meet your teachers

Avalon funk

Lead Teacher Training Instructor here at Shanti, Avalon holds Advanced Degrees in Fitness & Nutrition for Athletes from ISSA and multiple 200 & 500 Hour Yoga Training Certifications. She has logged 35,000 hours teaching Yoga, and spent an additional 12,000 Hours teaching Yoga Trainings

An accomplished dancer, Avalon embodies grace, balance & strength. Encouraging an approach to Yoga with enthusiasm & lightness, students discover with practice they find ease in even the most advanced poses & transitions.

Born & raised on the Island of Kauai, Avalon teaches at her beautiful Studio thriveyogakauai.com in the charming town of Kilauea on the North Shore.

Traveling to Nelson to offer her skills during our Teacher Training season, she treats local students here to her wildly popular Yoga Sculpt & Vinyasa Master classes.

Watch the website for Avalon’s Master classes & Graduate Training Module when she returns to Nelson for our May 2025 Teacher Training season.

Yoga Sculpt / Infrared Vinyasa Flow / Graduate Training: Core Strengthening

Beau Fuller

A fantastic Yoga instructor and an all around great person, Beau has a natural sense for sequencing classes so students are both supported & accelerated in their practice. He makes every class challenging & fun.

A world traveler with great Heart & Soul, Beau is a proficient climber, an avid back country skier & has great passion for contact improv dance.

We’re extremely lucky to have Beau on Senior Staff here at Shanti. After months of high elevation Climbing in Mexico & Argentina, Beau has returned for Fall & Winter offering great Yoga at Shanti!

Classes with Beau:

Sundays ‘Flow into Yin’ 4:00 pm **

Mondays / Wednesdays / Fridays ‘Warm Flow’ 5:30 pm **

Thursdays ‘Power Flow’ 5:30 pm **

** All Beau’s classes are held in our State-of-the-Art Infrared Studio at Shanti

Jacqui Bohmer

We’re absolutely delighted to welcome Jacqui to our fantastic teaching team. A Registered Nurse specializing in General Medical & Obstetrics, Jacqui is also a seasoned certified Birth Doula with advanced specialized training.

Jacqui teaches Yoga with tremendous grace & kindness, and her Alignment focused cuing is strong & effective. Currently teaching our popular Rebalancing style Yoga classes twice each week, this Winter Jacqui will launch her amazing Prenatal Yoga program here at Shanti. Mothers-to-be could not be in more capable hands in these classes. Designed to take pregnant women right through pregnancy, and from there into gentle Neo-Natal Yoga after baby is born.

Classes with Jacqui:

Tuesdays & Thursdays Rebalancing Yoga 10:00 am

Sianna Morningstar

Sianna blends Yoga and Fitness training into her Warm Flow Yoga classes. Students gain strength efficiently through her combination of fitness exercises and the Alignment based Yoga she has studied here at Shanti. Sianna graduated from our 200 Hour Training with High Honours. It is our great pleasure to welcome her on staff here at the studio.

Sianna is in her third year of study at UVIC, working toward her Bachelor of Social Work. She sees Yoga as a wonderfully effective method of therapy, and plans to incorporate Yoga in her career as a Social Worker. 

Classes with Sianna:

Tuesday evenings ‘Infrared Warm Flow’ 5:30 pm

Thursday mornings ‘Infrared Warm Flow’ 7:00 am

Sarah Story

Sarah is a strong, tremendously inspiring Yoga teacher. The strength training she incorporates into her class sequences help students build stamina & balance, key to progressing any Yoga practice. Her technical skills are matched by her lovely personality. Students feel welcomed & encouraged from the moment they arrive, right through every class.

Sarah has completed numerous advanced Trainings here at Shanti, after graduating from our esteemed 200 Hour course 10 years ago. A seasoned instructor with great style, Sarah is one of our Workshop leads and is on Teacher Training staff.

Watch the website for our great Fall & Winter Workshop Series, and the opportunity to work with Sarah and our entire Senior Teaching Team.

Sharon Pol

Having grown up and raised children in Nelson, Sharon has a deep love for family, community and the beauty of the Kootenays.

With 25 years experience as a Paramedic with BC Emergency Health Services, helping others has always been in front. Recently graduated from Shanti’s 200 hour Yoga Teacher Training, she looks forward to exploring teaching and sharing the experience & benefits of Yoga with students.

Her teaching style is alignment based and focuses on a connection between mental and physical health……all done with a smile on her face.

Classes with Sharon:

'Our ‘New to Yoga’ mini series, co-teaching these classes with Studio Director Joy Morrell

“Ignite the Core’ Workshop Series: co-teaching these exciting, super fun Workshops with Beau Fuller & Joy Morrell. First Saturday afternoon Core strengthening Workshop November 23rd