Our Awesome Professional Instructors

I began my yoga journey in 1975 with Richard Hittleman's  book "28 Days of Yoga". Taking the book to live in the bush with my husband, I established a daily practice of yoga and meditation  that has served me to this day. After moving to Fairbanks I became  involved in several Mind-Body disciplines. I studied the art of  Shudokan and Gosoke Ryu karate for 22 years and hold a 6th degree  blackbelt in Shudokan karate and 3rd degree blackbelt in Gosoke Ryu. I enjoyed Tai Chi for about 13 years and currently try to find time to practice the ancient art of Qigong and Tai Chi.  I returned to  pursuing yoga passionately, instructing since 2003.  I  taught yoga classes at the International Karate Association back in the day,  as a private instructor, for seniors in the OLLI  program and pre-pandemic conducted weekly classes at the Senior Center and at the Fairbanks Correctional Center. Co-founder and now owner of Heart Stream Yoga, I teach prenatal, beginner and senior/gentle classes. My teacher training has come about primarily through Sundari's Anusara  teacher trainings and Lynn Minton. I am grateful for the influence of  Susanne Lyle and Teri Vierick. My certification process was  through White Lotus Yoga with Ganga White and Tracey Rich.  I am an RYT  200, YCEP, and E-RYT 200 with Yoga Alliance. I bring to my classes a love of alignment, the beauty of a quiet center, and the joy of inner discovery.

I found a sanctuary at Yoga in the Pearl and became a dedicated student of Power Yoga. My teachers included the Lauren Ingram, Tiffany Cruikshank, and Sarah Lakey.

Yoga Certification 2009, Yoga Union, Portland, OR

This is a three-part Vinyasa teacher training was designed to give a full skill-set for teaching yoga. The program focused on developing tools such as thematic class design, fluid sequencing, creative flow, authentic heart language, powerful adjustments, clear anatomy instruction, and therapeutic yoga for private clients.   

I took my first yoga class as a Freshman at the University of Memphis, almost 20 years ago now.  I didn't even have a mat, but from the first movements, I felt a sense of "Ah!  This, this is what I've been looking for!" - and I've been practicing ever since.  As I've moved through the years, I've grown to really love and understand the reason behind calling yoga a practice.  As the stages of our lives move forward, our needs, experiences and relationships change - but a yoga practice can be the thread throughout it all.  It has been that for me, a thread binding me together, through my changes.  The physical practice of yoga gives me joy, strength, resiliency and flexibility in my body, and the spiritual practice of yoga gives me these same gifts, so that I can access them as a wife, as a mother, as a teacher, as a friend, as someone moving through the layers of themselves in order to connect with that which connects us all.  My initial introductions to yoga were through Hatha and Iyengar classes in my hometown of Memphis, TN.  In 2015, I trained under yoga teacher and OT Lindsey Lieneck of Yogapeutics, in Austin, TX, studying mindfulness techniques, therapeutic tools and methods of sensory integration for teaching children, utilizing yoga hammocks for an aerial yoga practice beneficial to both bodies and brains.  In 2016, I received my certification through the Golden Heart School of Yoga, here in Fairbanks, as a 200 hour RYT.  In 2018, I received valuable training in Trauma Informed Yoga under Jody Hassel.  That same year I also received the gift of training with renowned instructor Lynne Minton.  Today I find great joy in teaching to families and kids, at Heart Stream Yoga, and in different school settings in Fairbanks.  I teach an adult class each week in my awesome community of Two Rivers as well.  In all of my classes, my goal is to safely offer a practice that will give my students the knowledge and confidence to begin or deepen their own home practice.   

