Shannon’s yoga journey began during the hot Summer months of 2003. Her love for Bikram Yoga accelerated the undeniable calling to become an instructor. She completed a 500 HR Bikram Yoga Teacher Training a year later to begin the process of pursuing her wildest dream of bringing yoga to her most cherished community-The Dalles.
In 2008 Shannon went on to open The Dalles' first and only all yoga studio, Pure Yoga The Dalles, and a second location, Pure Yoga Hood River in 2015-still today's only hot yoga studios in The Gorge. While she loved teaching the Bikram method for over 5 years, her life took a dramatic shift in 2009 opening her up to a deepened awareness far beyond the boundariesu of Bikram Yoga. This led Shannon to embark on and complete Teacher Trainings in Vinyasa, Yin, Buti Level 1 & 2, Paddle board Yoga, Acro Yoga, Imagination Yoga for Kids, 200 HR Yoga and Social Justice Teacher Training & Trauma Informed Brain Sensitive Yoga Teacher Training, and most recently a 300 HR training w/ Yahweh Yoga.
The combination of faith and the practice of yoga continually shows Shannon that NOTHING IS IMPOSSIBLE on and off the mat. More than anything she relishes in the opportunity to share this with you, holding space for endless possibilities comes naturally! Today she feels extremely blessed to enjoy serving throughout her community. From sharing the powerful benefits of yoga in the local jail with adult and juvenile inmates, on the Google Campus, in elementary schools, or at the local assisted living center, this movement reveals its diverse capacity for transformation with no limits to our magnificently designed bodies, minds, hearts, souls and spirits! Her classes are rooted in individual wise alignment, humor, inspiration, and reality.
When she's not in the studios you may find her running, salsa dancing, or her personal favorite-out on the 40 acre land where she developed and birthed her 200 HR Yoga Teacher Trainings with her husband, their son and new baby on the way!
“We can never “find” the time for self-care. This quality is one we reserve time for when we arrive at the realization that we are worthy and important enough to live our best life as our best self. You are worthy-You are enough!” ~Shannon Red Cloud
LISA MARIE
Lisa began a regular Bikram practice in the winter of 2012, and realized almost immediately that she wanted to be a teacher. She just kept on hearing her own voice in her head saying things like “Now, if you drop your right hand down, you might feel your heel, just waiting there for you!†With the encouragement and support of a couple of awesome teachers (and financial support from her Mom, who immediately saw that this was a good investment), She gave up her apartment, her cats, and her previous life in Portland and went off to teacher training in the fall of 2012. Don't worry, she found a great home for the kitties with one of the aforementioned teachers! Lisa Marie also attended Bernie Clark Yin Teacher Training in the summer of 2016, and has accumulated over 1000 hours of education to date.
Her practice keeps her challenged and provides a quiet place in her brain, two things she believes are key to feeling youthful and staying sane in a loud and frenetic world. It teaches her patience with herself and others, and that all things are yoga: related and a work in progress. A bonus is that her family likes her much better since she started a Bikram practice - She is sober, much more calm and less anxious in general, and she even quit smoking the day before training, never to smoke again.
Lisa Marie loves teaching! The little “ah HA!†here and there, that look on a student's face the first time they get both hands up in toe stand, and the shining happy faces after class... Teaching has given her faith in and hope for humanity: just watching people come in and try to better themselves, the hard and honest way, one day at a time, is so inspiring! She really tries to be the best teacher she can be, and is always seeking to expand her knowledge so that she can share it with her students.
When she is not teaching, Lisa can often be found... Practicing! Oh, wait, besides yoga related activities, she is usually sewing something beautiful in her school bus, Grace, where she lives and works part time. Opulent and cozy, Lisa did most of the conversion herself, though she couldn't have done it without help from a few friends! Someday, she'll move to the country and build a little cob hot yoga studio and heat it with a rocket mass heater. Then, her friends will have a place to get their yoga on when they come to step away from the hustle and bustle for a while!
VICTORIA WILLIAMS
A lawyer-turned-yoga teacher, Victoria began practicing yoga to find relief from the stresses of her former career, and her practice developed from a cherished outlet to a passionate calling. Victoria completed teacher training with Eoin Finn Yoga + Blissology in British Columbia. Her classes balance focus and flow, combining detailed alignment instruction with a thoughtful, fluid practice designed to awaken the power of the breath and the inner stillness of the mind. As a nature lover, Victoria is grateful to live in the Gorge and draws daily inspiration for her practice and teaching from its beauty.
