Minneapolis Yoga Conference

Matthew Sanford is an expert in the process transformation through the healing power of yoga. Paralyzed from the chest down at age thirteen and beginning yoga at age twenty-five, Matthew knows firsthand the transformative effect that yoga can have on the mind-body relationship and how it can transform trauma, loss, disability. He is an internationally recognized yoga teacher, a sought-after public speaker. He is the author of the critically acclaimed WAKING: A MEMOIR OF TRAUMA AND TRANSCENDENCE (Rodale: 2006). Matthew is a leader in the accessible yoga movement and has also emerged as a leading voice in the integrated health movement. He won the 2010 Pioneer of Integrative Medicine Award from the California Pacific Medical Center’s Institute of Health and Healing. Previous recipients include Dr. Deepok Chopra, Dr. Dean Ornish, and Dr. Mehmet Oz.

Faith Hunter ~ International yoga and meditation instructor, wellness philanthropist, movement motivator, healing guide, music head, and Spiritually Fly theorist.

Meet Faith Hunter, DC/NYC based Yoga instructor, global traveler, & Lifestylist, sprinkled with a dash of Louisiana charm. Faith began her life long love affair with yoga in the early 90s as a way to cope as her beloved brother Michael was dying from a complication related to AIDS. Through meditation and mindfulness Faith was able to release her fears and experience an awakening from within. From that day forward, she committed herself to sharing these practices with the world. Always eager to learn, explore, and share, Faith is an inspiring and generous mentor to yoga practitioners of all skill levels.

Kristi Taylor is an International Presenter, Co-Founder & Co-Owner Global Body Health, Thai Massage Therapist, Speaker, Certified AcroYoga and Certified Baptiste Power Yoga Instructor. An exceptional teacher who actively transforms fear into joy through her exquisite instruction, her extraordinary ability to empower others and transform lives by creating trust, connection and community where we learn together, play together and see where once there was fear, there now is possibility...and joy...

"In my work with Kristi there have been things in both Yoga and AcroYoga that I feared doing, because they seemed so difficult. Kristi always, simply, said, "You can do it. You will do it." I knew she really believed that but I still didn't. Until, with her help, my thought changed from I can't do that to I can't believe I'm doing this!" - Michael McGlone

Indu Arora, Ayurveda and Yoga Therapist considers herself a student for lifetime. She has been sharing about Yoga philosophy, Yoga Therapy and Ayurveda since 1999. She is inspired by and taught under  Kriya Yoga, Himalayan Yoga, Kashmir Shivaism and Sivananda Yoga lineages. She has studied both Yoga and Ayurveda in a traditional Guru paramapara setting.

Her teaching style is rooted in empowering and inspiring students to awaken the inner Guru. Her core philosophy is,  ‘Nothing has the greatest power to heal, but Self!”

Authored: Mudra: The Sacred Secret Yoga - Ancient Heritage, Tomorrow’s Vision (known as The little Red Book on Yoga) 

Lauren Walker is the author of Energy Medicine Yoga: Amplify the Healing Power of Your Yoga Practice (Sounds True, 2014) and The Energy Medicine Yoga Prescription (Sounds True, 2017). She’s been teaching yoga and meditation since 1997 and created Energy Medicine Yoga while teaching at Norwich University. She teaches EMYoga across the US and internationally and has been featured in Yoga Journal, Mantra +, Yoga Digest, and The New York Times. She was recently named one of the top 100 most influential yoga teachers in America. For more of her work, see EMYoga.net

Carly Brown has been teaching Yoga for the past 9 years under the watchful eye of her Guru, Shri Prasad Rangnekar and other esteemed teachers. Her teachings are always student-centred, helping others connect to their own light, wisdom and bliss within. Often playful, but always sincere to the traditional teachings of yoga, Carly has a way of providing a great balance of her knowledge in anatomy, yoga philosophy and life experiences in a way that sparks a light in anyone present. Carly often guest lectures and speaks on various Yoga/Mindfulness topics around Canada. She is the creator of ShineOn! an empowerment program for 7-14 year old girls and her Simplicity Training for Inner Peace program which helps adults realize their true potential. Carly is also a Yoga Therapist, has her degrees in Kinesiology and Education and is an associate teacher of the Yogaprasad Institute 200hr & 500hr yoga teacher trainings. Carly is the recipient of numerous local awards for her community-centred studio Lokah Sangha Yoga in Dryden, ON.

