Our esteemed faculty is a collection of world-class teachers who each hold a wealth of knowledge, education, and experience in their respective fields.
Faculty
With decades of studentship and practice, each of the teachers is dedicated to meeting you exactly where you are and helping you to realize your goals through each of our trainings. We recognize yoga as a state of being, not only on our mats, but in every moment and in every facet of our lives. There are infinite ways that we can access this state of connection, and by weaving together yoga and the expressive arts, we greatly expand our capacity to engage in a life of clarity, authenticity, connection, inspiration and meaning. As reflected in our diverse offering of unique trainings, we believe wholeheartedly in supporting you on your individual journey of profound transformation and integration.
Founders / Lead Teachers
Lover of life, yogini, trail runner, climber, mommy, wife, teacher, speaker, spiritual guide, community builder, and loyal friend on the path. Sometimes together, sometimes falling apart, but always inspired and empowered by love!
Meg is passionate about sharing the full, rich teachings of yoga (asana, meditation, yoga nidra, chanting, philosophy, etc.) in a truly experiential way that helps us to positively transform and enrich our lives. Having worked as a yoga therapist for over a decade, she is continually inspired by the vitality of the human spirit and the power of yoga to help us tap into a source deep inner-peace and well-being.
She has been sharing the yoga life with all kinds of seekers for over 18 years and is the Co-Founder of the Alaya Yoga School, a Wanderlust Presenter and Teacher Trainer, and the original founder of Simple Yoga and Wellness Studio. She is a passionate community builder and give talks, lead teacher trainings, satsangs, workshops and retreats all over the world. You can also find her classes featured online at www.Gaia.com/Meg .
The 7 years she spent as a yoga studio owner in rural Montana fueled her passion for building diverse and strong communities that foster true human connection. Though she no longer runs the studio, she recognizes community building as the urgent work of our times and remains dedicated to that in all that she does. She is currently inspired to create safe and sacred spaces where these genuine connections can be established, flourish and endure. Throughout 2019 and 2020 it is her intention to bring this work to the great divides that we face in our current society. Outside of the studio, she will be working with a tribe of inspiring souls to sprout these communities in our prisons and along the racial and political divides.
Ashleigh Sergeant is the Head of Yoga Content for Gaia.com, Director of Yoga and Movement for The Envision Festival in Costa Rica, co-founder of The Alaya School of Yoga, spent five years as the Global Yoga Trainer for Adidas and was honored to be the youngest Certified Anusara Yoga Instructor in the world. Ashleigh’s yoga videos are featured on Gaia.com, Grokker, and ShriTV. A regular presenter at the Wanderlust Festival, Ashleigh has contributed to Mind Body Green, YOGANONYMOUS, Latin Women’s Health and German Yoga Journal.
Ashleigh is a true embodiment of the teachings of yoga. Her life, presence and vibrant way of being in this world, radiate the effects of her dedicated practice. Steeped in a breadth of knowledge and depth of lived experience, Ashleigh has the unique gift of being able to guide her students in a clear, effective and inspiring way. With a solid foundation of the ancient teachings, Ashleigh is also on the leading edge of the evolution of yoga. Her revolutionary approach to the practices breathes new life into the tradition and helps us to thrive in today’s ever-changing world.
Ashleigh’s first teachers included Bryan Kest and Baron Baptiste. She received her first 200-HR teaching certification at the Himalayan Institute with a strong influence from Rod Stryker’s ParaYoga, whom she continues to study presently. For many years Ashleigh traveled with and assisted John Friend, the founder of Anusara Yoga, exploring the profound healing aspects of therapeutic asana. Ashleigh’s present passion is the deep exploration of the mystical and energetic side of the yoga practice and for this, her primary teacher and long-time inspiration is the great Sally Kempton.
I am so honored to be a student of the Alaya Yoga School. I have been studying with Meg and Ashleigh for the last 5 years and am so grateful that my path lead me to them! I am constantly amazed by all the tools I have to work with clients/students and I know that it's because of the wholistic approach they've taught me from the beginning! This is TRULY one of the best yoga programs out there today!
