TEACHERS
I am in awe of the soul’s presence in the body. I explore its container deeply. I study how energy moves through the body and its effects when landing in the freedom current of now and the imagination. I believe in the healing power of the breath and listening to the soul’s communication.
ARMANDO RIVAS
Armando is co-owner of Hilo Yoga Shala & Bodywork on the Big Island of Hawai’i and has been a practitioner of yoga and bodywork since 1999. His teachers are Nancy Gillgof, Eddie Modestini, Nicki Doane, Aadil Palkhivala, Rajiv Chanchani, Noah Williams, Kimberly Flynn, Richard Freeman, and Mary Taylor. Armando has been assisting Colee in the mysore room since 2004. He gives skillful physical adjustments which provide support for students to practice surrender and move beyond their self-imposed boundaries. Armando holds the room with confidence and grace which facilitates independence and the evolution of a student’s practice.
COLEE GARR
Colee Garr is co-owner of Hilo Yoga Shala & Bodywork on the Big Island of Hawai’i. She is a dedicated yoga practitioner and teacher for 22 years, and a dancer for 14 years.
She teaches the traditional Mysore Ashtanga Yoga program with focus on developing a tailored practice based on each student’s needs and intention. She gives individualized attention to alignment, encouraging and challenging each student to grow and deepen their personal yoga practice through a series of asanas (yogic postures). She believes that this development reaches beyond physicality, and holistically embraces the human, individually and collectively.
In addition to her Ashtanga and Iyengar training, Colee studied Therapeutic Yoga in Dehradun, Marma Point Massage in Dharmsala and Thai Massage in Pai, Thailand. She also has a rich background in music and dance, and continues to passionately practice hula, contemporary dance, and voice lessons with professional teachers on the island. Beyond her love for yoga, music, and dance, she is raising two beautiful boys with Armando Rivas, life partner and co-owner of Hilo Yoga Shala.
KRISTEN COYLE
Kristen Coyle, E-RYT 500, is a devoted yoga practitioner, teacher, and yoga teacher trainer. She began her journey with yoga 14 years ago, and has been dedicated to the yogic path ever since.
She has been teaching yoga for ten years, and offers on-going classes, workshops, and yoga teacher trainings at various locales around the world.
Kristen integrates what she has studied into an intelligent alignment based, creative, physically challenging, and spiritually rooted practice. She weaves breathing exercises, chanting, and meditation into her offerings to assist in the unfolding process that is yoga.
Beyond yoga, she is passionate about traveling, cooking organic gourmet food, dancing, and swimming in sacred waters.
JULIE MURCIA
(M.Ed, RYT, RCYT) is a Hawai’i-based educator dedicated to sharing yoga, education and wellness. She is the founder of Yoga Keiki, a community organization that brings yoga to children on the Big Island. She is co-owner of Na Manu Li’i Children’s Center, a school that honors children’s development through play, yoga and the arts. Julie began her practice of yoga in college and currently studies under Colee Garr and Kristen Coyle. She loves Ashtanga and comes back to her mat for the passion and calmness the practices ignites for her daily.
