Staff

Carina Terra, ERYT 200 – RYT 500, Owner - Carina came to yoga after 11 years of studying dance, particularly ballet. She studied yoga therapy at the University of São Paulo, Brazil, with professor Marcos Rojo Rodrigues, a disciple of Swami Kuvalayananda, the great pioneer of yoga therapy and the scientific study of yoga.

In the US, Carina was introduced to other forms of yoga and has studied with Ana Forrest, Shiva Rea, Baron Baptiste, Tias Little, Amba & Don Stapleton, Ph.D. from the Nosara Yoga Institute, JinSung, Shari Friedrichsen, Rod Stryker, Sarah Powers, and Troy Lucero. She is the first graduate of the 8 Limbs Yoga Centers 500-Hour Yoga Teacher Training Program.

Carina is a certified Pranassage Practitioner by the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica, and one of only five practitioners in the State of Washington. Pranassage® is a combination of yoga and bodywork that produces deep relaxation in the receiver.

Carina is a certified Prenatal Yoga teacher. She has studied prenatal yoga and holistic birth with Colette Crawford of the Seattle Holistic Center. Colette is the leading prenatal yoga authority in the US, with 30 years of experience as a yoga teacher and women’s health nurse. Carina has also done further training in Prenatal and Postnatal Yoga with Anne Phyfe Palmer of 8 Limbs Yoga Centers, as well as a Prenatal and Postnatal Vinyasa Yoga teacher training with Shiva Rea.

Carina’s passion for teaching is evident in her dynamic, invigorating classes. She creates a supportive yet challenging space while encouraging students to find their edge, work hard and have fun!

Ali Valdez, ERYT 500 - Terra Yoga is happy to welcome back Ali Valdez. Ali has been a staple in the Seattle & Eastside yoga communities since she started teaching hot Hatha yoga over 12 years ago. Since then, she has expanded her repertoire teaching and certifying in the following disciplines: Vinyasa, Tripsichore, Yin and Universal Yoga. For the past three years, Ali has been focused on Teacher Trainings and certifcations nationwide and expanding internationally in 2012. She loves serving and fostering the practices of her student. Ali also loves helping build sustainable yoga communities that are committed to creating a well-grounded and thoughtful yoga experience, honoring ancient principles while leveraging the latest innovations in movement, science and breath.

Bonnie Dike, ERYT 200 – RYT 200 - Bonnie has been practicing yoga for ten years and teaching for six. She earned her nationally recognized Yoga Alliance teaching certification through Yoga Works under Catherine Munro at Yoga Tree in Fremont. Her training is in Iyengar and Ashtanga yoga and her background includes Hatha and Vinyasa styles. She has participated in ongoing teacher-training classes with Aadil Palkhivala. She regards Carina Terra as her mentor and continuing inspiration.

She and her husband, Bruce, have eleven children and three grandchildren. She enjoys hiking and boating with her family. She is a professional cellist and the Children’s Program Director at the Academy of Music Northwest.

She also teaches yoga in her neighborhood at the Mirrormont Country Club and has taught yoga to many high school athletes, including the Liberty High School Football Team. She is honored to teach incarcerated teens through Yoga Behind Bars. She loves sharing the beautiful art and science of Ayurveda with others and offers seasonal workshops at Terra. The experience of having many natural homebirths led to her interest in teaching Prenatal yoga. She is thrilled to offer Candlelight Yoga on Friday evenings as a way to gracefully end the week and relax into the weekend.

Bonnie’s teaching style is calm and encouraging. She takes joy in sharing the compassion, gratitude and realization of abundant blessings that yoga engenders.

