the collective

Mary Kate (RYT500 Vinyasa, RYT200 Kundalini, CMT) had the good fortune of meeting her first yoga teacher, Gurudass Kaur, in 2001 while living in Barcelona and has since immersed herself in studentship of this ancient art & science. She continued her studies of Kundalini Yoga with Dr. Siri Gian Singh Khalsa. MK was then drawn towards the creative vastness & fluidity of Vinyasa Yoga and began her studies of a multi-lineage culmination of Vinyasa Yoga under both Iris Lambert and Janet Stone. Together she has over 1,000 hours of trainings and certifications in yoga and massage therapy and has been actively teaching throughout Northern California & abroad, including West Africa since 2008. Her classes offer participants an opportunity to clear, heal & strengthen through a moving meditation grounded in breath and loving-kindness, providing yogic tools to thrive in our modern age. In 2021, MK and her husband Alex, opened Sol Rio Studio, a Collective of yoga teachers, bodyworkers and healing artists, serving West Sonoma County. She is grateful to live in this beautiful and unique community with her husband and daughter, Mari, and provide her community a special space to come together, practice & build healing group energy. 

"I have been practicing yoga for over 20 years and am certified in Shri Yoga—a synthesis of Hatha traditions rooted in yoga’s 8 limbs and the principles of Anusara/consciousness and Viniyoga/adaptation. I lead Vinyasa-inspired sequences which provide a dynamic practice of asana and meditation emphasizing alignment and a steady breath to calm the mind, strengthen the body, enliven the spirit, and cultivate wellness.

Operating from an ever-growing understanding of yoga as a living, mutable practice that is at once physical, soulful, and unique to each individual, I strive to teach all classes to all levels and all bodies in an environment that is encouraging, aspirational, judgment-free, and inclusive. root. grow. thrive. (RYT-200)

​​My studentship and teaching is rooted in deep respect and appreciation for yoga's roots and all of its limbs, which I strive to learn and integrate into my life on the daily."

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"Yoga offers the chance to grow and learn continuously throughout our lives. Yoga practice is inclusive of all genders, races, personalities, creeds, abilities and ages.  I'm more than half way through my seventh decade now (and my third decade teaching yoga!).  I find that yoga continues to lead me to learn and grow every day. That is why I am so excited and honored to teach mixed level Hatha yoga. I really enjoy making the practice available to beginners and differing abilities, while still presenting a challenge to experienced yogis. In every class, I have the opportunity to share and learn with my yoga community. It's a community that I love being part of!" 

Heidi is an Ayurvedic Yoga Specialist, and a practitioner of Kashmir Shaivism. Her classes are an exploration into connection through breath, movement, and meditation. In a playful way, Heidi incorporates the foundations of yoga to journey in and remember truth, consciousness & bliss.  She infuses flow, yin and restorative to calibrate balance, to build strength, and to find alignment from within and with it all. 

Dana Valley has spent her 25-plus year career in healthcare holding many positions in multiple levels of the industry while simultaneously immersing herself in studying indigenous medicine, advanced energy work, shamanism, and spirituality.  She is a trained Center for Mind-Body Medicine facilitator, an Usui Reiki Master Teacher, Isis Initiate and an initiated African Dagara Tradition Diviner.  She enjoys creating and holding sacred space for deep healing and transformation, group facilitation, holding sacred circles and teaching others to take back their power to heal themselves.  Her primary interest is in exploring the void the healthcare system has left when omitting spirituality from whole person care and she is committed to helping both worlds intersect again in her lifetime. She offers group Reiki sessions as well as private Reiki sessions. 

Iris specializes in Bhakti Yoga: teaching Asana, pranayama, meditation and Kirtan. Singing has always been an important part of her spiritual life - church choir starting in the 4th grade and Music Major at Bard College.

She met Swami Satchidananda when she was singing and dancing in ‘Hair' on Broadway in 1969. This was the beginning of her life changing.
 

She moved to California in 1971, began teaching Yoga in 1972 in Sausalito, California and received Massage Certification in 1978. Ashtanga Vinyasa
became her home practice. More recently Iris learned alignment from Anusara and creative sequencing from Shiva Rea.
 

As an aging Goddess, Iris has traveled and taught yoga classes and retreats in Thailand, India, Mexico, Costa Rica and the US Virgin Islands. She has taught
classes and Yoga Teacher Trainings in Ashland, Oregon, Sebastopol, California and Baja.
 

During the last 4 Years, Iris has mostly taught Privates and is excited to be returning to teaching via Sol Rio!

Shea’s journey began in 2013… As a new mom and ready to start a career, she joined the National Holistic Institute from 2013-2014 to learn Western and Eastern healing techniques in Massage Therapy. By the time graduation arrived, she had 900 hours of massage time which has now turned into thousands. After school, she worked in high-end spas and eventually began Mobile Massage for Sonoma and Marin counties.

