Meet Our Guides
Discover the incredible teachers, healers, and facilitators bringing their wisdom to City of Om 2026.
Adele Stratton
Adele has been practicing Holistic medicine and Spirituality for 35 years. She has studied all over Canada, U.S. and Caribbean. Specializing in Biodynamic Cranial Sacral therapy, Visceral manipulation, Developmental trauma, Bio-computer operating system. Being clairvoyant, she brings more to a session then most practitioners, as quite often guides or spirits will show up in a session to bring more information to the client. It could be a person who has passed on and comes in to give the client a message. Their Aura could change colour on the table. Just to say, it's not your everyday therapy session. Her main goal....Find the Root cause.
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.
Aleysha Derksen
With over 12 years of teaching experience, Aleysha Derksen specializes in handstands, inversions, and transformational movement, leading workshops around the world that help students tap into strength, confidence, and play. As the founder of In Alignment Yoga School in Bali, she teaches yoga as a pathway to self‑discovery and personal evolution, guiding students toward the power and magic already within them.
Alicia Ott
Alicia is a Pilates and movement instructor who blends classical technique with a playful, empowering style that celebrates showing up, moving, and feeling fully alive in your body. Her Morning Club classes focus on progress over perfection, inviting participants into a light, joyful, and deeply human experience that builds confidence, energy, and connection.
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.
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.
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.
Brittany Bryden
Brittany Bryden is a music‑infused movement teacher who helps students find presence, play, and deeper connection through yoga. A mompreneur with a big love for community and co‑creation, Britt brings fun, creativity, and rhythm into every class — always guided by the beat that moves her.
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.
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Churchman
A laid-back yet engaging journey through house, disco and other genres crafted specifically for the early hours of the day. Expect uplifting rhythms, and plenty of toe tapping energy - music that encourages movement and connection while maintaining a fun, relaxed, welcoming atmosphere.
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.
Edelaine Valino
Edelaine has been coaching at The Rig Boxing for four years and is Mechanicsville’s studio manager. Her love for the fitness space and coaching stems from her enjoyment of building community, seeing how fitness changes people’s lives, and helping people find the motivation and encouragement to keep trying.
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.
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.
Grace Bracken
Grace is a former competitive hockey player who learned early how powerful nutrition can be, a lesson that deepened after two major hip surgeries pushed her to rebuild her health from the inside out. Now a mom, coach, and founder of The Body Sculpt, she’s dedicated to helping people restore their metabolism, build lean muscle, and pursue fat loss without burnout or restriction. She leads a team of functional nutritionists and coaches who share her mission of making sustainable, strength‑focused transformation feel clear, achievable, and deeply supportive.
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 Dumoulin
A former varsity track and field and cross country athlete, Jenn is a spin instructor at SPINCO Orléans who dabbles in Hyrox and powerlifting. Her passion is connecting sport and fitness to personal growth - we learn amazing things about ourselves by challenging ourselves physically and mentally through physical activity.
Jenn Taing
Jenn Taing returns to the mat with a renewed devotion to celebrating the evolving power of the maternal body, inspired by her own journey into motherhood. Her pre‑ and post‑natal classes blend athletic fire with deep tenderness, creating space for mamas to feel strong, supported, and fully themselves. She’s here to spark a community where resilience, softness, and motherhood rise together in true festival spirit.
Jessy Leger
With many years of experience in the fitness community and now at Spinco, Jessy brings high energy, positivity, and motivation to every ride. His classes are designed to challenge riders, build confidence, and leave everyone feeling stronger.
Jill Wright
Jill Wright is a Time Management Expert and founder of Energy + Hours, where she helps high‑achieving moms, creatives, and entrepreneurs align their hours and energy through practical tools, rest, intuition, and a neuro‑affirming lens. Her work—featured on 80+ podcasts and in organizations across North America—supports real people in creating sustainable, meaningful success without burnout.
John King
Monkey Rock Music is a fun, participatory music program for young children and their adult caregivers. We have been running in Ottawa since 2008, offering classes, daycare programs, elementary school shows, and even full blown rock concerts for toddlers and young kids.
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.
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.
Kyanna McPherson
Kyanna is a Jamaican Canadian yoga teacher who blends Hatha and Vinyasa with a grounding, intuitive flow that encourages movement with confidence, authenticity, and joy. Her playful, soulful classes weave breath, movement, music, and rest to support reconnection with the body, inner power, and sense of self.
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.
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.
