Meet Our Team

Doris Brunnbauer

Received on planet earth in Vienna/Austria – unconsciously incorporating Yoga Philosophy into her life since she was 4 years old – traveled through spaces like University of Economics in Vienna, Corporate Business – Human Resources for IBM Central Europe & Russia, Athletics, and Massage therapy certification – specialized in Acupuncture Massage. She visited all over Europe, USA, Asia and parts of Africa before she encountered Costa Rica where she has been living for 10 years. DB received her NYI education 1999 at Omega Institute and started working for NYI again in November 2006.  

Carolyn Burke, M.S.W., R.S.W, R.Y.T.

Founder of CBA Yoga Toronto, Carolyn is an experienced yoga instructor, retreat facilitator, family counselor, parent and trainer. Carolyn has designed and facilitated numerous wellness programs and therapeutic groups. Combining her clinical training with a holistic approach, Carolyn has created and successfully launched yoga programs for moms and babies, toddlers, school-age children and children with unique needs. It is a rare teacher that can fill a room with compassion and joy the way Carolyn can.

Megha - Nancy Buttenheim

Megha - Nancy Buttenheim, M.A, has taught yoga, holistic health and yogadance at Kripalu Center since 1985. Her first teacher and ongoing mentor is Don Stapleton. She is the director of both Kripalu Yoga Teacher Training and Kripalu YogaDance Teacher Training (formerly called DansKinetics) as well as leading other programs in health and movement.

Megha also leads retreats throughout the world in Let Your Yoga Dance: Grace in Motion®. She will be a presenter at the Toronto Yoga Conference this spring and a keynote speaker at the Durham Yoga Festival in England next summer. Megha's main focus is on healing body, mind, and spirit while treading as lightly as possible on the planet to bring healing to the earth and all the beings who dwell here. Megha has two yoga CDs: “Moontides,” a yoga, meditation, and chanting CD, “Power and Grace,” co-led with Devarshi Steve Hartman, as well as “Animal Songs” her album of original songs about animals. website: www.letyouryogadance.com

Daniel E. Hickman, E-RYT

Daniel E. Hickman, E-RYT is a nationally certified yoga instructor-educator at the 500-hour level with the Yoga Alliance. As a faculty member at the Nosara Yoga Institute in Costa Rica he co-teaches the Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher Trainings as well as leads his own weeklong retreats. He is originally from Washington, D. C. where he instructs at the Department of Justice, the White House Athletic Center and the Military Advanced Training Center in the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He is the author of the DVD series Yoga Beginnings: Awareness which is made for every body and mind. Check out his website - www.silkroadyoga.com In his past life, Daniel performed for several years as an artist-educator in the theaters of the Barns of Wolf Trap in Vienna, VA, BAPA’s Imagination Stage in Bethesda, MD, The Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and The Smithsonian Institution’s Discovery Theater in Washington, D. C. He also danced with Maru Montero’s Mexican Folkloric Company, Tony Powell/Music and Movement and attended clown school in Guanajuato, Mexico with Sigfrido Aguilar at El Estudio Busqueda de Pantomia Teatro. When he is not facilitating yoga seminars somewhere around the world, you’ll find Daniel high above the earth uniting with nature while rock climbing. His other pastimes include Chinese martial arts, writing and drinking tea.

Ann Hunt, E-RYT 500, RYS 200

Ann Hunt is a senior faculty member of the Nosara Yoga Institute where she has worked with Don & Amba Stapleton since 2000. She teaches Interdisciplinary Yoga integrating several modalities including Iyengar, Flow, Kripalu and Yin Yoga as well as contemporary Western mind/body therapies such as the Alexander Technique, Feldenkrais and Pilates. Her primary focus is on creating a nurturing, challenging and fun experience that honors the unique needs of each student. Fundamental to her teaching is the exploration and deepening of internal awareness through experiential learning.

Ann recently established an Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher Training program in southern Maryland in association with Nosara Yoga Institute. Her school is a RYS 200 - Registered Yoga School through the Yoga Alliance and is currently offering its first 200 Hour Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher Training®.

