The Yoga Gateway Teachers   Our Teachers Sophie Davies Lonnie Desorcy Nancy Hong Susan Jensen Ashley Kameka Carrie Tuttle Darcie Tymrick   Well-trained and experienced in the practice and in the teaching of Yoga, TYG Teachers encourage and support students in their efforts to get started on and to maintain a Yoga practice.  We want our students not only to be healthy physically, but also to flourish in all aspects of living through the mindfulness and relaxation that are a part of any Yoga practice. We keep our classes small, so we can insure our students practice safely and get the individual attention they need. Yoga is dependable.  Our advice to our Yoga students is to JUST DO IT!  Just practice and you will experience a profound sense of health and well-being in body, mind, & spirit. Namaste, Your TYG Teachers.    Sophie Davies Flow Yoga, Karma Yoga, Pre-Natal Yoga, & Post-Natal Yoga   Sophie’s passion for yoga began in 1999 when she tried yoga for the first time. A backpacking experience through India in 1996 encouraged her to lead a simpler, more humble life. Through her Yoga Practice, Sophie has found a sense of deep gratitude + appreciation for the world around her and all its beauty. After graduating from teacher training through Trinity Yoga, Sophie dove into teaching on a full-time basis, drawing support and inspiration from her community, family + friends. She has been known to teach everything from Beginner classes to more advanced practices, with a strong Flowing approach to Yoga Asana. She offers a variety of classes that include Pre- +& Post-Natal Yoga, Yoga for Weight Loss, as well as Core Strengthening classes and Vinyasa Flow. When she isn’t on her mat, Sophie is fond of time spent in the kitchen, playing with her daughter, Stella Moon and organizing her world and the world of those she loves.  She is an avid star gazer and enjoys musing over the cycles of the Moon. Sophie has a knack for finding strengths in all things and beauty in all shapes + sizes.   Lonnie Desorcy Core Yoga & Level 1 Hatha Yoga has inspired Lonnie since the late 1970s. As a teen, she was attracted to Yoga's mysticism. Later, she found in Yoga a refuge from the stress of being a social worker. In the years during which Lonnie returned to school and then worked in the corporate world, she found that Yoga improved her fitness level, self image, and physical self confidence. Following the birth of her children, Lonnie used Yoga to alleviate back pain. With her increased interest in physical pursuits, Lonnie believes that Yoga has been instrumental in keeping limber and recovering from injury. Motivated to share her love of its practice, both on and off the mat, with others, Lonnie began teaching Yoga in 1998 and was certified by The Yoga Studio in 1999. Lonnie is grateful for the influence of a number of teachers. Locally, teachers who have had significant impact include David McAmmond, Margot Kitchen, Valery Petrich, Cynthia Palanhiuk, Susan Jensen, Bonnie Dunbar and Diane Burnette. In addition to these local teachers, Lonnie has studied with a number of international teachers. She is inspired by and employs techniques from their teaching as well as from her own sadhana, or personal practice. Lonnie sees the Yoga mat as the laboratory for living--a safe place to work through the many issues and challenges all of us, as humans, face.   Nancy Hong B. Comm., CMA Beginner's Hatha Yoga & Yoga for Golfers   Yoga became a major force in Nancy's quest to find a holistic practice for managing stress while working full-time in the energy industry and raising three children. While practicing Tai Chi and Qi Gong, Nancy was introduced to Yoga and found the balance in meditation and asana practice to be the answer to managing the mental and physical stresses at work and in life. Trained in the Iyengar tradition, Nancy focuses on alignment, breath and awareness to create freedom, and strengthen the body. Nancy is an avid golfer and has found Yoga to be a calming force in her drive towards par. Nancy received her Teacher Certification from The Yoga Gateway and is a also volunteer Yoga Instructor at the YMCA. Susan Jensen, (Owner) Ph.D., Educational Research (Calgary); M.Ed., Curriculum & Instruction (Calgary); M.A., English (San Francisco State University); B.A., Rhetoric (University of California, Berkeley) Yoga for Backs Co-Director & Teacher in the Yoga Studies Program/Teacher Training Susan Jensen (Ph.D., Education), Owner and Director, has Certification from The Yoga Studio of Calgary, The Yoga Centre of Calgary, and Sunjeevan Yoga Darshan (Dr. Karandikar's Restorative/Therapeutic Yoga Institute in Pune, India). To reduce stress and alleviate chronic sciatic pain due to a serious hip injury in her teens, Susan began her yoga practice when other therapies had failed. She then travelled to India for more extensive yoga therapy for herself, as well as for instruction and training with the goal of someday helping other to do the same. Susan was able to recover from her injury and alleviate her chronic pain through a combination of traditional Hatha Yoga and the Therapeutic/Restorative Yoga practiced by Dr. Karandikar's at his Therapeutic Yoga Institute, Kabir Baug, in Pune, India. She left an academic career to open The Yoga Gateway.  