I grew up in the industry of health and fitness, as my family owned and operated a fitness center for 17 years. Since 1995, I have instructed a variety of group exercise classes as well as worked with several clients in personal fitness training. I began pursuing formal yoga teacher training in 2000 and acquired a certification from the White Lotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, CA the following year. Since my initial certification, I’ve studied under a number of influential teachers and yoga disciplines that have encouraged me to explore and share the freedom of Self in a Vinyasa Flow environment. I’ve also been a licensed massage therapist since December, 2000. I completed my Bachelor of Science degree in Community Health Education at Portland State University in 2005. My years of experience bring insight to my instruction, which encourages anatomical and kinesthetic correctness, as well as personal awareness and growth.
I know yoga to be healing for others because of all it's done for me. Yoga found me during my late teens, a tumultuous time in my life. It is yoga—and the qualities of love, mercy and acceptance this practice inspires—that led me through a deep transformational process to find freedom from many limiting beliefs and patterns. My gifts as a teacher became evident through an Ana Forrest workshop in 2005 and led me to teacher training with Ana at the Forrest Yoga Institute. This deep work revealed my life path. I am generously rewarded by the improvement in the lives of my students. Within each student lies a vast wellspring of love and potential, and it is my job as a teacher to draw that out, regardless of age, experience or fitness. My classes blend rigorous poses and soothing adjustments. All that I do was a gift given to me—to give to you!
Nathan is a renowned teacher of yoga, healing movement and martial arts with over 14 years of teaching experience and over 30 years of practice. He inspires us to move thoughtfully, practice mindfully and to be present and aware with every brilliant breath our life has to give. You will be inspired by the way practicing with Nathan over time enhances your strength and abilities not just on a yoga mat—but in all facets of life. Born handicapped, Nathan was given the gift of yoga and movement as a child. These practices have continually healed Nathan through much adversity in the 40+ years he has been blessed to live on this amazing planet. His passion is to help inspire healing in others, and he works as a nutritional counselor and massage therapist when he’s not teaching movement classes. Nathan also loves to act and dance and travels periodically to perform in the occasional independent film.
As a Nia Black Belt, Yoga Teacher ERYT 500, YACEP, NASM Certified Private Trainer, MELT Instructor and Plant Based Nutrition Coach, I offer a unique and integrative approach to health and wellness. My work is supported by a belief that we all have an innate capacity to heal, find wholeness, and balanced health. When we live in harmony with our true nature we naturally increase our vitality. Through blending eastern and western disciplines, I create an environment where one can cultivate deep connections with themselves and find more aliveness, joy and meaning. Over the past 27 years, I have taught at the University level, led workshops, traveled nationally and internationally to deliver classes, seminars, retreats and week-long trainings.Through holistic modalities, my desire is to inspire people of all ages to move in their bodies playfully, lovingly and with awareness. I enjoy helping people reduce stress, feel more balanced, improve their well-being, and live more mindfully.
Rachel craves truth, purpose and happy places. In her professional career she’s benefited greatly from applying herself adventurously, working tirelessly to advance her organizations, and absorbing the brilliance of her colleagues, mentors and community. Interpersonal work is a deep focus. To balance her “day-job” Rachel began practicing hot yoga in Texas until she relocated to Portland in 2007. In 2010 she participated in numerous teacher training programs. She wants her yoga classes to be steady and FUN. You can expect varying highlights on the physical and the mental growth that happens naturally while practicing yoga shapes. This practice has supported Rachel through one transition after another, and she has so much gratitude for being able to share the possibilities of this tradition with you.
Rachel Hines received her Yoga Alliance Teacher Certification at Yoga Effects, in New York in 2007. For many years she trained in the classic Hatha tradition, and then in Vinyasa, Power Vinyasa, and Restorative Yoga. Regardless of the type of class, her style centers around an authentic and conscious experience. Mindfulness, moderation, and the coordination of breath and movement are key principles in both her teaching and personal practice alike. The sequence of poses is considered for the best anatomical openings and the most meditative practice. Along with yoga, Rachel practices authentic movement, dancing, swimming, walking her dog, art making, and teaches art at Portland State University.
