14-Day Soma Yoga Immersion Retreat in Costa Rica’s Blue Zone: Playa Coyote, Guanacaste

Liz Heffernan, MA, E-RYT 500, C-IAYT is a gifted international yoga teacher, a certified Yoga Therapist and long-term practitioner. She combines her in-depth knowledge of anatomy and bio-mechanically safe alignment principles with insights and practical wisdom gained from over 26 years of yoga teaching & immersive study. She is the Founder and Director of Soma Yoga Institute, a world-wide yoga teacher training school that embraces a therapeutically-oriented, heart-centered approach. These programs, heralded by many as truly inspirational, combine modern day biomechanics and research driven science with ancient teachings and serve to teach adaptive Yoga for all BODIES as a practice for vibrant health, self-transformation and personal empowerment. Liz's dynamic teaching style is influenced by many, many wonderful yoga teachers. These include Ashtanga Yoga’s Shri K. Pattabhi Jois, Tim Miller, Nancy Gilgoff and Bhavani Maki; Anusara Yoga’s Desiree Rumbaugh, Jenny Otto, Noah Maze, and Jim & Ruthie Bernaert; Integrative Yoga Therapy’s Joseph Le Page; and yoga philosophers Ram Das, Douglas Brooks, and Carlos Pomeda. Liz is known is for her ability to bridge the gap between the ancient perspectives of yoga and contemporary daily life. In her work as a yoga therapist, Liz specializes in helping seniors age gracefully and is highly skilled in adapting practices to meet the complex health challenges associated with aging. In collaborative partnership with Yoga 4 Brain Health she has co-founded the Memory Maintenance Yoga Teacher Training program that certifies Yoga teachers to help their communities delay the onset of memory loss related diseases through Yoga. Liz also serves as a faculty-mentor for the Kripalu School of Integrative Yoga Therapy supporting professionals on their journey to become yoga therapists. Liz believes that the path of Yoga brings greater ease, not just to the individual, but to all beings everywhere, and ultimately uplifts planetary consciousness one conscious breath at a time.

Peggy Profant, C-IAYT, E-RYT 500 is a certified Yoga Therapist with the International Association of Yoga Therapy, Anusara Yoga certified, and a lead teacher trainer for Soma Yoga Institute since 2016. Her approach blends the ancient wisdom of yoga with biomechanically sound alignment to help her students become more firmly anchored in their true, radiant self. As a teen she discovered Kripalu yoga and changed the course of her life in her formative teen years. In 1994 she met her teacher, BNS Iyengar in Mysore, India who taught her the traditional forms of Ashtanga yoga. In 2001 she became interested in a more therapeutic approach to help her heal from injuries. She found Anusara Yoga and delighted in it's style of weaving meaningful heart themes into therapeutically aligned sequences. Peggy pursued the rigorous path to become a Certified Anusara Teacher in 2004 and began to delve into more studies of the therapeutic aspects of yoga. Every class she teaches is an artistic expression with meaningful and uplifting heart themes partnered with skillful sequencing and therapeutic alignment. As a yoga practitioner and teacher for over 25 years, Peggy has always been intrigued by the aspects of mental well-being through yoga. In her studies to become a yoga therapist, she focused primarily on yoga psychology and the healing benefits of yoga for herself and her clients. Peggy is a thoughtful and encouraging mentor to many students and yoga teachers in her community and around the globe. It is her wish to empower her students, friends and colleagues to overcome obstacles to self love and allow each person to joyfully offer their gifts back to humanity. In addition to Yoga, traveling and being in nature with her family is where she finds her deepest joy and peace. Peggy founded and operated a premier yoga studio in Arcata, Om Shala Yoga, for 10 years, and co-founded World Family Yoga leading family retreats in Costa Rica. She has been leading workshops, retreats and Yoga Teacher Trainings since 2005.