Ann has been practicing yoga for over 20 years. She holds an E-RYT 500 designation through the Yoga Alliance. In addition she has degrees in both Psychology and Dance from American University. She has assisted and co-taught in over 20 programs with Don and Amba Stapleton in both Nosara, Costa Rica and at the Omega Institute in Rheinbeck, NY. Ann offers classes, workshops and retreats in the U.S., including the Omega Institute, as well as in Costa Rica. In addition Ann has been a practicing Massage Therapist for over 20 years, incorporating an eclectic combination of several techniques including Deep-Tissue, Swedish, Reiki, Pranassage and Thai Yoga Massage.

Kara Jasinski

Kara discovered yoga in college and was struck by the expressive power and potential of the body. At the University of North Carolina she designed a degree in Health and Wellness combined with Dance studies. In 2002 she became a certified yoga teacher under the guidance of Amba and Don Stapleton, Ph.D., whom she continues to study and teach with at the Nosara Yoga Institute.

Kara teaches a vinyasa flow that is dynamic, informative, and creative. Her style is heavily influenced by an interest in human wellness and movement arts. She has taught at the Boston Ballet School, Harvard, Exhale, and for circus performers in Barcelona, Spain. Kara is currently based out of Los Angeles where she has a private practice teaching yoga and Pilates.

Naoko Mira Ouwaki Robinson

Naoko Mira Ouwaki Robinson is a small woman with a global mission – to  revolutionize Japanese society!

Born and raised in a well-to-do medical family during post war Japan, Naoko  overcame near fatal childhood health thereby providing a firm basis for her natural inclination to educate by sharing what she learns first hand from experience.

Later, Naoko earned a masters degree in political science from leading universities in Tokyo, Washington DC and Scotland in order to harmoniously address the seeming dichotomy between eastern and western spheres of human thought. Today, yoga serves as the main vehicle by which Naoko shares her passion for promoting peace on our planet.

Having taught yoga and hosted many yoga events in Japan and abroad since 1992, Naoko is now a certified Nosara Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher at 500 hr professional level as well as Pranassage Practitioner plus Yoga Alliance registered RYT 500 and E-RYT 200. With Don’s & Amba’s generous encouragement Naoko proudly directs her own HOLT Yoga Institute in Japan. By hosting Don and Amba to present certifying trainings in Japan, Naoko is incrementally fulfilling her mission!

Please visit Naoko’s website at www.holtyoga.com for more details.

Tamika Schilbe, M.S.W., R.S.W., E-RYT

Tamika is an award-winning counselor, consultant, author and motivational speaker. Certified as a Yoga Instructor and Social Worker, Tamika has studied and taught the art of personal renewal throughout North America and also in Costa Rica, Mexico, Hawaii, Australia and Indonesia. An experienced retreat facilitator, Tamika leads regular trips to Costa Rica where she is on Faculty at the Nosara Yoga Institute. Her classes and trainings offer a creative blend of movements and postures from different parts of the world, and have been described as joyful, fun, and inspirational.

 Stacy Seebart

Stacy Seebart is a Pranassage Practitioner and Interdisciplinary Yoga Teacher graduate of NYI.  She holds a 200- RYT designation through the Yoga Alliance.  Her yoga continuing education includes workshop training with master teachers such as: Seane Corn, Ana Forrest, and Manju Jois.    She looks to Amba and Don Stapleton, Ann Hunt, and Jessie Seehof as her mentors and is very honored and grateful for their guidance. 

Stacy is also a graduate of New England Academy of Therapuetic Sciences- Dublin, New Hampshire and has been a practicing massage therapist since 2001.  She is nationally certified in therapeutic massage and bodywork (NCTMB) and certified in Reiki I by the Usui System of Natural Healing.  Her massage therapy continuing education has been focused on Cranio Sacral Therapy and Somatic Emotional Release through the Upledger Institute, Florida.   

Currently Stacy resides in Minneapolis, Minnesota where she provides Interdisciplinary Yoga classes, Pranassage sessions and massage therapy out of Aagesen Chiropractic Clinic ( http://www.aagesenchiro.com/ ).  Her clients have ranged from spinal injury patients, pre and post natal women, NFL alumni of the Minnesota Vikings, and NBA players of the Minnesota Timberwolves.  She loves the challenge of working with a new injury or the elite professional athlete and assisting them towards good health and balance.  Stacy is a teaching assistant for the 100 hour Pranassage Practitioner Training at NYI.  She aspires to travel the world while both teaching and learning the yogic path of life.