Our Team
John Allcock
John Allcock has been practicing yoga and mindfulness meditation for over 25 years. John’s classes are a blend of movement and mindful meditation which inspires students to unite body, mind, and heart in the present moment, to enhance their overall quality of life on and off the mat.
His yoga studies have included Anusara, Iyengar and Ashtanga, and he obtained his teaching certificate from Yoga One in San Diego.
His mindfulness studies have included months of sitting silent meditation at Spirit Rock (many with Jack Kornfield) and at Plum Village (Thich Nhat Hahn’s mediation center in France). He is a certified mindfulness instructor by Mindful Schools, as well as the mindfulness training program created by Jon Kabat Zinn. He was the principal architect and teacher of the mindfulness program at Sea Change Preparatory school, one of the first schools in the country to teach mindfulness. A frequent speaker on mindfulness, he also wrote a book on mindfulness practices which has been described: “In Forty Things I Wish I’d Told My Kids, John Allcock presents the essentials of mindfulness―not as something special and exotic, but as practical, down-to-Earth principles for living.”
John graduated from Boston College (summa cum laude, with highest honors in philosophy) and Harvard Law School (cum laude). He was a trial lawyer specializing in jury trials of complex patent cases. He lives in Mammoth with his wife Cheryl and their three dogs, Kagyu, Karma, and Maui.
Romina Crespo
Romina is an Athlete, Coach, Yoga Teacher/student and Massage Therapist. Born in Argentina with a love for adventure sports, she moved to Aspen motivated by a friend to learn snowboarding. This became her life for a while teaching, competing, and coaching in this discipline. At this time she also rediscovered her love for yoga, which helped her tremendously with injury prevention and her mental game. Her practice has been evolving since her first 200 hours in 2009.
In 2020 with the lock down in place she started diving into the world of Kirtan, studying with Govindas and Radha, Jai Uttal, Girish and Krishna Das. Romina teaches yoga and facilitates community Kirtan at Apres Zen.
Jackie Florman
Jackie is a yoga teacher, outdoor educator, and backpacking guide based in Mammoth Lakes. She completed her 200 hour yoga teacher training through Yogaworks in 2017, and has been practicing yoga for over 10 years. She graduated from the University of Colorado, Boulder in 2023 with a degree in Environmental Studies and Ecology. Jackie is passionate about integrating mindfulness and yoga into outdoor activities, and loves teaching yoga for athletes and injury prevention. With a background in dance, she loves teaching flow classes, arm balances, and inversions. In her free time, Jackie loves getting upside down, backcountry snowboarding, and climbing mountains.
Rachel Kirkwood
Rachel is a nomad, an artist, and a yoga teacher, originally from San Francisco, California. She spent much of her childhood visiting Mammoth Lakes with her family, immersing in nature and playing in the mountains.
Rachel loves to teach vinyasa and hatha yoga, creating sequences and classes with healing themes (such as inner child connection, Ida/Pingala balancing, restorative poses for people who have desk jobs, etc). Rachel was certified as a yoga teacher at Akasha Yoga School in Colombia and has been practicing for over 7 years.
Erin Koehler
Erin has worked in the wellness industry for over twenty years. She studied nursing at the University of Utah and as an RN specialized in Oncology and Cardiac Care. Seeking a more holistic approach to wellness, Erin completed 500 hours of teacher training at Pacific Yoga School in Seattle, WA. Through her studies, Erin learned about yoga’s sister science, Ayurveda. She proceeded to study this ancient lifestyle medicine at California College of Ayurveda, earning a certificate as an Ayurvedic Practitioner. Erin offers a thoroughly holistic approach to wellness and healing, with teachings that translate on and off the mat. Erin teaches yoga and offers Ayurvedic Lifestyle Coaching at Après Zen and online. In her free time, she enjoys hiking, snowboarding, concocting Ayurvedic herbal remedies, and cooking seasonally inspired dishes in her kitchen.
Dawn Lazar
Dawn Lazar has been practicing yoga for 30+ years and discovered the power of musical instruments deepening relaxation in yoga classes. While attending a retreat she experienced a mind blowing sound bath that shifted her to a more harmonious state of flow, opening the next chapter of her life. Dawn dove into the world of sound healing knowing she wanted to share this with her community and make it accessible to everyone. She studied a variety of sound healing techniques, courses on breath work, yoga nidra, and other powerful energy modalities to support her unique style of restorative sound journeys.
Born and raised in Los Angeles Dawn moved to Mammoth Lakes in 2004 to pursue love. Shortly after making it through her first big winter she got married, had a baby and settled into her four seasons life in the Sierras. Dawn is an outdoor enthusiast who loves recreating in nature from the mountains to the coast receiving grounding and healing benefits from Mother Earth. Join Dawn in the studio and drop into the softer side of self care to support your overall physical, mental and energetic health.
Cristina Leon
Cristina discovered yoga in 2000 and has been practicing regularly ever since. She was initially attracted to the physical challenges of the practice, which reminded her of the gymnastics that she loved as a child.
Over the years, Cristina tried out many styles of yoga and attended workshops with various wonderful teachers. Her favorite style is Ashtanga Yoga and she considers Tim Miller to be her most influential and loved teacher; she completed Tim’s Primary Series and Second Series teacher trainings at the Ashtanga Yoga Center in Encinitas, CA. Tim taught Cristina about yoga philosophy, self-study, pranayama and meditation, which she feels transformed her life for the better. These tools have helped her cope with life challenges and injuries, as well as allowed her to become a more accepting and compassionate individual.
