Meet Our Guides
Discover the incredible teachers, healers, and facilitators bringing their wisdom to City of Om 2026.
Adam Bracken
Adam has spent over 19 years in the fitness and health industry and is the Founder & CEO of The Fitness LAB, a strength and performance-driven training brand established in 2016. What began as a single location has grown into four facilities across the Ottawa area, known for delivering high-quality coaching, community-driven culture, and results-based programming. With a background in Fitness and Health Promotion, along with certifications including CSEP-CPT and FRC, Adam has coached a wide range of clients, from everyday individuals to elite athletes competing in the CFL, OHL, NCAA, ECHL, AHL, and NHL. A lululemon Legacy Ambassador and respected leader in the fitness community, he continues to expand The Fitness LAB while helping clients and teams perform at their highest level.
Adrian Soble
Once a full‑time sustainability engineer, Adrian is now a dedicated Lagree, Mat Pilates, and Yoga teacher with a passion for functional movement, strength, and mobility. His anatomy‑focused, dynamic, and playful classes draw from a wide range of practices to create approachable, intentional spaces where students can build strength, move with purpose, and close each session in gratitude.
Alexa Jeffrey Garza
Alexa (Sol) is a 500‑hour yoga teacher based in Ottawa whose practice blends grounding awareness with a touch of magic. After discovering yoga nearly a decade ago, she followed her curiosity into sound healing, Reiki, and other heart‑centered modalities that help people soften, open, and reconnect. Her classes invite students into a space of loving kindness, where movement, breath, and energy work come together to create a truly uplifting festival‑style experience.
Allison Tomotsugu
Allison is a seasoned movement educator with over 20 years of teaching experience in yoga and Pilates. Allison is known for her attention to detail, making the familiar feel novel and complex concepts approachable and relevant for all levels of experience. Teaching full-time in Ottawa, you can find Allison teaching Yoga, Lagree, Reformer and Mat Pilates. She facilitates annual training programs for yoga teachers, Pilates Reformer instructors, and movement educators seeking advanced anatomy knowledge.
Amanda Bottiglia
Amanda is a passionate Pilates instructor with seven years of experience, known for her welcoming energy and classes that build strength, flexibility, and overall well‑being. Whether she’s teaching from her home studio, online, or in group settings at Pure Yoga, Yogatown, or Framework, she brings enthusiasm and care to every session to ensure you get a powerful workout and have a great time doing it.
Amber Stratton
Amber has been teaching yoga and movement for over 20 years and is the co-founder of Pure Yoga and Framework in Ottawa, Canada. Her signature class, Ritual first introduced at Pure Yoga in 2019, was born from her passion for movement and the power of intention, and has become a defining experience in the community.
Anne-Marie Audet
Anne‑Marie is the founder of Sound Yogi—a gong player, healing sound facilitator, and yoga teacher who weaves movement, breath, and somatic wisdom into every experience. With 19 years of guiding humans of all levels, she blends science and intuition to create spaces that feel safe, spacious, and deeply attuned. Her sessions at festivals, conferences, and community programs are known for leaving people grounded, regulated, and lit up from the inside out.
Ashley Keller
Ashley is an instructor that loves a long jog + and even longer weight track. Expect some throwbacks, latin beats and fun girly pop vibes! Let’s ride (:
Ashley Shewchuk
Ashley is known for her Sunday Ritual class at Pure Yoga, where a strong community of regulars show up for more than just movement. She has a way of commanding the room, pushing you to your edge while tapping into a kind of resilience you didn’t know you had. There’s depth to it, something felt, not forced, where the practice carries a quiet kind of wisdom. She pulls you in as she taps into her own flow state.
Ayat Al-Badri
Ayat is a pharmacist by day and spin instructor by night! Her love for music and movement shapes every ride, creating an experience that’s empowering & energetic. Music genres include hip-hop, throwbacks, pop, and a whole lotta fun!