I have been in the fitness industry for over 25 years, with certifications in teaching aerobic dance, Zumba, and personal training. In 2003, I received my certification in Pilates Reformer (pilates equipments), and Mat, which enabled me to help open and run a Pilates Studio at the Jewish Community Center in Indianapolis, Indiana. I continued my work there as a Pilates Instructor until I and my beloved Jeff relocated to Fairbanks, in Dec 2015. Becoming employed at Downtown Pilates in October 2016 allowed me to continue my love for instructing Pilates. I am currently working for Alaska Brain & Spine in the Pilates department, which Downtown Pilates merged with in June 2019. My hobbies are dancing, organic cooking, second-hand shopping and gardening. 

Bio to come

Born and raised in Montana, I came to Alaska in 1985. I started getting interested in fitness as a teenager, starting with running, then on to biking.  I enjoyed staying active and enjoyed how I felt being active, so I decided at that point, that this would be a part of my life. I attended many group classes and was inspired to become an instructor.

After moving to Alaska, I owned my own nail salon and cardo kickboxing business. Retiring from these businesses many years later, but still staying active I got certified for Spin and Cardio Kickboxing. In 2020 I got my SOL Barre Certification, which I am very excited about and want to share with others. Teaching is not a job for me. It is a fun way to work out and interact with others and the positive energy they bring to class. 

  I was introduced to yoga when I was 13, but officially started my yoga journey as a sophomore in high school in California, around 7 years ago. I primarily practiced Bikram yoga, as I enjoyed the heat that relaxed my tense muscles, and I valued being able to practice the same poses every class to better feel and connect with the changes in my body. I attended Miami University in Ohio, where I studied zoology and environmental science and was introduced to Vinyasa yoga. This is where I got trained to teach Vinyasa, and where I got my RYT 200. Safety is the most important part of my classes, as I want everyone to reap the benefits of yoga without injury. I also believe the meditative, mindful aspect of yoga is key to a strong practice, as yoga is the union of mind and body. Vinyasa helps bridge this union, as it deeply connects you to your breath throughout the entirety of the practice. Other than yoga, I am very passionate about nature, conservation, and sustainability.  

Hi! My name is Alissa McKnight, and the one thing you should know about me is that yoga changed my life. It was the catalyst for self-awareness, respect for my body, discipline and freedom of spirit that has helped me build a beautiful life. Because of this I feel full-heartedly that yoga is for everyone, flexible or not, quiet-minded or not. It has the power to better connect you to yourself and others, of which I feel like our world needs more. 

I received my yoga teacher training certification from Samyak Yoga School in Ashtanga and Vinyasa styles in Dharamshala, India in 2014. I have continued practice of Mysore style yoga as I’ve moved around the country. My body has gone through many changes over the years. I could do advanced poses that are no longer accessible to me at the moment. Knowing that the body changes over time, I try to cultivate an open mind within myself and students to the possibilities and to practice compassion with your practice.

I’ll be teaching the Mommy and Me class at Heart Stream. I welcome all the kiddos of any age to be in the space while moms attend yoga. As a new mom, I know how hard it can be to carve out time for yourself. Though the class will be geared toward moms, I believe that we can practice yoga while also being present for our children. It will be a relaxed environment; you’re free to chase a little one down, stop to breastfeed, or just take a breather. My daughter, who is one year old, will also be joining! The space will just be filled with grace for all the moms doing the best they can. :)

On a personal note, I love backpacking, pack rafting, biking, writing poetry, and making art. For my day job, I’m an pediatric occupational therapist so I really just love the energy children bring to the world! So looking forward to meeting you and sharing space together in practice. 

OM. 

Naomi hopes to create a space for women to feel uninhibited to access that deeper feminine within. Sharing movement and space without any expectations of outcome, just being in the moment and having fun!!

Kayla was born and raised in Fairbanks Alaska and enjoys being immersed in the community she finds here in the interior. She and her husband love sharing the life they’ve built with their two beautiful children and she finds great purpose in her role astheir mother.  

