Melissa mackey, 500 RYT, NOW School of Yoga Director and mentor

Melissa is a Portland-based yogi whose style includes Tantra Flow and Power Vinyasa, often intertwining the two. She fell in love with yoga over a decade ago after recognizing the challenges it presents and her willingness to overcome them. Through yoga, Melissa began the path to living a more authentic life informed by the teachings of her practice. In her classes and teachings, Melissa wishes to provide a space for her students to explore themselves through breath and movement to find that confident place within to truly radiate their essence.

Augusta Fishman, 500 rYT, Teacher and mentor

Augusta is the Founder of NOW Yoga who first came to her mat in 2002. It was not love at first practice, though, and she took a break for several years. Rediscovering yoga was a divine blessing for Augusta. Over the past years she has found that her practice has not only transformed her physical well-being, it has also enhanced her spiritual connection. The synchronicities of mind, body, and spirit keep Augusta coming back to her mat. Augusta enjoys teaching a challenging vinyasa flow that encourages students to move with their breath, build heat and strength while enjoying some play along the way. She believes that life is serious enough and that yoga shouldn’t be as well.

Lauren fields, 500 RYT, Anatomy & Physiology and mentor

Lauren began her yoga career in 2004 when she completed her first 200 hour yoga teacher training with Senior Iyengar Teacher Victor Oppenheimer through the Yandara Yoga Institute. From her first training she developed detailed knowledge of alignment in standing and supine postures. In 2010 she completed another 200 hour yoga teacher training where she studied linking postures together in the modern yoga style of vinyasa flow. In 2018, Lauren studied with Simon Borg-Olivier, creator of Yoga Synergy whose lineage includes Pattabhi Jois, BKS Iyengar, and Desikachar. Lauren has over 15 years of both practicing and teaching. She considers herself a forever student.

valerie starr, 500 e-RYT, Philosophy and mentor

To Valerie, yoga is about creating space and unraveling the tangles in our body and mind, bringing clarity to the things that get out of focus, and deepening the relationship with self. Yoga is being with the crazy, complicated, playful, and joyful aspects of ourselves and loving them all the same.

She is inspired in teaching by growth, challenge, and curiosity. Life is continually calling on us to listen and learn the way our bodies and practices change throughout our lifetime. She uses her personal practice to navigate her teaching. Valerie certainly wouldn't be here without the love and support of her amazing teachers Keith Borden, Jasmine Tarkeshi, Joy Ravelli, Jane Austin, Annie Carpenter, and my son, Everett.

Alesha Hanson, 500 RYT, the subtle body and mentor

Alesha has been practicing yoga for nearly two decades and has been teaching for over 15 years. She has thousands of hours of study and training under her belt and is passionate about sharing her learnings with her students. Creating space for her students to approach their practice with curiosity and a light and open heart is her highest priority when teaching. Alesha is deeply grateful for the wisdom imparted to her in all three of her 200hr teaching trainings and her 500hr teacher training. Trail running, outdoor activities, reading nonfiction, creating art, family time and deep reflection light her heart on fire but teaching yoga is one of her greatest joys of all time.

Galen T. Fairbanks, 500 RYT, trauma-informed Yoga and mentor

Galen believes that yoga should be accessible to all and that all yoga teachers should be trauma-informed. Since 2014, Galen has taught yoga in studios, gyms, outpatient facilities, and more; managed successful yoga studios; and graduated from serveral trauma-informed yoga teacher trainings. She is a lifelong student and shares yoga shapes, breathing techniques, meditations, and philosophy with the intention that students walk away with tools to feel good in their bodies and calm in their minds.

SAHAR YARJANI, LIVING YOGA OFF THE MAT

Sahar has been practicing yoga for over 12 years and has been a teacher since 2017. Born in Tehran, Iran and growing up in Vienna, Austria, Sahar moved to the United States in 2011 to earn her master’s degree in International Human Rights. They completed their yoga training in Vancouver, WA and have since continued their education, completing Living Yoga's trauma-informed teaching program, 100-hour Yin training, and delved deeper into restorative yoga, Nidra, and meditation. Yoga has had a powerful effect on Sahar's life and she hopes to bring that to her students, focusing on breathwork and intentional movement for mental health and our collective betterment.