Susan wants to help others benefit from the same practice that did so much for her.       Ashley Kameka Flow Yoga, Hatha Yoga, Karma Yoga, & Restorative/Gentle Yoga   Yoga has created balance in Ashley’s life for 7 years. She was attracted not only to the physical qualities that yoga promises at first glance, but the unity of mind, body and spirit. As an adolescent, yoga helped her understand and challenge herself. A stressful time became more of a journey, a learning experience. Yoga also aided Ashley in keeping physically fit, building muscle and flexibility. Over this period of time, she developed her practice and felt the desire to share it with others, so they too could experience the benefits yoga has to offer. Ashley was certified by Yoga Passage in 2008. Yoga has given Ashley the strength and to face life challenges, while helping her to understand and appreciation of the present moment. She is happy to be a part of the yoga community and is always looking to expand her knowledge of a variety of yoga practices. Ashley is blessed by the teachings of many wonderful teachers. Tracy Mann, Tanis Fishman, Lerrita Rubinoff, and David Williams are just a few of the instructors who helped her form her practice into what it is today. Ashley’s practice and teachings will continue to be a lifelong journey. She feels human beings never stop learning and growing, as everyday is an opportunity to explore our mind and body and develop our practice.  ~Namaste       David McAmmond Mentor Well-known throughout Western Canada and beyond, David McAmmond has been practicing, teaching Yoga, and training Yoga teachers for over 30 years. For the past decade, David has been instrumental in training many of Alberta's finest Yoga teachers, including three 18-month Programs at The Yoga Gateway.  While his primary influence has been the Iyengar School of Hatha Yoga, his main interest resides with Restorative/Therapeutic Yoga. David has traveled to India many times to work with Dr. Karandikar to further his studies in this specialty area. David contributes on a regular basis to the YAA (Yoga Association of Alberta). As well, through his leadership and guidance, David is now helping the Mexican government to add Restorative/Therapeutic Yoga to their public health system. Carrie Tuttle Yoga for Runners/Cyclists & Fitness-Minded Students Carrie Tuttle began taking yoga to balance her running training.  Soon it became a much deeper mission.  She discovered the effects of relaxation and meditation to treat migraines and handle stresses of life. Trained mainly in the Iyengar tradition, Carrie focuses on creating the space for students to practice acceptance of the body while allowing for mobility in the shoulder and hip joints, lengthening of muscles and alignment of the spine. She continues to work in the corporate world and so has a specific interest in teaching students with 'desk-itis'. Carrie is a graduate of The Yoga Gateway Teacher Training Program and has been teaching since January 2006. Darcie Tymrick Flow Yoga & Teen Flow Yoga Darcie has always been a lover of movement. As a competitive synchronized swimmer for 12 years, she learned a great deal about creativity and expression through the body, while working hard training daily. On the flip side, Darcie’s interest in spirituality and the mind – body connection deepened during her time as a University student studying philosophy. It was during this time that she first started practicing yoga and fell in love with its ability to unify all aspects of her life. The more she studied and practiced, the more she realized that yoga is a complete system of being, one that allows the practitioner to become more fully connected with themselves and the people and world around them. Wanting to share this powerful practice with others, Darcie became certified through Trinity Yoga in 2008. She is immensely grateful for the passion and knowledge that Jennifer Steed, Trevor Yelich and Ally Bogard brought to her teacher training and for the amazing Trinity Yogis that she has had the gift of growing with. When not on the mat, you can find Darcie running, swimming, hiking, surfing, or simply playing outside in nature. She is constantly learning from her yoga practice and her "day" job, working with immigrant youth at the Community YMCA.