Shea believes that massage is more than just for relaxation, it’s therapeutic and a part of the healing process we all should experience whether it’s for our minds or for our bodies.
Her techniques involve a cozy, healing blend of Deep Tissue, Swedish, Trigger Point work, PNF stretches, Hot Stones, Energy work, and Prenatal.

On her days off, she is a homeschool mom of two and a budding florist for the Russian River Valley.​

"Just a being, interests include: perpetually searching for the sonic palette of the universe while promoting the proliferation of kindness through aural communication...and other stuff too."

Cassiopeia is an intuitive Sound Healing Practitioner living in the Coastal Redwood Forest of California. She is passionate about sharing the incredible medicine of Sound with all the healing it brings.  This is her vision and her life path!  Raised in the Pacific Northwest, she began to work with Sound on her personal journey in healing from cancer.  She has been sharing this powerful vibrational medicine with others since 2015, after graduating the Globe Institute of Sound and Consciousness in San Francisco.  Her continued studies have led her to work with various Sound and Plant Medicine Masters in Brazil, Peru as well as Gong Masters in the U.S.  She is currently studying Harp, Percussion, Voice and Ceremonial Music.  She offers a variety of offerings at Sol Rio Studio including monthly Sound Baths & Private Sound Healings. 

With decades of experience in yoga, dance and gymnastics, Caitlin Hildebrand, NP, RYT500, graduated with a Yoga Alliance Certification from Yoga to the People and Holistic Yoga Coach training from Purusha Yoga School. She also deepened her knowledge of health and wellness with advanced training from the Weil Center for Integrative Medicine, the Center for Mind-Body Medicine, and coursework in trauma focused yoga from Veterans Yoga Project, Inversions at Baptiste Yoga and Yoga for Grief at The Center, all in San Francisco.

As an Integrative Nurse Practitioner, Caitlin integrates the best of yoga philosophy with detailed knowledge of anatomy and health, creating yoga sequences that are always spontaneous, creative, and tailored to the needs and desires of the students. A focus on alignment creates sustainable safe skills for a lifelong practice, and Caitlin encourages students to modify in any way that enhances their experience. Mindfulness meditation is woven throughout, to enhance the spiritual and emotional components of yoga, even as you focus on the breath and body.

Evan was first drawn to meditation in 2009 after attending a New Years retreat hosted by Spirit Rock in the tradition of Insight. He discovered how powerful meditation could be, yet found his experiences too intense and strange to navigate productively. Not long after, Evan settled into a path of practice taught by Richard Shankman, which utilizes skillful empirical observation and natural inclination to integrate Insight, Concentration and Mindfulness in the service of freedom from suffering. Since then he has attended numerous retreats, practiced in the western traditions of Insight (Vipāssana), Concentration (Samādhi), and Soto Zen, and continue to study under Richard Shankman. These teachings are a priceless gift to Evan, and he intends to share that gift with all who would find it of benefit.

Lehshel is a 200-hour certified yoga teacher with an additional 60-hours training in yin and meditation. Her goal is to create inclusive spaces for embodied expression and deeper connection while using movement, mindfulness, and breath to tap into a creative flow state. She is currently based out of Barcelona, Spain studying graphic design and offers freelance admin, web, creative, and yoga and meditation services. 

Xochi has developed her approach to teaching yoga from non-devotional practices that work to include all bodies, levels and backgrounds. Her depth of experience enables her adjust each class to meet the needs of the bodies that show up to practice.

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Using her extensive education in trauma informed approaches in her teaching, Xochi offers various options and invitations for the movements she shares. Her classes will challenge and soothe your mind and body in a safe and appropriate manner, as she weaves together the ancient practices of yoga asana with the more modern developments in the Western practice that promote a more just and equal place for all bodies to heal.

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Xochi has been practicing yoga asana for twenty years and teaching for thirteen. She holds two 200-hour Yoga Teacher (YTT) certifications, as well as Trauma Informed Yoga for Youth and the Prison Yoga Project teaching certifications.

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When not teaching or practicing yoga, Xochi works in community mental health as a somatic trauma informed therapist with youth and children in Sonoma County. She enjoys roller skating and swimming.

“Being a yoga instructor is so much more than guidance of the physical body - it’s finding your expression, your authenticity, your sense of self through movement, through the mind, breath, and asana. My class flow and focus continues to evolve over 12 years of instructing, involving fluid dance like transitions and foundations to the core essence of yoga. I have furthered my love for movement with dance, Pilates, internal training, and a variety of options to add adaptability into each session to strengthen the body and mind”