OUR TEACHERS
ANGIE POON- FOUNDER AND YOGA TEACHER
When Angie began practicing Bikram yoga in 2001, she found the 110F heat allowed her to deepen into poses, and the fixed sequence made it possible to see her practice improving. During the 8 years Angie was a student of Bikram yoga, she was also working full-time and found transitioning back to yoga in a 110F room after a lapse in practice difficult.
When Angie experienced gently-heated Vinyasa Flow, she was hooked. Vinyasa Flow provided variety from fixed sequences (downward dog is amazing!) with enough heat to deepen into the body.
During a period of reflecting on her life of work and travel, Angie decided she needed to create a more balanced and solid foundation. With support from her family and the yoga community she opened Just Breathe Yoga in 2010.
Angie shares the life changing experience of yoga with her students by teaching from her own practice. She hopes to encourage, nurture, and empower students. She believes that once you’ve recognized your true Self, the whole yoga practice will come to you.
ERICA JOHNSON - YOGA TEACHER
Movement and artistic expression through the body in motion has always been a large part of Erica’s spirit. She moved to the Bay Area in 2006 from her childhood home in Yosemite National Park.
Erica found refuge in yoga after a severe knee injury in 2009 took her away from her first loves: teaching and performing dance. During her recovery, she fell in love with the power of the mind-body connection of yoga. Through yoga, she found she was able to do things that her doctors had told her she most likely would never do again. Yoga healed her internally and externally. Erica completed her 200-Hour Hatha-Vinyasa certification with Angie Poon and Noell Clark at Just Breathe Yoga @ Rivermark and since then, she has shared her passion for movement and the healing power of yoga with her students.
CARLY COLUMBRES - YOGA TEACHER
Carly is a Certified Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga Teacher, RYT-200 and a Bay Area Native. She began teaching yoga in 2010, while living in the desert in Southern Arizona. She discovered Baptiste Yoga during a very difficult time in her life. This practice, she believes, inspired her to live an empowered life, to embrace self-acceptance and love and helped her gain access to be a fierce and courageous Woman.
As a teacher, she believes it is important that classes be challenging yet accessible for all levels. Her students are empowered both physically and mentally by stretching the limits of their comfort zone and opening up to possibilities in their practice and in their life. She is known for her authentic teaching style and classes that combine a passion for the practice, inspiration, and of course, fun! Read more
VANDANA
Growing up in India, Vandana had a spiritual upbringing, but not very athletic. She realized the importance of fitness when she fell in love with hiking in the beautiful Sierras in California. The meditative quietness of hiking in the forest is the same quality she found when took up yoga. She immediately fell in love with connecting breath with movement. Vandana fully believes that yoga is essential for the well-being of both the mind and the body in equal measure.
To deepen her knowledge of yoga, Vandana finished her 200-hour yoga teacher training with Angie Poon at Just Breathe Yoga in 2019. Subsequently for the 2020 YTT session, she led the discussion of the Yoga Sutras and the Bhagavad Gita.
Vandana loves to infuse a meditative quality in to both her Gentle Vinyasa as well as Power Vinyasa classes and remind practitioners once too often to connect with their breath during the class!
CASEY WICKSTROM - YOGA TEACHER
Casey became a certified yoga instructor in December 2017. A professional musician and writer, he sees yoga as a link between body and mind, and believes in the practice, the benefits, and the results.
In August of 2011, a near fatal collision with a drunk driver sent Casey into a downward spiral that nearly took his life. Extensive injuries and post-traumatic stress put him at a serious crossroads, and he eventually turned towards yoga and meditation to turn his life around. Now, he teaches yoga as a way to share the healing effects of the practice that helped him in his recovery.
He is the author of various short stories and blogs, and has just released his fifth studio album. His website is www.caseywickstrom.com
SARAH STRANDHOLT
Sarah Strandholt is a chiropractor and movement enthusiast. She graduated from the four year chiropractic program at Palmer College West in December 2020 with Cum Laude designation. Prior to chiropractic school Sarah completed a BSc, Kinesiology from Dalhousie University in Halifax. She is also a yoga instructor who completed her 200-hour YTT March 2020 at Just Breathe Yoga. Due to her background with sporting injuries and personal rehab journey, Sarah's philosophy is movement is medicine. She has been training with movement and rehab specialists over the past four years. Sarah currently lives in Calgary, Canada and is working as a chiropractor there.