Tina is a registered Yoga Teacher, certified MELT Method Instructor, certified Personal Trainer, and a Functional Core Specialist. She uses her multi-faceted training to teach classes that challenge the mind and body of the student. Over 12 years, Tina has guided countless hours of inspired Vinyasa, Yin, pilates, foam roller, strength and therapeutic classes that encourage students to develop and enrich their practice. Tina uses her training to calm and clear the mind through alignment, awareness, breath, and movement. Her Les Mills CX WORX certification informs her pilates, strength and foam rolling classes, focusing on the torso and sling muscles that connect your upper body to your lower body, to improve functional strength and assist in injury prevention. Tina’s approach represents the yin and yang of Eastern practices: students are guided to their highest levels through creative, flowing sequences -- harmonized with healthy physical alignment, and supported by yoga philosophy and anatomical knowledge.
Yoga became a practice for me before I knew what it was. For as long as I can remember I have always honored the awareness of breath, quieted my busy mind, found peace through life’s difficulties, stillness amongst the noise, and enjoyed putting my body into shapes that felt good. During my first savasana I fell in love. In that moment my passion ignited and I made the decision to commit my heart to the practice. Dedicated student, passionate teacher and educator—it is my honor to help others by providing a loving, safe, and inspiring space for you to blossom your practice day to day. I create mindful movements with meditations that fosters growth and transformation for whatever you may seek. My intention is to create more balance in your practice by uniting body, mind and breath as you open yourself towards the beautiful light within your heart.
Integrating trauma informed care with an undergraduate education in psychology and social behavior, and a Masters of Science degree in Nutrition, Samantha aims to provide a healing and empowering practice to students of all experience levels. Samantha has guest lectured at several universities, is an advocate for queer and underserved communities, and aspires to bring awareness to anxiety, depression, PTSD, and cognitive health. Samantha emphasizes accessibility by encouraging participants to connect movement, breath, and mindfulness in order to feel authentic, present, and strong. Through hatha, vinyasa and restorative yoga, Samantha accommodates students by demonstrating multiple variations to honor an inclusive practice that feels safe and supportive to people of differing abilities. When not teaching yoga, Samantha enjoys a full-time job of educating clients about nutrition, teaching food accessibility to graduate students, sharing herbalism knowledge, creating music, and making puns.
A lifelong ballerina, Jeannette first started yoga when she had trouble finding adult ballet classes. Her second yoga class left her feeling like she “was flying on a unicorn with wings.” After that – she was hooked. Jeannette started teaching restorative yoga as a way to work with a family member with limited mobility and found herself branching into many other areas of teaching over the years – including hatha and vinyasa, to working with kids and even bringing yoga into prisons. Teaching yoga has been a humbling, rewarding and sanity-maintaining experience through many years of grad school. Even after racking up a pile of degrees, she can't imagine a life without teaching! Sharing the practices that have helped reduce stress and instill a mindset of self-compassion and acceptance, in her own life, is what she loves most and aspires to bring to every class.
I came upon my first Kripalu yoga class while I was living in Barcelona. I was hyper-competitive and chronically overwhelmed by fast-paced city life. Attending that class gave me the opportunity to disconnect and decompress, settle into being me without an expectation. As Kripalu means “compassion” in Sanskrit, the classes encouraged me to be kinder to my body and listen to it, which resulted in an overall increase in self-awareness and well-being. I sought out Kripalu for my teacher training because it’s a modality that is student-centered. It can be amped up or brought down, depending on where you are at that moment. Yoga has been my reset button for more than a decade. My classes offer a gratifying union of lively exercise and relaxing meditation. They promote curiosity, while focusing on helping students learn awareness around asana structure, alignment and multi-dimensional benefits. I enjoy motivating my students to play with the edges of their perceived limits.
Yoga has transformed my life in countless ways. I desire to share the practice with others, to experience the union between ourselves and the divine, ultimately awakening to our infinite potential. Movement is at the core of my existence. Trained in classical ballet, modern, jazz and West African dance from a very young age, I then found yoga and fell in love with the practice. After completing several trainings under the guidance of my teachers, Lee Bear Tobin and Lara Lorraine Perry, I am registered through Yoga Alliance at the 700-hour level. I am also a licensed and practicing massage therapist, and this insight into the body helps me understand how we move on our yoga mats. My classes are dynamic, free flowing, filled with creative sequencing and appropriate for all practitioners. I aim to facilitate a sacred space of thoughtful exploration as we move with our breath through the shapes of yoga.