Arielle Shipe RYT-500, Alaya Apprentice
Faculty
Tai Allison Bickert’s passion is helping people and teaching them how to help themselves. She began her yoga journey at the age of 24, and has been teaching since 2015. Tai's passion for helping others goes well beyond her yoga training. She is a mother, a business owner, a healthy living mentor, a Beachbody® coach, a yoga and meditation instructor, and an aspiring writer. Tai inspires people to shine by placing focus on their health, body, mind, and soul. She does this by lovingly guiding them to understand that they already hold within, what they need to be successful. In group settings, private sessions, workshops, and retreats, she helps people empower themselves to find the Grace and Connection they see. Tai is currently continuing her education in advanced training with the Alaya Yoga School. She has been very blessed to have studied with well-known yoga instructors such as Ashleigh Sergeant, Meg McCraken, Jennifer Marie Lane, Mike Lane, Kevin Courtney and Michelle Nayeli Bouvier. These amazing people continue to be her mentors, friends, and role models.
Lauri Glenn is a Mindfulness Coach & Teacher based in the Tahoe/Reno area. With 25 years in the Wellness field, Lauri is also a Reiki Master, bodyworker, & served 8 years as a firefighter/medic. She offers Mindfulness Programs & Yoga to individual clients, public groups and in the workplace/corporate setting. She also offers Meditation & Yoga retreats and has taught at Wanderlust Festival Squaw Valley, Envision in Costa Rica & Restorative Arts & Yoga Festival in Lake Tahoe. Lauri honors her teachers deeply: Meg McCraken, Ashleigh Sergeant, Jack Kornfield, Tara Brach, Josh Summers, and more. Her passion is empowering people on a path of exploration to discover their own wisdom and awaken their heart's true nature; unconditional Love, Compassion, Joy, and Equanimity.
Lauri Glenn Alaya Faculty Training - 200 Hour Yoga Immersion/Teacher Training; Missoula, Montana; Various dates in 2020. Learn more.
Voted one of the 15 Millennial Yoga Teachers to watch out for, Arielle Shipe is best known for her adventurous spirit and passion for personal development/growth which she shares on Instagram and YouTube. With over a decade of practice and nearly 1500 teacher training hours, the yoga tradition is the foundation for all the things she teaches and shares. Her motto is: Work Hard. Play Hard, Rest Hard. She sees yoga as a multifaceted gem that is there to meet you wherever you need it most. In her classes you can expect to sweat, smile, relax and start to uncover the truth that there’s way more to yoga than a downward-facing dog. Join the Dream Life Revolution on Instagram @arielleshipe.
Guest Scholars
Guest Scholar at 2018 200 Hour Intensive/Teacher Training in MT
Kevin Courtney has dedicated the last two decades to the pursuit of awakening consciousness by focusing on strength, energy cultivation, and mental clarity. Kevin began his relationship to movement and connection to nature as a child, surfing in San Clemente, CA. After transplanting to New York City in his mid-twenties and becoming consumed by work in business development and consulting for Fortune 500 companies, Kevin was diagnosed with cancer. This life-altering diagnosis, compounded by witnessing the fall of the twin towers from just a few blocks away, inspired Kevin to make an abrupt choice to shift focus and rediscover his passion and purpose. All signs kept pointing back to his profound love for Yoga and in 2002 he began teaching in New York City. He found inspiration in teachers like Dharma Mittra, Richard Freeman, and Swami Satchidananda and has now dedicated his study through the mentorship and guidance of Nikki Costello, Rod Stryker and a daily personal practice.
Guest Scholar at Creating Healing Connections
Dr. Jennifer Marie Lane’s service to the world is through her devotion to dreams and embodied life. She is a mother, dream oracle, chiropractor, and teacher of earth wisdom and sacred movement. Her facilitation invites participants into a realm where body, heart, mind, soul and spirit(s) freely intermingle - where Dreams come alive! Having graduated from Stanford University with a degree in Medical Anthropology and Anthropological Genetics and worked as a healer, she weaves in a deep curiosity and respect for the healing potential of the human body and soul.
Guest Scholar at 200 Hour Intensive/Teacher Trainings
Dr. Mike Lane, DC is a specialist in the field of functional movement and wellness. He is a chiropractor, bodyworker, foundation training instructor and anatomy teacher. His intention is to help people move, feel, and live better. Since selling his successful San Francisco-based chiropractic practice in 2016, Mike and his wife have been traveling the United States in their RV home, sharing the importance of health and wellness through workshops, retreats and festivals. Dr. Mike loves to witness people understand and experience Anatomy in a way that they thought wasn't possible. Anatomy is a challenging subject and it doesn't have to be. Dr. Mike will make AnatomySense in a whole new, fun and dynamic way.
