Brenda Wowk | Owner | Lole ambassador / All Levels and Advanced Levels

Is the proud founder of Kelowna Hot Yoga Studio. Brenda discovered Yoga in 2002 on a whim while at a Yoga retreat/juice fast in Portugal. Her teacher Frank sent her to India to live and learn from the masters for 4 months where a whole new world opened before her and she began to live through the discipline of Yoga. She has been practicing and studying yoga for over 10 years. Trained in Sivananda Hatha Yoga, Standard(Traditional) Hot and Power Vinyasa Flow Hot Yoga, Forrest yoga, Baptiste Power Vinyasa Flow Yoga, and Ashtanga Yoga, she is also a Reiki Practitioner and Personal Trainer. Brenda strives to inspire her students to deepen their connection with their bodies, enhance their strength as well as with their true selves - the part of the teaching that brings the most joy to her! She has studied and trained with renowned teachers Anna Forrest, Baron Baptiste, Lino Miele, Tracey Mann, and Kim Mcmullen. Brenda has had the honor of lulu ambassador. Brenda's class will leave the student feeling spiritually empowered and physically rejuvenated.

I view yoga as a powerful tool for inner transformation. As an athlete, I had incorporated practicing yoga for numerous years and found the benefits to be extremely rewarding, both mentally and physically.

 

Sara Summerfield | All Levels and Advanced Levels

Sara's Yoga journey began in 2003 when her sister inspired her to try Hot Yoga. She in turn inspired her husband and both were hooked from the very first Hot Yoga class. Her passion and love for Yoga was a new growth and inspiration; a journey that she gladly shares this with her students through her Yoga instruction. Sara’s students are inspired by her love for Yoga and the strong knowledge she shares. She has completed her Level 1 Yoga training with renowned teacher Baron Baptiste in New York and is certified with BCRPA Yoga Fit certification.

“Yoga is a place where i can find myself and help others do the same.”

 

Leeanna Hay | all levels and advanced levels

Leeanna has been practicing yoga for almost 15 years and became a certified instructor in 2005 through S.O.Y.A, South Okanagan Yoga Association. Leeanna has studied traditional Hatha, Vijnana and Ashatanga Yoga practice. She is an insightful and compassionate instructor whose classes will leave you feeling grounded and renewed.

Yoga is a light, which once lit, will never dim. The better your practice, the brighter the flame.
~ B.K.S. Iyengar

 

 

 

Suzie Doratti

In learning the bio mechanics of yoga -Suzie realized why she loves to practise - in two words - dura release:) That's the yummy feeling you get when you experience an unwinding of the tissues surrounding the brain and spine... The goal of both her practise and her teaching is to go deep inside the body, to a place of harmony with spirit, allowing a connection to be lit between the mind and the body. This is achieved in Forrest Yoga with longer holds in strong poses that stoke your energy fire and engage every body part, as well as deep, mindful breathing that keeps you in your body. Suzie enjoys giving hands-on assists, so if you are coming to her class let her know ahead of time if you prefer not to be touched. As a busy single mom and realtor, Suzie knows the importance of finding peaceful physical and mental nourishment amid a hectic lifestyle, and finds that when she's on her mat. She brings this love of yoga to her classes, and has a passion for working with injury or other physical limitations. Begginner through advanced students are welcome.

 

Rachel Scott

Rachel is an exuberant, compassionate, and meticulous yoga teacher living in Vancouver, BC. She began practicing in 1998 and fell in love with yoga's capacity to heal, nurture, and transform the body and the mind. Continually advancing her studies, she has earned 500-hour level certifications from both ISHTA and Yoga Works (both YA recognized) and studied Restorative, Ashtanga, Anusara, Iyengar, and Therapeutics. A teacher trainer in the US and Canada, she is honored and thrilled to share in the journey of aspiring teachers. Her classes combine alignment, breath, and a devilish sense of humor. Her teaching is continually evolving and she enthusiastically shares this passionate journey with her students.

 

 

 

Bonita Kay Summers

Bonita has always loved the way movement of the body expresses the soul, and she has explored this through bodybuilding, martial arts, expressive dance, and long hikes in the woods. She is a passionate Yin yoga teacher, sharing with her community the exploration of greater flexibility in mind and body. Bonita trained with Mark Laham and Louise Sattler through MindBodyWarrior in Ottawa, ON, learning not only the postures but the emotional anatomy engaged through Yin.

To support your yoga practice, she also works as an intuitive health practitioner through www.spiritkelowna.com, offering her services at Kelowna Hot Yoga Studio.

"Yoga is especially beautiful in its ability to draw us inward to discover the vast terrain of the mind and outward to recognize the sea of awareness that envelops us."

 

Cari Ionson

Bio and pic to come...

Dan Crockett | Ultra Runner “Passion with Purpose”

I am 64 years old and began running at age 50. My passion is trail running and I have been the local trail club leader for 11 years. I am also co-race director of the Scorched Sole Ultra in Kelowna which is in its sixth year. Proceeds from the race go to charity.

I have hosted trail and ultra clinics for the past 5 years. I have completed 40 marathons and ultra marathons including 2 one hundred mile endurance ultras and 2 one hundred kilometer road ultras. In November, 2009 Shirlee Ross and I ran 162km to help raise awareness and funds for Ray Zahab's children's foundation "impossible2Possible". In 2007 I broke the Super Veteran(60+) record at the Knee Knacker North Shore Trail Run 50km. In 2009 I competed in the 36 hour Raid the North Adventure Race in Kelowna B.C. In May 2010 I entered 5 events in the World Masters Indoor Track & Field championships in Kamloops and won a silver medal in the 400 meters. In June 2010 I placed 1st overall in the inaugural Fat Dog 100k trail ultra in Manning Park British Columbia. Recently I Finished 4th in the 6 day Trans Coastal Challenge 233k Rainforest Run in Costa Rica.

 

 

Shirlee Ross | Ultra Runner - Power Hot Yoga

More than our legs carry us when we move. My 20 year love affair with running required a serious look inward nearly two years ago, when I discovered that I had begun to dislike it. I knew that I was cooked, and that the personal challenges of my late thirties would no longer tolerate being handled in the same manner as in the past: For the first time ever, running politely declined to provide salvation. I needed a shift, and intuitively, desired a new adventure that would allow me to reduce the gear load, and if possible, require me to be shoeless. Years of running far with heavily clad, almost always blistered feet, had made me grumpy and my tolerance for discomfort had greatly diminished. My frequent trips to a well that was nearly always dry, first led me to Yoga and eventually, Power Hot Yoga. I now know this to be true: that standing in a place of stillness with one’s feet firmly planted on the ground helps to facilitate a stronger mind, body and spirit that can be carried forth from one’s mat into a daily practice lived on and off the trails. I have discovered the breath to be my constant companion, and in times of distress, fear and even joy, it is my go-to place, my home. Running and the Practice of Power Hot Yoga begs honesty: Persevere despite what is; that in the experience of that challenging moment, there is an innate realization that this too shall pass.