Bo Aganaba
Bo Aganaba is the Founder and Principal at GoodBeing, bringing together his background in urban and environmental planning with a long-standing mindfulness and movement practice. As a yoga teacher and former nonprofit leader, he supports people facing burnout, anxiety, and eco‑grief by helping them reconnect with their bodies and build functional, joyful movement habits. His playful approach to strength, mobility, and well‑being invites students to meet challenges with curiosity, creativity, and ease.
Bronwyn Lefebvre
Bronwyn began practicing yoga at a young age and turned to it as a source of balance and vitality after being diagnosed with Lupus at nine, navigating surgeries and intensive therapy with the support of her mother’s introduction to self‑healing practices. Trained in Rishikesh and teaching for over nine years, she brings a joyful, powerful spirit to her classes, offering challenging and inspiring sequences rooted in lived experience and inner strength.
Brynn O'Dwyer
Brynn is a Pilates instructor and former varsity athlete who is passionate about intentional, well-informed movement. She discovered Pilates as a way to complement strength training and deepen body awareness beyond performance alone. Her classes focus on creating a focused, supportive environment where participants can move with confidence and purpose.
Cat Doyle
Cat is passionate about helping people feel better physically, mentally, and emotionally, weaving her extensive experience with a deep love of health, healing, and wellness. A yoga teacher since 2011, she leads classes, retreats, and trainings with a focus on connection, continued learning, and the magic of community.
Cat Labelle
Kelly and Cat are two friends driven to help people discover strength beyond what they thought possible, blending high-energy, form-focused training with plenty of fun. They’ve created an inclusive, community-rooted space where everyone feels welcome to push limits, connect, and show up as they are. Their goal is simple: leave every person feeling stronger, sweatier, and just cheeky enough to come back for more.
Chanel Sosnoski
Chanel is an instructor at SPINCO Orleans with a passion for cycling, high-energy playlists, and creating a welcoming space where riders can let loose and have fun. Her classes are fueled by a mix of EDM, dubstep, remixed throwbacks, and of course a sing-along anthem guaranteed to keep the energy high. Whether you’re brand new to spin or a seasoned rider, there’s a place for you in Chanel’s class. See you on the bike!
Charlene Dygos
Charlene is a personal trainer, fitness coach, and lagree certified instructor. Her sessions are built to push limits—combining power, endurance, and grit in a way that challenges both body and mind. Expect structured, athletic programming with a strong focus on effort and execution. Whether you’re chasing performance or stepping into something new, Charlene creates an environment that demands your best and proves you’re capable of more. Driven by intensity and curiosity, she brings a “show up and work” mindset to every class—no shortcuts, just results.
Ciara Jean Beaton
Ciara Jean Beaton (yoga, pilates & acroyoga teacher) and Jason Nowlan (personal trainer) have been offering partner yoga and acroyoga together now for over a year in the Ottawa area. Together, they offer an uplifting experience by creating an engaging and inclusive practice environment that is always filled with laughter. They both love to bring people together by offering a practice that is lighthearted, dynamic and inspiring.
Devinder Kaur
Devinder is a knowledgeable and uplifting 500‑Hour Yoga Alliance Registered Teacher in the Hatha and Kundalini traditions, known for over 20 years of teaching with humour, sensitivity, and a deeply personal approach. As the founder of PranaShanti Yoga Centre and PranaShanti Education Centre, she has grown a thriving local and international community and is a sought‑after presenter and trainer at conferences and Yoga Teacher Trainings worldwide.
DJ Greeze
DJ Greeze is an Ottawa-based DJ and the owner of Crossfade DJs, known for creating high-energy dance floors that feel effortless, fun, and unforgettable. With nearly two decades in the music and nightlife scene across Ottawa, his style blends house, disco, throwbacks, hip-hop, and crowd favourites into sets built to match the energy of the room — whether that means getting people moving and grooving or simply complementing the vibe.