Avanti Kumar-Singh is a physician who, after medical training in emergency medicine, began a journey to find her joy again- and to help people truly heal. Realizing that you can “quit your job but you can’t quit your calling”, Avanti set out to discover what really makes people healthy and what predisposes them to illness. She is now on a mission to evolve the conversation and to create a movement in which medical professionals reclaim the “art” of medicine and become heart-centered, healing catalysts that practice true medicine and support self-healing in their patients.

Over the 20 years of her training, study and research, Avanti has shared her expertise with Fortune 500 companies, elite undergraduate and graduate institutions and at prestigious industry and medical conferences. She has also been featured in the Huffington Post and was a member of upwave.com’s review board—Turner media’s former health and wellness entertainment brand. Avanti is currently the co-lead facilitator of the Faculty Scholars Program in Integrative Healthcare at the OSHER Center for Integrative Medicine at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago.

Tanya Boigenzahn is the Founder and Executive Director of Devanadi School of Yoga & Wellness as well as Thai Yoga Bodywork, LLC, empowering people with authentic and time-tested tools and teachings to help reach their highest potential. With 25+ years on the yoga mat and 30+ years on the meditation mat, she is a multi-certified yoga teacher honored to be one of the first ParaYoga® Level III Teachers and Certified Four Desires Trainers in the world recognized by her teacher, Yogarupa Rod Stryker. She also regularly studies with Indu Arora, and completed her Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy program in 2015. Tanya also continues to study Sri Vidya, Ayurveda, and Vedic sciences regularly with Pandit Rajmani Tigunait, James Bailey, and many others.

As a Certified Yoga Therapist, Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist, Thai Yoga Bodywork Therapist, Certified Healing Touch Practitioner and Reiki Master/Instructor, Tanya uses this experience to help deepen students’ knowledge of the traditional practices of healing and wholeness. She is also the forthcoming Executive Director and a registered Instructor with Thai Healing Alliance International (THAI), and offers one of the only multi-level certification programs to learn the art of Thai Yoga Bodywork outside of Thailand.

Marni Sclaroff is a yoga and meditation teacher, spirit guide, and wellness mentor, with over twenty years of experience in the healing arts. She leads workshops, retreats, online courses, mentoring programs, and teacher trainings throughout the US and abroad. Her yoga classes are a unique blend of soulful inspiration woven into functional body mechanics, with a side of light-hearted playfulness, and earth based spirituality

Leo Rising is a 250hr Accredited Yoga Teacher based in Manhattan. As a yoga teacher, Leo found that the physically rehabilitating practices of asana (yoga poses) and pranyama (breath work) open aspects of existence that are connected, grounded, stable and promote clarity upon every action, and the space to exist fully present, while still.

Leo Rising accredits his honed abilities to the generous teachers of his life and personal Gurus, that have been with him for his whole journey.

Ben Vincent is a yoga teacher, yoga therapist and life coach based in Minneapolis. His teachings are rooted in Tantra, Classical and Hatha Yoga, of Para Yoga and The Himalayan Tradition. Ben Offers in-depth yoga study, trainings, retreats, immersions, public and private teaching. He aspires to share yoga that is authentic and accessible, supporting students to realize freedom and fulfillment in life.

An accomplished speaker, teacher and practitioner, Nikki Myers is an MBA, C-IAYT Yoga Therapist, Somatic Experiencing Parctitioner, Addictions Recovery Specialst, and Certified Health Coach. Born from her personal struggle with addiction, Nikki is the founder of Y12SR, The Yoga of 12-Step Recovery. Based in its theme 'the issues live in the tissues', Y12SR is a relapse prevention program that weaes the art & science of yoga with the practical tools of 12-step programs. Y12SR meetings are now available throughout the world and the curriculum is rapidly becoming a feature of addiction recovery treatment centers. Nikki's work has been featured in the New York Times, Black Enterprise, The Huffingtoon Post, Origin Magazine, and CBSnews.com. She is honored to be a co-founder of the annual Yoga, Meditation and Recovery Conferences at Esalen Institiute and Kripalu Center. Nikki was named as a Yoga Journal Game Changer in 2015 and honored as a recipient of the esteemed NUVO Cultural Visionary Award in 2014.