SARAH SMEBY
Sarah has been practicing yoga for the better part of 20 years. As a self-described “dabbler” until her mid-20s, she loved yoga for the physical benefits. It wasn’t until she developed a consistent practice about 10 years ago that she started to understand the positive impact yoga can have on all aspects of life.
Sarah loves to incorporate a strong asana practice as a support system for an active lifestyle. As an avid snowboarder, mountain biker, and marathon runner, yoga is an integral part in keeping her body healthy and feeling good
As a new mom, she uses pranayama and meditation to stay centered and present for her family. Sarah’s classes focus on alignment based asana, as well as incorporating breath, meditation, and yogic philosophy.
She has trained with John Ogilvie at the Byron Yoga Centre in Byron Bay, and is a registered yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance.
KATIE MIDDEL
Katie grew up practicing gymnastics, yoga, and dance. She was inspired by her brother and mother, who are also yoga instructors, to delve deeper into her yoga practice. Katie decided she wanted to teach yoga when she was a Sophomore in college, while she was also studying journalism and business at Colorado State University.
She received her 200 hour Power Yoga certificate in May 2017 at CorePower Yoga in Fort Collins. Katie wants to spread her love for yoga and promote a healthy lifestyle to the younger community. She believes that a healthy mind and body is the recipe for a happy life, no matter your age.
When she is not practicing yoga, you may find Katie kiteboarding, hiking in the beautiful Columbia River Gorge, or reading a good romance novel. Katie plans on continuing her yoga education later on in life, and hopes she changes the way people look at their lives; on and off the mat.
Casey Smith
Casey began her yoga practice in 2009 in Manhattan Beach, CA. She grew up in Houston, TX, and spent most of her life as a dancer.
After graduating from Cornell University with an engineering degree, she moved to California for work and gave up dancing. Looking for a new activity to replace dance, she began taking Bikram yoga classes. After a few years of being an avid Bikram practitioner, Casey began exploring other types of yoga. She immediately developed a passion for Vinyasa because of the powerful mind-body connection it cultivates and has been following this passion ever since.
Casey completed an RYT 200 certification from the Mukti Yoga School in 2017. A few months later, she quit her job as an aerospace engineer and moved to Hood River. She is so happy to be residing in Hood River and intends to share her love of yoga with the community.
Casey teaches mainly Vinyasa flow classes, focusing on alignment, breath + body connection, and dynamic sequencing.
Jack Kaady
Jack started practicing yoga in 2007 as a way to decompress from a stressful job in high tech and stay in shape between taking various outdoor gorge sessions. He began his practice in Hood River in a Bikram yoga class. From there he soon made his way to a Vinyasa class.
That style resonated with him and a few years later he found “yoga mecca” through Journey into Power (JIP), a style developed by Baron Baptiste and sometimes taught in a 90-95 degree studio. This practice takes its inspiration from the Ashtanga, Bikram and Iyengar styles of yoga.
Jack has been studying to improve his practice and knowledge of yoga ever since by taking various courses from the Baptiste Institute and Baptiste Affiliated studios.
He recently completed his 200 hour teacher training in Bend. Before that he took Level 1 and Personal Revolution from Baron Baptiste in Sedona and Tulum. In Tulum, he didn’t practice hot yoga, he practiced yoga, and it was hot!
Most of all in this journey, Jack realizes the importance of yoga not only as a physical practice (asana) but what it offers through meditation and inquiry. His class will offer his students a vigorous practice, but allow for modifications and suggested alignment to make this practice accessible to everyone who is willing to go on this satisfying and invigorating journey. He looks forward to seeing you in class soon!
Angela Hanson
Angela began practicing yoga in 2003 after her daughter was born. In a new town and not knowing anyone in her community, her home practice was her rock.
She befriended a local studio owner, but because Angela was lacking self-awareness, self- confidence and fearlessness, she kept her practice at home.
One day that friend who owned a local studio, convinced her to try the free local class. Back corner, she attended and her life was changed.
Finding community, support and love inside a studio, Angela found self-awareness, self- confidence and endless fearlessness.
She found she wanted to offer that experience to others. Share. Cultivate.
So from home, to back row student, to teacher. Her journey grows as any and every yoga practice does.
She is now beyond grateful to the friend and teacher, and the entire community that is the Pure Yoga studio, that helped her learn that she was more, could be everything and offer her experiences to share with others for their own growth.
Ginny Thomson
Ginny is a heart centered Yogini from Hood River, OR. She has shared and practiced yoga all around the Gorge now for over 10 years.