Guest Scholar at 2018 200 Hour Intensive/Teacher Training in MT
Kevin Courtney has dedicated the last two decades to the pursuit of awakening consciousness by focusing on strength, energy cultivation, and mental clarity. Kevin began his relationship to movement and connection to nature as a child, surfing in San Clemente, CA. After transplanting to New York City in his mid-twenties and becoming consumed by work in business development and consulting for Fortune 500 companies, Kevin was diagnosed with cancer. This life-altering diagnosis, compounded by witnessing the fall of the twin towers from just a few blocks away, inspired Kevin to make an abrupt choice to shift focus and rediscover his passion and purpose. All signs kept pointing back to his profound love for Yoga and in 2002 he began teaching in New York City. He found inspiration in teachers like Dharma Mittra, Richard Freeman, and Swami Satchidananda and has now dedicated his study through the mentorship and guidance of Nikki Costello, Rod Stryker and a daily personal practice.
Guest Scholar for Advanced Training - Ayurveda, Herbalism and Self Care
Dr. Lemos has been studying Ayurveda's ancient healing practices for many years and has studied Clinical Ayurveda, Ayurvedic Spiritual Counseling and Jyotish (Vedic Astrology). She currently practices as an Ayurvedic practitioner and Ayurvedic Spiritual Counselor. She has studied Jyotish with Komilla Sutton and Sam Geppi. She offers private consults and workshops on Ayurveda and wellness. She has also completed extensive study on the relationship between Ayurveda and Yoga and trained as teacher of Hatha Yoga under Scott Miller of Western Yoga College, Kundalini Yoga at Yoga West and studied Yoga Philosophy under Pandit Sri Kumar in Kerala, India. She currently teaches as faculty at Western Yoga College and runs and owns at One Yoga (www.at1yoga.com) on the Mendocino Coast. She also holds a PhD in Cultural Anthropology from UC Riverside in addition to a Master’s degree in Dance from Mills College, a Master’s degree in Anthropology from UC Riverside and a B.A. in World Dance from Hampshire College in Amherst, MA.
Guest Scholar for Philosophy and Spirituality
Nischala is a masterful teacher and healer. For many years she has been highly respected as an international advocate for her innovative way of expressing Yoga and its subtle uses for spiritual growth and complete healing. Her dynamic delivery and deep inner conviction empower each individual, allowing the teachings to expand beyond boundaries and limitations of any one tradition enabling her to touch people’s hearts.
She was graced to spend over 25 years as a monastic disciple with the world-renowned Yogiraj Sri Swami Satchidanandaji, receiving his direct guidance and teachings. She also was blessed with teachings from great Yoga masters in US, India and worldwide.
Mama, lover, teacher, friend. Daughter, sister, auntie, dog owner.
Meditator, yogi, climber, skier, dancer, art dabbler, nature enthusiast.
Shari has been at this yoga thing since 1996 amongst the mountains of Lake Tahoe and became devoted to it when she took the leap to start teaching in Truckee, CA in 2003. She has been teaching full time ever since in the glorious mountains. What she has discovered is this path chose her. It would not let her off if she tried. She always tells people that sign up for Teacher Training, “Get ready for your whole life to change.” She taught yoga and resisted meditation for another 8 years. Eventually life made it clear she could no longer run away and would have to sit with the mind. Her marriage had become toxic and her young daughter was bringing everything up that needed to be healed/held. Embracing meditation has given her the life that she has always wanted to live, that of great depth and intimacy with all of it. She can truly say she loves this life, the ups and downs, the fun times and the rough times, even the dreadful past that haunts, the dirty floors/dishes/laundry and the aging body. All of it is so incredibly beautiful! She is forever grateful to yoga.
Shari teaches to the life that is presenting itself. She loves asana for everything it does for the body and being, but it is not the main focus of what she likes to share. She intends to nurture the connection to one's own heart. She is a lover. People come to her classes, workshops, and trainings to learn how to love, be loved and remember they are loved. She encourages vulnerability, imperfection, getting messy and falling apart. She strives to embrace with her students through the tougher emotions such as shame, guilt, anger, grief, and doubt. She walks alongside her students where they support each other in this school of life, where life is continuing to experience itself. Enjoying the unfolding as it happens. Her relationships are richer. She loves being mama even though it's the hardest thing she has ever done. Her capacity to let life in is greater and in that she finds herself blown away by the awe of it all.
