Lisette Hart - Owner
It is an honor to teach and serve as the Owner of Yoga Branch. I am devoted to the well-being and vibrant health of our community of students. I teach several public yoga classes per week and train promising student teachers in my Annual Yoga Teacher Training Program, ‘Roots and Wings’ which is a nationally registered school with Yoga Alliance.
Since 1999, I have gathered more than 10,000 hours of experience teaching yoga and have loved every minute of it! Teaching students to understand and benefit from yoga is my passion. My enthusiasm is contagious so look out... if you come experience my class, you'll be glad you did. My teaching style incorporates inspiration from nature & the beauty of the outdoors, poetry, daily life experiences as well as from years of studying eastern philosophy and various styles of Hatha Yoga with many renowned teachers. The gratitude I feel towards all of my teachers is immense. In addition to my degrees in Education and in Political Science, I have completed many yoga trainings including an Ashtanga program with Master, Tim Miller in 2001 and I am officially designated an Anusara-Inspired instructor by founder, John Friend with whom I have studied for 9 years.
I am the founder of Vista’s first yoga studio which I ran from 2001-2006 and then sold in order to spend more time with my new baby son. It is a pleasure to now share the responsibilities and joys of running a successful studio with all of the wonderful staff and teachers who share their talents with our cherished students at Yoga Branch.
Current Class Offerings:
Teachers are listed in alphabetical order by first name
Ashley Williams
Ashley is a highly experienced 500 E-RYT, with extensive training in Bali and India. With over nine years of teaching global, she brings a wealth of knowledge and a diverse array of yoga styles including Akhanda, classical Hatha, vinyasa flow, yin, soothing restorative practices, yoga nidra, pranayama, and meditation. In addition to her yoga expertise, Ashley is also a certified trauma and somatics practitioner, thai masseuse, sound healer and breath work facilitator.
Her mission is simple yet profound: helping others heal and transform, guiding others towards inner balance. She believes in a holistic approach that unites mind, body, and spirit, weaving together traditional techniques with modern mindfulness practices.
Wed 4:15 pm - 5:15 pm: Heated Sculpt
Wed 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm: Gentle Yoga and Meditation
Carolyn Pedersen-Howard
Carolyn is half Danish, half Brazilian, and grew up in the Philippines. She loves people, cultures, food, and of course yoga! A part of the Yoga Branch community since 2013, Carolyn believes that yoga makes the world a better place and that is her intention in every class.
In 2012, she took a leap of faith and embarked upon her first teacher training after a career as an Executive Recruiter. In 2019, she finally took the seat of the teacher after an intensive 1.5-year yoga mentorship. When not on her mat, you can find her hiking with her two beloved dogs, as a soccer mom and enjoying coffee with friends!
Tue 8:15 am - 9:15 am: Heated Yoga Sculpt
Tue 9:30 am - 10:30 am: Gentle Slow Flow
Wed 6:30 pm - 7:45 pm: Vinyasa Flow
Thu 8:15 am - 9:15 am: Yoga Sculpt
Kayla McDuffie
Kayla is a forever yoga student and teacher. She started attending yoga classes and never looked back, immersing herself in the practice and bringing what she had learned on the mat into her daily life. In 2022, Kayla received her 200 YTT in the beautiful country of Costa Rica from her devoted teacher Anabel Miranda. She then completed another 100 hours of training in Restorative and Hatha yoga.
Her mission is simple: to share the incredible practice of Yoga with as many humans as possible. Her classes are mindful, intentional, and grounding - with creative flows and a carefully curated playlist. All levels with plenty of space to explore wherever you’re at.
Thu 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm: Heated Vinyasa Flow
Kristina Renée
Kristina Renée is a certified Spiritual Counselor in the methodology of Depth Hypnosis and Applied Shamanic Counseling. She is a Yoga, Breathwork and Meditation Guide, Visionary, Writer and a Mother.
Her approach to teaching yoga is first and foremost drawn from years of study in Tibetan Buddhist Meditation, as well as advanced training as a Certified SmartFLOW® Yoga Teacher, and woven with her experience as a massage therapist since 2005. She provides a therapeutic healing space weaving yoga, meditation and breathwork from the ancient Vedic and Buddhist healing systems, informed by trauma healing, neuroscience, nervous system education, and Depth Hypnosis, integrating with bodywork and the powerful healing resources of shamanism.
Mon 9:00 am - 10:15 am: Vinyasa Flow
Lisa Shaw
Lisa found yoga and fell in love with the healing benefits of the physical practice, and came away with so much more. Yoga found her after a horse-riding injury and helped put her back together again. Becoming a teacher was a wonderful, unplanned adventure that connects her passion for yoga with the beautiful students at Yoga Branch who continue to teach her as well. She is a graduate of Lisette Hart’s Roots and Wings Teacher Training and humbled to be a part of such a loving, compassionate yoga community.
Off the mat, her other passions include family, stand up paddle-boarding, water-skiing, the outdoors, and whatever planned and unplanned adventures await.