Ginny was trained and certified to teach yoga at the Sivananda Vedanta Yoga Academy in 2011. She teaches a variety of classical hatha, vinyasa and kundalini yoga. This incorporates breath work with body movement creating an incredible sense of being present with what is here now. " Yoga has become a way of healing and rejuvenating that I can count on. When I was a teenager I suffered with the inability to relax and just be myself.
When I found yoga or yoga found me it changed my life for the better. It was like a light switch came on. Suddenly I felt relaxed and could finally hear what my body was trying to tell me. This opened up doors and path ways of healing, and a healthy happiness I so long desired." She loves to share the practice of yoga with all of the beautiful, diverse students she feels so blessed to come into contact with.
Ginny creates an environment in which every moment feels new and fresh and you are free to open and heal as you need. She begins each class creating the energy of tranquility, moving into grounding, warming, strengthening, flying, and relaxing back into tranquility!
You will leave her class feeling refreshed,recharged,revitalized and loved! "See you in the ever present, Now, Namaste."
Chelsea Abbott
Chelsea starting yoga 5 years ago when she became pregnant with her first son and was looking for some relief from sciatic pain. Her midwife suggested yoga and she followed. She instantly saw the benefits it had on her physical comfort, letting go of unwanted anxiety and depression, and connecting with her higher self. It is also ideal for her traveling lifestyle, something to stay focused on wherever she is and all she needs is herself.
She did some training in her home state Utah and then finished her 200 hour yoga teacher training in Vinyasa through Pure Yoga. She trained while she was pregnant and became very in tune with practicing through pregnancy and postpartum. She believes very much that our bodies and spirits talk to us and tell us what we need in the moment if we just move and listen.
She lives with her husband and two boys between the U.S. and Beirut, Lebanon and where ever else they stop along the way.
The gorge being one of her favorite spots.
Grace Haessler
Although a native of Portland, Grace has been drawn to the gorge since childhood and finally moved here in 2014. Without a background in gymnastics, dance or even the ability to touch her toes, she explored yoga. Grace is drawn to the meditative nature of yoga and how the power of the breath opens the mind and body. Grace committed to a 200 hour Yoga Alliance Certification. In the fall of 2018, Grace completed the teacher training with a deep focus in alignment based Vinyasa.
Grace believes that yoga can be taken off the mat and she is motivated to help others find ways to incorporate yoga into their lives and communities. “In the beginning, yoga teaches a connection with the self. Later, the practice of yoga teaches about connection with others.”
Grace loves dairy-free ice cream, wildflowers, rivers, the color yellow and Miranda Lambert.
SAMANTHA WHITELY
Samantha has been practicing on the mat near and far since 2001. But, it was an ashtanga class in 2015 that really got her attention. Ashtanga was something she really liked and had to know more about. She knew so little about yoga until she began her research into ashtanga. A lineage practice, like ashtanga, is where you learn from an experienced teacher, whose been handed down the wisdom of the practice through the ages. Sam first started practicing at home using resources to connect her to an Ashtanga teacher. She ultimately had a daily practice beginning in 2016 and has continued on a yogic path studying and practicing what it means to live as a yogi and what it means to practice ashtanga.
Sharing her experiences in yoga has been a natural next step for Sam. Her 500 hour teacher training was in ashtanga traveling abroad, and it is her plan to routinely return and stay close to the source of yoga.
“Let yourself be silently drawn by the strange pull of what you really love. It will not lead you astray.” –Rumi.
If you see Samantha smiling on the mat, it’s an outward expression of gratefulness for all of her teachers and all of her experiences in yoga. It is Samantha’s true desire to return the same to others as best as she can.
Samantha teaches with patience and humor. You will likely find her next to you taking a yoga class and her favorite posture is laghu vajrasana (little thunderbolt in Sanskrit). Samantha is also trained and certified in Satyananda Yoga Nidra.
MARLO NIKKILA
Marlo first fell in love with yoga in a sweet Ashtanga studio when she lived in Canada. While she had never considered teaching yoga, when she saw a way to blend energy work and yoga together something was sparked within her. Marlo knew this was part of her path and something she would offer during her future healing retreats.
Fast forward to today, she has been teaching yoga in a unique and special way by blending Power Yoga, Trauma-Informed Yoga, Energy Medicine Yoga and Aroma Yoga, Healing Touch and Reiki.
Marlo’s intention in her yoga classes at Pure Yoga are to create a space where heavy burdens are lifted from your heart as resistance in your mind, body and heart melts away. She will hold the same energy of peace, love and magic as you enjoy your own mini-retreat on your mat.
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