DJ Rise Ashen
Ottawa-based Rise Ashen has devoted his life to the study of sound and movement. From his early years as a B-Boy in Montreal in the 80s to his studies at Fanshawe College (North America's Oldest Recording School) and the Banff Centre for the Arts, to his evolution as a Global Grooves and House Music DJ, his focus has been on applying hi-fi knowhow to underground music. His record collection spans the 4 corners of the world with house and club music of all tempos as his primary focus. As a DJ and live looper/finger drummer, he blends it all in a worldy mash and is always the sweaty and dynamic life of the party. He has performed in clubs and festivals in the US, Scandinavia, Europe and Asia and his music regularly gets support from A-list DJs worldwide. His study of Yoga has led him to combine his musical journey with his Yoga journey and he has been DJing extensively for yoga classes, festivals and events since 2012. A long-time househead who has trained with many pioneering NYC dancers, since 2008 he has also been co-leading Capital Sessions Community House Dance Practices with his partner Tangent and teaching house dance at Ottawa’s Flava Factory Urban Dance school. He has collaborated and sharing the stage with countless artists including Montreal (Juno award winner) Miguel Graca, Jojo Flores, Fred Everything, Toronto based (Multi- Juno nominated) Ammoye, (Juno Award winner) Dubmatix, Version XCursion, LAL, (Juno Award Winner) Eccodek, (Juno Award Winner) Kobotown, King Sunshine, UK’s Sean Escofferey, Berlin’s Steph Lefrancois, New York’s Angel Moraes and Nickodemus, Kasm and Seed Organisation,Ottawa’s Bhavantu Collective, Ottawa’s Juno-award winner Kellylee Evans, Algonquin Singer Flying Down Thunder with whom he received a Juno nomination in 2012 for their debut album: One Nation, as well as a Native American Music Awards nomination in 2014 for their sophomore album: North Wind. He made 3 records with Silla, an Inuit throat-singing duet, they performed and toured for 6 years as Silla and Rise with Rise playing electronic percussion. They were nominated for a Juno Award for Best Indigenous Recording, a Juno for World Music Album of the Year, and they won the Mundial Stingray Award in 2018 as well as the SSIMA for best Inuit ensemble and Best Artistic music video in 2021. He is currently working on music with Trevor “lifeboogie” Walker and Toronto multi-media artist Shaemara. He believes music and dance are essential to human culture and he aspires to embody the wise words of Fela Kuti: "when the higher forces give you the gift of musicianship …it must be well used for the good of humanity".
Doriana Taccardi
Doriana (she/her) holds an MSc and BSc in Clinical Psychology and is currently completing her PhD at Queen’s University, where she studies circadian rhythms in Chronic Pain and Multiple Sclerosis while witnessing firsthand the powerful impact of yoga on body and mind. A former competitive roller hockey player and RYT, she teaches hot yoga in Kingston and continues to deepen her practice through arm balances, inversions, Vipassana meditation, and a love of philosophy, breathwork, and mindfulness.
Emma Pollon-MacLeod
Dr. Emma Pollon‑MacLeod, ND, is a Menopause Society Certified Practitioner and women’s hormone health advocate who specializes in guiding women through perimenopause and menopause with evidence‑based, whole‑person care. As CEO of NutriChem, she empowers women with education, choice, and personalized support to understand their hormonal changes and move through midlife with clarity, confidence, and long‑term vitality.
Georgia Morissette
Georgia Morissette is a 79‑year‑old yoga teacher whose background in psychology, education, and fitness shapes her uplifting, senior‑focused classes across the Ottawa area. A longtime advocate for positive thinking and balanced living, she continues to inspire retirement‑community residents through her practical wisdom, collaborative approach, and lifelong commitment to movement, creativity, and kindness.
Gilles Roisan
Gilles Roisan is a multidisciplinary artist: art director, graphic designer, filmmaker, and musician. A graduate of the ETPA art school in France, he became a graphic designer and entrepreneur while also performing in numerous bands since his college years (rock, electro, trip-hop). Moving to Montreal in 2007, he became a freelance musician and art director, while also developing his alternative electro rock project, TANUKi Project. Since 2023 he founded the Flow Yoga & Sound Festival with his partner Nady, in which he writes and performs the music for the Yoga sessions, handles all the visual production, and creates the festival’s visual identity.
