Jacob Bohlmann (RYT 200) sought out yoga at Sōl Yoga Collective in 2018 as a tool to improve mental and physical wellbeing. After years of building enamorment with Yoga, he dove into the deep end of his journey and spent a month living, learning, and practicing Sivananda's synthesis of several traditional Yogas at the Sivananda Ashram Yoga Farm in California. Though he began with no intent to teach, the peace and inner strength he found through Yoga motivated him to share with others in hopes of helping them discover their own personal Yoga path.
Crystal (RYT 200) has been practicing yoga for more than 15 years and became an instructor in 2018. As an engineer and perpetual student, Crystal finds yoga helps reduce her anxiety and teaches her to live each moment more mindfully. Crystal enjoys traveling, reading, cooking, crunching leaves, and herding her pets.
Crystal wants to help others discover that yoga is for every “body” and she aspires to still be on her mat when she’s 70. Her yoga classes are influenced by yoga and pilates, a balance between strength and flexibility, heat and release. You can expect to breathe and step off your mat feeling balanced and refreshed.
Karen Buxcel (E-RYT 200, YACEP, PRYT) began her journey into yoga after 40 years of living life and raising 4 children. What began as a committed daily practice of asana and meditation soon sprouted into the deep dive of becoming a yoga instructor and Phoenix Rising Yoga Therapist.
Karen is a student of medical qigong and weaves those elements into her classes. Though she has received many certifications and trainings, the title and role she holds most dearly is that of "Mom".
Milidi Dickenson (RYT 200) completed her two hundred-hour Integrative Yoga training with Shilpa Ghatalia at Yogshakti in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. She also completed a one hundred-hour Yin yoga training with Sebastian Pucelle and Murielle Burellier of With Yin Yoga.
Milidi took her first yoga class over seventeen years ago. Her curiosity for yoga has been a staple of her life ever since. She believes yoga is a tool for self embodiment and a path home to our true nature.
Kris Hewlett (RYT 200) began developing his yoga practice while attending the University of South Dakota. His practice rapidly transcended from an alternative form of fitness into an integral part of his lifestyle. Yoga provides Kris an opportunity to quiet instincts of the monkey mind — to become a more balanced human. Leading or practicing, Kris aspires to be an energy catalyst to those he shares space with. In his classes, expect flowy music to aid the playful expressions of your body, breath and consciousness.
Jeff Nelson (E-RYT 200) came to yoga as a way to build a new life. It wasn’t part of his “new life plan” but there it was. Committing to enough of a personal practice to experience real change, Jeff took the leap and spent an immersive 200 hour program at Shoshoni Yoga School in Colorado becoming certified in ShambhavAnanda Yoga. Jeff became captivated by yogic meditation and has continued his path with 2 week long training programs at Shoshoni. Jeff has been teaching since certification in many different environments, age groups and capabilities. Always with a focus on “calming the fluctuations of the mind”.
You may have seen Jeff at the South Dakota Yoga Conference. A favorite trip every year just got much closer. A lifelong love affair with the Black Hills has now brought Jeff and his wife Dori home to Rapid City!
Clarissa Thompson (E-RYT500, RYPT, YACEP) has been teaching and practicing for over 15 years. She has certifications in Mindfulness and Meditation, Sound Healing, and Cacao Ceremony facilitation. She is a practitioner of the Munay Ki Shamanic path and continues to study ancient rituals and create unique events integrating these teachings. Infusing her specialty classes with shamanic instruments and tools, crystal singing bowls, gongs, pranayama, meditation, movement and vocalizations she connects students to their senses to create a full mind-body experience and spark transformation.
Jade Seale (RYT200) stumbled upon her first yoga class after a military deployment in 2005. The personal transformation she experienced not only on a physical level but spiritually and mentally led to a deep devotional practice. Nearly eighteen years later a profound curiosity on the art of yoga practice fostered a desire to teach, leading others to the magic yoga has to offer. Jade raises her two daughters in the black hills of south dakota, enjoys the outdoors, cooking, hula hooping, and crafting. Although she completed her 200 training program with Sol yoga collective, she believes her journey has just begun. She brings a unique movement experience to the studio combining her history of dance and love of yoga.
Chelsie Bauer (RYT 200) was born and raised in Deadwood and is proud to call the Black Hills her forever home. She loves to teach yoga to all ages and skill sets. Yoga has been a vital part of her life since she was 19. Becoming a certified yoga instructor is something she has dreamed of for years. In October 2019 she finally made that goal a reality by completing her 200-hour YTT certification at Sōl Yoga Collective in Rapid City. To Chelsie yoga isn't just about fitness, but about finding one's center in a very uncentered world.
Lonnie Myers (RYT 200) began practicing yoga in 2014 while struggling with depression and anxiety. She quickly discovered that yoga wasn’t just an exercise of the body, but also an exercise of the mind. “I believe there is no perfect cookie cutter form, so finding the students full expression of their pose, and showing up as they are, is key.” Lonnie’s teaching brings a focus on alignment, staying in the experience, and breath work.
Brad Tice (RYT 200) believes that yoga found him precisely when he needed it most. Practicing and teaching has strongly developed him - physically, mentally and emotionally. From a place of balance and insight, he shares the teachings of yoga that have so profoundly changed his life. “Yoga has become the strong foundation that everything else builds up from. I am currently symptom and medication free from Crohn's disease and attribute that directly to not just practicing or living yoga but, "I am yoga."
(Brad is currently on a short 3-year hiatus but does pop in to teach from time to time. Stay tuned!)