Carla Hassell, RYT 200 - Carla came to yoga 5 years ago looking for something different than exercise. She really didn’t know what she was looking for, but yoga sounded interesting and unique. She and her husband tried a Bikram yoga class, and since then she’s been practicing yoga. She has tried different styles, but her passion is Vinyasa Flow. Carla is a registered RYT-200 yoga teacher with Yoga Alliance. She got certified through CorePower Yoga in Seattle. She has also participated in workshops with Shiva Rea, Baron Baptiste, Gregor Singleton and Edward Clark. Recently she has completed a 20-Hour Hot Hatha Training with Ali Valdez. Carla continues her practice with passion and dedication. She brings the best out of her students by creating an atmosphere that enables them to confidently explore their limitations without exceeding them. Her teaching comes from her heart, with no judgments and with a light spirit. She is grateful for all the teachers that influence her yoga path. When Carla is not teaching, she enjoys traveling, cooking and spending time with her husband, family and friends.

Chastity Garcia, RYT 200 - Chastity Garcia is an avid student of all health science, holistic healing, and mind-body disciplines since childhood. Beginning with reading her mother’s anatomy books and playing various sports, she came to pursue a career in therapeutic massage. Driven by the physical demands of her career as a nationally recognized LMT, she found yoga to be the best fit for increasing both inner and outer strength, balance, and equanimity.

Certified RYT with Yoga Alliance and currently completing her 500-hour level training under master teacher, Ali Valdez, Chastity is enthusiastically dedicated to serving the Greater Seattle area in Hot Hatha, Yin, and Vinyasa traditions. Recently returning from Indonesia to deepen her personal practice as well as teach anatomy and biomechanics for the teacher trainees, her intention is to bring an anatomical and alignment-based awareness, in order to foster a safe and injury-free, long-term practice for her students.

Cristina Gildee, RYT 200 - Originally from the Midwest, Cristina moved to Washington in 2009. From the first time she took a hatha yoga class, she knew she had discovered something special. She approached her hot hatha and vinyasa studies with an enthusiasm and devotion that allowed her teachers to push her farther- not just physically, but intellectually and spiritually as well.

She began teaching hot hatha after attending 100 hours of the Sattva Yoga Teacher Training and began studying with Ali Valdez who introduced her to different disciplines such as yin, vinyasa, tripsichore, and universal yoga. She participated in the Terra Yoga mentorship program with Carina Terra in 2012, when she began teaching at Terra Yoga. Cristina is RYT-200 certified with Yoga Alliance through the Sattva Yoga program, and is pursuing an RYT-500 certification in 2013.

A graduate with high honors from Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts, Cristina is also pursuing a BS in Nutrition to better guide people on the path to making healthy and ethical dietary decisions. She is a firm believer that these decisions, combined with a regular yoga practice, can improve your quality of life in ways you could never have imagined.

It is her goal to connect each of her students to the childlike joy that comes with believing in themselves. The joy of trying something new and embracing challenges. She encourages gradual growth, making small improvements each time the student comes to the mat until they find themselves excelling well beyond their initial goals. Whether they are new to yoga or have a more developed practice, Cristina devotes herself to meeting her students wherever they are, inviting growth, joy, and gratitude into their practice.

Diana Fujinaga, RYT 200 - Diana was born and raised by parents in the military and moved from Las Vegas, to the Philippines, to Germany, and back to the United States before settling down in the Seattle area after graduating from college in Philadelphia. Moving so often gave her a love of discovery for people, culture, travel, acceptance, and tolerance. It is no wonder she fell in love with the practice of yoga and its ability to de-stress the body. Being a passionate student led her to complete her 200 hour Yoga Alliance teacher training in 2008 through The Yoga Tree in Seattle. Her teaching style is light-hearted yet challenging, nurturing strength and flexibility of body, mind and spirit while maintaining a strong attention to alignment and safety. Her sequences are creative, intelligently designed, and set to an eclectic blend of traditional and non-traditional music in the hopes of creating joy and freedom for the student to explore their bodies and practice securely. Diana has been teaching since 2008 and is incredibly grateful to have studied with many amazing teachers. In her desire to continue her education of yoga, she has recently embarked on her 500-hour certification and is excited to join the yoga community at Terra Yoga.

