2026 Presenters
2026 Bend Yoga Festival Presenters
Meet the teachers, musicians, artists, and guides leading the 2026 Bend Yoga Festival.
Meet our 2026 Lineup
Amy Ippoliti
Amy is a yoga, meditation, and wellness educator, author, and earth activist. Her caring approach brings ancient wisdom to modern practitioners, both on and off the yoga mat. She is known for her genuine style of teaching, intelligent sequencing, compelling and clear instruction, and engaging sense of humor.
Yoga Educator | Founder of Vesselify
Tiffany Cruikshank
Tiffany is a yoga therapeutic specialist, author, licensed acupuncturist and Chinese Medicine provider. She’s trained over 15,000 yoga teachers, athletes, medical professionals, physical therapists, bodyworkers and coaches on how to fuse anatomy, western medicine and cutting-edge research with traditional yoga practices to therapeutically support individuality and holistic wellness.
Founder + CEO | Yoga Medicine
Kia is an international yoga teacher, writer, lover of life and founder of Radiant Body Yoga. Her mission is to educate and inspire, to share techniques and experiences that help you to unlock your hidden potential and thrive in life.
She teaches at festivals and retreats throughout the world, as well as on her on online platform available through her app.
Founder | Radiant Body YogaKia Miller
Gina is a National Board Certified Health & Wellness Coach, Behavior Change Specialist, Yoga Teacher (E-RYT 500) and Personal Trainer committed to enhancing your resilience and supporting your move towards total physical, mental, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. In 2020 she founded The Yoga Potluck, an online member community or sangha that explores all the limbs of Yoga’s 8-Limbed Path.
Gina Caputo
Internationally celebrated Dharma teacher of teachers, Kali Basman, intermingles Buddhist Psychology & Internal Family Systems Therapy into the living discipline of Yin Yoga. Kali’s work intermingles the outer constructs of anatomy & Traditional Chinese Medicine with the inner methods of mind training and trauma healing.
Kali Basman
Legendary PNW yoga teacher for more than 20 years, Jill’s taught thousands of students and led nearly 60 retreats worldwide with the retreat organization she founded, Roam to Om Adventure Retreats. When not traveling, she lives in Portland, Oregon, with husband Michael and their two pups, Addie and Dug — grateful for the extraordinary community that surrounds her.
Jill Knouse
Indy Lockhart
Indy (they/them) is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide and EcoNIDRA facilitator whose mission is to help us remember that our natural state is ease and rest, and that the truth of who we are and how to live is uncovered when we are well rested and connected to the earth and its natural rhythms. Through embodied nature connection practices, their goal is to help people feel alive, fall in love, and take good care of the world in such a way that it benefits all beings.
Founder | Rooted Presence Forest Therapy
Usha Nagavarapu, PhD, AD
Dr. Usha Nagavarapu is a Doctor of Ayurveda with a Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Neuroscience, and postdoctoral training in Dermatology from Stanford University. She has over 25 years of experience in translational research, cancer and clinical research and product innovation.
Dr. Nagavarapu integrates Ayurvedic wisdom with genomic science to advance personalized longevity and skin health solutions. Her expertise spans dermatology, aging biology, oncology, drug development and bridging traditional medicine and molecular science to promote systemic vitality and cellular resilience.
Founder | Surrasa
Jaya Lakshmi began leading kirtan and writing devotional songs on the guitar, harmonium and piano in the early 1990′s shortly after receiving harinam initiation from Srila Govinda Maharaj, a spiritual teacher of bhakti (devotion) from West Bengal, India.
As a singer/songwriter she is known for her authentic and deep devotional spirit as well as playing an important part in establishing kirtan and mantra music in the west. Learn more on her website.
Jaya Lakshmi
Axel Watts
Axel’s teaching invites you to return to the body, the breath, and the quiet wisdom within. Blending yoga, mindful strength, and a touch of soul, their classes are where anatomy meets alchemy and movement becomes meditation. Rooted in curiosity and heart, Axel creates space to explore your edges, soften into presence, and remember what it means to come home to yourself.
Co-founder | The Tilted Hill Retreat Center
Aela believes in the power of bridging mind, heart and earth through intentional living, earth-based practices, community and connection. She is a vitalist herbalist, herbal mixologist and elixir connoisseur sharing elixir bar experiences, workshops and other intentional offerings as the owner of Rose Rooted Elixir Bar & Apothecary, co-founder of Rose Rooted PDX and founding member of Earth & Nekter Collective.
Founder, Herbologist | Rose Rooted ElixirsAela Kascak
Lori Skiles
Meet Lori, the founder of Paddle Board Oregon, an experienced certified SUP Guide/outfitter and instructor. She has spent much of her life in//on the water and divides her time between Bend and Hawaii, residing part-time on a sailboat, sailing and SUPing off the shores of Oahu. She’s paddled in some amazing destinations, from Australia to the Italian coast, from Switzerland’s alpine lakes to the entire west coast. Lori’s been leading BYF’s paddle sessions since 2022 and we can’t imagine the festival without her!
