CULTURE

Yoga Shala Bend is a welcoming and inclusive environment. We offer a welcoming space for both beginners and seasoned yoga students focused on community. Rooted in the Sanskrit word "Shala," meaning school, home, or abode our diverse class schedule includes Ashtanga, Iyengar, Vinyasa Flows, Yoga Therapeutics and Meditation. We invite you hOMe to a journey of self-discovery.

REBECCA BELL
FOUNDER & TEACHER

Rebecca Bell has been a student of YOGA for her whole LIFE. She started seeking answers to the bigger questions in life as young as she could remember. Feeling blessed to have found a lot of those answers on her yoga mat and in her adventures climbing throughout the United States, Mexico, and the Himalayan Mountains, the ashrams of India, studying yoga with Shri K. Pattabhi Jois and Mr. BNS Iyengar in Mysore, India, to Richard Freeman, Jeanie Manchester, Gabriel Halpern, Sianna Sherman, Rod Stryker, Larry Schultz, and Rusty Wells.

“Teaching for 27 years, I step onto my mat daily with a beginner’s mind and compassionate curiosity. The simple yet challenging invitation to stay in the present moment has gifted me 36 years of sobriety and into the role of mother, wife, and yoga teacher. It is an honor and privilege that I am able to show up, serve, and share my love of yoga with students here in Bend.”

Rebecca has been leading 200-hour yoga teacher trainings for more than 18 years, leads intensives, workshops series, immersions, and international Yoga Retreats, and has recently launched Ruby Rides Bikes in 2022, a Women's Mountain Biking and Yoga retreats.

OUR TEACHERS

  • Alison is known for her playful fire, inquisitive nature, and technical expertise. Her background is in Anusara and Ashtanga Yoga. Complemented by deep studies in yoga philosophy, neuroscience, and anatomy. With over 16 years of teaching experience, Alison brings a grounded and gracious perspective to explore body, breath, and being.

  • Sabine has been teaching Yoga for over 20 years although she considers herself mainly a student. Learning how to be in the moment, focused yet relaxed, accepting the good and bad of a single practice without drama, and taking joy in being in the company of others who look for connection and truth is a constant challenge and reward. She never has to talk herself into practicing because she likes it so much. Yoga, its teachers and students, are a gift that Sabine cherishes and loves sharing with others.

  • Deb Garcia has been a student of yoga for nearly three decades. Built on a solid Ashtanga Yoga foundation, Deb has served students as an apprentice of David Miliotis and a long-time student of David Garrigues (including studies at DG’s Yoga Shala in Kerala, India). Deb has also taken multiple workshops with many of the Ashtanga Yoga masters including Sri K. Pattabhi Jois and his grandson Sharath, Richard Freeman, Tim Miller, Nancy Gilgoff, David Swenson, David Williams, and Kino MacGregor. Deb holds yoga teacher certifications from Doug Swenson and at the 200 RYT level from The Yoga Lab here in Bend.

  • Anna moved to Bend in 2016 from Minnesota. She brings with her years of experience teaching various yoga styles. A long time Ashtanga practitioner and dancer, she finally decided to become a certified yoga teacher at The Yoga Center of Minneapolis. She also completed Ashtanga teacher training with David Swenson.

    As a dancer, Anna loves to bring the beauty of movement into her yoga classes, finding that perfect balance between strength and flexibility.

    Growing up in Latvia, Anna traveled the world extensively before moving to the US.

    Anna loves to help students grow in their individual practices, helping them get stronger and more confident in their bodies with each class.

  • Deanna is passionate about music, movement, ritual, travel, real human connection & nature. She is attracted to ancient Eastern methods of medicine (Ayurveda, Chinese Medicine, Yoga & plant medicine) as well as weaving present-day bio hacks to live a life of fullness that enables a person to simply feel good in their body.

    Deanna has been teaching since 2009 & currently works with people to overcome chronic stress & anxiety. She began her yoga studies in India where she was first introduced to meditation and Ashtanga yoga. Throughout the years she has studied with many teachers and has explored various lineages. She regularly guides and teaches Vinyasa flow (with alignment), Hatha, Yin yoga, Restorative, Yoga Nidra, pranayama and meditation.

    Deanna states that “Yoga is a constant unfoldment that delivers awareness to the parts of ourselves that may have not been noticed before. Ultimately, pulling us back to our inherent wholeness.”

  • Keith has been a yoga practitioner for over 30 years. He has led Mysore for Richard Freeman at the Yoga Workshop, studied with Shri.K Pattabhi Jois in Mysore India, Tim Miller, Gabriel Halpern, Aadil Palkhivala, John Friend, Troy Lucero and Larry Schultz have been influential teachers on Keiths yoga path.

    Keith is a Board Certified Physician Assistant and Certified Massage Therapist with emphasis on functional medicine and regenerative medicine. Keith has instructed anatomy and biomechanics across the country since 1999.

  • Malachi's journey through wellness and fitness began at the University of Colorado in Boulder. Her athletic background involved competitively running 10 K's and half marathons until a lower back injury redirected her first to massage school and then to yoga. In 1997, she completed her initial 200-hour yoga teacher training at Yoga Works in Los Angeles. Expanding her knowledge, Malachi pursued her 300-hour training at Yoga Works in 2002, eventually becoming an E-RYT 500 certified instructor through the Yoga Alliance.

    Malachi went on to become a senior yoga instructor at Yoga Works, teaching there for over 23 years. In addition, she taught for Equinox gym in Los Angeles for over 10 years and was the yoga therapist at Sportsfit Physical Therapy before an extended family adventure to Costa Rica.

    Malachi has recently landed in Bend with her two daughters.

    She is excited to share her passion for yoga, her healing touch, and her compassionate and intelligent classes with you. She wishes to honor the teachers that have most informed her teaching; Maty Ezraty (founder of Yoga Works), Lisa Walford (senior Iyengar teacher), and Annie Carpenter (Smartflow Yoga).

  • Whitney has been practicing breathwork for two years but has been helping people breathe for over eight years! She is a registered Respiratory Therapist, and as a Respiratory Therapist, primary focus is helping people breathe while assessing their lung mechanics.

    Most recently, she graduated with a Master of Science in Health Informatics and a Bachelor of Science in Respiratory Therapy. She is a certified breathwork teacher through Jon Paul Crimi. Crimi is a member of the International Breathwork Foundation and a leader in the breathwork community.

    Dedicated to helping others, she wants her clients to know they have the power to heal themselves using breath.