Lyndsay McIntyre
Lyndsay has 15 years of experience as a coach and trainer with a recent certification from HYROX Academy; Level 1 Course. She is a coach at The Strength Collective and thrives on building community, pushing athletes to limits they didn't know they had and ensuring everyone who walks through out doors feels at home no matter their fitness background or experience: the gym is for everyone. Lyndsay comes from a Crossfit background which made transitioning to HYROX competitions seamless and easy.
Madi Harris
Growth begins with a shift in mindset, and Madi leads with that belief at the center of her work. The power of one small word—“yet”—has shaped her approach to possibility, helping transform doubt into direction. Purpose, Vision + Goals has met her at every stage of adulthood, through seasons of uncertainty, ambition, reinvention, and expansion. Each chapter offered clarity, alignment, and the courage to take the next step. As a leader, she has witnessed the transformation that happens when people move from “I can’t” to “I can’t yet.” Confidence builds. Decisions sharpen. Momentum follows. PVG becomes more than a framework—it becomes a living practice that turns intention into action. Madi is dedicated to helping others define a bold vision, set meaningful goals, and step into what’s possible, even when the path is still unfolding.
Mandie Vossenberg
Mandie Vossenberg is a fitness professional and trauma‑informed trainer whose work blends movement, connection, and her background in social work and community organizing. As the owner of Collective Movement, she leads step, strength, and personal training experiences in Ottawa, where she lives with her husband and two cats.
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.
Natalie Fraser
Natalie Fraser is a yoga teacher with families and community at heart. Her classes are inclusive, fun and accessible. Whether you are a first timer, a caregiver yoga'ing with kids, or someone looking for ease - you'll find what you need here.
Nikki Richard
Nikki is a social justice activist, yoga teacher, and certified somatic movement and breathwork coach who brings trauma‑informed practices into activist spaces as tools for regulation, solidarity, and collective care. Her work weaves nervous system awareness with political consciousness, offering an embodied, relational approach that supports resilience without bypassing structural harm.
Peter Lavictoire
Peter Lavictoire brings big, joyful energy to the mat, blending his Baptiste‑inspired vinyasa roots with a lifelong love of movement. As Pure Fit’s lead trainer, he’s all about evolving the practice to build physical power and mental resilience, fueled by handstands, massive cashew‑milk coffees, and the passion he sees when people share what they love. A beach‑born yogi since age twelve, Peter channels that same curiosity and play into every class.
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.
Serena Finlayson
Serena is a Certified Athletic Therapist, Registered Massage Therapist, professional dancer, and barre instructor who believes every(body) is an athlete. She’s passionate about movement as medicine and uses her wide-ranging expertise to bridge mind and body in ways that honour each person’s unique experience. Serena loves working outside the box, inviting students into movement as exploration, curiosity, and connection.
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.
Spinco Orleans
SPINCO Orléans is rolling into City of Om with a full day of rhythm‑driven, sweat‑soaked, community‑charged rides — all inside our dedicated SPINCO space. As Orléans’ newest spin studio, they’re bringing their signature immersive, beat‑based experience to the festival, offering multiple 50‑minute classes that blend music, movement, and collective energy.
Sunshine Glitterchild
Sunshine Glitterchild is here to spread love, kindness, joy, cheeks & glitter through the art of drag…and sometimes on roller skates! Sunshine is a music lover with a passion for music of many genres and decades, especially disco. Sunshine seeks to connect with her audience not just through sparkley looks and performances, but through authenticity and heart with a side of silly.
Tarik Hassan
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.
Tatianna Graham
Tatianna Graham is a women’s health coach, physical therapist, and yoga teacher dedicated to helping women 40+ feel at home in their bodies again. Through movement, nervous system support, and embodied practice, she guides women toward strength, self‑trust, and inner resilience. Her work creates space for emotional, mental, and spiritual reconnection, empowering women to listen inward and rise in community. Tatianna is a proud Preventative Health Awareness Movement (PHAM) ambassador.
Todd Lavictoire
A lifelong mover, Todd brings equal parts strength, heart, and grounded grit to everything he does. Guided by his mantra — “If you are willing to do only what’s easy, life will be hard…” — he trains, teaches, and lives with purpose, recently stepping into the Fight for the Cure ring to raise money for cancer research and patient care. One of the original Pure Yoga crew, Todd shows up with the kind of resilience and integrity that inspires everyone around him.
Valerie Callaghan
A Lagree and Mat Pilates instructor with a commitment to celebrating the intersections of showing up for yourself, Valerie is driven by supporting her students to move with love and intention not reaction. She encourages her students to build trust within themselves cultivating a safe space to move freely. Her classes blend Latin, Reggaeton, and Dancehall beats intentionally building the energy in the room to amplify both psychological and physical benefits as she leads the class through movements rooted in everyday life.