Giselle Fernandez
Giselle is a dancer, kids yoga instructor, mindfulness coach, and the heart behind YogiBeatz. With over five years of experience teaching kids' yoga, she blends movement, music, and mindfulness to create fun, engaging classes that spark joy and connection.
Imad Khaddaj
Imad Khaddaj is a holistic healer and teacher whose work weaves Yin Yoga, Traditional Chinese Medicine, Reiki, Tui Na massage, and meditation with the wisdom of Daoist philosophy, Tantric Buddhist practices, and energetic mysticism. With a grounded and compassionate approach, he creates spaces where body, mind, and spirit return to balance, guiding others to reconnect with their inner wisdom, release what no longer serves, and awaken the life they are meant to live.
Jacqui Du Toit
Jacqui Du Toit blends mindful movement, breathwork, and storytelling, drawing on her background in circus and performance to celebrate the body as a place of expression and awareness. She teaches all levels with a welcoming, intuitive approach that invites students to explore strength, softness, and self‑connection.
Jason Nowlan
Ciara Jean Beaton (yoga, pilates & acroyoga teacher) and Jason Nowlan (personal trainer) have been offering partner yoga and acroyoga together now for over a year in the Ottawa area. Together, they offer an uplifting experience by creating an engaging and inclusive practice environment that is always filled with laughter. They both love to bring people together by offering a practice that is lighthearted, dynamic and inspiring.
Jenn Stow
Jenn Stow is a movement educator with over 20 years of teaching experience, known for her creative sequencing, dynamic flow, and intelligent approach to movement. Her classes combine fluid transitions, strong energetic pacing, and humour to create practices that feel both challenging and approachable. Jenn’s teaching style encourages students to explore movement with curiosity, connection, and authenticity.
Julie Parker
Julie has been coaching at The Rig Boxing for three years, where her challenging, attentive, and engaging style reflects her deep curiosity and growing love for the sport. A certified barre instructor and studio manager at The Rig’s Southpaw location, she believes in the power of group fitness to bring people together—and her classes do exactly that.
Katherine Markhauser
Katherine Markhauser is a trainer, mat pilates instructor and the co-founder of Chelsea Athletica Gym. Shes passionate about creating spaces where women can move their bodies - whether through strength training or on their mats. Her work at Chelsea Athletica centers around building a community and creating spaces where people can come together to move & meet like-minded people.
Kelly Schincariol
Kelly and Cat are two friends driven to help people discover strength beyond what they thought possible, blending high-energy, form-focused training with plenty of fun. They’ve created an inclusive, community-rooted space where everyone feels welcome to push limits, connect, and show up as they are. Their goal is simple: leave every person feeling stronger, sweatier, and just cheeky enough to come back for more.
Kemi Danmola
Kemi is a high-energy fitness coach and leader based in Ottawa, known for her empowering step experiences. She brings bold energy and joy into every class. Through STEP YOUR GOALS, she uses movement, rhythm and mindset to help people build confidence, express themselves and move with intention. Kemi believes movement is a powerful tool to step into your goals physically, mentally and energetically.
Kenny Caceros
Kenny Caceros is a lululemon Bayshore ambassador, hybrid‑training coach, and multi‑sport powerhouse who brings unstoppable energy to every room he enters. A HYROX 2025 World Championship qualifier and DEKA Fit AG World Champion, he leads The Strength Collective and The Hybrid Training Popup with the same fire that fueled his professional soccer career.
Kethy Sosso-Kolle
Kethy (she/her) is a Cameroonian‑Canadian 200-hr certified yoga teacher who enjoys leading yin and slow-paced flow classes to gentle tunes. She is the co‑founder of the BIPOC Yogis of Ottawa project, a photo‑journalism and fundraising initiative amplifying racial diversity within the Ottawa-Gatineau wellness community. She is also a devoted supporter of the 24‑Hr Yogapalooza project, helping raise awareness and funds for childhood cancer research through movement and community care. She enjoys eating sweet treats, playing with her cats and watching Japanese anime.
