of a personal practice and 10+ years of guiding others, Julie knows the importance of meeting the body where it is in each moment, empowering practitioners to approach the practice at a level that is appropriate for them.

Julie’s philosophy is that we all have an inner guru that we understand through our breath and sensations in our body and that we can access immense knowledge with a sweet balance of effort and ease, coupled with kindness and compassion.

“I am deeply grateful for the loving wisdom and meaningful lessons my teachers have shared with me throughout the years. I continue to be a student and am honored to be your guide.” ~Julie

RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Yvonne completed her training through Sutra Seekers/Runa Yoga in May 2022.  She has also completed training in 5 Elements Yoga Practice (Janet Stone Yoga, July 2022), Yin Yoga Training (Svälja Yoga, November 2022), and will complete Trauma-Conscious Yoga Training through Svälja Yoga in March 2023.

Prior to training in yoga, she worked 20 years as a writing teacher, guiding students as they explored creative expression and discovered—or uncovered—their voice. She brings that same philosophy to yoga, providing a safe and supportive (and hopefully fun and casual) environment as students explore movement, breath, and presence.

Yvonne is particularly drawn to yoga that fosters connection to the outdoors, explores creative movement in nature, and deepens our respect and reverence for the natural world and our place within it.

RYT200 (SHE, HER)

Abigail experienced the transformational power of yoga during a period of change and uncertainty in her life. Since then, yoga has been a grounding and healing practice for her. Yoga taught Abigail how to cultivate inner resilience and learn about her body's abilities and limitations. In 2021, Abigail graduated from Svalja Yoga’s HGYS YTT. To Abigail, teaching yoga is about helping others find healing and peace.

Abigail loves to be in nature and enjoys gardening, hiking, kayaking, rock climbing, and camping. Her other hobbies include crochet, reading, and vegan cooking. Recently she has been cherishing time with her new baby girl.

RYT-200 (SHE, THEY)

Keera is a queer, neuro-spicy certified Trauma-Conscious Instructor who loves to work with LGBTQIA2S+, ENM, and neurodivergent folks and those in alternative circles. She is also a certified cuddle therapist, reiki master/bodyworker, and Sacred Counsel Guide through Indwelling and her own business BeHeld. Her goal is to make each class feel like participants belong and that all of their being is welcome. 

Her classes encourage participants to fully sink into their bodies, to be present with the vessel that carries them through their lives, and to embrace their wholeness - even the messy parts. She joyfully guides yin and embodied flow classes with relaxing guided meditation. Participants can expect warm acceptance for wherever they're at, soothing focus on the breath, deep awareness of the different sensations that come up, and beginner-level movement that is often gentle and accessible.