Nicole learned to read and balance chakras around the same time she learned to tie her shoes. Raised around yogis, healers, and wild women, she has a natural fluency in the spiritual and metaphysical realms.

Her personal healing journeys have lead her through study in earth-based spirituality, shamanism, Thai massage, herbal medicine, classical tantra, kundalini yoga, sacred sexuality practices, sexual tantra, Taoism and more.

She has extensive training in kundalini and tantra. She is trained as a teacher of Kundalini Yoga as taught by Yogi Bhajan© through the Kundalini Research Institute. She has trained with world renowned teachers since 2003.

Nicole currently sees private clients, and leads classes, workshops, online courses, and retreats around the world. Her work has been described simply as “life changing”. She weaves ancient tradition with modern application, reverence with laughter, deep grounding with cosmic expansion. She is a powerful force for activating the innate vitality within. She is passionately, eternally devoted to awakening the sacred within all, to coming fully alive.

James has been practicing yoga for 7 years, having a foundation in Yoga Nidra, Yin and Restorative styles, which progressed to incorporate asana combined with vinyasa, pranayama, meditation and mantra. He completed his 200 hr RYT yoga teacher training at the Himalayan Institute in Honesdale, PA.

James aims to create a safe space to explore yoga with open and accessible classes for students who are diverse in gender, race, religion, age and ability. As an African American male he feels it is important to create access and opportunities for people of color to explore yoga. Yoga has the ability to loosen the hold of trauma, in any form, that prevents us from living our lives to its fullest.

He teaches in the Himalayan tradition, rooted in dynamic and flowing sequences of asanas, a strong emphasis on diaphragmatic breathing, pranayama and systematic relaxation. Over the course of his classes students will cultivate a deeper connection with the breath and the body. You can practice more with James at One Yoga in South Minneapolis and Johnson Street Yoga in Northeast Minneapolis.

Very humbled and honored to be the resident yoga teacher at Tula Yoga Studio in Chicago, the breath is the guiding force to Rhiannon's practice and teaching style. With a BA in Dance Performance and Choreography from Mills College in Oakland, California, Rhiannon has always had a deep understanding and appreciation for the body, exploring, fine tuning and understanding the information it presents in time and space in any given moment.

Using inspiration from her self practice, the traditional Ashtanga many series' and her dance background, Rhiannon's workshops/classes offer the opportunity to dive into the intuitive body in order to safely and intellectually, self practice, sequence, become strongly aware of the internal body space, challenge the mind to quiet down and serve the information your body is asking to give you, and to turn your practice and teaching style into a constant ebb and flow of grace.

Rhiannon has been practicing yoga for 19 years, teaching for 11 years and has had the pleasure of studying with Larry Schultz, Tom Quinn, Quinn Kearney, Claire Mark, Mark Whitwel, Seane Corne, Tim Suh, Manju Jois and Tim Miller. ERYT500 Certified: It's Yoga San Francisco 200hr, Yogaview Chicago 300hr, Manju Jois Intensive 30hr, many more hours in between, in depth anatomy background and has publicly and privately taught and organized yoga teacher training programs.

Alyson Iannicelli completed her Bachelors in English & IT in Boston, MA prior to joining Teach For America, an AmeriCorps program serving under-resourced communities. She worked with AmeriCorps for a total of 5 years before taking her 200-hour yoga teacher training in Spain to help manage stress. Upon completion of her yoga teacher training, Alyson decided she wanted to continue to dedicate her time to helping people, but in a different way, with an emphasis on healing the mind, body and spirit. After beginning to teach yoga full-time, Alyson pursued and completed a Masters in Integrative Health and Healing to further propel her skills and knowledge in the health field. Through her masters program, she began to work as an intern for Lauren Walker to help develop the Energy Medicine Yoga School. Alyson currently works as the Director of Education of the Energy Medicine Yoga School and teaches yoga to group classes and one-on-one with clients. She is passionate and committed to sharing EMYoga and healing with the world.

Full bio coming soon!

