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Josephine Russell, MA/DMT, RYT and certified Kripalu Yoga Teacher

Josephine took her first yoga class on a slow boat to India back in the late 60s. Since India she has traveled the world studying yoga and meditation with teachers including Sarvani, Shiva Rae, Rodney Yee, Rama Birch, Rajashree, Shanti Desai, Bhagavan Das and Gurmukh. True to the origins, she allows our experience of the natural world to nourish our movements and meditations. Josephine has been a pioneer for bringing yoga out into nature; she was one of the first to lead “yoga and hiking” and “yoga and canoeing.” She is full of wisdom and is brilliant at leading groups on mindful trips. She believes that like the ancient sages arrived at the knowledge of the asanas while meditating in nature, we can also learn a great deal from practicing out of doors.

Josephine lives in a passive solar home in the small town of Surry, New Hampshire with her husband, JC; they have raised 4 children, 2 of which teach yoga and lead retreats with her. She is unique in that she lives a retreat-style life in her home. She has a great love of music, especially the piano. During the winter months, she often has a knitting project in her lap. During the summer she is likely to be off on an exotic adventure, such as canoeing a wilderness river in Canada or climbing the highest peak in northern Africa.

On a retreat with Josephine expect to be doing yoga out in nature, enjoying the smells, sights, and sounds that nature lends for an intoxicating natural yoga experience. She enjoys her quiet retreat home life but also puts her whole heart into her full-time yoga teaching career, including leading Yoga Adventure Travel tours to Samoa, Peru and Canada.

Amy Biesemeyer

Amy is co leading the Samoa woman's retreat in September 2006 with Taialofa. She recently visited Samoa and took part in a retreat led by Taialofa and realized a samoa retreat is something to be shared! Amy is a gifted and dynamic group leader, weaving together her passions for ritual, singing/chanting and personal transformation. Skilled in the use of mind-body practices, she enriches her work with meditation, expressive arts and movement. She brings over a decade of exploring her own womanhood through experiential psychotherapy, women's Vision Quests and therapy groups as well as majoring in women's studies. For two years she has been co-leading women's support groups in the San Francisco Bay Area, creating a nurturing space for women to cultivate a deep, authentic connection to themselves and each other. She is also a Vision Quest guide, trained by the School of Lost Borders, in the therapeutic use of the wilderness. The natural world is her teacher and sanctuary, and she is honored to guide others in the magical unfolding of their inner wilderness. She holds a BA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, in psychology and women's studies, and a MA from the California Institute of Integral Studies in somatic psychotherapy. She is completing her licensing as a Marriage Family Therapist.

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