Yoga has accompanied Kayla through many important phases of her life. As a competitive athlete, she utilized the practice in cross training and injury recovery. While traveling during college, yoga became a creative outlet to help her stay grounded. In 2017, it inspired her to complete a certification in BUTI Yoga. And when she transitioned into her most defining role as a mother, yoga provided a new appreciation for the importance of having dedicated time for personal growth. She found that her yoga practice was an opportunity to reconnect with herself which helped to strengthen her mind, body and soul connection. 

Kayla completed her 200-Hour Vinyasa Yoga Teacher Training at the Fairbanks School of Yoga in December 2022. She hopes to provide a space where vulnerability is welcomed. Her goal is to compassionately guide students through a Vinyasa practice that uses music and breath to facilitate fluid movement between postures. She hopes to give students permission to be in the present moment, releasing all that no longer serves them. During her classes there will be opportunities to receive hands-on-assists in the form of a little massage, a posture alignment cue or maybe a little added pressure to help you sink deeper into your poses. These assists are consent based and you will only receive them if you want them.

Kayla is looking forward to growing her personal practice, teaching others, pursuing further certifications, and becoming a community leader for Fairbanks."

At a young age, pre-internet, I began exploring mysticism within my own blood and bones, through ecstatic trance dance and yoga breath energy exploration, along with esoteric studies in metaphysics, wisdom traditions, and the

feminine mysteries. I remembered my (our) true power and inner authority in transmuting chronic pain. I became my own way-shower of sacred union alchemy, as a real spiritual truth and art. By my mid twenties, I knew that my soul’s cutting edge was to drop everything and explore the wilderness of my body in the actual wilderness and I learned more on my mountain bike and in the dirt, snow, and raw elements than anywhere else. As a breathwork/yoga guide, self-healing facilitator, and initiated priestess, I work in service to helping people feel rooted in their own skin, connected to earth medicine, and in harmony with the creative evolutionary forces within. Listening to the rhythmic voice of our bodies, we tap an infinite keg of authentic expression and gnosis. Through the blissful, the good, the bad, and the ugly, we can elevate our consciousness and open to our body’s actual energetic healing technology. My classes are relaxed, energizing, and fun with the invitation to cultivate intuition and learn energy management skills, which is essential, as we all journey deep into the current wave of embodied planetary ascension and sort out the false from the organic and real. 

I also offer private Usui and Holy Fire Galactic Reiki trainings/ attunements and 8 week Kundalini Dance Journeys, as well as, 1:1 sessions, as an Oracle of Sophia Practitioner, Animal

Communicator, and Quantum Healer. Words and labels and “credential” can sound mysterious — I help return people back into the Heart of Truth within. For nourishing the physical vessel, I love supplementing sessions with Reflexology and Integrative Health Practices. We start exactly where we are, again and again. We can face and

release old fears/wounds/beliefs and disconnect from the distortions of societal programming, co-creating new ways of being in our bodies, our thoughts, our relationships, our world. This is an art we can imagine and a science we can

explore.

Greetings and namaste! My name is Jennifer McMullan. I teach Anusara-inspired vinyasa yoga, an alignment-based, heart-centered flow linking breath to movement. I strive to help each student find their inner wisdom to feel good in body and mind. In 2015, I completed my 200-hr teacher certification at Akasha Yoga in Jackson Hole, WY and registered as RYT-200 with Yoga Alliance. Since then, I’ve been teaching classes at Heart Stream Yoga every summer. I live in Fairbanks, Alaska in the summer and in Lake Worth, Florida in the winter. My husband and I have been doing the snowbird thing since 2002, following the sun from palm trees and warm ocean to moose, midnight sun and majestic mountains. My yoga classes start and end with the vibration of OM. There’s no music in the background during practice, to better listen to the innate wisdom of the body. I offer lots of alignment cues to encourage each student to feel optimal position and not avoid sensation. My sequences are presented in a playful, curious, all-levels manner. Pranayama instruction, breath awareness and linking breath to movement cultivate mindfulness and allow the hectic mind to settle. Each class ends with a long, timed savasana to soak up the benefits of the practice and relax completely.