Wed 11:00 am - 12:15 pm: Vinyasa Flow
Lori Officer
Lori has over 30 years of experience in the Fitness and Wellness, specializing in corrective exercise, injury recovery and massage therapy, as well as being a certified Holistic Health Practitioner. As a MELT Method instructor, she teaches the most comprehensive, adaptable, pain-free self treatment in existence at this time.
In the 90’s Lori began training older adults and people with known illness/injury, and found a passion for sharing her love of exercise and movement with individuals who had physical/emotional challenges to exercise. Based on her own experience of healing from physical injury and managing depression, she realized that movement is a vital component to healing and nurturing the mind-body-spirit.
Thu 8:15 am - 9:15 am: MELT All Levels
Thu 9:30 am - 10:45 am: MELT Performance
Fri 7:45 am - 8:45 am: MELT All Levels
Louise McDougall
Growing up on a small Island off the coast of England instilled in Louise a lifelong love for the beauty of nature, simple living, and handstands. She took her first yoga class at 19, and while travelling through South East Asia in her 20s became influenced by Eastern philosophies. After having children she re-discovered her Yoga practice, and this eventually led her to Lisette Hart's Roots and Wings Teacher Training.
A Gardener, Pranic Energy Healer and long-time Meditator, Louise loves sharing the many gifts of Yoga and Meditation, the awareness of mind, body and spirit that comes with the connection of fluid movement and breath, and the peace of journeying inward.
Wed 10:30 am - 11:30 am: Chair Yoga
Wed 12:00 pm - 1:15 pm: Gentle Slow Flow
Thu 12:30 pm - 1:45 pm: Gentle Yoga and Meditation
Meagan Pate
Meagan’s mission is to live with a higher consciousness with all living things. Her background is in the study of Kinesiology, Therapeutic applications, Yoga movement, and breathwork. She studies the way the human body responds from movement.
Meagan believes that we are all connected to spirit in nature. Her vision is used as a philosophy to remind the mind that our physical makeup encompasses each element and promotes healing and connection in growth. She has studied Western and Eastern medicine, within nursing, physical therapy, personal training, functional fitness, yoga, pranayama, meditation, animal therapy, and botanical healing. She uses all areas to implement a session based on her clients' aspirations.
Mon 4:15 pm - 5:15 pm: Yoga Sculpt
Mon 5:30 pm - 6:45 pm: Slow Yin
Thu 7:00 am - 8:15 am: Power Vinyasa
Shelly Scott
Shelly began practicing in 2001 when her kids were in pre-school. Physically it was fun and challenging, mentally it was a way to turn down the volume of a busy life. Her passion grew, and in 2006 she completed Lisette Hart’s Roots and Wings Teacher Training. Currently an E-RYT, Shelly prides herself in sequencing a class to offer safe options for all students.
Shelly’s passion in teaching comes from her own practice - down to earth, real life on and off the mat. It's not about accomplishing the most challenging pose, but how we approach it. When we connect with that quiet place within, and leave our mat more calm and centred.
Tue 11:00 am - 12:15 pm: Vinyasa Flow
Fri 12:00 pm - 1:00 pm: All Levels Flow
Siobhán Barton
After moving to San Diego from New York in 2021, Siobhán dove into healing work and became a teacher at several local studios. She fell in love with the Yoga Branch community, and felt called to join this team of yogis offering accessible, heartfelt, nourishing practices.
Siobhán interweaves bhakti and mythology into her classes to inspire deeper self-inquiry and philosophical discovery. Her goal is to inspire people to reconnect to their inner light, and a reverence for the precious gift of existence. The path of yoga saved Siobhán’s life and she is dedicated to helping others come home to themselves. She enjoys writing and playing music, hiking, photography, traveling and swimming.
Monthly Sound Baths - check workshop calendar
Susan Martin
As a business owner and accounting manager, Susan learned exercise was key to relieving life’s stresses. She first tried yoga over 25 years ago and loved it from the beginning. The poses were fun, but the biggest benefit was those precious moments when her thoughts were quieted and peace was found.
In 2014, she embarked on Lisette Hart’s Roots and Wings Teacher Training with the goal of learning and deepening her practice, never intending to teach. Well…here we are! Now “retired”, she loves guiding others through their practice to discover the wonder of uniting mind, body and spirit. She also enjoys golf, bird watching, her husband and their Labrador, Diesel.
Thu 5:00 pm - 6:15 pm: Gentle Yoga for a Healthy Back
Victoria Stewart
Meet Victoria Stewart, a dedicated yogi native to Sweden, whose journey into the transformative world of Ashtanga Vinyasa spans over a decade. Victoria's passion for yoga has been cultivated under the guidance of esteemed senior teachers, including Fia Sjöblom, Petri Räisänen, Lisa Lahler, and Kristina Karitinou.
Ashtanga Vinyasa has been Victoria's learning pit—a profound space where she discovered, understood, and embraced herself on multiple levels. This dynamic practice became an anchor in life, keeping her grounded and fostering self-love, and as a bonus: unlocking newfound strength and flexibility. Join Victoria on the mat as she shares her wealth of experience and guides you through the transformative power of Ashtanga Vinyasa.
Tue 7:00 am - 8:00 am: Power Vinyasa