Shari loves serving her local community and promoting connections. She enjoys sharing series which give her a chance to go deeper with people that don’t want to necessarily complete a yoga teacher training. Currently, she is teaching Yoga for Fulfillment, plus with her partner Ben Grasseschi, Yoga and Meditation for Men. She also loves holding the space for silence for individuals and exploring nature, whether it’s hiking, biking or nordic skiing. She also is holding Satsang once a month at the Wanderlust Studio in Squaw.
Training: Shari’s training started in Nosara with Don and Amba Stapleton and then the list goes on to David Swenson(Ashtanga), the crew at the Iyengar Institute of San Francisco including Judith Lasater, Eddie Modestini and Nikki Doane from Maya Yoga, lots of Anusara teachers including Noah Maze, Abby Tucker, Christina Sells, Sianna Sherman, Desire Rumbaugh, Elena Brower. She has also studied Yoga Psychology with Ashley Turner. Shari found a spiritual teacher in 2012 that inspired her to dive deep into meditation and now she spends time each year in silent retreat with Adyashanti.
What has been most powerful for Shari’s teaching has been the joy and privilege of assisting Meg McCracken and sometimes Ashleigh Sargent in training amazing teachers the last 6 years for the Wanderlust Teacher Training.
Apprentices
2019 Apprentice
With a relentless passion for education, training, and teaching, Kelly has combined her love for circus arts and yoga into a lifelong journey of discovery. With a teacher’s certification in aerial fabrics and yoga she has taken her abilities as an instructor to the next level by merging the practice of the 8 limb yoga system into her aerial arts teaching method. The incorporation of these two practices has set her apart in her field and Kelly is excited to expand on these skills within her circus community and beyond. Kelly is the proud owner of the Tahoe Flow Arts Studio in Lake Tahoe, CA where you can find her playing, teaching and co-creating performances with a mission to spread positive change through movement and self-expression. Kelly received her 200-hour Wanderlust yoga teacher training certificate in 2014 and completed her 500 advanced yoga teacher training with the Alaya Yoga School in 2019. Yoga has changed her outlook on life and brings her immense appreciation to be able to spread that awareness to generations to come.
2019 Apprentice
Originally from Maine, Deanna journeyed out west in 2009. In 2010, she traveled to Rishikesh, India where she studied yoga and the Indian culture for a few months. This experience was not an easy one, but definitely necessary on this path to yoga. It was on this exploration that yoga introduced itself to her. When she returned to the states, she continued her yogic studies in Alignment-Hatha yoga and found teacher, Ashleigh Sergeant. Deanna has been teaching all the while. This yogic evolution introduced new ways of experiencing the breath, body and mind connection. This knowledge has opened doorways that she never knew existed – doorways that have brought a sense of greater awareness, patience, healing, self-love, a realization of the power of the mind, as well as the universal connection between all things. She has completed 500 hours of training and is currently participating in the Alaya Yoga School apprenticeship and will be guiding teacher trainings in the near future. She is also a practitioner of Transcendental Meditation.
2019 Apprentice
Cheryl Weatherford teaches yoga in the Pioneer area of Amador County. All her classes are Hatha style yoga and include pranayama (breathing) and asana (poses and vinyasa/flow) and may include mantra, stretching, and meditation. She is convinced that yoga is for every body and looks for solutions when a body doesn’t seem to want to make a specific shape. Cheryl earned a Yoga Alliance 200RYT through Wanderlust in Squaw Valley, Ca in January 2015 and completed 500RYT training through the Alaya Yoga School in October 2018. Cheryl has been regularly practicing yoga for many years and has found yoga to offer her that something more in life.
2019 Apprentice
Misty is a longtime yoga practitioner and healthcare provider. She first started practicing yoga in 1988, over the years exploring the lineages, and experiencing the many benefits of a yoga practice. In 2014 she took her 200 hr YTT with Meg and Ashleigh in Tahoe and continued with them for the 500 hr in Costa Rica and Tahoe as their voices really resonated. She has been teaching for 5 years of studio classes, workshops, and retreats. She continues to study in advancing yoga practices with teachers Manorama, Chris Calarco, Rolf Gates, and more to foster a dynamic teaching and personal practice. She has worked in healthcare her whole career as well, starting in lifeguarding, then EMT on an ambulance, and working with the breath in Respiratory care for the last 20 years. She nurtures a balance between her healthcare profession and teaching yoga in the SF bay area. She truly sees and wishes to guide yogis back to themselves where healing begins.
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