Kino Carey
Kino Carey is an Ottawa-born musician, based in Tokyo since 2015. In the past year, she has transitioned from being a pop-leaning artist to a dance music producer and DJ. Since then, she has played tech house parties at some of Tokyo's biggest nightclubs. Her sets combine the minimal grooves of tech house with the upbeat melodies of dance pop.
Krista Reid
Krista Reid is a breathwork facilitator and educator with over 20 years of experience in health and wellness, offering somatic, nervous‑system‑informed practices throughout the Ottawa–Wakefield region. She creates healing spaces, mentors facilitators, and supports individuals in reconnecting with their bodies, breath, and inner clarity through deep listening, thoughtful pacing, and embodied guidance.
Kyle Kirkup
Kyle Kirkup has been teaching group fitness for over twenty years, bringing a whimsical, challenging, and supportive approach to his strength and mat‑based classes at Collective Movement and beyond. He’s also a mentor to emerging instructors, blending strength, cardio, and mindfulness into pop‑infused, dance‑driven workouts that leave people feeling energized and empowered.
Laocapone
Laocapone is an Ottawa-bred DJ who moves as easily through crate-dug hip-hop as he does through pulsing electronic beats. With roots in R&B and rap DJ culture, his sets feel both timeless and fresh—whether he’s flipping soul samples or keeping the dancefloor locked with bass-heavy grooves. A true selector at heart, Laocapone built his reputation rocking parties and clubs across the city, known for his flawless blends, sharp ear for new sounds, and ability to move any crowd. Always paying homage to the past while pushing sound forward, he bridges eras with every set.
Lori Rosove
With 25 years as a social worker, 10 as a university writing instructor, and the author of two books, I have been passionate about guiding others in clarifying their thoughts through writing. I designed the trees&breathe journaling method to help you slow down, listen inward, and discover what's ready to be seen.
Louise Anne Neville
Louise Anne Neville is a Mindset & Mindfulness Energy Coach who helps people cultivate positivity, alignment, and abundance in their lives. Through her playful, heart‑centered approach, she guides participants to shift limiting beliefs, harness the power of their minds, and elevate their energy with intention.
lululemon Canada
lululemon is an innovative performance apparel company for yoga, running, training, and other athletic pursuits. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional design, we create transformational products and experiences that support people in moving, growing, connecting, and being well. We owe our success to our innovative product, emphasis on stores, commitment to our people, and the incredible connections we make in every community we're in. As a company, we focus on creating positive change to build a healthier, thriving future. In particular, that includes creating an equitable, inclusive and growth-focused environment for our people.
Marie-Julie Côté
Marie‑Julie has been practicing and teaching yoga for over 20 years, sharing her love of mindful movement across Québec, Ottawa, and international retreat spaces while drawing from a rich background in hot yoga, vinyasa, pilates, Yin, and embodied flow. A mother of three and longtime lawyer with the Canadian Armed Forces, she brings a grounded, compassionate, real‑life perspective to her classes, creating a supportive and connected space that feels right at home in the festival community.
Mathieu Flosse
Mat Flosse is a business owner, men's circle facilitator, and sound practitioner based in Ottawa. With a background in competitive sports leadership and entrepreneurship, his work bridges grounded leadership with intentional inner growth. Trained in sound bath facilitation and shamanic practices, Mat creates spaces that combine nervous system awareness, reflection, and practical tools for modern life. His approach is steady, accessible, and rooted in lived experience, guiding individuals toward greater clarity, connection, and purpose.
Megan Beahen
Megan has been teaching yoga in Ottawa for over 10 years. Whether it's slow movement, dance or fitness, Megan aims to support people in tuning into their bodies. She specializes in feel good movement and bangin' playlists.
