Lisa Shackelton

While yoga has been a passion for the last twelve years, it was my dance lessons at age four that had me hooked on movement. Seventeen years of dance training evolved into a decade of teaching aerobics, dance, and a lot of ultimate frisbee. When a yoga teacher taught after my rigourous step class I was curious to check it out. I quickly noticed improvements in my strength, agility, and mental focus and kept returning to the quiet strength of yoga. That curiosity which began in 1997 has steadily evolved into a regular practice of Iyengar, Bikram, Moksha, Ashtanga, Pilates, and Mindfulness Meditation yoga.

Fast forward 12 years and I’ve returned home to London.  I am in the process of rehabilitating a cervical spine fusion. After my car accident I had a lot of time to reevaluate how I wanted to live my life and what really matters.  As I worked through the healing process I made a promise to myself that I would reprioritize my life, align with my values, and focus on self-acceptance. Hence, the plan to create the Yoga Shack was underway.

I spent five weeks in Kerala, India receiving Moksha yoga training and have spent the last year completing teacher training in Yoga4Kids, Pre/post Natal, Mindfulness Meditation, and Stott Pilates. Today I know first hand the power of yoga and Pilates to assist in the healing of injuries and I appreciate every opportunity to share this  with our students. Yoga, Pilates and meditation helps heal the body and the spirit and led to me to develop our mantra: Accept Yourself.  This is the journey that I’m on and I hope that others may want to join me. Peace

 Christa Hunt

Christa Hunt has been practicing yoga for over 5 years.  She did her training in Kerala, India through Moksha Yoga in March 2008 and has been teaching at Moksha as well as other studios in London ever since returning home. 

Christa has a background in performing arts having graduated from the Randolph Academy for Performing Arts, and her other passions beside yoga is theatre and singing.  She lives with her fiancé and little yorkie-poo Binks and excited about her wedding this coming August 2009. 

Christa is the store manager at lululemon in the Masonville mall and continues to work to strengthen the ties of this amazing yoga sangha (community) in London.  Her challenging but fun classes are sure to give you a workout while deepening your practice with an emphasis on breath awareness and core strength.  She is looking forward to being a part of this little community right here in Wortley Village, and is grateful to be teaching and learning at the Yoga Shack.

Ai-Linn Chua

Ai-Linn first began practicing yoga at the age of 12, and is a recent graduate from the YogaSpace Teacher Training Program. After personally experiencing how deeply therapeutic and life altering yoga can be, she has decided to dedicate her life to the practice and study of yoga. Her zest for life, passion for people and natural ability to connect with individuals make her classes fun, creative, energizing, deeply moving and sometimes even a little sweaty. She brings over 9 yeas of teaching experience into her instruction. As a former Personal Trainer, Fitness, Kung Fu, Swimming and Cycling Instructor, Ai-Linn is able to easily and naturally adapt her classes to each type of student.

Yoga has the ability to heal more than just the physical body but the mind and spirit as well. Through the practice of yoga one can discover their true divinity as they release deep layers of tension that keep them from inspiring their deepest potential.

Ai-Linn's aspirations with Yoga include humanitarian work with high-risk adolescences, expectant teenage mothers and cancer patients. She hopes to inspire others to move beyond their current circumstances so that they may heal themselves mentally, physically and spiritually.

She would like to thank her parents for giving her this beautiful life, her little brother for teaching her to be patient, and to Joel for reminding her that love is and always will be within us and everywhere.

Colleen Burgess

Colleen is a student of life! A secondary school teacher of English at Nancy Campbell Collegiate Institute, Colleen has been teaching yoga, language, and literature to youth for over 5 years. After studying yoga through the Moksha Yoga Teacher Training Program in Kerala, India, she returned home to offer yoga classes to her secondary school students, her fellow teaching colleagues, and has also been teaching yoga to at-risk and incarcerated youth with the New Leaf Yoga Foundation. Colleen offers you a deep-stretch yoga class, and wishes to nurture an awareness of the benefits of posture and breath toward a sense of inner peace.  Colleen looks forward to practicing a peaceful and relaxing yoga class with you!

Luanne Bruneau

Luanne tried her first hot yoga class on a whim, and there was no looking back afterwards.  Always wanting to share her joy with others, she knew this would be a practice she would share with others.  Since 2003 she incorporated yoga into her daily life training in the styles of Bikram, Moksha, Ashtanga, Vinyasa flow, and classic Hatha.  Believing in the transformative potential of yoga, in 2008 Luanne decided it was time that she wanted to give back and share her experience with others.  Under the tutelage of SusanGuddat-Graham in Markham, she completed her 200 hr. teacher training.  Luanne’s classes incorporate flow movement to build balance, strength and flexibility, ensuring that no matter what level of experience you are at, there is always room to grow and find success.

Sabra Lopez

Sabra discovered yoga at the age of 19 and the seed was planted!

 In 2005 she discovered Integral Yoga -Sri Swami Satchdinanda Ashram, Virginia,
where she spent two years immersing herself in everything yoga!
During this time she was able to meet and study with a large spectrum of well renowned yogi's from around the world and completed her 30 day teacher training intensive which was just the beginning of her in depth study of this ancient practice.

Sabra has had the opportunity to see the healing and astounding physical, mental and emotional benefits the yoga has brought to not only to her life but so many people around her.

Sabra believes that true yoga is accessible to everyone, regardless of age, size, physical limitations, or religious background. And that through this beautiful practice we not only bring flexibility, strength, and opening into our bodies but also into our hearts, our minds and our life's.....
May your life be filled with Peace, Love and Light!

Aaron Slade

Laughing loud, living large (and often eating more than his share at the dinner table), Aaron is an old soul with a big heart. Always ready for a challenge, and loving to discover new things, he’s come to the Shack to continue exploring his studentship and his teaching.

Having spent his undergraduate degree studying consumer culture, Aaron values the importance of community when it comes down to making responsible sustainable choices. In a world so wrapped up with consumption, communities where we exist as peers - acting as each other’s students and teachers – these provide environments where progressive thinking can flourish. A strong advocate for healthy living and continued education, he believes in asking questions and looking beyond the surface.