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.
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.
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.
Anna Grace
Anna is a movement teacher and the founder of FWRD MVMT, a creative movement and lifestyle brand rooted in self-expression, individuality, and embodied experience. Her work blends strength, creativity, and music-driven sequences to create sensory-rich spaces that invite people to move, explore, and show up more fully as themselves. Anna is a certified yoga teacher, Pilates instructor, and Lagree instructor, with a teaching style that weaves together strength, creativity, breath, nervous system awareness and fun leaving you feeling empowered, and capable.
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 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!
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.
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.
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!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Jonathan Rose
Jonathan Rose is a 104th Grey Cup Champion, East Division CFL All‑Star, and Ottawa Redblacks All‑Decade cornerback with a deep passion for football and mental health advocacy. He now channels that experience into storytelling and connection as a dedicated CFL enthusiast and podcaster.
Julie Lefebvre
Julie discovered yoga as a path to recovery while navigating a severe wrist injury, an eating disorder, and the stress of caring for a critically ill child, finding profound healing through Ashtanga. Over the past two decades, she has trained with world‑renowned teachers and now blends technical expertise with a compassionate approach to support others on their own journeys to wellness.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Lori Dye
Lori Dye is an Ottawa-born yoga teacher, mindfulness coach, and international retreat curator. Her work is rooted in elemental wisdom, breath, and the quiet intelligence of the body.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Pamela Twagirayezu
Pam is an energy healer, intuitive reader, and Ceremonialist certified in Sound Healing, Reiki, and Ancestral Lineage Healing, with nearly a decade of community‑based work. Through Burning Moon Collective, she offers one‑on‑one sessions and curated experiences that blend ancestral wisdom with grounded practices, inviting curiosity, self‑expression, and gentle transformation.
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.
Rachel Hopper
Rachel Hopper is a Pilates and Lagree instructor known for her strength-forward approach and intentionally designed classes. With over three years of teaching experience, she’s passionate about helping people feel stronger, build confidence in their movement, and look forward to coming to class. Her mat classes are beat-based, combining structure and energy for a challenging workout, with options to modify or progress, making them accessible to a wide range of students.
Randy Roffey
Randy is a registered yoga teacher trained in Yin, Restorative, Meditation, and Yoga Nidra, grounding his work in daily practices of breathwork, meditation, vulnerability, and gratitude. As co‑founder of the 24 Hr Yogapalooza fundraiser for CHEO, he’s deeply connected to the Ottawa–Gatineau yoga community and brings a passionate, down‑to‑earth presence to everything he does.
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.
Samie Kadima
Samie is a certified Pilates and fitness instructor with a background in strength training and community‑based wellness, known for leading inclusive, mindful, and empowering movement experiences. Blending classical Pilates principles with modern training techniques, she creates supportive spaces where people of all levels can build functional strength, feel connected, and move with confidence.
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.
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.
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.
Tiffani Harris
Tiffani Harris is a movement teacher with over 18 years of experience, offering classes, workshops, trainings, and retreats across a wide range of styles. She loves connecting with students of all levels, using clear, detailed guidance to help them understand their bodies in a creative, engaging way.
Tracy Billows
Tracy Billows is the founder and co-owner of Yogatown, Ottawa's longest-running yoga studio, open since 2008 and now spanning three locations across the city. With 25 years of practice, she considers herself a student first and a teacher second. Yogatown reflects everything Tracy believes in - connection, belonging, and community. Off the mat, her greatest joy is her family - husband Jason, two children, and her dog Pepper. She is also a passionate health enthusiast who loves exploring new ways to thrive, and nothing brings her more joy than inspiring others to do the same.