Dr. Tiffany Denny is a yoga teacher, yoga therapist, and physical therapist with over 13 years of yoga teaching experience, and is the current Executive Director of a body-positive nonprofit, Embody Love Movement. She has a knack for weaving anatomy and movement science into mindful, creative class sequences, and a passion for nerdy anatomy discussions. Tiffany loves to offer practices that facilitate a deeper understanding of physical and energetic anatomy, and the development of a healthy, positive relationship with the body.

Calley Bliss is the owner / founder of Entertainment Jill, offering voice over, content creation, and strategy for business. After a dozen years as a jazz and pop vocalist, composer, and educator across the US, UK, and Caribbean, Bliss took her passion for all things “resonance,” and applied them to helping businesses and organizations grow through storytelling (aka content), and content strategy (aka branding). A fifteen-year practitioner of yoga in styles including Anusara, Ashtanga, and Alignment, Bliss also teaches yoga classes, workshops, and individual sessions, guided by a deep connection to the energy / matter relationship and intuitive movement.

A junkie of experience, Bliss approaches yoga, music, voice over, writing, and business with the same philosophy: observe structure, adapt to the moment, and follow the light.

Nathan has more than 10 years teaching experience.  His approach is centered in deep listening combined with clarity of intention and awareness. Nathan is also a dedicated Taiji practitioner and teacher and sees Yoga and Taiji as one in the same, for him both are used for internal development and refinement. Beyond Yoga and Taiji, Nathan has extensive training and study in kinesiology, anatomy and physiology, Chinese Medicine and bodywork. He is one of the owners of Five Point Holistic Health, a worker owned health cooperative in Chicago.

Since her first yoga experience in 2005, via a VHS tape (Google it, kids), to her present-day pursuits as the co-founder of SYNDICATE.YOGA, Mindy Luv has become known for her innovative and progressive delivery of Ashtanga-based vinyasa, Yin-Yoga, yoga sculpt, and kid's yoga programming and classes.

A true moon child and a lover of the stars, Mindy's mantra is that believing is healing. Her mission is to create a world where everyone can feel whole and healed. She is a second degree reiki practitioner and finds her center in drawing owls, lions and trees, dancing in the warm rain with her 3 kids and meditating. She loves the mountains, devours books by authors such as Gabby Bernstein, Jennifer Sincero and Louise Hay, isn't known for her cooking but can bake just about anything,

Mollie Silver is an Eden Energy Medicine Advanced Practitioner and Authorized Instructor, EMYOGA Senior Teacher, and Licensed Massage and Bodywork Therapist. Mollie’s passions for travel, adventure and alternative healing have carried her across the globe where she has studied her craft with everyone from a medicine man in Fiji to a Mayan midwife in Guatemala to a Shaman in Bali. Her diverse and varied background includes a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of North Carolina and volunteering throughout Central America, Australia, Mongolia, and Southeast Asia before eventually landing at Snowshoe Mountain Resort, WV where she’s been teaching Yoga and practicing Massage Therapy and Energy Medicine since 2007. She is thrilled to share this self-empowering modality of healing with you!

Molly McManus C-IAYT, ERYT500, SE, AHC is co-owner of Yoga North, and holds certifications as a Yoga Therapist, Somatic Educator, Ayurvedic Health Counselor. She enjoys teaching specialized workshops and her work as faculty for the International SomaYoga Institute that is one of only 26 schools in the world that certifies yoga therapists.

Molly is sought out for her special areas of interest in chronic pain and the diseases of stress in programs she has designed such as SomaYoga for Chronic Pain, Making a Change for Good – 30 Days to Compassionate Self Discipline, The Chemistry of Joy, and Yoga for Stress, Anxiety and Depression. She has not only studied and practiced in these areas extensively she has up close and personal experiences with the incredible efficacy of Yoga Therapy with her own journey through chronic pain, and the diseases of stress.

Ann Maxwell, MAed, ERYT 500, Certified Yoga Therapist, Somatic Educator, Co-Owner Yoga North International SomaYoga Institute

Ann holds certification in Hatha Yoga, Yoga for Cancer Survivors and is an experienced teacher trainer and yoga therapist. She gets great satisfaction in supporting the teachers in training to find their niche, grow their skills and become great yoga teachers and therapists. Ann brings the spirit of adventure and curiosity to her expertise as a yoga instructor and business owner, grounding her ability in the practicality and expertise of the body. Ann is a model of yogic living for her students and brings a sense of wisdom and fun to the daily practice of yoga.