Teaching Staff | Monterey Yoga

Our Teachers

AMY WRIGHT

Amy has been practicing and teaching yoga since discovering Ashtanga in 1999 and completing her first teacher training with Larry Schultz at It’s Yoga, San Francisco. She has practiced and taught up and down the California coast, sharing her love of the practice with people of all ages, abilities and intentions. Amy and her family happily settled on the Monterey Peninsula in 2009, where she found her teachers, Adarsh and Heleen Williams, and the wonderful community of yogis at Monterey Yoga Shala! Amy is the Owner and Director of Monterey Yoga.

Amy’s experience as a social worker over the years has allowed her to integrate yoga into her work supporting adults with developmental, physical, neurological and cognitive challenges. Her experience as a mom inspired her to teach yoga to kids of all ages and abilities. She truly believes the power and benefits of this practice are accessible to anyone with the intention and motivation to delve deeper into their internal landscape. Amy’s classes strive to offer an accessible and compassionate guide into this system, allowing students the space to find and connect with their own breath, their own practice, and their own unique way of being in the world.

ANGELYNN NGAN BOSTROM

Angelynn started her Ashtanga practice in 2009. Since then she has followed a practice of yoga and meditation every morning and it has become a fixture of her daily routine. She studied the Intensive Yoga Teacher Training under Adarsh and Heleen Williams and is honored to accept a teaching position at Monterey Yoga Shala.

Angelynn loves to share her experience of yoga with others. She hopes that with regular practice and support, she can help her students achieve stillness of mind and feel peace in their daily living.

Andrea Lamb

Bio coming Soon!

Vanessa Burkleo

Vanessa Burkleo has been teaching restorative and corrective yoga for 2 years and is excited to expand her skills at Monterey Yoga. She currently holds a 200 hr yoga teacher certification from Monterey Yoga with a focus in Ashtanga Yoga. Vanessa started taking yoga in Seattle, Washington where she studied vocal performance and received her Bachelors of Arts in Music. Since then, she has been practicing and applying yoga to many facets of her life and found that yoga can improve concentration and overall performance levels.

Vanessa also holds Associate’s of Arts degrees for Kinesiology and Dance from Cabrillo College in Aptos, California. She is a licensed massage therapist with a strong background in medical massage and corrective exercise and she is a member of the Carmel Delights Dance company in Monterey. Vanessa has a zest for learning and a love for connecting with others to create joy. Finding balance can be difficultIt in our modern world. Vanessa practices yoga to “live spherically, in many directions,” yet remain calm, centered, and peaceful in her core.

LED CLASSES

BREATHE AND FLOW

Led classes are a great addition to a personal practice or as a drop-in. Students are guided through the asanas (postures), linking movement and breath (Vinyasa) for a meditative, continuous, and challenging flow. Our led classes are based on the Ashtanga Primary Series (Yoga Chikitsa), a therapeutic method for purifying and strengthening the body, bringing mental clarity and focus to the practitioner. With time and practice, the mind becomes calm, and the true self is revealed.

Our led class offerings include Ashtanga Foundations, Half Primary, Full Primary , and Ashtanga Inspired Flow. Classes are suitable for all levels and can be modified for the individual as much as needed.

THE MYSORE FORMAT

LEARN IT BY HEART

Mysore is named after a village in southern India where Ashtanga was first taught, and is the traditional method of learning the Ashtanga Vinyasa method. Mysore is “self-led”, where students learn the series slowly and progressively, one posture at a time, with the personal guidance of the teacher along the way. You do NOT need to know the sequence at all, or have any yoga experience to begin a Mysore practice. With regular practice, ideally 3- 6 days per week, students learn to memorize and internalize the series and become more independent. It is a regular daily practice that allows us to tap into ourselves as we learn to observe, understand, adjust, and gradually move deeper in our physical bodies.

*Please note: Physical adjustments are often a component to the practice and our classes, and are completely optional. Our bodies and minds are continuously in flux and our practice changes one day to the next. Please do not hesitate to communicate with your teacher if you do not wish to be adjusted, have any health concerns, or if you simply need a bit of extra space.