Heather Raikes - Heather began practicing yoga in 1993, following an athletic childhood and concurrent with a career as a professional modern dancer. She has studied many different perspectives on yoga, including Bikram, Jivamukti, Ashtanga, Iyengar, Anusara, Kundalini, Kripalu, Vinyasa, Power Vinyasa, and Vinyasa Flow. In her 17 years of practice, Heather has had the opportunity to study with many master yoga teachers across the US, including Shiva Rea, Baron Baptiste, Sharon Gannon, David Life, Joan White, Tim Miller, David Swenson, Eric Powell, Manju Jois, Dharma Mittra, Duncan Wong, and Simon Park. She has completed Yoga Teacher Training Certification Programs with Shiva Rea, and began teaching yoga in 2003. Since moving to the Pacific Northwest in 2006, Heather has enjoyed practicing at Terra Yoga.

Jenny Michaels - Jenny’s yoga journey began when she took her first class from Maria Bliss in the little red schoolhouse on the south end of Mercer Island. The love and passion born for power vinyasa yoga was immediate leading to a dedicated personal practice and ultimately a desire to teach to share the joys and benefits of yoga with others. Jenny is inspired by the beauty of the asana, flow and mind-body connection that yoga brings on and off the mat. Jenny has completed the Teacher Training Program with Maria Bliss, Level I Teacher Training with Baron Baptiste and training in Hot Hatha yoga with Ali Valdez. Jenny continues to be an avid student of yoga practice and philosophy and has taken many workshops including those with Richard Freeman and Edward Clark. She hopes to inspire students to find joy, playfulness and personal growth while exploring their edge in a nurturing yet challenging practice. When not practicing yoga Jenny can be found enjoying her family and pets and on the ski slopes.

Regan Pasko - Regan came onto the yoga scene in 2002, barely able to touch his toes, at the urging of his physician to help reduce injuries he was sustaining in his ultra-marathon training and racing. His practice began with the Bikram style and after a year he was exposed to Baptiste Power Vinyasa when his home studio changed ownership. Mark that date down, as his life was forever changed. After four years of practicing nearly every day, Regan finally realized that he wanted to share with others the joy and rewards he has received from his dedicated practice.

He began his journey to teaching in 2006 at a weekend intensive Vinyasa Yoga teacher training with Master Teacher Lisa Black. That gave him a taste of what it is like and helped clear away some of the fear of speaking to large groups. In mid 2007 he completed the Level 1 Teacher Training with Baron Baptiste. And by early 2008 he’d completed an extensive Teaching Assisting Program again with Lisa Black, where he learned the art of adjusting Baptiste Power Vinyasa Yoga flow classes. He continued to fine tune his adjusting skills by assisting classes at his home studio in Issaquah.

He continues to open up his yoga mind and body by participating in numerous weekend intensives with Master Teachers such as: Baron Baptiste, Anna Forest, Jonathan Bowra & Gregor Singleton. He has also spent week-long retreats with Lisa Black in Mexico, as well as the North Cascades, focusing on the study of technique and meditation.

Robin Martin, RYT 200 - Robin’s yoga journey began in May of 2000 when she took her first yoga class. A friend had been urging her to try yoga for years, but she resisted because of her active lifestyle and skepticism of the benefits of yoga versus her gym routine. That first class changed her perception of yoga and she found herself seeking more. Robin found incorporating breath with body movement allowed her to let go of the stresses of daily life. She learned how to apply the simple beauty she found on the mat to her life off of the mat.

Robin is very passionate about her yoga practice and the joy it brings to her life. As a result, she decided to become a yoga teacher to share her knowledge and passion. Robin received her 200-hour Yoga Alliance certification through Tiffany Cruikshank Yoga. In addition to Tiffany, she has studied with Edward Clark, Baron Baptiste, Richard Freeman and Gregor Singleton, to name a few. While her teaching focus is vinyasa yoga, she is constantly exploring different styles, growing and evolving her own practice. She believes yoga is accessible to anyone willing to take the first step on their own personal yoga journey.