“What do you want your health for?” I have worked both in conventional and integrative healthcare settings and found yoga and nutrition to be crucial practices to achieving your answer. It is my mission to make a structurally sound yoga practice and nutrient-dense diet more accessible. I am an Experienced Registered Yoga Teacher-500 (E-RYT 500), Nutritional Therapy Practitioner (NTP), and carry a Master of Science (MSc) in Integrative Medicine Research. I have worked as a yoga instructor, nutritionist, and health researcher for over 10 years at the NIH, OHSU, and other health centers locally and internationally, including as a Peace Corps Health Volunteer in Perú. I studied Kripalu and traditional Hatha yoga in the US and India and have advanced training in yoga therapy, kinesiology, and ergonomics. I lead an evidence-informed practice: I love melding science with the philosophy of being, and personalizing the experience to the individual. Every class I lead will feature a different topic to help grow your personal practice or sadhana.
After years providing manual therapy to hospice patients – my body started to wear out. I took some time off to study Yin Yoga, which helped soothe all the tendinitis and repetitive stress I accumulated in my body after years of hospice work. I’ve completed certification programs in Structural Yoga Therapy, Teacher Training through Core Pore Yoga and I also graduated from the Chicago School of Massage Therapy with 1000+ hours of education in medical massage therapy and sports massage. I do what I do to remind people that they are important. I am grateful to be able to watch class after class of students explore their bodies, explore their breath, relax and become more mindful and strong. I'm always looking for the yoga in things. I believe that yoga really begins once a student has let go of expectations, traditions, habits and distractions and let themselves to be wholly present in their bodies, free to create their own yoga based on doing what feels good.
Tessa has been studying Yoga under the tutelage of, Rosie Acosta, since May of 2016. She acquired her yoga teaching certification in October 2016 through Yoga Works. Tessa has been practicing yoga since 2002 and has dabbled in several varieties of yoga; Vinyasa, Bikram, Yin, Kundalini, Hatha, Pranayama, Mantra, and Meditation.
Tessa is passionate about using yoga as a vehicle to heal and attune oneself to a deeper level of self-understanding. She loves to infuse her classes with music, essential oil, and loving hands on adjustments to ensure that students leave the mat with a feeling of peace and purpose. She strongly believes that showing others the way to themselves through yoga is her duty in life. We all have this innate gift of being able to tap into our heart space, to be still listen and receive the medicine of life, sometimes all we need is a reminder and the space held for us.
Sarasvati began dancing at the age of 3 and played all types of sports growing up. At the age of 16, I took Vocational Medical Science and begin studying college level anatomy and physiology. She took my first yoga class at age 19 and studied with Ki McGraw and Bob Smith at the Hatha Yoga Center in Seattle Washington.
After having 2 children and co-owning a busy Portland studio, her stress drew her toward neurobiology. Robert Sapolsky's National Geographic documentary, Stress, changed her life. For years she spent my nights up memorizing Sapolsky's lecture information on neuroendocrinology from Stanford University. Sarasvati studied Interpersonal Neurobiology at Portland State University and also studied the neuroscience of yoga and trauma at Kripalu with Harvard Psychologist, Dr. Jim Hopper.
She has been teaching 14 years & I have spent the last 5 years focusing on mental health, gut/digestive, sleep and their connection to yoga and meditation. Sarasvati teaches regular classes at Root as well as teaches workshops, TT sections and international retreats about Sleep, Neurobiology, Anxiety and Depression, PTSD, Yin Yoga, Yoga Nidra, the Chakras and more.
Patrick’s yoga practice is derived from and oriented to bony and muscular anatomy. His clinical work as a Doctor of Physical Therapy at Kwan Yin Healing Arts Center East and his upbringing as a collegiate baseball athlete guides his approach to the body. His knowledge is complimented by his service at the University of Portland as a human anatomy instructor, a job he loves. Regular yoga classes will include steady, therapeutic, and strength-building flows in weight-bearing through the legs and arms while also emphasizing range of motion of the shoulders, knees, hips, and spine. This class will be beneficial for recreational movers and athletes alike. Pat believes in the unification of science and spirit in language, art, and practice. He wants to thank Michael McMahon of Portland’s Moving Mountain Institute for an ongoing collaboration that deepens a creative appreciation for connective anatomy and the art of healing. The apprenticeship and friendship of David McHenry of the Oregon Project has also supported Pat’s understanding of biomechanics and orthopedic evaluation, for which he is grateful. Lastly, he feels so fortunate to continually have the opportunity to study with Sarah Robinette, a student and ambassador of the teachings of B.K.S. Iyengar.
