MokSana Yoga Center : Teacher Bios

Ida Manly started practicing yoga 11 years ago while pregnant, as a way to keep fit, and quickly saw that it was much more than a gentle form of exercise. She has practiced many different styles over the years (Sivananda, Flow, Power Yoga, Hatha, Kripalu). Ida completed her teacher training at Moksana Yoga Centre in the summer of 2006, where she continues to practice. Having spent the majority of her life participating in muscle-tightening activities, Ida is related to the experience of inflexibility and is constantly amazed and delighted at the release and change of her body through the practice of yoga asanas, and is committed to sharing this transformation with others.

Clare Mullen began her yogic journey twelve years ago in the city of Toronto. She completed her Teacher Training at Moksana Yoga Centre in the winter of 2003 and has been teaching at the studio ever since. She continues to study and practise various aspects of yoga and meditation, including Vipassana. Her passion for teaching is rooted in her wonder at yoga's ability to heal, nourish and inform our lives. She is inspired by her travels throughout Africa, Central America and Canada and draws on her B.A. in philosophy and a B. Ed in Elementary Education to further understand and celebrate life in general.

Tatiyana Bastet began her yoga journey by toddling across the meditation hall in yellow stretchies. Asana practice was introduced a few years later and all went well until. . . as a teenager she wholeheartedly rebelled against everything – including yoga. Over the next few years it became frustratingly obvious that any and all roads would lead back to her yogic path. Surrendering to the inevitable,she continues to be taught and inspired by many, though it is Swami Maheshananda and Maya Ma who fill her heart as Teacher.

Jules Payne grew up backbending and balancing on her head during 8 years of childhood acrobatic classes. She qualified as a yoga instructor here at Moksana and teaches ashtanga, flow and hatha yoga. Jules’ classes combine a sense of fun and joy with an awareness of alignment and safety. Jules has had many inspirational teachers in the Ashtanga and Anusara (hatha) traditions. She currently studies Vinjana yoga with Elizabeth Peckham and is completing her Professional Yoga Therapist training with Integrative Yoga Therapy. Jules’ passion for yoga is complimented by 10 years of community–based work with charities in England and in Canada.

Mary Jane Collins celebrates the communication that happens when we bring both breath and awareness into movement and stillness. Her teaching is gentle and nourishing. She welcomes the opportunity to explore with others – learning more about how we heal and how whole we already are. Mary Jane has led qigong classes for four years and took her yoga teacher training at MokSana in Fall 2004. She feels both called and blessed to practice and teach.

Crystal Star, a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT) and graduate of the Moksana Teacher Training Program, is often seen in the sun-lit studio dearest to her heart. For the past 11 years she has been on an extensive journey of teaching and practicing at many different locations throughout Victoria. Amazing teachers and wonderful styles including Iyengar, Flow, Hatha, Chakra, Ashtanga and Kundalini have influenced her. Crystal’s teaching style focuses on compassion, self-awareness, safety in postures, having fun, and in creating a nurturing space where each unique being can explore their individual, personal connection to Body-Mind-Spirit. Bringing deep love and life experience to Integrative Medicine, she is also a Certified Counsellor, Registered Nurse, Mother, and Reiki Master/Teacher.

Michèle Butot certified as a yoga instructor in 1998 (500 hours), and is a member of the International Association of Yoga Therapists. Her practice is influenced by nondualist teachings, and has as its goal reunion with the deeper Self.

Michèle’s classes are ideal for students wanting a gentle, meditative and individualized approach, and those interested in the psychology and philosophy as well as the physicality of yoga.

Norman Sim’s yoga dharma began when he was introduced to the 8-fold path of Patanjali, which he found strikingly similar to the Taoist component of his education in Chinese medicine. As a nursing student and registered Yoga Fitness Leader (BCRPA), Norman continues to study the latest Western concepts of the body/mind and its mysteries. Each branch, Eastern and Western, informs his Yoga instruction with complementary ideas of flow, constraint and wholeness.

Allison Maffey began practicing yoga in 2000. She is continually amazed at and ever grateful for the body awareness that comes with continued practice. Allison is honoured by the opportunity to share her experience with others in the hopes that it may support them on their yogic journey.


	Jennifer Piercy has been practicing yoga since 2001 and feels like it was part of her life long before she officially discovered it. She is currently studying Counseling Psychology, and hopes to start an outdoor therapy practice in the future. In a culture that teaches us to look outside ourselves for answers to just about everything, Jenn’s teaching springs from the desire to provide a refuge from the external madness of the ‘real world’. Her style is influenced by every teacher she has ever met, as well as years of interest and study in philosophy and spiritual psychology.

	Melissa Krieger began her yoga journey as a student at MokSana in 2002. As a personal trainer, Melissa found that yoga complimented her strength training work. In 2005, Melissa realized that her love for yoga and passion for teaching could be combined and she enrolled in the teacher training program at MokSana. Melissa strives to bring calmness to the mind and body through asanas, pranayama, strength work and balance training. She works with people of all abilities, and loves to help students see what they are capable of. Her classes are lead in a lighthearted, energetic manner.

	Soo Chenier began her Yoga practise in 2001 here at Moksana. She was certified as an instructor in the winter of 2006 through the Moksana teacher training program. Previous to her Yoga practise, Soo studied dance and was a competitive swimmer. She is inspired by the ability of Yoga to continually transform the Self as a whole, and is truly honoured to teach in the ancient tradition of Yoga.


	Adele Worobey has been interested in yoga and spiritual exploration since a young age. Her interest has lead her to many styles and teachers of yoga, meditation and spiritual thought. In recent years, her yoga practice has brought great change in her life, inspiring her to share her experience with others. She completed the teacher's training program at Moksana in the spring of 2005 and finds the honour of sharing the benefits of yoga with others a natural complement to practice as a counsellor and her love of the outdoors.

	Kyla Stewart began teaching Kundalini Yoga in 1998 after she received her teaching certification in Ottawa from the International Kundalini Yoga Teachers Association and the Kundalini Research Institute. Her classes bring together the elements of movement, sound, music, pranayama and meditation, creating a fresh experience for students in each class.

	Megan Nolan began practicing yoga in 2000 upon recognizing its many amazing benefits and features. Initially drawn to it's fluidity of movement, it was the calming, centering nature of yoga that has fostered her continued study. Serious study of yoga began under Kathy Edler (trained by B.K.S. Iyengar and Shri Pattabhi Jois) on Hawai’i and has continued at Moksana with the completion of the Teacher Training Program.

	Sue King began her yoga journey in the search for physical health, which led to a commitment to having yoga and its principles be the guide in all areas of her life. Sue moved to Victoria and attended the MokSana Yoga Teaching Training in 2005. She has been teaching and training in the city ever since. Sue’s primary goal as a teacher is to invite the participants to an inner journey that fuels peace, calm, balance, strength, self-awareness, respect and wisdom.

	Karen Robinson has been a yoga practitioner for over 20 years. In her classes, Karen invites you to coordinate movement and breath, nurture relaxation, feel rather than think, work at your pace, and move from the inside out to free the energy within. As a Registered Yoga Teacher (RYT), she maintains a creative edge in her own practice and teaching through continuing education and independent study. Teachers who have influenced her include: Angela Farmer, Brahmani Liebman, Erich Schiffmann, and Mukunda Stiles.