Cristina is grateful to have found yoga and loves to share it with others by teaching. She believes that “yoga” is not just the shapes you make with your body on your mat; but rather finding balance and peace within the chaos of daily life.
Emily Markstein
Emily has lived in Mammoth Lakes since 2018, chasing the snow out West from Vermont. Her yoga journey began over 10 years ago when she started to take classes in college to integrate mindfulness into a busy life. After delving deeper into her journey over the last two years, she recently completed her 200 hr YTT at Himalayan Yoga Academy in Kathmandu, Nepal. Emily enjoys bringing traditional Hatha yoga teachings to the Western practice, integrating all aspects of yoga beyond the mat. Emily is also a local environmental activist, enjoys the solitude of the mountains through backpacking and exploring, spends her free time biking and hiking, and has dedicated her life to the journey of mindfulness and meditation.
Stephen McFarland
Stephen McFarland, CNHP, RYT-500 grew up in Northeastern Pennsylvania with his 9 siblings and has been teaching yoga since 2008. Stephen studied initially with Integral Yoga and Sonic Yoga in NYC and has since gone on to teach and certify in therapeutic yoga, pre and post natal yoga, restorative yoga and yoga for arthritis, to name a few. He often staffs the Basic Yoga Teacher Training at Integral Yoga Institute San Francisco leading the anatomy and physiology portion of the training and mentors trainees. He teaches with an emphasis on alignment and a focus on both flexibility and stabilizing the body to achieve a sense of ease and balance both on and off the mat.
“The keynote of Yoga is dedication. It is the master key to all joy and peace. This is the basic teaching of Yoga and all religions: give, give, give. Let every minute of your life be useful to humanity. Bring peace and joy to everybody and no harm to anybody. This is the only way to true happiness; there are no shortcuts”.
-Sri Swami Satchidananda
Kate Middleton
Kate Middleton is an Embodied Yoga Teacher, Somatic Therapist, Authentic Relating Facilitator and Champion Freediver on a mission to help humans feel at home and alive in their bodies, relationships and work in the world.
Kate co-founded a Yoga Studio and Freediving School in Indonesia in 2008 where she led Yoga Teacher Trainings, trained, and coached competitive Freediving. Her athletic achievements include 18X National records, World Champion Silver Medalist and diving to -98 meters on a single breath, which she greatly attributes to her yoga and meditation practice. Eventually, the mountains called her home and in 2020 she moved to California.
Kate's classes are embodiment focused, inviting you home to the wisdom of your body so that you can release stress, build resilience and most importantly, live fully.
Kate offers 1-1 Somatic Therapy sessions in-person and online. She also leads nature-based retreats and community connection groups in Mammoth Lakes, where she lives with her fiance and 1.5 year old daughter.
Kylee Pochirowski
Kylee spends her time in California, energized and nurtured by the Mountains and Sea. She completed 500 hours of yoga training in 2019 and has taught multiple styles of yoga including hatha, vinyasa, and restorative. Her classes focus on building the mind/body connection through mindful movements and breathing exercises. Kylee is inspired by the wisdom of yoga and sharing this ancient practice with her students.
Charlene Ryshma
As a lifelong skier, and yoga practitioner since 1995, Charlene began body awareness and mindful movement techniques long before she realized the healing benefits. After dedicating her 20’s to skiing/snowboarding in Tahoe on her healing trajectory, she moved to New York City and received her Masters Degree in Trauma-Informed Social Work from Fordham University. Charlene is now a psychotherapist, somatic healer, and author of the book Burn Bright and it’s accompanying journal Healing Burnout. She is also a co-host of the mental health podcast Don’t Tell Me What to Do, and a visual artist balancing her time between NYC and the mountains of the West. Currently living in Mammoth for the winter, Charlene is thrilled to ski most days and share the profound healing powers of breathwork with fellow snow enthusiasts.
Scott Saltsman
Scott has a heart-centered and healing approach to teaching. He believes that aligning breath with movement is an essential part of a healthy lifestyle. Scott has devoted his life to the study of meditation and movement. Specifically how it relates to staying creative, centered & grounded amidst the chaos of the modern world. He is also a coach with the Mammoth Freeski Team. Scott graduated from the acclaimed art school, College for Creative Studies with a Bachelors of Fine Art. His friends would say Scott is super creative and thinks out of the box. His hobbies include running, hiking, skateboarding, mountain biking and playing guitar.
E Weeks
Elizabeth (“E”) has lived in Mammoth Lakes since 2014. E’s yoga practice began at a free community class 20 years ago and has since become her sanctuary from the overwhelm of daily life. E enjoys teaching and practicing flow-style classes as well as restorative yoga and breath control for overall balance. She is currently completing her 500ytt course and offers yoga experiences in natural landscapes through her local business, Yes: Yoga Eastern Sierra. She loves to work with people of all ages, take long walks in the mountains with her dogs, and share her joy for personal transformation by contributing her passions within the community.
Zack Weldon
Zack grew up in Tuolumne City in California and has always loved exploration. He found it through bushwacking and backpacking, scrambling down river canyons, and walking long distances through the woods. Sports and disciplines like jiu jitsu, running, gymnastics, and parkour taught Zack to see obstacles as opportunities and inspiration for self-inquiry amidst the world at large. Sports injuries ultimately led Zack to yoga for healing. He noticed after a yoga class that he felt more energized, yet with a quieter mind and a greater sense of ease. Zack received his 200 hour YTT at the Himalayan Yoga Academy in Kathmandu in 2023 and a 50 hour Pranayama training through Arhanta Yoga in 2022. Zack looks forward to growing as a teacher and serving the community to be at their best!