Meghan Mainville
Meghan Mainville is a choreographer, dancer, teacher, and fitness instructor trained through The School of Dance’s contemporary program, the Limón Institute Launch program, and certified in both Group Fitness (ACE) and 200‑hour Yoga. She brings a fun, high‑energy, low‑pressure approach to every class, creating an engaging, community‑driven space where all levels feel supported and excited to move.
Mike Dynie
Mike has spent the last 18 years weaving his background in health communications with a lifelong devotion to Eastern philosophy, offering yoga as a practical, soulful tool for everyday well‑being. His teaching is breath‑centered, functional, and shaped around each student’s unique path. From intimate one‑on‑one work to festival‑style group flows, he helps people cultivate intuitive practices that support them through every season of life.
Nady Marro
Born into a family of yoga teachers, Nady has practiced since age 14, blending Tibetan‑inspired Energy Yoga with her background as a singer and musician. A 200‑hour Vinyasa‑trained teacher and founder of the FLOW Yoga & Sound Festival in the Laurentians, she now shares her passions for yoga, sound, and mindful education through her festival work, community leadership, accompanied by the much inspired musician, DJ and composer Legyl, her partner in life and on stage.
Robert Aranyosi
Rob Aranyosi blends technical movement with creative, challenging sequences that prioritize curiosity over perfection. His classes offer clear cues, smart progressions, and a playful edge, creating a space where effort, exploration, and trying before you feel ready matter more than getting it “right.”
Run Ottawa
Run Ottawa is the National Capital Region’s premiere running organization and the organizers of Canada’s most popular multi-day running event, Tamarack Ottawa Race Weekend. Run Ottawa is committed to building an accessible, inclusive running community that promotes health, belonging, and personal excellence while empowering people to give back. Guided by values of environmental responsibility, community engagement, and operational excellence, they create programs and events that welcome all participants and remove barriers to movement.
Saman Tayari
Saman is a yoga teacher, breathwork facilitator and a percussionist. He integrates his drumming into his yoga and breathwork sessions, believing that drum beats connect us with our inner rhythm and with others, and help us be more present. He also incorporates electronic music to create more immersive experiences. His passion lies in quieting the mind through breathwork and invigorating movement and breath, a practice he is eager to share with others.
Sarah Boyd
Sarah Boyd is a personal trainer, nutrition and lifestyle coach, and author with over a decade of experience helping people build strength that lasts. She blends exercise science with practical behaviour change to support active adults and athletes in training with strategy, resilience, and recovery at the center.
Selina Rose
Selina Rose is an Ottawa‑based yoga teacher, Somatic Experiencing practitioner, and Functional Diagnostic Nutrition practitioner whose work blends movement, nervous system support, and digestive well‑being. With more than 10 years in the wellness world, she helps people reconnect with their bodies in grounded, accessible ways. She also founded Bloat Babes, a holistic gut‑health platform supporting women through education, embodiment, and community.
Solange Mattar
Solange has been teaching yoga for nearly a decade across studios, women’s shelters, and retirement homes, weaving movement into spaces that need it most. Her classes blend mindful strength, yin stillness, free movement, and Yoga Nidra to harmonize yin and yang energies and awaken both the masculine and feminine within. A devoted lover of movement and travel, she brings presence, intention, and an empowering, grounded vibe to every festival‑style experience she leads.
Susan Benoit
Susan and Tarik are breathwork facilitators who guide participants to reconnect with their innate power, nervous system, and body intelligence. Combining trauma-informed awareness, embodiment, and breath mechanics, they create a container where people can regulate, release, and return to themselves-without force or expectation. Together, they bring complementary perspectives and energy, holding space for individuals to explore their breath, find their rhythm, and leave feeling resourced, grounded, and connected.
Zeina El haff
Zeina is a 200‑hour RYT‑certified yoga teacher with additional Jivamukti Spiritual Warrior training, offering a simple, accessible approach rooted in traditional teachings. She emphasizes alignment, breath‑led movement, and steady presence to help students cultivate internal awareness and balance over time.