Founder & Guide | Paddle Board Oregon
With over two decades of study, Denelle offers an authentic and intentional perspective to the yoga community, on and off the mat. As an avid practitioner of yoga and meditation, Denelle enjoys sharing the gift of the practice through teaching, writing and content creation. Denelle teaches regularly in the San Francisco Bay Area and leads quarterly retreats both locally and abroad. For more info, check out @denelleyoga on Instagram or denelleyoga.com.
Denelle Jarro Numis
Shriman Ji
Shriman is a sanctuary for well-being, where Yoga, Pranayama, Meditation, and Sound Healing come together to inspire transformation. Whether guiding students in ashrams in India, leading sessions at festivals, or offering soulful experiences in yoga studios worldwide, Shriman blends the depth of yogic wisdom and the power of music. Each offering is an invitation to reconnect, realign, and rediscover inner harmony.
Wellness with Shriman
Marsha Hamilton, ND
Dr. Marsha Hamilton is a naturopathic physician, Menopause Society Certified Practitioner, and lifelong athlete who helps active women understand and adapt to the physical and nervous system changes of menopause so they can continue moving with strength, resilience, and confidence. She’s the founder of Flow Natural Healthcare in Portland, Oregon.
Founder | Flow Natural Health Care
Nicole Beall
Nicole’s journey into yoga began as a way to help her recover from physical injuries, but over time, it became so much more. Today, yoga is one of her greatest tools for supporting her mental well-being, and she’s passionate about sharing that with others. As a Curvy Black Yogini, Nicole has experienced firsthand the challenge of feeling unwelcome in traditional yoga spaces. This inspired her to become a teacher and create an inclusive space where anyone, regardless of ethnicity, body type, or background, feels they truly belong.
Beyond her many certifications, training and teaching hours, she co-owns 2C Yoga where her mission is to make yoga a safe, welcoming place for everyone.
Co-Founder | 2C Yoga Studios
Teresa Crowley
As the co-founder and owner of 2C Yoga, with two vibrant locations in Canyon County, Idaho, Teresa has created a welcoming space where yoga is truly accessible to everyone. Her classes balance challenge and compassion, encouraging students to explore their potential while ensuring beginners feel supported and included. Known for her warmth and humor, Teresa’s classes are often filled with joy and laughter, creating an environment where students feel both safe and inspired.
Teresa’s dedication to her craft has earned her recognition both locally and internationally. In 2019, she was invited to teach in Tuscany, Italy—a milestone that coincided with the opening of 2C Yoga.
Co-Founder | 2C Yoga Studios
Krista Brenner
Founder | La Luce StudioCiao, I am Krista, a mom, wife, potter, and photographer, living a life rooted in creativity, connection, and light. Whether I’m shaping clay, capturing moments through my lens, traveling (especially to Italy), dancing salsa, or finding peace outdoors, nature, movement, friends, and family keep me grounded, joyful, and curious.
Clay is more than a craft for me, it is a grounding, meditative practice that quiets the noise and invites presence and play. Teaching pottery allows me to share that experience, watching students relax, rediscover their creativity, and surprise themselves along the way. La Luce, Italian for “the light,” represents what I create, what I love, and what I hope to share. I can’t wait to meet you!
Paula is a concert pianist, composer, and educator based in Bend, Oregon who leads the immersive concert series Piano Flow Live, performing in settings from lavender fields to riversides and mountaintops, often in collaboration with dancers and visual artists.
Paula collaborates on projects that blend yoga, nervous system regulation, and live music. She recently co-led a yoga and piano retreat on a private island in Belize. She believes music, creativity, breathwork, and movement are powerful pathways to a fulfilling, regulated life. Her main objective is to move people through music.
Paula Dreyer
Ryze Re
Ryza Re is director and head facilitator at Bend Ecstatic Dance since 2017. His aim is to cultivate a genuinely nourishing community experience every week. Helping create a vessel where freedom of expression is balanced with group harmony and amplified by a shared intention of mutual benefit.
Lead Facilitator | Bend Ecstatic Dance
Rach Huff
Rach is the founder of Pine & Prism, a Bend-based ritual and community studio offering Reiki, microdosing coaching, weekly ritual classes, aura photography + readings, and intentional community gatherings. She sees herself as a facilitator and space holder — not a healer — gently guiding people back to their own self and soul through grounded ritual, embodied practice, and meaningful connection. Her work is rooted in nervous system care, earth-based wisdom, and creating spaces that feel welcoming, sincere, and quietly transformative.
Founder | Pine & Prism Wellness Collective
Originally from Upstate New York, Courtney graduated from the University at Buffalo and spent her free time hiking in the Adirondack Mountains. She left NY for a 145 day thru-hike of the Pacific Crest Trail where she fell in love with Central Oregon and its High Desert! In her free time you can find her exploring the great outdoors by way of trail running, kayaking, rowing, climbing mountains, and skiing. Her dog Clementine found her in Bend and now enjoys frolicking in the outdoors almost as much as she does. Courtney is excited to share the knowledge, passion and excitement she has for the outdoors with others!
Courtney Braun
Co-Owner, Naturalist Guide | Wanderlust Tours