Meet our Yoga Connection Instructors

Jill Dunkley  originally came to yoga to help reduce work stress.  The profound results she experienced connecting her mind to her body through yoga practice led to a trip to India in the mid 1990's.  This experience changed the direction of her life.  By 2000 she devoted her life to teaching yoga full-time and started the Yoga Connection in Perth with Joy Demsey.  In 2008 she obtained her certification as a yoga therapist from  internationally renowned yoga therapist, Gary Kraftsow, who is the director of the American Viniyoga Institute.

For more on Jill check out www.yoga-therapy.ca

Joy Demsey, sparked by her mother's encouragement, began studying yoga in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Since that time she has studied with various teachers and spent many hours on her yoga mat while living in Eastern Europe, Central Asia, and Japan. In 1999 she studied with Swami Vivekananda. This Hatha Yoga style focuses on holding postures to develop body/mind awareness while stretching and strengthening the body to develop personal contentment.  She received her teacher certification from The High Tech Yoga Institute in Lowell, Massachusetts.

Nancy Williams received her 500 hour professional level yoga teacher certification from the Kripalu Centre for Yoga and Health near Lenox, Massachusetts. Kripalu yoga is known as the yoga of compassion, and is a way to integrate body, mind and spirit through opening to the wisdom of the body.  Nancy has taught yoga with The Yoga Connection since 2001 and  is also a certified Fitness Instructor with Can-Fit-Pro and a certified Zumba Gold Instructor. She previously taught kindergarten in the Perth area for many years.   

Sandy Prentice was inspired by the meditative qualities of yoga as a teenager.  Drawn to moving meditation, Sandy studied and/or taught Tai Chi, creative movement, Brain Gym and Thai Yoga Massage. She completed her traditional hatha yoga teacher training at the Still Point Yoga Centre.  Sandy offers a gentle soothing yoga to release daily stress and bring you back to your calm peaceful center.  Relax, Release & Let Go,

Krista Hearty is a Kripalu certified yoga teacher with degrees in physical and health education and science, as well as a background in coaching, personal training and fitness.  In line with the Kripalu philosophy, Krista focuses on integrating yoga practice on and off the mat, allowing yoga to become a catalyst for physical healing, psychological and emotional  development and spiritual awakening. 

Andrew Gehrke began his yoga training with the Conscious Communication component of the Kundalini yoga teacher program and has since received his hatha yoga teacher training diploma from the Still Point Yoga Retreat Centre.  Recently, Andrew  also completed the Ashtanga teacher training with David Swenson, with an emphasis on posture

Parmatma Leviton,R.Y.T., is a KRI-Certified Kundalini Yoga Teacher Trainer (completed studies with the Kundalini Research Center, New Mexico), and has been teaching yoga for 18 years and training teachers for 12 years.  She is currently involved in teacher trainings at Equilibrium in Montreal and Rama Lotus in Ottawa.  She recently moved back to the Perth area where she once was a figure-skating teacher.  She is an artist )web.ncf.ca/parmatma) and Shiatsu Therapist and is trained in acupuncture, cranial-sacral, waveform energetics and other healing modalities and is now studying with the Institute for Comtemplative Awareness and honing her skills with music and the use of the Gong in meditative practices.  Parmatma's main focus is Kundalini Yoga perceiving it to be the best vehicle to serve the development of western consciousness in the Aquarian Age.

Larry Reside has over 30 years of study and experience in meditation and Buddhist philosophy and psychology.  He was given permission to teach after completing 10 years of study under Geshe Khenrab Gajam of the Tibetan Buddhist Temple in Montreal which he helped found.  During that time, he also met and received instructions and initiations from many Tibetan Masters including His Holiness the Dalai Lama and his tutors Ling Rinpoche and Lati Rinpoche.  He also helped arrange tours of visiting monks from India and was vice-president of the Ottawa Friends of Tibet from 1997-2001.  Larry currently teaches Buddhist philosophy and meditation in Westport as well as teaching meditation here at The Yoga Connection.